Here's Nate Silver in the New York Times:

Voting for Mr. Ryan’s bill probably did not help many of the 60 or so Republican representatives whose districts were carried by Barack Obama in 2008. Still, if the public regarded the vote as more or less the usual partisan posturing on the budget — Democrats vote one way, Republicans the other — the down side of backing the Ryan plan might have been limited.

Once some Republicans start to defect, though, the public may come to view the bill in a different way. Instead of seeing it as a division between Republicans and Democrats — neither of whom are trusted much on budget issues — voters may instead start to see it as a division between moderate Republicans and extremely conservative ones. Voters who are not steeped in the bill’s particulars may well take that as a signal that it is too extreme, and that the “reasonable” majoritarian position is to oppose the plan.

The bigger problem for the Republicans, though, is a snowball effect: each Republican lawmaker who comes out against the bill makes it a bit less popular — and that in turn increases the incentive for other Republicans to break ranks too. Some Republican House members might be willing to stomach voting for a bill that has the support of 45 percent of the voters in their districts, but if popular support is just 40 percent, or 35 percent, they may throw in the towel. So a feedback loop develops, and one defection begets another.

And that's where we are now. Senators are fleeing the sinking ship, and POLITICO is running stories about "who's to blame" in the Republican Party.

But, in the end, this is just the Republican Party showing their true colors, and the American people not liking what they see.

And, up to now, there are remarkably few rules on what they can do with it. John Kerry and John McCain recently introduced the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights to try to set the rules of the road. Today, they wrote in The Hill explaining what it's all about:

Last year, Internet users sent 107 trillion emails, Facebook hosted 600 million users, Twitter hosted 155 million tweets per day, and Americans across the country shared personal data when checking into hotels, shopping for groceries and refilling their cars. In many ways, all this information sharing is good for consumers. When companies collect data and use it with high ethical standards and the full knowledge and participation of their customers, they can generate immense economic activity, innovate and tailor the services they deliver to the clients they serve. 

But today the data collectors are setting the rules. Companies can harvest our personal information and keep it for as long as they like. They can use it and sell it without asking permission. You shouldn’t have to be a computer genius to figure out how to opt out of a company’s information sharing policy. In short, these companies, from mobile phone operators to hotels to websites, can do almost whatever they want with our personal information, and we have no legal right to stop them. 

That’s why we introduced the The Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights to keep our private data safe by laying down fair information practices for anyone collecting it. Our legislation will ensure that businesses collecting personal information secure that information, tell people why their data is being collected and allow people to have a say in whether they want their information used. If these companies turn around and transfer this information, any agreements they have made to secure the privacy of their consumers’ information would travel along with it. And if someone requests a company to stop using personal information, they finally have the legal power to make that demand.

John Kerry has introduced, with bipartisan support, the BUILD Act to revolutionize the way we build and maintain our national infrastructure. Today, he was in Taunton, describing the situation:

Greater innovation combined with new investments in infrastructure and energy is vital to the nation’s future, Sen. John Kerry told a group of local business and education leaders Friday during a stop in Taunton.

“This is an important time for all of us to think about your country and where it’s going,” said Kerry, D-Mass., who was speaking at the Taunton Inn to state Sen. Marc Pacheco’s Business and Economic Advisory Council. Pacheco created the informal group several years ago to discuss economic issues facing the region.

Kerry touted his BUILD Act legislation and criticized the Republican Sen. Paul Ryan’s budget plan, which he called “reckless” and “dangerous.”

America’s infrastructure and transit system is dated and has fallen behind that of many other industrialized nations, the 2004 presidential nominee said. The BUILD Act legislation, if enacted, would create an infrastructure bank to fund large-scale infrastructure improvements projects. The fund, which would not use grants, would only fund projects that will generate revenue and will be able to repay the loan.

“We need to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world,” Kerry said.

The 21st century economy we need depends on a modern infrastructure. Right now, we need to do better to be competitive in this new economy.

Paul Krugman has a great piece detailing that budget today:

Many commentators swooned earlier this week after House Republicans, led by the Budget Committee chairman, Paul Ryan, unveiled their budget proposals. They lavished praise on Mr. Ryan, asserting that his plan set a new standard of fiscal seriousness.

Well, they should have waited until people who know how to read budget numbers had a chance to study the proposal. For the G.O.P. plan turns out not to be serious at all. Instead, it’s simultaneously ridiculous and heartless. [...]

In particular, the original voodoo proposition — the claim that lower taxes mean higher revenue — is still very much there. The Heritage Foundation projection has large tax cuts actually increasing revenue by almost $600 billion over the next 10 years.

A more sober assessment from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office tells a different story. It finds that a large part of the supposed savings from spending cuts would go, not to reduce the deficit, but to pay for tax cuts. In fact, the budget office finds that over the next decade the plan would lead to bigger deficits and more debt than current law.

It's not a serious budget. It's just more ideology divorced from reality.

Now, in a much tougher political climate in 2010, John Kerry again stepped up, helping in races across the country, playing a key role in the Democratic retention of the Senate. Here's a good article by the Boston Globe:

I love Harry Reid, and we all need Harry Reid as Majority Leader -- and make no mistake: he needs your help. It all comes down to this -- time is running out! DON'T FORGET TO GO VOTE!

Early voting ends today. Make your voice heard NOW! Click here to find your early voting polling location. You can also call 1-888-525-VOTE (8683).

