We get the government we deserve.

And that's not to say that dirty tricks and election tampering haven't contributed to Republican political victories in the last few years. I believe they have. But. . .

I know a lot of people, including some very good friends, who are as concerned as I am about the way things are going in our country and in the world. I know that it's hard to feel like you have a voice or a say or any recourse to do anything about it. I know it's easy to get caught up in day-to-day life and look at the news and read the paper or the blogs and feel like it's up to someone else to get involved. That's my natural inclination as well, frankly. But I humbly submit that it's wrong. Our system still, at least, resembles a democracy; and if you pardon my liberal pontificating, I think that we're lucky to live in this country and to have the relative freedoms and opportunities that we do. As such, I believe that it's our obligation as citizens to voice our opinions and participate to the extent that we can.

This election is crucial. Karl Rove has his minions and his network of footsoldiers and is notorious for the final 72-hour "Stealth Campaign." The Republicans, largely through a vast network evangelical "Megachurces," excel at the process of "getting out the vote." Which means, basically, putting pressure on people to go the polls. Tweaking voter turnout. Remember that quite a bit less than half of registered voters actually vote in any given election, so the mundane and unglamorous process of encouraging people not to be complacent and actually GO is an absolutely vital part of winning races. Rove and his gang love dirty tricks. They've been engaging in them for years. In 2000 they went door-to-door in Tennessee, Al Gore's home state, and warned people that Al would take away their guns if he was elected president. (Gore is a lifelong hunter; it was a lie.)

MoveOn, with it's over 3 million members nationwide, has put together a counterassault called Call for Change. In my opinion, they've done a brilliant job at organizing this effort, and they've made it very easy for anyone to help. Yesterday I went to another "calling party" right here in our neighborhood and spent a few hours talking with a really great, incredibly diverse (even for LA) group of like-minded concerned citizens and making calls to encourage Ohio democrats to make sure they get out and vote for Sherrod Brown, the Senatorial candidate who's in a near dead-heat with Republican incumbent Mike Dewine. In these tight races, every vote really does count. Frequently, it comes down to a difference of just a few hundred ballots. MoveOn's method has proven to be effective, and as of today we've made a total of over five million phone calls in this election cycle.

So please, if you can, get involved. You can still go to a calling party on election day or download a list of calls to make by yourself. They give you a suggested script and a very thorough gameplan for being polite and effective. No dirty tricks involved. You just call people, chat with them about your feelings on the direction of the country, and encourage them to vote. In my last post I believe I said it was fun. I suppose that's not entirely accurate. I've found that doing it is a bit intimidating at first, but it gets a lot easier after you've made a few calls. And there's real satisfaction in knowing that you're trying, at the very least, to make a difference. I know nobody (myself included!) likes to bother strangers, and none of us like to be pestered by random phone calls touting this or that cause. But we're not selling anything here; we're just calling fellow citizens, reminding them of the issues at stake for all of us, and strongly encouraging them to exercise their democratic rights. I certainly can't find anything wrong with that.

Also, again, please go to ACTBLUE and make a small contribution to a candidate of your choice. What you might spend on a movie, or a DVD, or a meal. They'll show you the races in which every dollar really counts.

Keeping your fingers crossed is not enough. . .

-jw

P.S. - Here's a good piece on why the President's claim that the Democrats have no plan for Iraq or the War on Terror is a BOLDFACED LIE.

- Here's a pretty moving take on the war and the election by the brother of Pat Tillman, the former NFL star who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.