Volunteers Needed

We have moved into penultimate phase of the campaign, and now have a great need for reliable volunteers. Our main areas of need are:

• Canvassing - We need to identify our voters, particularly those in need of help getting to the polls, in several key districts in Tulsa. This is a good task for those who have large blocks of time available to help.
  
• Sign Crews - We need to make Tulsa effectively one large Obama/Biden billboard. This is a good job for those with perhaps a bit less time on their hands, but access to a car and willing to drive it all over town.
• Boo-ha-ha - Come march with us (and our dogs) in the Brookside Boo-ha-ha parade on the afternoon of October 25th. This is an important visibility event for us.
• Financial - The signs are not free, and are not being sponsored by the national campaign either. They cost us a bit more than a dollar each for the small ones, and $5-7 for the large ones. If you can't help out any other way, you should at least be able to help this way.
• Your yard - Don't forget to stop by HQ (3930 East 31 Street) and pick up signs for your yard. It is suggested you keep some spare Obama signs in your home, to account for lossage.
  

If you can help out with any of this, please contact either me or Greg or Stephanie.

Other opportunities:

• Making Signs - Most of our signage (and a lot of it for nearby "battleground" states) is being made at the local Transport Workers Union sign shop. This is all volunteer work. If you have some free time between 8AM and 6PM you can help, contact the shop at 438-8122 or 361-8384.
• Letters to the editor - The Tulsa World has been very good about printing the pro-Obama letters that reach them. We need to keep them coming in. This is a good task for those of you that may not have a lot of free time during "normal" hours (eg: those with young kids), or those with special skills in writing.
• HQ Donations - Tulsa County Democratic Headquarters is looking for donations of the following items:
  • Political Books for the library
  • Bottled Water
  • Color Copier
  • Desktop Computer
  • Laptop Computer
  • Old Campaign Buttons/Bumper-stickers
  • Paper Towels
  • Stamps
  • Storage shed

Exclusive

The McCain/Palin campaign has hired new cartoon outreach coordinator, Hanover Fiste, to carry their message about Obama to the animated world. We have here an exclusive video of some of his past work.



Representative John Lewis, who fought on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement in the 50's and 60's, has compared the republican's campaign to the behavior of George Wallace. The Obama campaign denounced the comments, but a lot of people think Rep. Lewis was dead on.

Update
I particularly liked this line of his:

As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all.

Ding Ding Ding

The registration deadline for the general election has now passed. I know we would have all liked to have done more, or turned more in, but it looks like we did pretty damn well as it was. The World reported that Tulsa County received nearly 7000 registrations last week. This is not counting yesterday, when they were also very busy, and is also not counting the mailed in applications they will be getting over the next couple of days. Great job everyone!

Notice in the comments at the bottom of that article how the Reps are already whining that all of these registrations are fraudulent. Expect much more of this to come. The thought of hordes of usually-silent poor people actually voting has them scared out of their minds.

Dumpster Diving
Today being Saturday, let's see what was placed in the Friday news dump.
*shuffle* *shuffle*
Oooh. Look at this...



AP:

After a lengthy investigation lawmakers in Alaska have concluded that Governor Sarah Palin did in fact abuse her authority when she fired the state's Public Safety Commissoner

Palin turns out to be not just ethically-challenged, but reality-challenged as well. From CNN:

"If you read the report, you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member," Palin said.
...
Palin violated state ethics law by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from the state police, a state investigator's report for the bipartisan Legislative Council concluded Friday.

The funny thing is that the Republicans knew this investigation was coming when they nominated her. I guess after eight years of Cheney they felt like the position of VP requires someone ethically-challenged. Still it does say good things for them that they had to go clear to Alaska to find someone with the requisite lack of scruples for the job.

Last Day to Register

Voter registration applications must be either postmarked or turned into your county election board office by midnight tonight. The Tulsa County Election board will be open until midnight to take last-minute applications.




As of now I don't know of anything scheduled, but if I know Mary Jo and Blanca, they will be out at their favorite haunts tonight registering voters, so contact them if you want to help. Failing that, I'd suggest hitting your nearest high-traffic bus stop. Registration forms are available at the state's website. If you have time, we'd appreciate you dropping them off at Democratic Headquarters (between Harvard and Yale on 31st), so we can keep track of them.

Stephanie at the office tells me that we have turned in over a thousand so far.

Also, make sure everyone you know (particularly anyone who has moved recently) verifies their registration today while they still have a chance to fix it.

One Day Left

There is only today and tomorrow left to register new voters for the most important election in our lifetimes.

If you'd like to get out and help, we have the following opportunities here in Tulsa tonight:

• Rock the Vote Concert - TU Campus 6-9PM
• BOK Event - Outside the BOK Center downtown at 6PM

Pick up voter registration forms at the Tulsa Democratic Headquarters on 31st between Harvard and Yale (or print them out yourself from here) and head to the events.