Every vote counts -- no one can afford to stay home. So click here now for hours, directions and information on where you can vote early.

This election is too important, don't wait -- cast your vote TODAY! Click here to find your early voting polling location, or call 1-888-525-VOTE (8683).

 

 

Thanks,

John Kerry

 

 

They want the majority to go after Obama. That's it. Here's McConnell in his own words:

The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

That's it. Laid bare for all to see. This is not a party with real ideas on how to meet the challenges we face, no program to bring good jobs to Americans, or reform our energy use to deal with the crisis of climate change and create clean energy jobs, or ideas on how to straighten out the foreclosure mess in our country. Nope, the only ideas they have are political, and the only people who will benefit from their ideas are themselves.

For most of this year, the volume of this debate has turned way up as the 'skeptics' launched a determined assault on the climate findings accepted by the overwhelming majority of the scientific community. Unfortunately, the increased noise has only made it harder for people to untangle the arguments and form their own opinions. This is problematic because the way the public's views are shaped is critical to future political action on climate change. [...]

[The Columbia University study's] clear conclusion is that the primary claims of the skeptics do not undermine the assertion that human-made climate change is already happening and is a serious long term threat. Indeed, the recent publication on the State of the Climate by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), analyzing over thirty indicators, or climate variables, concludes that the Earth is warming and that the past decade was the warmest on record. [...]

Simply put, the science shows us that climate change due to emissions of greenhouse gases is a serious problem. Furthermore, due to the persistence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the lag in response of the climate system, there is a very high probability that we are already heading towards a future where warming will persist for thousands of years. Failing to insure against that high probability does not seem a gamble worth taking.

Failing to act on this vital problem will haunt our society for generations.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday will make clear that he opposes any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies.

Mr. Obama’s opposition to allowing the high-end tax cuts to remain in place for even another year or two would be the signal many Congressional Democrats have been awaiting as they prepare for a showdown with Republicans on the issue and ends speculation that the White House might be open to an extension.

The choice is pretty clear. Republicans are braying loudly, but they just want to drag us back to the policies that got us in this mess in the first place. Let's keep move forward away from the mess of the past, not back into it.

Say goodbye to the 10-point lead Republicans enjoyed in last week's Gallup poll of generic congressional preferences. 

Gallup's weekly tracking poll of the generic ballot, a key predictor of voters' actions in elections, showed Democrats and Republicans tied at 46 percent -- down from the 10-point lead the GOP held just a week ago.

What this really means is not that the parties are tied, but that the election is very volatile. There's a lot of economic pain out there, but people are disgusted by the GOP. It will take a lot of work, but we can win this race in the fall.

Hello Brian,

Not a lot of time left, so here are the three quick reasons why I need you to dig deep and help Martha Coakley in these final crucial days in her slugfest down to the wire battle against the national Republican Party and the powerful special interest bankrolling his campaign:

1. It's not the Massachusetts way to see the seat Ted Kennedy served in for 47 years handed off to someone who has pledged again and again to destroy Ted's life's work - health care reform.

2.  It's wrong to allow Republican money to pour into Massachusetts at the last moment to distort, deceive, and divide the way to a Republican win. But the anonymously funded, shadowy right wing groups are blanketing the air with ads attacking Martha Coakley. they're counting on you taking a pass on this race.

3. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. We were losing 800,000 jobs a month under George W Bush, and Martha Coakley's opponent didn't stand up and fight. Now he says he'll be "independent." Where was he when people were hurting the most? Martha will fight for jobs in Massachusetts and across the country - and she'll do what she's done as Attorney General: stand up to the scam artists and the sub-prime mortgage pushers and all those who drove our economy into the ditch. We need her in the Senate to fight alongside us.

Those are the stakes - I need you to contribute what you can to help.

National Republican groups - including some of the people who funded the attack ads against me in 2004 - are bringing their lies to this race in Massachusetts.

The GOP is looking at next week's election as a key contest in their drive to stop reform,  so please, give $20, $50, or $100 dollars to Martha Coakley for this vital election.

The Republican Party drove us into a ditch, and we're not going to let them stop us as we climb our way out of it.

Thank you for all you've done.

Sincerely,
John Kerry

Hello,

We need to fight back against the lies, fight back with the truth.

The pattern is always the same. Right-wing front groups spend weeks or months peddling a distortion, putting millions of dollars behind ads, pushing out chain emails, misleading millions into believing lies. And then they push it into the center of the debate.

The health care fight has been marked by outragous distortions -- from so-called "death panels" to lies about the public option. And the battle to stop climate change and build a clean energy future is shaping up the same way. We need to fight back before the debate gets to that point; we need to spend as much time building support for the truth as they do building support for lies.

That's why I'll be launching TruthFightsBack.com to fight back against the lies from Big Oil and other forces of the status quo. And I need your help. They are already putting millions of dollars behind the distortions; we need to do all we can to give the truth a fighting chance.

Please contribute what you can to help the truth fight back.

TruthFightsBack.com will do more than give you the truth; it will give you the tools you need to push the truth, to raise the volume of the truth loud enough to drown out the shouting of the lies. And millions of activists can be our eyes and ears to make sure everyone knows the distortions that are coming.

We need to buy ads on search engines, hire researchers to fight back in real time, build the best tools to push the truth in every way we can, from letters to the editor to influencing social media like Facebook and Twitter to email networks. This is the way debates in the 21st century will be won, and we need to make sure we can win them.

