There are exactly three weekends till election day. One of them is half over.
To all those of you who are doing canvassing and phone banking..or even travelling to a swing state this year. I salute you and join you. We called Oregon from Berkeley yesterday and we will be calling Ohio today. Come election day weekend, I'll be in my home state of Minnesota turning up the noise in St. Paul. GOTV is HUGE this year, and is much bigger than our Kossack world. Heck, I met a woman the other night who had never heard of dKos, but is part of a ten woman team going to New Mexico next weekend.
If you haven't looked into volunteering yet, and are interested, it is SO easy....just click here...it is definitely not too late, and there are likely events in your area that you can go to: today.
Now, that being said, while we all know that nothing is certain in this crazy world of ours...I believe we are on track to shock the world and the nation with our results this election...here's why....
The GOP has no idea what is about to hit them.
If you tune into AM talk radio...it sounds no different than it always has. If you follow the words of leading GOP Senators, you see that it is business as usual.....Sen. Hagel reconfirms his support for Bush, Sen. McCain is standing next to George on Air Force One. Fox and Rush and Tucker and David are all in line, on board and down with the GWB program. Hell, the GOP House just voted in unison in support of Tom DeLay....same old, same old.
What's funny and sad about this is what they don't realize: this is the worst President in the history of the United States. And he has had a GOP Congress and judiciary to do his bidding. At the end of the day, Colin Powell was right: the Pottery Barn rule will be the dominant meme of this election. The GOP broke it, and the GOP owns it.
- Iraq
- Abu Ghraib
- WMD
- the economy
- gas prices
- the flu shots
- Medicare
- lack of election reform
- Health Care premiums
- our National Guard system
You see, there are three weekends till election day. Congress is shut up. Everyone's home working their base...and yet there is something that is becoming absolutely clear about the Republican party this year:
the only thing they will understand is a good old-fashioned ass whupping at the polls. And this year, they are going to get one.
Alot of folks have spilled alot of digitial ink over this or that poll. Let me tell you something, I am glad that the polls look the way they do...tight. I am glad the GOP clamored to rally behind the President after his historically atrocious debate performances. I am glad that GOP mavericks who might have put some distance between themselves and the President are showing up on TV buddy buddy arm-in-arm with the President.
The election isn't just about the Presidency, it's about kicking some GOP butt. And, you know what, the turn of events in the last three weeks has been a perfect storm.
The closer we get to election day, the less and less room there is for moderate Republicans to jump ship. And as we get closer, I guarantee you, there will be some who will regret that they didn't stand up to this incompentent, nincompoop of a President. There will be some GOP House members who wish they would have shown a little backbone. There wlll be some GOP strategists who will live to regret their ideological purity campaign against RINOs. Because, quite frankly, folks in this country are fed up, and this election day, mark my words, the GOP will pay the price.
The same factors that led me to argue that George W. Bush was toast after the first debate lead me to say confidently today that this election is also about the end of Republican dominance of the political life of our nation. You see, downticket candidates are gonna want to run away from George Bush as this election comes to a close, but they can't run away from George any more than George can run away from Iraq: they OWN him. George Bush is their Pottery Barn. He's a shop full of vases in a thousand sorry pieces all over the political landscape...and the GOP is gonna have to pay the bill.
A perfect storm is coming this time. And when it's over...the colors on the map won't look the same.
Now, if you disagree with me, that's fine. I'm an optimist and get energy from optimism. You see, we're all doing the same thing these last three weekends anyway....Getting Out the Vote. But let me tell you something that makes me sure in my gut that this election, whatever the outcome, marks the beginning of the end of Republican dominance of our political life....
Remember the woman I mentioned who's going to New Mexico to canvass next weekend...the one who had never heard of dKos? Well, she also told me that she just got back from a leadership workshop that is targeting young women and getting them to consider themselves as future Democratic candidates. Canvasser today, City Council Woman tommorrow. And I know she's not alone. I know that other future candidates are out there canvassing today...and reading this now, and together, we've started the process of taking our country back.
We are Huge. We are not giving up. We are looking down the road. And this year...there is nothing that will stop us. This is the beginning of the end of Republican dominance.
Believe it.
Believe it.
update: There were at least 50 of us calling undecideds in precincts in the Western Suburbs of Toledo from Berkeley this afternoon. We got a very uplifting conference call from the Kerry office in Columbus: in a word, they are as confident, jazzed and energized in Ohio as we are in CA...and they are ready and grateful for all the help we can give.
I called a little over 100 numbers and was surprised by a couple things:
how many 30-60 y.o. men with gruff voices said, "I'm for Kerry. Thanks."
men said that health care or the economy were strong issues, none said terrorism.
how many undecided women said that terrorism was their number one issue.
how many women were "strong Bush" with zero doubt or even the smallest hint of being open to questioning, as in, "thank you, have a good day, don't bother me."
I know there's really no scientific conclusion to draw from this...and it might not match other people's anecdotal evidence, so take it worth a grain of salt. But what do folks think of this anecdotal women / terrorism link...why do you think that may be? It surprised me, and, to be honest, I don't think I found good ways to persuade on this issue because I couldn't put my finger on what they meant by "terrorism."
Iraq?...Personal and family safety?...Homeland security? Nuclear proliferation? You tell me, please.