"If people thought the Democrats were just going to roll over and play dead . . ."

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October 24, 2010

AP -WASHINGTON - Election Day is already over for more than 3 million Americans, and a surprising number of them are Democrats.

Republicans clearly are gaining ground in turning out early voters compared with their showing two years ago, but figures from the first batch of states that offer clues about 2010 early voting patterns still give Democrats an edge in a number of states and big counties.

If people thought the Democrats were just going to roll over and play dead in this election, that's not what we're seeing," said Michael McDonald, a George Mason University professor who tracks early voting nationally. "They've got to be feeling a little bit better with the numbers that they're seeing."While it's impossible to tell for whom people are voting, so far more Democrats than Republicans are casting ballots in Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina, Louisiana and Nevada's heavily Democratic Clark County, which supplied two-thirds of the state's voters in 2008 . . .

Strategies run the gamut: In Washington state, Democrats held a "tweetup" to rein in young early voters. In Illinois, a voter-education group posted a YouTube video about the state's early-voting law highlighting the ability to vote naked - from the comfort of home, please. In Florida, Democrats e-mailed a notice that "Today is Election Day. No, that's not a typo, because every day between now and November 2 is Election Day."With nearly every indicator in a new Associated Press-GfK poll pointing toward big GOP victories, the Democrats' ground-game advantage is squaring off against the Republicans' enthusiasm edge - and the outcome could determine who wins close races.

Democrats hope they can minimize sweeping coast-to-coast losses with a retooled get-out-the-vote operation that's been tweaked since Barack Obama's groundbreaking 2008 presidential campaign and tested during several special House elections the party recently has won . . .

read more: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/oct/24/240851/millions-nationwide-take-advantage-of-early-voting/news-politics/


Online Tools Allow Democrats To Volunteer From Home
http://www.neontommy.com/news/2010/10/new-online-tools-allow-young-democrats-volunteer-campaign-efforts

Members can join the Vote 2010 Call Team and make calls online (http://www.democrats.org/news/blog/join_the_vote_2010_call_team )

Or participate in the Commit to Vote Challenge by signing a pledge to vote Democrat and challenging others to do the same via Facebook. (http://www.barackobama.com/commit-to-vote-challenge/?source=csc )

[babylonsister]

1. This is great news imo; maybe the rethugs really have

inspired the Dems to vote. We'll take it! :thumbsup:

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3. our republican antagonists

. . . have definitely engaged Democratic voters with their antics and arrogance. It was brilliant of them to patronize and insult Latino voters. But, hey, what did we really expect from them? Their campaigns are empty of ideas, save their expressed hatred of anything Obama.

[Pirate Smile]

2. Vote naked? How did I miss that.

;)

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4. that is a giggle

cute :)

[brewens]

5. I suppressed the gag reflex long enough to fill in the bubble

for my Congressthing Walt Minnick D-Idaho. I suppose though that he does as well as he can if he hopes to hang onto his seat. An actual liberal from Idaho would get hammered hard enough that they wouldn't even run for re-election.

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6. that's the dilemma in organizing behind a party

We have to get our party in place to actually have a chance to significantly affect and advance legislation. Unfortunately, our progressive-minded Democrats don't yet make up the majority of the elected. The disparate and diverse interests of the ones who manage to get enough votes to win are a reflection of the variety of Democratic voters around the nation who support them. It's sometimes hard for folks with a good liberal base of voters to understand how it is for folks deep in republican dominated regions.

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7. kick