I'd also encourage you to send an email to your friends and acquaintances. Include a link to this blog: http://oklahomaforobama.blogspot.com/, the state website to check on your voter registration: http://www.ok.gov/elections/ppl/index.php, and the state website for the voter registration application: http://www.ok.gov/~elections/vrfrmshl.html.

Applications can be mailed in, but must be postmarked no later than tomorrow to make the deadline. If you'd prefer to hand-carry it to your county election office you can. I understand that the Tulsa County election board will stay open until midnight tomorrow to accommodate last minute filers. If democratic HQ is more convenient for you, drop them by there during office hours today or tomorrow.

Debate Wrapup

We had perhaps a smaller crowd at the Circle last night than for the previous two debates, but it still overflowed the Quad. I forgot to ask Mike, but I'm guessing it was somewhere in the vicinity of 70 people.

McCain looked much better this time around. He was smother, and clearly more comfortable. You can tell this is his format. Obama of course was just as smooth as ever, but the difference wasn't there like in the previous debate. I actually left a bit disappointed, afraid that this would be chalked up as a McCain "win". McCain made his points well, and did it repeatedly.

The thing is, I'm not an independent or a republican, so I don't know what's in their heads. I can guess what republicans are going to say, just by taking a look at what's in their best interest to say (always be thankful for the gift of a predictable opponent). But for independents, I have to read their reactions to have any clue.

Upon getting home and reading the reactions, things are actually looking good for Obama. Very good. The insta-polls show most folks calling it an Obama win. The numbers calling it a McCain win were in the neighborhood of %26. That's almost exactly the same as the percentage of people who self identify as republican these days. What all this seems to mean is that, although McCain may be making his points just fine, nobody but the party faithful is buying it anymore.

Oh, and the last debate is next Wednesday (also shown at the Circle), and it is in the format that favors Obama, and is going to be entirely on the economy. Sorry to see you drowning there John. Here, have an anchor.

Electoral Map
I know it's only been a couple of days since I last went over the electoral maps, but they have all been updated since, and the change is quite dramatic. CNN just made a minor tweak, and has Obama up to 264 and McCain down to 174. Remember that to win the presidency, 270 is the magic number. McCain would essentially have to run the board of the tossups to take it. That's not gonna happen.

However, that turns out to be the conservative map. Pollster (long my personal favorite) now has the map at Obama 320, McCain 163! That isn't just an Obama win, but a win with 50EV's to spare. Of their 55 tossup EV's, a quick mouse-over shows Obama with slight leads for 18 of them, and a dead tie for North Carolina's 15.

Oh, and the Rasmussen poll? Obama 321, McCain 174.

Can McCain catch up? His allies don't seem to think so. But I don't want anyone reading this to become complacent. A simple win is not enough. What happens in this election is going to be the punctuation mark on our last eight years of disdain for our constitution, our principles, and even common decency. The rest of the world, and history itself will view this election as a referendum on our recent behavior. This needs to be a landslide. The bigger, the better, and any effort that moves so much as one vote is a blow for morality.

Don't feel sorry for the Republicans. Take your inspiration from Conan here.


Registration
...which leads me back to this topic. Voters have only until this Friday to register. I'm told that the county board of elections plans to stay open until midnight on Friday to take applications. Registering voters is the best thing you can be doing right now for your hometown, your state, and your country.

Debate(s) Watch Party

The second presidential debate is tonight, and the Circle Cinema is again hosting a watch party. Before the presidential debate will be the one and only debate between Andrew Rice and Jim "Who's Afraid of a Little Mercury?" Inhofe for senate. That debate starts at 5:15, so try to get there as early as you can.

The Presidential debate starts at 8, although you'll want to shoot for 7 if you can to ensure good seats. The last two debates were a full house.

This debate is "Town Hall" format, where individuals from the audience get to ask the candidates their own questions. This is McCain's favorite format. That makes this his best chance to look Presidential and put the lie to the Obama campaign's characterization of him as "erratic".

Working against him is probably going to be the news. I'm guessing most questions (excepting those from Republican plants) will be on the economy. Because of the news two weeks ago, that debate ended up being mostly economy too. The topic of the last debate will officially be the economy. Of course that was McCain's weak point even before the "crisis" happened. It's almost enough to make a person feel sorry for him.

Almost. Just think about the 160,000 people who lost their jobs last month, or the 3/4 of a million who lost their jobs this year. Think about all the people who were trying to save to put kids in college, or retire, or are retired, and saw %30 of their savings go up in smoke this year. Then, to paraphrase James Carvile, see if you can find an anchor to throw to the son of a bitch.

Three Days Left to Register

Make sure every possible Democratic voter you know has gotten registered to vote. Forms must be postmarked by this Friday!