So please do what you can to help. Whether it's $25, $50, $100 or more, every contribution will give the truth more of a chance to fight back.

The stakes are too high to let distortions and lies twist our debate. Our planet is endangered by ever-increasing carbon pollution. We need to fight for a clean energy future where America is in charge of our own power.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Senator John Kerry

We'll need all the help we can get to make this site work. The forces of the status quo are putting millions of dollars behind distortions and lies, so we need to all join together to fight back with the truth.

Here's a personal look ... I was driving through Indiana way back in September, a month before the Kerry-Boxer climate bill was introduced, and months before the full Senate will consider it, and already I saw billboards saying that Democratic Senator Evan Bayh "kills jobs" because of support for climate legislation. Now, even leaving aside the fact that Evan Bayh hasn't announced any support for the legislation, the billboard is flat out wrong. Dealing with our dirty energy economy will unleash a wave of innovation and creating millions of good-paying jobs that can't be outsourced overseas. It - along with health care reform and reform of our financial industry - is a vital step to reforming our economy and making it ready for the challenges of the 21st Century.

So please do what you can to help:

TruthFightsBack.com

Steven Hayward, the F.K. Weyerhaeuser fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, recently said, “The brain waves of the American right continue to be erratic, when they are not flat-lining.”  He may have had in mind his AEI colleague Kenneth Green, whose lack of knowledge on climate was laid bare for all to see by Sen. John Kerry in today’s Finance Committee hearing [...]

Green’s lame defense of himself is no surprise since he regularly spouts stuff like, “No matter what you’ve been told, the technology to significantly reduce emissions is decades away and extremely costly” — from a 2008 speech AEI later removed from their website (excerpts here).  And last month, he weirdly compared EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to Clint Eastwood and carbon polluters to criminals.

Kudos to Senator Kerry for exposing this American Enterprise Institute “expert.”

Joe embeds the video, so go watch ...

I don't know if anyone who hasn't had a family member or close friend striken by cancer. We've made a lot of progress against the disease, and it's organizations like the Jimmy Fund and events like the PanMass Challenge who are leading the fight.

So please do what you can by following this link:

Give to support the PanMass Challenge

Hearing: The Consumer Wireless Experience

I live in Northern Middlesex county. The aftermath of this ice storm resembles the aftermath of a tornado more than anything else.  There were trees down all around where I live. Some were thin, shallow-rooted trees like birch and "junk" maples. Those are relatively easy to clear out or move aside so work crews can collect them later. There were also a lot of big thick pine and oak and other trees that crashed down as well. Many of these trees dropped onto power lines, went through windows or roofs of houses or landed on car tops. Getting these trees or branches removed is a lot harder to do. The cleanup from this storm is going to last a long, long time.

My house was without power from early Friday morning through mid-afternoon Monday. Like so many others in New England, my family dealt with the storm by piling up logs for the wood stove and fireplace, wrapping pipes in the basement and praying that the insulation would keep out the freezing cold. My husband and I surveyed the damage on our lot and gathered information for the insurance adjusters. Our neighbors managed to get through the storm with the same minor damage we did. We were all fairly lucky.  There were many more in Massachusetts who were not so lucky and will be cleaning up from this storm for a long while.

The Lawrence Eagle Tribune has a webpage up simply called Ice Monster. There are pictures there that detail the almost unimaginable destruction the ice storm left behind. It mirrors scenes I saw in my town; roads made nearly impassable by tree branches, huge piles of wood and debris pushed into the side of the road, homes and businesses trying to operate on generators. The DPW workers have been working around the clock to try and clear the worst of the hazards and get schools up and running and roads cleared.  They have done incredible, exhausting work and deserve a lot of thanks and praise for their dedication.

For a lot of people who are already dealing with the effects of the bad economy, this is one more costly blow to absorb. I talked to families who had managed to put some money away for the Holidays who now have to redirect that cash to deal with the affects of the storm. The need is going to be even greater this year at local food pantries and assistance centers as people try to figure out how they are going to recover from the cost of this storm amid other financial hardships. I hope the spirit of generosity, patience and humor that I saw displayed in so many folks this past weekend will extend over the winter.  It will be sorely needed

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) sent out these tips for dealing with the effects of this storm.  Share these with friends and neighbors who are still coping with storm-related problems.

Post-Storm Tips

MEMA offers safety tips to those who continue to be impacted by the recent Ice Storm.

• During the outage, do not open your refrigerator or freezer door. Food can stay cold in a full refrigerator for up to 24 hours, and in a well-packed freezer for 48 hours (24 hours if it is half-packed). After that time frame, you must consider disposing of this food.
• If you have medication that requires refrigeration, check with your pharmacist for guidance on proper storage during an extended outage.
• To keep pipes from freezing, wrap them in insulation or layers of newspapers, covering the newspapers with plastic to keep out moisture.
• Let faucets drip a trickle of water from the faucet farthest from your water meter to help keep pipes from freezing.
• If pipes freeze, remove insulation, completely open all faucets and pour hot water over the pipes, starting where they are most exposed to the cold. A hand-held hair dryer, used with caution, also works well.
• In order to protect against possible voltage irregularities that can occur when power is restored, you should unplug all sensitive electronic equipment, including your TVs, stereo, VCR, microwave oven, computer, cordless telephone, answering machine and garage door opener.
• Be extra cautious around downed or hanging electrical wires. Expect all wires to be live wires. Never attempt to touch or move downed lines. Do not touch anything power lines are touching, such as tree branches or fences.
• Do not become a 'spectator'. Continue to stay off streets in the affected areas, letting the crews do their jobs.
• Call 2-1-1 for non-emergency storm-related questions.

