I met an amazing woman at an Obama organization meeting.  She is the county voter registration coordinator.  She says carry your clip board everywhere (with an Obama bumper sticker on the back) and ask everyone if they are registered to vote at their current home address.

When you go to the grocery store ask the check out clerk, ask in the line at the post office.  Ask everyone when you get on the bus in the morning and evening.  

Why?

The Washington Post/ABC poll shows that a bigger turnout benefits Obama.

Obama has an three-point lead among likely voters (49%-46%) (Older voters make up a lot of this group).

Obama has an eight-point lead among registered voters (50%-42%).

And Obama has a twelve-point lead when you expand it to include all adults (51%-39%).

The Huffington Post as a piece here:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/...

An escalating number of voters registering as Democrats is providing evidence that the 2008 election could produce a wave of support for Barack Obama — and trigger a decades-long shift of party allegiance that could affect elections for a generation.

This is excellent news for Barack Obama.

This is for those needing a morale boost during the summer doldrums between primary ending and the national conventions.

Rant time.

On the most critical issue facing Democrats today, I have to say that I'm against the teeth post.  Tacky.  But so-fucking-what?!?!?!?

McCain's teeth aren't going to win us the White House.  McCain's poor speechmaking skills aren't going to win us the White House.  McCain's misspeaking about everything he opens his mouth about isn't going to win us the White House.

WE have to win us the White House [and the House, and the Senate, and governships, and state houses across the country, and dog catchers too].

How do we do that?

How to Win the White House: An Open Letter to the Democrats

Dear Chairman Dean:
I was recently examining some charts on http://uselectionatlas.org/... an incredible database of election history, and realized something crucial. I have known for years about the embarrassingly low turnout in elections, but I had not realized how much this could be used to the Democrats’ advantage.It is a rule of thumb in American politics that the higher the turnout, the more likely the democrats are to win. This comes from one undisputed fact: There are many more Democrats than Republicans, but many Democrats do not vote.

Hi everybody, I wouldn't put this up lightly, as I know this isn't Craigslist, but it's a special case.

I can't go to Netroots Nation. I thought that I could, and indeed was quite stoked about going. However, life has a way of interrupting sometimes, so I will need to live vicariously through everybody else. I also need to sell my registration.

I truly, truly wish that I could be there, the first yearly kos was amazing, and unfortunately I had to cancel out of last years at the last minute too.

Few of us are privy to the Obama campaign's overarching strategy.  (At least few of us who are willing to share.)  So, I have spent some time reading the Obama Campaign's tea leaves.

As most of you know, on May 10, Obama launched "Vote for Change," a national voter registration drive with 101 events nationwide on the launch date.  While each state had at least one meeting site, many had more.  In this blog, I'll run a quick analysis of what we can learn from the locations of the rallies, looking for clues, albeit imperfect ones, about the likely Republican and Democratic veep selections, what is the expected impact of the third party candidates, and ultimately, what states are actually in play.  

To begin with a disclaimer: the number of events likely reflect a number of factors, not just campaign strategy.  I.e. favors to Superdelegates, amount of registration work that has already been completed, down ticket priorities, etc.  The events, however, do provide a very rough, but fun, estimate of where the campaign is directing its attack.  

I got an email last night it read:

Join fellow Obama supporters and staff for a Vote for Change registration drive this Saturday, May 24th.

RSVP for an event near you and bring more people into the political process.

I went onto my next email then perused the headlines. But the seed had been planted. I went back to the email and read it again and clicked the link. I saw an event fairly close to where I live. I thought... maybe. I had dinner watched some TV. I got back online and saw the email again... fine I thought and signed up.

UPDATE: Wow, that was fast! NinePatch is apparently interested (as are a couple others who have contacted me), so it looks like I'm all set. I'll keep this diary up just in case it falls through for some reason. Thanks everyone!!!

I'm registered for Netroots Nation, but now find myself unable to attend :(

NN has a no-refund policy, but does allow for transfer/sale of registrations.

The current registration price is $375; if anyone's interested, I'm willing to sell my registration for less than half of that ($175).

Let me know if you're interested...

PS Sorry if this is considered diary spam and I'll delete it...I figured it was kosher since NN started as yearlyKos, after all :)

I and nine other students at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a plan to promote civic engagement on campus and now seek administration and student support. The Student Civic Initiative (SCI) started in light of the administration's refusal to allow Senator Barack Obama to speak on campus, compelling us to evaluate how the university community engages students in the political process. We crafted this initiative to address a real need for promoting voter education, registration, and protection. The initiative calls on the administration to work with students to develop a fair speakers policy that encourages political candidates from all parties to speak on campus. It also urges administration and Student Union support for a proposed voter registration plan, voter education training for Residential Advisors, and voter protection efforts.

