Blogswarm - Online Political News Magazine

You've heard us say for months that ACT is building "the largest voter mobilization effort in history" but we've kept quiet on the details... until now.

With Election Day just 19 days off, it's time to let you inside our strategy to elect Democrats to federal, state and local elections.

With your help, we've done much more than just talk about building the largest field campaign in history -- we've done it.   And now you can help unleash it on Election Day.

$1200 sponsors a GOTV staging area in the battleground states (we'll have hundreds of them.)

$136.68 rents a van to shuttle canvassers and voters on Election Day (we need more than 1200 vans in Florida alone!)

$75 pays the expenses of an Election Day canvasser (we will have 45,000!)

Please make your secure online contribution here. 

Just last week, paid ACT canvassers logged over 60,000 hours of targeted door-to-door canvassing.  And it's working!  Thanks to a recent test here in Wisconsin, we have a preview of what's to come: 

Last month, during the Wisconsin congressional primary (September 18th), ACT-WI targeted 70,000 households in a base Democratic areas near Milwaukee.  800 ACT staff and volunteers canvassed the area intensively for 36 hours, knocking on the door of each Democratic household twice. 

 

The result? Unprecedented turnout in a Wisconsin Congressional Primary! For only the second time in Milwaukee's history, African American turnout exceeded white turnout.

There's no secret here.  We're encouraging people to think about the issues and exercise their right to vote.  This is how we'll defeat George W. Bush and elect Democratic leadership in federal, state and local elections here in Wisconsin and around the country.  But it can't be done without your support.

Please help fund ACT's Election Day operations today.

There is no more effective way to contribute to Democratic victories than by giving to ACT in these final days.  Each dollar you can give will be put directly to work in the specific precincts where votes are needed most. 

And we need you on the ground, too.  I encourage you to come work with us in a battleground state this weekend and in the days ahead.  Join thousands who have already signed up to volunteer in a battleground state here .

Thank you for everything you've done and everything you will do in the days ahead.

Sincerely,

Tamara Pogue
State Director
ACT-Wisconsin

PS:  Read more about our plan in this week's Time Magazine http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101041018/nmehlman.html and help put it in action by contributing any amount you can give. 

As you know, this Friday, the Democratic Party is facing another critical fundraising deadline. I know from experience the importance of this deadline because it is when strategists need to make key decisions about battleground states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and about all our key races.

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

In 2000, my campaign had to make excruciatingly difficult decisions on allocating our resources to the most winnable states. We knew the final margin would be razor thin, but we had to pick and choose which states we could afford to saturate with TV ads during the final drive to Election Day.

We were forced by the limitations of our campaign funding to make a series of tough choices -- including a decision to go for it in Florida and scale back in Ohio. If we had been able to pay for a full TV ad campaign in all of the key battleground states, we might not have lost Ohio by a thin margin. And of course, even though I think we won Florida, well, you know what happened there.

So don't let this happen again -- contribute now.

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

In these closing weeks, let's make sure that the Democratic Party has the resources to go all out for John Kerry and the Democratic ticket in Florida and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Michigan and elsewhere. Your contribution right now will make sure the Party has the ability to compete in every single battleground state.

Right now, party strategists are making those tough, last-minute decisions about where to spend resources. With your help, this time the Supreme Court will not pick the next president, and the current president will not pick the next Supreme Court.

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

You've put George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the Republican attack machine on the run. In these final weeks, they can't win a fair fight -- and you, the members of the Democratic Party's amazing online community, have the ability to make it a fair fight. Please respond as quickly as you can.

Then on November 2, we'll be celebrating our victories up and down the ballot in Ohio and Florida and other battleground states across the nation -- and not only in the popular vote, but in the electoral college too.

On to victory,

Al Gore

Stop the draft:

Watch the new draft ad:

www.bushandthedraft.com

Last week you demanded honesty about the draft--and people heard you. Cable news channels and major newspapers have been buzzing about the draft since you signed the petition. Last night's moderator at the Presidential debate even raised this question once again.

Other organizations also heard--and are following your lead. MoveOn and a group called Win Back Respect produced a TV ad about this issue. Over a million young people will see this ad on The Daily Show, MTV, and ESPN.

You can add to this momentum even more--tell some friends about the draft petition you signed:

www.democracyforamerica.com/SpreadNoDraft

We still have work to do getting our message out. The mainstream media coverage has focused on unsubstantiated rumors of some "secret plan" for a draft. They are missing the point.

It's not about a secret plan--we are concerned about a draft because, when it comes to meeting all of the military commitments he has made, George Bush has no plan.