President-elect Barack Obama plans to appoint a new White House official to coordinate efforts to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear or biological weapons, advisers say, giving the highest priority to thwarting a catastrophic attack that a bipartisan panel warns could come in the next five years.

Naming a top deputy whose sole mission is to oversee the government's wide-ranging programs to stop such an attack would mark a significant break with the Bush administration, which in resisting such a post has maintained that US efforts to reduce nuclear stockpiles and safeguard deadly pathogens are adequate.

In the 2004 Presidential debates, both Senator Kerry and President Bush both agreed that the single most serious threat to the US and the world was nuclear proliferation. However, as noted in the Globe story, the Bush Administration has not increased efforts to combat this growing threat.

 Senator Kerry wrote an OpEd earlier this year that laid out a list of four things that the US could do to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation.  

First, engage the American people in this cause. Within the first 100 days, the next president should give a policy address demonstrating his commitment to a nuclear-weapons-free world. Generations have grown up never knowing anything but the old order of mutually assured destruction, but the stage is already set for a big policy shift. In fact, 17 of the 24 former secretaries of state and defence and national security advisers support moving towards a nuclear-free world. This bipartisan council of elders includes cold-eyed realists such as Henry Kissinger and George Schultz and defence hawks such as Sam Nunn and Bill Perry. The new president should bring this august group to the White House Rose Garden so Americans can see at first hand the face of a new consensus.

Second, create a new position: a deputy national security adviser to the president, whose sole responsibility is to prevent nuclear terrorism.

Third, empower this individual to lead an accelerated effort - a Manhattan Project in reverse: instead of racing to assemble a bomb, make sure nobody else can. We should aim to secure all "loose" nuclear material worldwide by the end of the next president's first term and establish a global gold standard for their safe custody.

Fourth, the new president should ensure that our nuclear policy reflects the cold war's conclusion almost two decades ago. The US and Russia no longer need a combined stockpile of more than 20,000 warheads, many of them on "hair trigger" alert. We can and should work to extend the 1991 strategic arms reduction treaty, reach a new agreement reducing strategic nuclear forces resulting in no greater than 1,000 deployed warheads, and increase warning times prior to launch.

The points raised by Sen. Kerry are in line with the recommendations contained in the report being released today.  The Boston Globe summarized those recommendations as follows:

Report Recommendations

• Stop nuclear weapons programs in Iran and North Korea, using diplomacy backed by credible threat of force.
• Work with Pakistan and other countries to eliminate terrorist safe havens and secure nuclear and biological materials in that country.
• Do comprehensive review of global nuclear security and restructure relationship with Russia.
• Work with Russia to jointly reduce dangers, including extending provisions expiring in 2009 in strategic arms treaty, upgrading security at sites in Russia, and encouraging China, India, and Pakistan to stop producing fissile material.
• Review and tighten measures to secure dangerous pathogens, including high-risk biolabs; improve rapid response to prevent mass casualties from biological attacks.
• Press for international conference on biosecurity, strengthen global disease surveillance networks.
• Impose penalties for violating nuclear nonproliferation treaty, strengthen International Atomic Energy Agency, ensure access to nuclear fuel for countries without nuclear weapons.
• Designate a principal White House adviser on nuclear and biological weapons and terrorism, restructure National Security Council and Homeland Security Council.
• Reform congressional oversight of nonproliferation and terrorism.
• Accelerate integration of counterproliferation, counterterrorism, and law enforcement agencies.
• More effectively counter the ideology fueling terrorists who might use nuclear or biological weapons.
• Within six months of new administration, develop a checklist of actions for which citizens can hold government accountable.

SOURCE: Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism

What a difference an election can make.  It is encouraging to see this issue being given the prominence it deserves. The Commission report encourages the Congress and President to work together to oversee efforts to contain the spread of nuclear and biological material that could wind up in terrorist hands.This is a very welcome development and heralds a new seriousness on the part of the US to deal with this extremely important issue.

It used to be a dream, a nearly impossible goal: 60 seats on the Senate, a filibuster-proof majority to bring real change, and a resounding, mandate-sized majority in the House.

But now it's possible. And it's possible because of some amazing races in places no one thought possible. We can turn out some Republicans that are directly opposed to our values, and bring in some great Democrats.

Senators Saxby Chambliss, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and arch-conservative Marilyn Musgrave in the House, all can be beaten.

But we won't be able to do it without all of us doing everything we can right now. This is the vital moment, the time for maximum effort to change our country forever.

Right in my home state of Georgia, Jim Martin has put together a campaign that is shocking the political world. No one gave Jim a chance against Saxby Chambliss, but Jim put together a great grassroots campaign and the polls have closed to a virtual tie. But, believe me, I know, Saxby Chambliss will run any smear, stoop to any low attack, in his attempt to win. So we have to give Jim the resources he'll need to fight back.

And in Kentucky, Bruce Lunsford stepped up to take on the challenge that few thought could be met: taking down the chief roadblock in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. No one in Congress has done more to block the change we need than Mitch McConnell, and Bruce has brought him to the brink of defeat.

