a cartogram reminder.

Here is a reminder of what the 2004 electoral map really looked like from the University of Michigan.  In this map, counties are not only shaded from red through many purples to blue, they are also sized based on population.

I was in WV last night and today canvassing for the Obama campaign.  I've seen Obama operations in five states (VA, OH, PA, NC, and WV) and been through election days in four of those five, excepting North Carolina. Until West Virginia I was thoroughly impressed. Today was not a disaster and there was a lot of good work done, but overall there is much to learn and in the future avoid based on what I saw today.

Update [2008-5-14 1:57:16 by creweeny]: Before you read the rest of this diary I want to respond to the good point made in comments about the remainder of the dairy being pile-on. Experienced canvassers I shared some of my frustrations with said that today's Obama effort was far better than other general election efforts they've seen. I did not lose my hope in this campaign at all, and neither should you. This campaign is not made weaker in my opinion by people saying where it has stumbled relative to its own past performance. Its made stronger. We saw that with the California delegate selection and I think this is another case. We're the Linux to Hillary's Microsoft, and we're the future baby.

What Did You Do Today to Elect A Democrat???????                    

If you are pissed at Hillary or can’t stand Obama, this is not the diary for you. There are plenty of places to voice your opinion, but I would be most appreciative if this diary is not one of them.

                              The Count Down is ON:

This is the latest of a recurring series of diaries for people phone banking for Barack Obama to share their experiences and their Bencouragement.  The link to phone bank for Senator Obama is here.

Phone banking on the day of the election -- getting out the vote -- is incredibly important.  It's about 5:00 p.m. in West Virginia: prime time to catch people coming home from work and make sure they get out to the polls before they close at 7:30 EDT.  (And when that's done -- well, people in Oregon are already filling out their mail-in ballots and need to hear from you!  I won't even mention Kentucky here.)  We know that we're not going to win this primary, nor do we need to, but we want to make the result as respectable as we can, and show our respect for our hard-working WV friends!

But today only, there's another phone bank you can try, if you're so disposed.  You can click this link and phone bank for Scott Kleeb.  More on that below.

As I've mentioned for months, the Obama supporters have been much more active on the ground in West Virginia even though polls have shown Hillary Clinton with an insurmountable lead in the state. As Clem has pointed out so well, this state's demographics are perfectly suited for Clinton. But even more than the demographics, this state's personality is suited for her to win. West Virginians love politicians they're familiar with. We had Bill Clinton as our president and Hillary Clinton as our First Lady for eight years.

Ms. Clinton--

I'm hoping you can do me a favor within the next couple of days. You have it within your power, in a unique kind of way.

I want you to cause me to lose my job.  

Please?

make a huge difference.

As well all know Indiana is extremely close. Since we are so aware of this, let's do something about it...by phone banking for barack today.
I've just started doing it and since most people are home right now in Indiana, I'm talking to a lot more people than I did on the weekend.

The Supreme Court ruling LAST Monday, 1 short week before the pivotal primary, has to rewrite the script for voter outreach for TODAY, or else many staunch supporters won't be able to have a vote counted on Tuesday.

Your GOTV phone calls, or door-to-door canvass, will bear fruit only if you check and ask, "Do you have a state-institution ID, one that shows an expiration date?" If they don't, the Obama field offices need to be prepared to help the voter either (1) get the documents on Monday (transportation) or (2) - per the SoS site for Indiana - help the person the day before Election Day - to "vote absentee-in-person at the county election office before Election Day, and while there, affirm that an exemption (for indigence/poverty) applies to you."

If the voter does not have the resources to acquire the documents to bring to BMV, they can affirm on Monday at the county Election office they're entitled to the exemption. For a vote to count by Election Day, this is the only option there's time for if a person can't get the set of documents.

Voters should be asked to double-check their registration status today too

This message is for Obama phone bankers and field planners.

The Supreme Court ruling LAST Monday, 1 short week before the pivotal primary, has to rewrite the script for voter outreach for Monday, or else many staunch supporters won't be able to have a vote counted on Tuesday.

