Moveon blows people's minds with clever GOTV video

The funniest, most innovative use of GOTV technology I've ever seen! Check out this brilliant effort by Move On and send it to a hundred friends -- that will be very entertained!

"Some of your friends won't get around to actually voting because they haven't been reminded vividly enough.That's why we developed this funny, scary video. It shows people what it might look like if we lose the election by a single vote: theirs. Here's a version we prepared for you. You're in it -- seriously, you, Don. Check it out -- and if you like it, send it to your friends."

Click here to watch it!

Twelve Days Out: What are we to think?

What are we to think? It is pretty unnerving-- all signs point to success, and perhaps big success on November 4th. Thursday's Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll has Obama moving up to a 12 point lead nationally.

There were eight polls of Midwestern states produced by the Big Ten Battleground Poll group. Obama not only leads in all eight states by hefty margins but has improved his standing since the last time the group surveyed these states.

The numbers are startling. Obama leads by 12 points in Ohio, by 11 points in Pennsylvania and by 13 points in Wisconsin. In Michigan, where McCain's campaign has pulled out, the lead is 22 points. In Indiana, a strong red state, the Obama lead is 10 points, which is larger than in other recent polls.

Quinnipiac University released polls of three battlegrounds that it has been surveying regularly this cycle: Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Obama leads in all three. In these surveys, Obama's lead in Pennsylvania is 13 points. In Ohio, which is a must-win for McCain, the lead is a whopping 14 points.

McCain and Palin get bad press every day -- Palin's $150k apparel shopping spree is just the latest of a dozen negative press stories percolating. (Click here to read some of Palin's most notorious gaffes)

None of the McCain- Palin tactics seem to be working. They have played just about every card, like the ACORN/poor-people-will-steal-the-election card and the Obama-hangs-with-terrorist-Bill-Ayers card, just to name a few. Now they warn that Obama is a "socialist," who will redistribute the wealth, even as the current Republican administration redistributes nearly a trillion in taxpayer money to Wall Street and banking firms. Do they not see the contradictions? Obama has an easy answer." If I'm a socialist, why did Warren Buffet endorse me." Apparently the McCain campaign thinks most Americans want the rich to stay very rich, and not get their fair share.

Now coming from me, it would be better if Obama were more of a socialist, but no one really knows what that means. Let's hope he redistributes some of that wealth beyond Wall Street.

Eternally Vigilant

Despite all the good news, we all must remain vigilant because we do not exactly know what is below the surface in America. There have been racist incidents, but perhaps not as many as some thought. Here is a video of McCain supporters letting it all out at a rally, if you want to be reminded of what lurks in the hearts of some fearful and angry conservatives.

AlterNet ran this summary of many of the sleaziest of the McCain campaign ads and messages here.

Voter Help of all Sorts

On the constructive side, there are a number of amazing voter resources this November. Voting early, if feasibile for you, is clearly the preferred way to vote this time around.

CREDO Mobile and the New Organizing Institute have created GoVote.org is a national site where anyone can enter their zip code and find:

• A Google map showing where and when to vote early * A polling place locator for their state/county, with Google maps coming in key states
• A list of ID to take to the polls * Spanish-language translations for all key information
• Student specific information searchable by campus in key states * An invitation to add even more information through crowdsourcing and wiki-like approach to data gathering, GoVote.org is the only national site with searchable early voting information.

Here is Steve Rosenfeld , AlterNet's Senior Election Fellow & voter protection expert, on the very same topic.

Palin as President

On the humor front, check out this flash animation- "Palin as President". Click on virtually everything in the tableau and it will speak to you.<

Campaign Strategy: Inciting Hate

If you have any doubt about what the attacks are about or how frequently they are being repeated, watch this video produced by Brave New Films. If you have colleagues and friends who dismiss or fail to take seriously the nature of the fear appeal, forward them the video link, so they can be motivated and prepared to add their calming, reassuring voices to the national dialogue whenever they hear the doubt from friends family, colleagues etc.

The theme is the fear of terrorism: On the campaign trail, Sarah Palin repeatedly uses "domestic terrorism" to describe Obama's association with former '60s radical Bill Ayers and makes the ludicrous statement that Obama's campaign was hatched in Bill Ayers living room. McCain plays with the crowd's fears by asking the open-ended question, "Who is the real Obama?" -- encouraging the audience to project their worst fears onto Obama, the candidate.

For a meaty description of the hate on the campaign trail, read about Palin "unhinged" in Florida last week: "This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America," she told the Clearwater crowd. "I'm afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country.

Things have gotten so out of hand that a number of Republicans are denouncing the McCain campaign strategy. Here is the transcript of Amy Goodman interviewing Lifelong Republican Frank Schaeffer who says McCain is "deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate."

People can go here and sign a letter to help fight the hate campaign

Fighting the Effort to Slander ACORN

A parallel tactic of the McCain campaign is to attack the venerable grassroots advocacy group ACORN (and their voter registration arm, Project Vote). The goal here is to scare people into thinking that massive fraud is being perpetuated and hordes of poor voters will overrun the polls. No doubt, in ACORN's huge operation, there have been sloppy efforts to sign up voters and instances of forms accidentally being filled out more than once. But this isn't voter fraud. And claims that say otherwise are just silliness.

Many have come to the defense of ACORN, including Think Progress, which just published a report on controversy. And ACORN has provided fundamental answers to the array of questions raised. Read this article to be prepared to defend ACORN.