Like Devilstower, I was out in the crappy St. Louis weather today knocking doors for Dean in the four precincts I adopted in U. City, the first suburb west of St. Louis.
However, I was out from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and only survived by dropping home to change out of all of my cold, soaking wet clothes at about 2 p.m.
I have to agree with the issue of fluidity here in St. Louis. I did not talk to a lot of folks since there were not a lot of folks home, but those who were were almost universally undecided. I don't know how they will break, but it seems that Kerry's mo might be slowing a little.
Whatever happens, I did persuade at least three folks to support Dean (two of them were wavering between Kerry and Dean, go figure), and in addition to leaving the Dean pamphlet with everyone I canvassed, I also wrote my own two-page screed explaining why I supported Dean and why they should as well. I bundled these two things together with a rubber band, which made it easier to hang them on doorknobs. Wish I had had some door hangers too...
Thanks to Del in MO for the key points of that appeal: Dean is courageous and has stood up against Bush since the beginning (everyone else is a johnny come lately); Dean is compassionate and the only guy running who actually has a proven record of delivering results to constituents, with an emphasis on healthcare, balanced budgets, Success by Six, jobs and the two tax cuts.
I do not think that Kerry will get more than 50% here. I am hoping that he is kept below 40% somehow (and Edwards folks had also canvassed at least two of my precincts so he has been active in St. Louis). In fact, I would like to believe that his support is so soft that any hint that he has special interest problems or fundraising scandal problems, or a slight record of accomplishment for 16 years in the Senate, or a lack of a backbone for voting for so many of the Bush Administration bills, will peel folks away from him.
As for tomorrow, the polls open at 6 a.m., and I will be there early to set up signs. I will also be there for parts of the day to hand out last minute "vote for Dean" flyers, and I am wondering exactly how this will all turn out at the end of the day. Guess we will know tomorrow night.
One final data point: my house has been called by Kerry, Edwards, and Dean folks in the past 3 days. Edwards supporters, as I noted above, are the only other ground forces that I have seen, and despite that visit, all three folks living here will still be voting for Dean.