Text of initiative below the fold

I live in Maryland. My state is one of the most solidly Democratic states in the country, and is host to one of the most competitive House districts in the nation (Kratovil for Congress).

Our General Assembly is currently considering some of the most progressive pieces of legislation in the country, including everything from Single-Payer Health Care to Public Financing for Campaigns to Cuts in Greenhouse Emissions.

Yet our state is also one dominated by personalities, not ideals. The Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House are all constantly vying for political influence and power, often pushing ideals aside for political gain.

Our Congressional Delegation includes the Majority Leader and the Chairman of the DCCC. The Speaker of the House is a former citizen of my hometown, and all this conspires to make Maryland one of the most powerful, and one of the most political, states in the nation.

And though for many all these things would be a considerable booster for Democratic pride, for me they have led me to conclude my affiliation with the Democratic Party.

My dad still lives in California.  About 4 weeks ago, I had a talk with him about who he was going to vote for.  Dad's an upper-middle class white guy, 63, and has been very active with his union and Dem politics for quite some time.  He said he just didn't know about Obama, wasn't really keen on voting Clinton, so he thought he was just going to vote Richardson.  He did ask though why I was voting Obama.

So I told him.

Alright, I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I've lived in WA basically my whole life and am a registered voter. The only problem is that I used to live in Kent, WA and now live in the U District within Seattle city limits. How do I change my registration so that I can caucus on Saturday??? I just spent 10 minutes letting the phone ring trying to get ahold of the Sec. of State's info line, and have quite a few friends who are in the same position. I want to make sure that my vote counts and that I can help them through the process.

Thanks guys! OBAMA in '08!!!!

EDIT: If you're feeling very kind you can send instructions to my email, so I can get them on my mobile after I leave the office in 20 minutes.

josh@ciotrust.com

Much love!

(Full disclosure...I am a temp working in an Elections Office)

Yeah. Tomorrow we show up at 6:30 a.m. and work until...well...Buddha knows when. When you go to your polls tomorrow, take into consideration that someone had to call and recruit those people who are working the polling places. Someone had to set up all the signs. Someone had to set up all the tables. Someone had to train the workers. Someone had to get them to send back information so they can get paid. Someone had to supply and set up the polling stations. Someone had make sure there were extra pens, paper supplies, and the ubiquitous "I voted stickers." Someone had to deal with workers calling up the night before saying "well...I don't think I want to do it."

Yeah...betcha hadn't even given that a thought before.

(More rant below the fold)

If you live in Ohio, today is the deadline to have your voter registration sent in, if you are not already registered or if you have moved.

Kossack DrJK put up a diary earlier today warning Texas registration to vote deadline is TODAY.

It fell quick but I want to repost it as a heads up for Texas Kos folks to hustle your friends and families who have yet to register or need to change their registration due to address or other issues.

Here's DrJK's diary warning:

http://www.dailykos.com/...

Registration deadline in Texas is TODAY

The Democratic primary race is tightening.  It's looking like February 5 won't decide anything.  This is pretty exciting for folks in Texas.  I never thought that Texans would matter, with many other states moving ahead of the March 4 primary.  

So Texas may end up mattering a lot (is it coincidence that the video in the Obama Superbowl commercial is from an Austin event I went to).  

Well, the deadline to register in Texas is TODAY.  
Texas Voter Registration

Please spread the word to folks in Texas that registration deadline is TODAY.  The primary is open, so the key is to register, not necessarily in a particular party.

I spent a good chunk of time Sunday looking into recent trends in voter registration.  I was unable to find anything that gave a good state-by-state rundown (maybe someone here who is more proficient at using The Google can help).  Most of what I found, the good stuff with raw numbers, was on the county or district level.  Most of what I found blew me away.  In some cases the Democratic numbers are, quite literally, off the charts.  I was unable to find a single county or district in this entire country in which the Republicans were outpacing the Democrats in registering new voters.  I'm sure some exist, but I challenge you to find one.  It ain't easy.

I'm wondering now about claims from the Obama camp about bringing new voters into the party.  I don't know how to prove or disprove those claims without scientific polling of newly registered Democrats, but correlative data (especially in younger age cohorts) does seem to support these claims.