And turning to the House, Betsy Markey is running a fantastic campaign against one of the most conservative Republican in the House, Marilyn Musgrave. Musgrave is the original sponsor of the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment, was one of the most vocal Republicans in the Terri Schiavo case, and was ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 10 Worst Members of Congress. But Betsy Markey, a strong Democrat, has pulled even in the polls and can rid our Congress of Marilyn Musgrave.

But they need your help! Please donate today!

Chances like this come along very rarely, a time when we can completely remake the political map. But we need to seize this moment. We are competing all over the map, and late charges by candidates like these need more help than anyone because they haven't had the national focus for very long. So please do what you can to help us change our country forever.

Thank you,
Max Cleland

This was Senator Kerry's message on election night in Boston for all the voters in Massachusetts:

"I am humbled to receive the support of voters from Williamstown to Provincetown and every city and town in between, and I promise to continue to prove worthy of your confidence in me over the next six years.

"Yes, we have challenges to tackle in this country and in Massachusetts. But the American people's remarkable reservoir of talent, innovation, resolve and selflessness has triumphed time and time again. Our history is one of not just overcoming challenges but of emerging from difficult times stronger and better prepared to prosper as a nation.

"I have always been honored to represent the people of Massachusetts and I can't wait to return to Washington with my friend Ted Kennedy by my side and continue to deliver for you and your families. I promise to continue the fight to win back our future and honor your faith in me."

Leave it all on the road. I see that that's the slogan here, and as a competitive cyclist, I know the feeling. You can't hold anything back, and you can't take anything for granted.

The polls look good, but let me tell you, the early exit polls four years ago looked fantastic. But the cliché is true: polls don't matter. Only votes do. And the large majority of those votes will be cast tomorrow. We have to do everything we possibly can to blow the Republican GOTV effort out of the water.

If we're up by 4 in the polls in a state, we can win by 7. If we're tied, we can win by 3. If we all do our best right now, we'll not only win this election, but win the kind of mandate we need to actually change our country.

All of you remember what we went through last year. I'd come here to this community, and we'd talk about what we could do to pressure a few more Republicans to try to see the light and chart a new course on Iraq, or give more kids health care, or anything else that they blocked. That's what a small, unworkable majority can bring.

This next day can change all that. We can have a true Democratic majority, filled with new progressives ready to move this country - finally! - into the 21st century. But we have to get absolutely every vote we can get. So please do what you can to get-out-the-vote. Head over the Barack's website to see what you can do:

Volunteer!

And then email everyone in your address book that address and ask them to do what they can.

I was in New Hampshire this past weekend, and it was incredible. The organization that the Obama campaign has built is enormous, and it's able to put huge numbers of people to work. But that organization depends on those people actually showing up to do that work. And "those people" are YOU. You are the bedrock of the Democratic Party, the activists who make it all work.

And this is a time to make it work. As Barack has said many times, you don't run to the finish line, you run through the finish line.

Because you know whom we know is working hard? John McCain and Sarah Palin are working hard, along with the Republican Party, criss-crossing the country and continuing their misleading attacks on Barack Obama. But we can overwhelm them because we have truth on our side, and we have you. If they drive a voter to the polls, we should drive three, four, five voters to the polls. If they make one call, we should make five.

So check out what you can do by clicking here to volunteer. And you can find your polling place by clicking here:

http://VoteForChange.com

Pass that URL around to everyone you know so they can find their polling place as well.

If we can turn all of our supporters out, if we can all go to the polls and bring people with us, our country will never be the same. We need a victory large enough that the personal attacks of the McCain campaign are discredited, the policies of the Bush-McCain GOP are repudiated, and the ideology of the extreme right is rejected, once and for all.

And then we can work together on how to get this country moving again, instead of just trying to limit the damage of a Republican President and his Roadblock Republican allies.

Tomorrow is election day. This is our time.

This election is not about fear; it is about the American people and their desire to move beyond partisanship. Senator Kerry explainedwhat had been left out of the argument by Fred Thompson:

You never heard Fred Thompson mention the word middle class.  You never heard him offer one proposal for John McCain as to how he will deal with this economic crisis.  You know, there've been two real presidential tests during this campaign.  The first was the choice of the vice president, and it is very clear John McCain went back on his own promises in the primaries, on Fred Thompson's own promises in the primaries, and chose somebody who has zero national security experience, who by definition is not ready to be ready to be president immediately, which is the very qualification John McCain set up.

Secondly, the second critical presidential moment was the economic crisis.  On 15 September, John McCain said the fundamentals of our economy are sound. That was his judgment.  Three days later, he suspends his campaign and says it's the greatest economic crisis since World War II.  He lurches erratically from one place to another.  He doesn't offer any constructive suggestion as to what you do about it.  Senator Obama did offer those.  In fact, all four of his fundamental principles were passed by the United States Congress and put into effect.  So I think on the two critical presidential decisions in this campaign, Barack Obama has been calm and steady and John McCain has been sort of erratic and, frankly, impulsive.  Now, come to the security issue.  Barack Obama has more security experience than Bill Clinton had when he became president.  He has more security experience than Ronald Reagan had when he became president.  And the fact is, it's not just time and a place, and I love John McCain.  I--I've worked with him, I know him.

