In the last 8 years I lived in Columbus Ohio the only thing that I learned about politics is that when you are best organized and motivated you when. This includes a willingness to go to numerous lengths including, as many of us believe, to organize a GOP machine that can effectively steal you an election. We all know what happened in places like Franklin and Cuyahoga and Warren counties, we don't need to rehash it.
What we do need to do is give some money and, more importantly, some time. This election will be won by the team that is most excited. Say what you want about Palin but social conservatives are excited by her because if McCain wins she will be one heartbeat away. That's right, an avowed know-nothing creationist who doesn't believe in global warming or a woman's right to choose. She is a woman with a special needs child who slashes special needs funding. She says she hates big government as her gets $1.66 in federal funding per dollar taxed. But most importantly, Palin excites the GOP by the fact that she looks like your neighbor.
And that's where we come in. It's now, not November or October, when need to start showing up.
That very neighbor who you pass on the street, the one who is resolutely normal, goes to work in the morning and waves "hi" to you when she walks by with her dog. She's the one that Palin is aimed to perk up and whose attention she is supposed to get. The neighbor who has an autistic child, who has three other kids and knows how hard it is to raise them right. She's got their attention and now you need to, more than anytime before, show up at her door.
This is time to show yourself to that neighbor, or perhaps call them. And guess what? Obama's campaign, MoveOn and your local democratic party headquarters have their names, addresses and numbers. Time to show up.
When you watched Obama speak on August 28th what made him inspire you was not him, but his belief in US. It is time to show up.
If you don't show up your neighbor might identify with Sarah Palin. Palin's life is a mess and so is hers. If she hears anything from the GOP it will be how she's a real person, just like you. And if other real people like US don't show up at her door we will have given her no reason to identify with US.
If we don't show up our neighbor may never look at her policies or consider that policies, not personalities, will make her life better. And that's the point of the McCain/Palin campaign. After all, instead of claiming the personal and making it political the GOP has decided to make politics about personalities, again.
This will be the third election in a row where I dedicate at least 20 hours of footwork and phonework from here to election day. That's not much. Most of you may be doing more, but it is a number I set for myself. I do know one thing: It is a lot more than nothing. Yes, you can give money and get a sticker and show support, but it won't amount to anything if WE don't show up to ourselves out to vote.
Ok, so while it's important to know about caging and it's important to kill those Diebold machines, it's so much more important to make US the show and forget about Palin.
If you can't stop bitching about caging, Diebold of Palin, here's a challenge: each time you catch yourself bitching about any of these you need to make a canvas phone call or knock at one door per complaint.
Is this hard? Absolutely not. All you need to do is go to BarackObama.com ,get registered and download a canvassing list for your neighborhood. If you can't walk, then get that phone list.
What is key for you to understand is that a trusted neighborhood face is a powerful piece of personal politics. I know my neighbors trust me because I am respectful of them and if I am to come to their doors I can simply talk with them. If I show up that is. Remember, you may be motivated, but they may not be. And if we leave the showmaking to Obama and Biden, we will lose. It is time to take a personal inventory and say how can I show up?