All credible measures have Barack Obama leading John McCain by anywhere from 5-15 percentage points nationally and by similar margins in critical "battleground" states. Certain polls even have our candidate leading in such solidly Republican states as Virginia and North Carolina. And West Virginia, a state no one thought Obama could capture following the Democratic primaries, is looking like friendly ground for the Democrat. But the race is not over, and now is not the time to grow complacent or too sure of ourselves.
It has been said multiple times that we, as Democrats specifically or Obama supporters generally, ought to start acting like we are winning. I absolutely agree. Projecting confidence at this point in the race is crucial, but we must remember that there are still three weeks left. Many of you will hound me for reminding you of the obvious, but bear with me. Because it is not enough simply to win. We must create a mandate that will make a President Obama effective in governance. In other words, we need to pound John McCain and his Republican ass-bag cronies into the ground and send them crying back to the cesspool of bigotry, elitism and dishonest manipulation of the American electorate from whence they came. I want nothing less than an electoral day slaughter. And I will settle for nothing less.
Strong words I know but I imagine I'm not the only one around here that feels this way. So this is what I am asking, of all of us (myself and my girlfriend, the lovely if understated luckystarr included): do not stop working. I fear an election day where enthusiasm fizzles. Where people do not make it to the polls because "Obama is up enough already." He is not, and he will not be until he is polling at 100%. I know this is unrealistic impossible, but it is the attitude we must have in the coming weeks. The campaign lasts until the polls close.
So keep phone banking, canvassing and otherwise volunteering. Remind friends, family members and coworkers backing Obama to get to the polls on November 4, if they haven't voted already. And make sure they understand the importance of down-ticket races. We need not just our man in the White House, but the political will to make our vision of the New American Century a reality, and that comes from a Democratic supermajority in both houses. As well as Democratic state legislatures and governorships. I commented on another diary that there is a culture war being waged in this country, and now is our moment to end it, once and for all.
We must win this election, and we must win big. We need all 538.