Everyone is talking about how this is the most important day in a very long time. But here’s what they won’t tell you — it’s the most important day not because of what happens at the debate, but because of what is quietly going on all over the country.
Sure, there will be lots of painfully bad media spin, lots of confusing polls, and all the rest. Same as we’ve seen before.
But it’s half of the story. The ground game is up to us, and that’s not likely to show up in any of the news coverage.
In 2008 and 2012, the ground game was the margin of victory in many swing states. The Obama campaign understood this and invested heavily in campaign offices and organizing staff. But the organizing staff need volunteers to organize.
The race is closer this time around, and that means the ground game could be the margin of victory for the entire election. The campaign is taking this seriously, but we need to show up and meet them half way.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO TODAY:
Here’s where you go to sign up for a volunteer event. It takes 30 seconds. I challenge everyone here to sign up for something — anything: a phonebank, a canvassing shift, a swing state bus trip, a voter registration drive. Even if you can only show up for an hour to an event, do it!
Here’s what not to do: don’t just sign up for “I will volunteer” on the Clinton campaign homepage — the volunteer organizers are busy and it could be a few weeks before they call you to see if you want to help. The best way to help out, and to do it with your calendar in front of you, is to go to the volunteer event link above and pick an event, sign up, and show up.
I also challenge everyone here to write a diary about a volunteer experience they’ve had in this campaign, and to help recruit more volunteers. This site needs to be filled with organizing diaries from now until election day. It’s the only way we’ll win.