Ok, so I'm mixing Goonies and the Lord of the Rings, but with this election why not? Pippin and Chunk couldn't win votes for small dog catcher and tree top remover. Just look at them! Pippin is obviously a short, long haired, hippie freak. One who loves smokin some strange weed. And Chunk, is just...well...how does one describe Chunk? Disabled? Unattractive for sure, but disabled?
No, not really. Just unloved until the right people came along. And then he's beautiful. Like Pippin, he's willing to take on his own version of Orcs and mad Stewards, especially for those he cares for. They're like Democrats in today's political environment.
Bad guys to the left of them. Bad guys to the right of them. And lots of voices saying they can't win. Or can they?
You see, everything I've been reading and hearing comes to the same conclusion. Democrats have the numbers to win - if they vote. Our own Front Pager, Steven Singer laid it all out yesterday. http://www.dailykos.com/...
2 - 3 %
That's the difference between keeping or losing the House and the Senate. That's the difference between continuing the economic and cultural healing of this nation or years of paralysis and posturing.
chrislhayes wrote about why the margins matter. http://www.dailykos.com/...
And blue aardvark shares projected high turnout numbers as reason for optimism. http://www.dailykos.com/...
So let's not be hasty in buying the media spin that says we've lost before we've finished the fight.
There's a great deal we can do in the hours before the polls close today. Most important of all, we can get the shout out to our fellow Democrats. We can get the shout out to reasonable Moderates and Independents. We can call friends and neighbors in state and out of state. There's millions of us out there who voted in 2008. We know what's coming if we don't win this election. It will be an unholy remix of the right wing attacks on the Clinton Administration combined with the incomparable incompetence of the Bush years.
2 to 3%
That's all we need.
Hey you guys! Yes, you.
I'm shouting out to my fellow Mainers and to those with connections to Maine.
Chellie, Mike and Libby need you today. With your help we can make it happen. We can show the pundits and the Republicans they serve, that they were indeed, far too hasty. Beyond the obvious righteous delight of that, we can have three creative, independent, thoughtful and hard working leaders representing the State of Maine. Leaders we can be proud of.
Paul Le Page?
Not so much.
Creationist? Yep.
Anger issues? Yep
Truth issues? Yep
Wants to cut funding for education? Yep
And the list does go on.........
Yesterday, one of the coordinators and I were talking about the races. She said something very simple and very true.
If Dems show up and vote the Democratic ticket we win.
As more than one fellow Mainiac said yesterday when I was phone banking - No Way! No How! Not Paul Le Page!
Or Dean Scantos or Jason Levesque. These are the two guys running against Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud. They're doing the usual Republican gambit of trying to stand reality on it's head. According to these nimrods Chellie and Mike are responsible for the Bush Administration's disasterous failures. True intellectual giants, aren't they? Not!
If you're not in Maine but have friends or family who are, why not give them a call. Here's a few helpful facts you can run by them, thanks to our own wonderful Jed Lewison.
In 2008, we lost an average of 317,250 private sector jobs per month. In 2010, we have gained an average of 95,888 private sector jobs per month. (Source) That's a difference of nearly five million jobs between Bush's last year in office and President Obama's second year.
In FY2009, which began on September 1, 2008 and represents the Bush Administration's final budget, the budget deficit was $1.416 trillion. In FY2010, the first budget of the Obama Administration, the budget deficit was $1.291 trillion, a decline of $125 billion. (Source) Yes, that means President Obama has cut the deficit -- there's a long way to go, but we're in better shape now than we were under Bush and the GOP.
On Bush's final day in office, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 closed at 7,949, 1,440, and 805, respectively. Today, as of 10:15AM Pacific, they are at 11,108, 2,512, and 1,183. That means since President Obama took office, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 have increased 40%, 74%, and 47%, respectively.
The Republican Party, whose candidate for speaker, John Boehner, will campaign with Nazi re-enactor Rich Iott this weekend. If you need an explanation why this is offensive, you are a lost cause.
The moral of the story is this: if you vote Republican, I hope you enjoy Election Day -- because you're not going to like what comes next.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
No matter where you are, when you call your neighbors, friends and family, if you're on the phones GOTV, please tell the folks voting Democratic thank you for me. My grandboys thank them too. Well, they would if they were old enough. It is their futures at stake after all.
Here's the contact information for Chellie.
http://www.chelliepingree.com/...
Here's Mike's contact info.
http://www.michaudforcongress.com/
And here's Libby Mitchell's info.
http://www.libbymitchellforgovernor.com/
I know it's late. It's been a long slog through a lot of ugly. But we know our own courage now. We know our own caring and determination. We know what's at stake.
Today I was planning on doing some more phone banking for Chellie Pingree and meeting with a very nice lady about political volunteer work after the New Year. As insane as it may sound, I'm gearing up to push back hard against what we all know is coming leading into 2012. But then the phone rang at seven thirty this morning. My daughter called to let me know the beautiful grandboy is sick with the croup. My plans for going in to Chellie's office to help GOTV aren't happening. The plans for doing further political volunteer work are.
But right now I've got a sick grandboy to take care of so my daughter can get to work. But he won't be here for another hour. Right now I keep thinking of that 2 to 3% margin of victory. Right now I'm thinking of what we can do today to make that happen. Right now I'm thinking of all our grandchildren's future.
So - Hey you guys!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/...
How about it? :)