Fellow Kossaks:
My wife and I are hosting an "Obama party" in two weeks, with the primary goal of getting out as much of the pro-Obama vote as possible. Since we live in Kentucky, a non-swing-state (at least in this election), this will likely involve traveling to nearby swing states.
In the process of strategizing the most effective ways to get out the vote, we realized that that the most efficient thing to do would be to get the attendees of our party in touch with those in charge of the various operations, such as:
*Helping with voter registration in swing states (in this regard, it would be useful to know the voter-registration laws in the swing-states, since the deadlines have probably passed in some, and might be fast approaching in others).
*Doing early legwork in swing states (in 2004, when I lived in New Haven, CT, I traveled to PA to help Spanish-speakers get to the polls and vote, and it was clear that others had paved the way for me--likely Kerry voters had been identified, and voters had been registered, organized, and were basically expecting us to come)
*Traveling to swing states to bring voters to the polls on election day.
*Arranging carpooling for those traveling to swing states on or before election day.
We've had some difficulty identifying the best organizations to work through and with for these tasks. (Obviously the Obama campaign, the DNC, moveon.org, etc. are useful starting points, but I've found it hard to get specifics.)
I thought I'd offer this diary for the purpose of information-sharing, since I would imagine that there are plenty of others out there who want to get involved but who are unsure of the best way of doing so. So if you have specific information, whether regarding registration laws in swing states, organizations coordinating any of the above activities, or any other worthwhile activities not listed above, your help and input would be greatly appreciated.
Incidentally, I would consider the following to be swing states (although information on any state would be useful): New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri (I suppose), Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.