 It is time to turn the page on the the failed policies of the Bush Administration that John McCain advocates. Barack Obama offers renewal and a chance to change direction for the country.  Sen. Kerry spoke to this yesterday:

This is a moment for change, Tom.  And I might add, you know, if, if John McCain were elected--you look around the world--this is a man who was the biggest cheerleader for the war in Iraq.  He was wrong about who's fighting whom, Sunni-Shia violence.  He was wrong about us being liberators.  He was the first to stand on an aircraft carrier and say, "Next up, Baghdad." He cannot break the break we need from the, from the Bush-Cheney years.  We've got to have a fresh start for America.  We need to move in a new direction, and Barack Obama brings us that.

The Obama campaign is practicing a cautionary lesson by working, working, working.  I mean, the bottom line is you take nothing for granted.  And I know that the candidate, every member of the campaign, and all of his supporters are taking nothing for granted.  Presidential races tighten up anyway.  That year we had a particular event that pushed it, but I think everybody has to be very cautious here and simply work as hard as possible right up until 8:00 on Tuesday night.

See you all at the phonebanks, the visibilities, the canvassing stations and the ballot box. Together we will bring about the change America needs.

You know what they say to me sometimes? They look at me and they say, "Can you really do this? Can you elect Barack Obama, can you elect this guy?" Yes we can.  And that's exactly what I tell them. And when we do my friends, we will have changed history in a bigger way than I  think at any time in America and in any Presidential race. We will have given life to our values. We will have given a reality to the American story that reaches all acrosss the planet. And once again an American President's picture will hang in huts in Central and South America, and in Africa and in Asia and in places where they look up to the values that we stand for. That's what's at stake here.

Nicholas Kristof, in his column in the New York Times this morning, agrees with that sentiment. Kristof notes that electing Obama president would signal to the world the elasticity and promise of American democracy. The world would wake up on November 5th with a different view of the United States.

We’re beginning to get a sense of how Barack Obama’s political success could change global perceptions of the United States, redefining the American “brand” to be less about Guantánamo and more about equality. This change in perceptions would help rebuild American political capital in the way that the Marshall Plan did in the 1950s or that John Kennedy’s presidency did in the early 1960s.

Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, which conducted the BBC poll, said that at a recent international conference he attended in Malaysia, many Muslims voiced astonishment at Mr. Obama’s rise because it was so much at odds with their assumptions about the United States. Remember that the one thing countless millions of people around the world “know” about the United States is that it is controlled by a cabal of white bankers and Jews who use police with fire hoses to repress blacks. To them, Mr. Obama’s rise triggers severe cognitive dissonance.

“It’s an anomaly, so contrary to their expectation that it makes them receptive to a new paradigm for the U.S.,” Mr. Kull said.

General Colin Powell said in his endorsement Sunday on Meet the Press that the election of Barack Obama would signal transformational change in America.  Senator Kerry said the same thing in January when he endorsed Barack Obama for President.  America has a chance not just to turn a new page at home, but a chance to show the rest of the world that we can renew our our values at the ballot box.  This will have a profound impact all around the world. It is yet another thing to consider in this historic election year.

But which is the president that we need now?  Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time?  And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities--and we have to take that into account--as well as his substance--he has both style and substance--he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president.  I think he is a transformational figure.  He is a new generation coming into the world--onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.

Senator Kerry, in his endorsement of Barack Obama back in January also cited the possibility of transformational change. This is a chance to renew America and change our image around the world. The world needs to see an America that embraces it's own best ideals and and America that wants to live up to those ideals at home and abroad.  Gen. Powell also took note of that in his comments yesterday.

As impressive as this endorsement was, I was more struck by the eloquence of the words General Powell used in his call for and end to slurs and negativity in this campaign. 

I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian.  He's always been a Christian.  But the really right answer is, what if he is?  Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America.  Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?  Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine.  It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave.  And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone.  And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death.  He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith.  And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey.  He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life.  Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way.

Exactly so. Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann recently called for hearings to examine whether or not members of Congress are "anti-American" or not. Gov. Sarah Palin had accused the Democratic nominee of  "pallin' around with terrorists." One woman at a McCain rally even called Senator Obama "an Arab" as if that alone was a disqualification for holding public office.

Gen. Powell's remarks speak to the higher ideals of America. It should make no difference what your background, religion or ethnicity is in this country.  We don't have loyalty tests or DNA screens to test and see if a candidate for public office is "American"  enough to run.  This was a stirring and eloquent reminder that an America at her best is an America that embraces the diversity of her people as a strength.  I couldn't agree more.

We need an end to the politics of division and hate. 

Bachmann not only pushed the point that the news media needs to investigate Senator Obama for what she called his "anti-American" views, but she further suggested that other sitting Members of Congress should also be investigated to see if they also hold "anti-American" views. This is a sitting U.S. House Member who is calling for a return of Eugene(sorry, Gene!) Joseph McCarthy-type investigations into the patriotism of fellow Members of Congress.  Apparently the refrain, "Have you no shame at all?" has no meaning to her.

The interview on Hardball invoked instant outrage on the web. The call went out to show the Congresswoman that her remarks are unacceptable in a way that she could not ignore or laugh off. The campaign of her Democratic opponent, El Tinklenberg, was inundated with donations from people all across this country. Maybe Republicans still think they can play these types of outrageous games and get away them them. I think the massive outpouring of money and offers of help to Mr. Tinklenberg prove that wrong. 

This is America. We don't have loyalty tests. It is wrong and outrageous to pretend that one side in a political debate holds the sanctioned "American" view and the other side somehow has suspect loyalties.  This is the type of ugly, anything goes politics that offends voters and cheapens public discourse.

