Getting out the Vote

First Read: Voter turnout concern - First Read - MSNBC.com

This article is definitely worth a read. It gives a general outlook for voter turnout for the 2006 elections and outlines some challenges we'll face in getting out the vote as well as some things that work in our favor.

This is going to be an interesting year for Democrats. We're living in a time when people are becoming more and more frustrated with the divisions they're seeing on Capitol Hill. Previously hardcore Republicans are sneaking glances to the left, not necessarily looking to jump ship and swim over, but maybe just to see if someone on our boat would help their boat sail a bit more smoothly. Some Republican voters may be so disenchanted with their candidates that they simply choose to stay home on election day.

Meanwhile, a fire is being lit under the Democratic Party. In a time when the Republican Party feels like its walking uphill through wet sand, the Democratic Party is finding its feet and donning roller skates. People who have never been interested in politics before are beginning to pay more attention to the nightly news. Political blog readership is up. If this administration as done anything, it has certainly taught the average citizen that feces does indeed roll downhill. The public is awakening and unfortunately, its the fetid stench of corruption and disregard for public opinion that's acting as their alarm clock.

The iron is HOT and just begging to be struck.

It is this blogger's opinion that the heaviest and most shaping blows are going to be dealt by candidates who recognize the United States' global role but who emphasize domestic consequences of that role. Public opinion is shifting but its doing so on its axis. We are still concerned about Iraq, but unlike in previous years, the main concern is less that of liberation of oppressed and terroristic countries as it is the economic pinch that liberation is causing here at home and the loss of human life. We're still concerned about the monitoring and capture of terrorists, but while the fear of attack is still on people's minds, the fear of unwarranted domestic government snooping may be a more immediate concern for voters. Our schools are in trouble. In the past few years, this administration has wanted us to believe that the problem is one of simple inadequate scholastic achievement. The public is watching education budgets being eaten by projects our president must believe to be more important and they're wondering how exactly we're supposed to ensure that no child is left behind when some schools scarely have the funding to bus them to school in the first place.

We WILL be going door to door. We WILL be calling from our phone banks. We WILL be registering voters. But when we do, it is important that we tailor our efforts to address the issues our voters are demanding to have addressed.

We cannot let this year pass us by. A midterm election is a challenge. Getting out the vote requires that we fan the flames. I think we can do it!