He says he will "stay the course". But if we stay the course with this president, he will face a choice: drastically reduce our commitments or reinstate the draft. Ask your friends to join you in asking which one he will choose:

www.democracyforamerica.com/SpreadNoDraft

We see the results of his failed leadership. He chose not to bring meaningful allied help into Iraq. He allowed al Qaeda, North Korea, and Iran to become more dangerous. And he has left our homeland unprotected by sending the National Guard to Iraq. George Bush says he has no plans to reinstate the draft--but his reckless decisions may leave no choice.

A quiet draft has already begun--and it is no secret. Active duty soldiers who finish their commitments are being forced to stay on. We have begun calling up forces like the Individual Ready Reserves, consisting of older reservists who have not been on active duty and have not trained for some time. And there's no end in sight.

Americans need the facts. Inform your friends and ask them to sign the petition so that together we can demand the honesty we deserve.

Thank you,

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

P.S. Here's what some of you are saying about the draft:

"As a young American who cares deeply about my country, I deserve to know if a draft will be put into effect. If not, how do you plan to fill the troop commitments necessary for success?"
--Ajay N.

"I have heard so many things over the years from politicians that have not been true that I no longer take anything for granted. I don't see how the country can continue under the present commitments of our armed forces with a complete volunteer military. If the intention is to bring back the draft I would like to know now and not after the presidential election. An informed voter is an intelligent voter."
--Charles M.

"Staying the course means we're going to need more troops in our go-it-alone strategy. How will we get them?"
--Carl T.

"A feasible, realistic plan needs to developed, shared with the American public and put in place to bring peace in Iraq and end American occupation of the territory. Can this be done without instituting a military draft? The American people want to know before the 2004 presidential election."
--Sharon S.

"Our forces are stretched thin and the situation in Iraq is getting worse. We will no doubt be there a long time and other troubles lurk on the horizon. Be honest with America and tell us how we are going to do this without the draft."
--Phil S.

"My wife and I have deep concerns about this issue. We've been through the Vietnam years and saw how the draft split this country in half. We don't want to have to relive our worst nightmares, not with our sons."
--Lance K.

"A straight and clear answer, please."
--Janice M.

Ask someone you know to speak out: www.democracyforamerica.com/SpreadNoDraft

In July it was Michigan.
Last week it was Ohio.¹
Today it's Milwaukee!²

We must protect democracy wherever forces attempt to suppress and disenfranchise voters.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker today denied Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's request for additional ballots for use on November 2.

After receiving only 679,000 ballots -- less than the city was given in 2000 and 2002 -- Milwaukee's mayor, expecting major turnout in this election, asked the County Executive for more ballots. "No way," said the county, telling the Associated Press that election-fraud "'chaos' could occur at understaffed polling places where voters could grab ballots."

We cannot allow the County Executive to deny Milwaukee voters their right to cast a ballot on Election Day.

The stakes have never been higher and people will do almost anything to influence the outcome.

Sign the petition - insist that Walker provide the ballots Milwaukee needs to ensure a fair election!

http://www.pfaw.org/go/letmilwaukeevote

Bush said in the second presidential debate that there would be no revival of the military draft under any circumstances if he is re-elected. "We're not going to have a draft, period," the president said.

However, Kerry told The Des Moines Register, "With George Bush (news - web sites), the plan for Iraq is more of the same and the great potential of a draft." The interview was published Friday as Kerry was leaving for Wisconsin and a speech on the economy.

Bush said in the second presidential debate that there would be no revival of the military draft under any circumstances if he is re-elected. "We're not going to have a draft, period," the president said.

However, Kerry told The Des Moines Register, "With George Bush (news - web sites), the plan for Iraq is more of the same and the great potential of a draft." The interview was published Friday as Kerry was leaving for Wisconsin and a speech on the economy.

George Bush repeatedly talks about the need to spread freedom around the world. However, here at home, his own campaign has engaged in a nationwide effort to keep people from casting votes. Across the country, in important swing state after important swing state, Republicans want to reduce the number of people who vote in the upcoming election:

In Colorado, they do not want you to vote.
In Florida, they do not want you to vote.
In Minnesota, the do not want you to vote.
In Nevada, they do not want you to vote.
In Ohio, they do not want you to vote.
In Oregon, they do not want you to vote.
In Pennsylvania, they do not want you to vote.
In West Virginia, they do not want you to vote.
In Wisconsin, they do not want you to vote.

By contrast, Democrats have worked tirelessly to register as many new voters as possible and increase national participation in the political process nationwide. In state after state, Democrats have registered tens of thousands more new voters than Republicans. One party wants you to vote; one party does not. This is something voters need to know.

Don't fall for it, Compare | Decide | Vote November 2nd at www.comparedecidevote.com

Thursday, October 14, 2004