A two dollar umbrella.
Or a few of those ratty old scarves.
Or a twelve pack of water or a dozen granola bars or maybe even your guitar.
Oh... oh... that ratty lawn chair that you haven't used in ten years.
Y'know... the one that acted as a "sofa" in your college apartment.
These odd objects could be the difference between just "victory" and a mandate... between fifty-nine seats and a filibuster-proof majority... between winning and, what do the kids call it these days?
Drinking their milkshake?
There WILL BE lines on election day.
Long lines.
Some of those lines will be inevitable... some will be due to historic turnout... and SOME will be due to the design of those still hoping they can exhaust the will of change.
And despite the fact that everyone has been warned, people are bound to get frustrated and tired and cold and hungry and bored out of their fucking minds to the point that they will think, "What's one more vote?"
And that's where we come in.
As a last act of giving (by you who have no doubt already given so very much), go out and buy a half-dozen of those two dollar umbrellas, walk to your local polling place and offer them to those who are out there standing in the rain. Ask them, when THEY are done... to pass the umbrella on.
Or rummage through that drawer in the basement with the forgotten winter hats and gloves and (after running them through the washer and the dryer) offer them, at the local college, to some students who didn't QUITE think the whole process through.
Coffee for the weary. A snack for the hungry.
Windbreakers and gloves and that HIDEOUS long sleeve shirt from the softball league you won when... well... you could still credibly play softball.
Shit OUT OF YOUR HOUSE, but so useful on this important day.
Maybe its your guitar and a willingness to "take requests" and muddle through your best effort at "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Stones that will be the difference between "I'll gut out this last hour" and "I-- I can't do this any longer."
If the lines are long enough (putting you far enough away from the polling place) an Obama pin (or Merkeley or Franken or Tinklenberg) and a smile will push home the message, but EVEN WITHOUT THOSE THINGS the general principle is... the more people stay in those lines... the better shot we got to... what's the guy owns The Orange™ been saying?
Obliterate the fucking spirits of those who are fighting to deny hope?
UPDATE: Pennsylvania is the key and not because there are any indications that it SHOULD be close, but because there is NO EARLY VOTING there... which is why McCain is pinning his hopes on it. He's just praying for hideous foul ups in urban areas that depress the vote. If there are enough machines in Pennsylvania... if there are patient voters... if there are volunteers... his candidacy is ding, dong, dead.
But just in case... can you spare an umbrella?
That's all it takes to make THIS a reality...