I don't remember if this generated a diary two weeks ago, but in light of the new USA Today/Gallup poll feature on the front page, James Dobson's voter registration/education/manipulation campaign deserves some attention.
First, see the L. A. Times story
here. Note two key paragraphs:
The new voter registration program puts a special focus this year on eight states with key Senate, House and state-level races. Turning out core voters is central to the GOP strategy to retain control of Congress, especially as the party struggles with negative public sentiment over the war in Iraq and other administration policies.
The program, announced in an e-mail to activists last week, is seeking county and church coordinators in the targeted states of Maryland, Montana, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Minnesota.
With the exception of Missouri, this list looks a lot like the USA Today Story and the frong page dkos story and discussion.
People in all of these places need to be prepared to frame and respond to Dobson's events.
Here is an excellent report and analysis by Bob Allen of ehticsdaily.com. Note this change in Dobson's strategy:
Dobson earlier targeted six Democratic "red-state" senators for defeat in 2006 for opposing the president's judicial nominees. None are included in his new eight-race focus. In the one state that overlaps, Minnesota, the incumbent, Dayton, isn't running.
Dobson's own press release lists sites and dates for three of the events so far:
The rallies will be held Sept. 20 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh; Oct. 3 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul; and Oct. 16 at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.