The Tinklenberg campaign posted a diary on DailyKos this morning to thank all the people who gave voice to their outrage by sending money or volunteering for their campaign to unseat Ms. Bachmann.  

I am both hopeful and humbled at the reminder you gave me tonight - that in our country's darkest times, it is the strength and belief and action of ordinary Americans that ultimately brings about the change we need. From the hardworking folks in Minnesota's Sixth District to all of you: we are proud to have you on our side.

Senator Kerry spoke at the Democratic National Convention back in August and warned against the Republican scare tactics:

This election is a chance for America to tell the merchants of fear and division: you don’t decide who loves this country; you don’t decide who is a patriot; you don’t decide whose service counts and whose doesn’t.

This incredible response by the Netroots really does show that YOU have the power to rise up and tell the Smear Machine that this type of campaign is disgusting and unacceptable.

You let them know:  we're not gonna take it anymore. Every voice that was raised, every dime sent in and every volunteer signed up, shows the fear merchants that things have changed in American and they are not going to get away with loyalty tests and smears. We're not gonna take it, anymore.

The U.S. Supreme Court, siding with Democrats, freed Ohio officials from a lower court order that might have limited participation by new voters in next month's presidential election.

Today's ruling means Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner doesn't have to provide county election boards with lists of new registrants whose information doesn't match up with government databases. A federal trial judge had ordered Brunner, a Democrat, to supply the lists by today.

The Supreme Court said Republicans who sued Brunner ``are not sufficiently likely to prevail'' because the federal law they invoked doesn't authorize private suits. The two-page unsigned order was issued on behalf of the full court, without any published dissent.

Brunner said the judge's order could have affected as many as 200,000 Ohioans, potentially forcing them to cast provisional ballots instead of regular ballots. Democrats likely would have been disproportionately affected by the judge's order because of the party's efforts to register new voters this year.

The Secretary of State's office in Ohio has a notice on it's website about the identification required in order to legally cast a ballot in Ohio.

Every voter must provide proof of identity at the time of voting. A person who casts a provisional ballot and does not provide acceptable proof of identity at the time of voting is allowed to provide such proof within 10 days after the election, in accordance with law.

The New York Times article on the Ohio case reports on the reasons why there are discrepencies in voter registration rolls.

Voting experts and state election officials added that many voters were likely to be flagged erroneously because the databases used to check voter registrations were prone to errors. Most non-matches are the result of typographical errors by government officials, computer errors, use of nicknames or middle initials, not voter ineligibility, they said.

In one audit of match failures in 2004 by New York City election officials, more than 80 percent of the failures were found to have resulted from errors by government officials; most of the remaining failures were because of immaterial discrepancies between the two records.

Ms. Brunner had also argued that requiring so many voters to cast provisional ballots would raise tensions at the polls and worsen lines and confusion on Election Day in a year when she is expecting unprecedented turnout.

In the vice presidential debate last Thursday night at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, there was a heated exchange between Senator Joe Biden of Delaware and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin over Iraq. Gov Palin had incorrectly stated that troops levels were now down to pre-surge levels. She echoed Sen McCain's views about success in Iraq but but did not define what success meant or what it would take to achieve that goal. Sen. Biden replied that the Senator Obama had a plan to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq according to a timeline; an idea supported by Iraqi government officials as well. Gov Palin, in the following exchange, responded to the idea of a timeline with a smear:

PALIN: Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq and that is not what our troops need to hear today, that's for sure. And it's not what our nation needs to be able to count on. You guys opposed the surge. The surge worked. Barack Obama still can't admit the surge works.

We'll know when we're finished in Iraq when the Iraqi government can govern its people and when the Iraqi security forces can secure its people. And our commanders on the ground will tell us when those conditions have been met. And Maliki and Talabani also in working with us are knowing again that we are getting closer and closer to that point, that victory that's within sight.

The purpose of the surge was not to have troops in Iraq indefinitely. The purpose of the surge was to stabilize the violence in Iraq so that political progress could be made. Frederick Kagen, one of the authors of the surge policy, explained this in an appearance on the Jim Lehrer Hour on PBS back in March of 2008:

FREDERICK KAGAN: Well, the main purpose of the surge was to get the sectarian violence in and around Baghdad under control so that it would be possible for the Iraqis to start making political progress.

Gov Palin and Senator McCain continuously misstate both the purpose of the surge and what it has accomplished. Sen. McCain, in particular, restates the history and timeline of events in Iraq in order to support his contention that the surge is responsible for the Sunni Awakening in Al Anbar province. This is not so. Senator Kerry, in a speech this past July at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, laid out the real history and conditions in Iraq that have led to a lessening of the violence in that country:

The Anbar Awakening started well before the surge. This is more than just a political gotcha game or yet another instance of Senator McCain getting his facts wrong. To apply counterinsurgency principles on a global scale, we need to draw the right lessons from the surge.

Let's look at exactly what happened. And this is important: the tensions between al Qaeda in Iraq and Sunni leaders in Anbar were already apparent nearly two years before the surge, culminating in the first reported battle between AQI and Sunni militias in the western town of Husaybah in May of 2005. The reason? Al Qaeda's brutality, disrespect for local customs, insistence on marrying local women over the objections of tribal leaders, and disruption of local businesses.