Your phone calls, or door-to-door canvass, will bear fruit only if you check and ask, "Do you have a state-institution ID, one that shows an expiration date?" If they don't, the Obama field offices need to be prepared to help the voter either (1) get the documents on Monday (transportation) or (2) - per the SoS site for Indiana - help the person the day before Election Day - to "vote absentee-in-person at the county election office before Election Day, and while there, affirm that an exemption (for indigence/poverty) applies to you."

If the voter does not have the resources to acquire the documents to bring to BMV, they can affirm on Monday at the county Election office they're entitled to the exemption. For a vote to count by Election Day, this is the only option there's time for if a person can't get the set of documents.

Just some updates from the ground in Indiana.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to go to the Obama "family picnic" in Noblesville, Indiana, where we got to see Michelle and Barack speak. They also spent a loooooooong time working the rope line, shaking hands, holding babies, taking pictures. The picnic wasn't highly publicized, and most of the crowd were people who had been helping out with phone calls and canvassing.

Something you need to know about Barack Obama...

Leaving America? This diary doesn't exist to encourage or discourage you. It just exists to inform you.

www.votefromabroad.org

Yes, the larger number of vacation days or the national health insurance or the better weather or whatever nice things you find in your new home are great. But you still have a vote. If you register.

www.votefromabroad.org

Yes, the weird plumbing or the strange phrases/accents/languages or the poor roads or the odd foods in your new home are problematic. But make time to vote while you're dealing with them. And you need to make time to register.

www.votefromabroad.org

All you need to do to register to vote if you live overseas is go here and just follow the instructions: www.votefromabroad.org

Though it's hard to believe, especially after the seemingly endless coverage about Obama's CHURCH, the Muslim smear emails are STILL circulating.  I just got another one today.

While I have no way of knowing where the first emails came from, I can tell you who is responsible for spreading them.  

I'll tell you how I know after the fold...

This is going to be short and sweet.  This weekend is critical to the way the MSM and the superdelegates view this race going forward.  Barack has had a bad couple of weeks but has pushed through it.  I am optimistic that the bleeding has stopped but there is ground to be recovered.

For every 15 MINUTES that you spend this weekend reading, writing or commenting on diaries, I challenge each and every one of you to donate 45 MINUTES to the GOTV efforts in IN and NC.  The polls indicate a good number of undecided voters and we can help to turn them into votes for Barack.  Let's not forget that this is OUR campaign and our candidate.  He can only do so much and be in one place at a time.

Come on.  Sit down but get right to work.

What do you need?

A computer & a phone.  A smile on your face & a positive attitude.

Where do I go?

Here!  Make calls here!

I am primarily a lurker and sometimes commenter on Kos, but I was alerted to this pretty cool GOTV effort by buyolympia.com and I thought I would share it here in order to reach people in states that have not yet held their primary.  I feel kind of guilty because I ordered some posters to hold onto until the general election!

As a parent of a student at Indiana University (IU), I have been impressed at the get out the vote efforts at IU by the Obama campaign. Voter registration drives on campus have been very successful. Registration to vote in Bloomington makes perfect sense for the November election since the student body will be on campus.  However, the primary schedule and school calendar present a logistic challenge. The spring semester ends this week, with the campus in recess when the May 6 Indiana primary rolls around.  Early voting to the rescue with local Obama organizers providing transportation to the polls.

On Tuesday, my 8-month-old son Hugo and I drove voters to the polls in Chester, PA. Chester is a very economically depressed area just 10 miles from the affluent, educated college town where I grew up (Swarthmore, PA). Every person I met, every place we went, reminded me why it is so important that Barack Obama be our next president.  

I posted a diary about why Obama lost Pennsylvania, and got warned about posting conspiracy theory. Let me restate, again, that one can walk the halls of conspiracy theory forever and get nowhere. So what's the point? There isn't one. What I was pointing out are cold, hard facts of reality.

On the rec list at the same time was this diary by droy20
http://www.dailykos.com/... Which highlights the strange situation of "a win" by a candidate who draws crowds a quarter or less the size of the other candidate. I went on to say it was the voting machines, and had a link to a recent OpEd piece: http://www.opednews.com/...

This morning BarbinMD had a diary titled: The Silence is Deafening about the response to Sunday's NYT piece: http://www.dailykos.com/...
Questions by the White House press corps:  None. Frontpage coverage in major newspapers:  None. Discussion on T.V. talk shows:  None.