When Colonel Sean MacFarland and his Ready First brigade arrived in Ramadi in June of 2006, al Qaeda was still fully in control. The Ready First immediately saw the need for a change in tactics and-on their own-they launched an extensive outreach campaign to win over the local population-starting with local tribal leaders, to whom they assigned an Arabic-speaking former special forces officer who grew a moustache to gain the locals' trust. They emphasized getting local Iraqi forces out into neighborhoods by deputizing tribal militias.

These efforts culminated on September 9, 2006 - some four months before the surge was even announced -- when a young local sheik, Sittar albu-Risha, created a new Awakening Council and officially declared the Anbar Awakening underway. That created a snowball effect. And, as MacFarland noted, with the 2006 US election approaching "a growing concern that U.S. forces would leave Iraq" made tribal leaders open to our overtures - a not unimportant transformation as we think about leveraged changes in behavior that might come from redeployment of American forces. By late October, nearly every tribe around Ramadi had either joined the Awakening or was openly considering it.

The coming months saw the Awakening Movement, with American help, repel an AQI attack on a friendly sheik in the Battle of Sufia. As security improved, a major campaign was launched to rebuild Ramadi, culminating in the Ramadi Reconstruction Conference in January 2007.

For those of you keeping score, this is the point in the story where the surge begins. President Bush announced the surge on January 10th 2007. In fact, President Bush and Senator McCain both pointed to our success in flipping tribes in Ramadi against AQI as a reason to support the surge.

Let me be clear: there is no question that our troops performed heroically, and did everything that was asked of them and more. And yes, they undoubtedly played a significant role in securing Baghdad and helping to expand the Awakening beyond Anbar Province.

But, the true history of the Awakening is important in drawing the right lessons from the surge. The Iraqis made a political calculation that they didn't like al Qaeda and wanted to work with us. The actions that led to the Awakening reflected our understanding that U.S. military action alone would not defeat the terrorists: we needed to win over the population by co-opting the tribal sheiks, utilizing indigenous security forces, winning the information war, and helping our Iraqi allies deliver goods, services and improved governance.

Moreover, the reduction in violence resulted from many other factors beyond a simple surge of troops. You have to consider Moqtada al Sadr's ceasefire in August 2007, the sectarian segregation of neighborhoods, and the success of Iraqi security forces, with US military support, in taking the streets back from Shia militias, especially in Basra. We also benefitted from the death of al Qaeda in Iraq's leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a US airstrike.

Certainly, as Senator Kerry has stated, the surge played a part in stabilizing the country. But so did other factors. Sen. McCain and Gov Palin should recognize that and recognize that the Iraqis want a timeline for a reasoned and safe withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. The goal of the surge was to create breathing room for Iraqi politicians to begin to solve their political differences. Stating otherwise is just fixing the facts of what happened in Iraq to fit policies that Iraqis no longer want.

IFILL: Next question, Governor Palin, still on the economy. Last year, Congress passed a bill that would make it more difficult for debt-strapped mortgage-holders to declare bankruptcy, to get out from under that debt. This is something that John McCain supported. Would you have?

PALIN: Yes, I would have.

Gov. Palin went to great lengths to portray herself in folksy terms, often winking at the camera and using homey phrases like, "Now doggone it," This was her attempt to appeal to "Joe Six-Pack" voters, as she styled it, in America. Her sympathies for middle-class voters is limited though, as that quick answer to the question about her support for the Bankruptcy Bill shows.

Sen. Biden, in his response to Gwen Ifill, talked about Sen. Obama's concern over the mortgage market and the rising number of foreclosures:

BIDEN: But here's the deal. Barack Obama pointed out two years ago that there was a subprime mortgage crisis and wrote to the secretary of Treasury. And he said, "You'd better get on the stick here. You'd better look at it."

John McCain said as early as last December, quote -- I'm paraphrasing -- "I'm surprised about this subprime mortgage crisis," number one.

Number two, with regard to bankruptcy now, Gwen, what we should be doing now -- and Barack Obama and I support it -- we should be allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to re-adjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but be able to adjust the principal that you owe, the principal that you owe.

That would keep people in their homes, actually help banks by keeping it from going under. But John McCain, as I understand it -- I'm not sure of this, but I believe John McCain and the governor don't support that. There are ways to help people now. And there -- ways that we're offering are not being supported by -- by the Bush administration nor do I believe by John McCain and Governor Palin.

IFILL: Governor Palin, is that so?

PALIN: That is not so, but because that's just a quick answer,

Well, it was so. Not only did Sen. McCain support the Bankruptcy Bill in 2005, but he voted against nearly every amendment to that bill that sought to protect the rights of "Joe Six-Pack" in a bankruptcy case. Sen. McCain does not support the 2008 Senate measure entitled, "Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2008," which is what Sen. Biden was referring to in his debate remarks quoted above.(Senator Kerry, along with 13 other Senators including Senator Obama, is a co-sponsor of this amendment that seeks to help  people retain their homes and avoid foreclosure.)

Senator McCain has a consistent record of voting to help out the richest Americans when it comes to protecting assets from being seized in bankruptcy proceedings. He voted not once, but twice in 2005 to uphold "asset protection trusts" in bankruptcy cases and is against helping "Joe Six-Pack" Americans when their homes where threatened with foreclosure. Governor Palin seems to disagree with the Senator on this. Maybe she can push him to start showing middle-class Americans the same kind of concern that he shows the wealthy in bankruptcy cases. It does seem heartless to tell millionaires that their 2nd, 3rd or more houses are safe from seizure while telling other Americans that their one and only home is subject to all the penalties of bankruptcy.