I Almost Forgot

...37 days

A Creeping Feeling

It's amazing how much anger there is out in the Democratic base over this election. The anger is visceral. I can describe it only with a toungue-in-cheek analogy from my life in general. Dems hate Bush in this election the way I hate the Yankees. It's just that simple. Except more. And for those who know me personally, that's saying a lot.

I wonder what's happening to America when, standing with a Kerry sign on a corner while registering voters, I was heckled and called "Un-American". Is this for real? I'm un-American because I'm participating in the process that has defined and embodied the essence of what it means to be American? Folks, we are in trouble when supporting a candidate for election elicits this kind of reaction from those on the other side. I understand supporting a candidate, and I even understand heckling. That's all well and good. I'll heckle Bush supporters until the end, but never will I call them un-American. I don't know. I'm almost too saddened with all of this to have too much to say about it.

It makes me nervous that this administration is able to promote these emotions in their supporters. I just think back to the days following 9/11 and realize how much this administration has squandered.

The Unseen Voters and How Much Bush Sucks

Kos alerts us to an interesting article in the NYT tomorrow that discusses all the unbelievable voter registration numbers in swing states. The good news is that us Dems are outpacing the GOPers by enormous margins. This is what we all have to keep in mind when we think about the polls we're seeing. All of these new voters aren't being polled, because until they registered, they weren't considered "likely voters".

I think this election is going to see enormous turnout from all sides. But I think our side will win, because as far as I can tell, the left is absolutely incensed by this administration. I can't think of one area in which the Bush administration has been in any way successful, except of course for making the rich even more so.

Tax burdens on the middle class have grown as wages and employment rates have fallen. Here are some good numbers you can drop on your local Bushophile:

Global Economy

No. of manufacturing jobs lost under Bush Admin.: 1.7 million

U.S. trade deficit in 2003: $549 billion
U.S. trade deficit in 1999: $271 billion

No. of U.S. jobs lost in software dev. from 2000-2004: 128,000
No. of jobs gained in software dev. from 2000-2004 in India: 150,000

Taxes

Ave. tax break for top 1% earners under Bush: $96,634
Ave. tax break for bottom 60% of earners: $350

Health Care

Number of new uninsured since Bush took office: 3.8 Million
Number of people who gained insurance under Clinton: 2.3 Million

Ave. cost increase of the 10 most used prescr. drugs in 2003 alone: 83%
Additional profits for pharma industry as a result: $139 Billion

The Economy

Federal Surplus when Bush entered office: $5.6 Trillion
Federal deficit under Bush Admin.: $2.3 Trillion
2004 Deficit: $450 Billion
Approximate U.S. debt, to the penny: $7,298,671,067,464.27

Jobs

Number of jobs lost under Bush Admin.: 1.2 Million
Number of jobs promised under Bush Tax Cuts: 5.5 Million
Number of jobs created under Clinton Admin.: 21 Million

Unemployment Rate Today: 5.6%
Unemployment Rate when "recovery" began in 2001: 5.6%

Underemployment Rate Today: 9.6%
Underemployment Rate when "recovery" began: 9.4%

The War

2005 Defense Budget: $447 Billion
2001 Defense Budget: $291 Billion

U.S. Military KIA in Iraq & Afghanistan: 1,041
Number of U.S. Military killed since "major combat operations" ended: 797
Est. Civilians wounded or killed in Iraq & Afghan.: 14,673

Education

Amount Bush Admin underfunded No Child Left Behind: $9.4 Billion
Amount NCLB has been underfunded since 2001: $26.4 Billion


Stats found here.

Kerry Slips on the Brass Knuckles

Late last night, we received a call at the office about an impromptu speech Kerry would be giving this morning at Temple University. JK was scheduled to appear at UPenn today for a rally, but decided to address a small crowd at Temple before the event early this morning. His topic was Foreign Policy, and specifically, the War on Terrorism.

And finally, Kerry took off the gloves. He gave a forceful, coherent, and comprehensive speech covering a seven point plan on how to approach the War on Terrorism in a way that will not only produce results, but also lead to a victory for the United States and the rest of the civilized world. The outcome Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda want the most is for the West to become inflamed in a conflict with the Muslim world. They want a clash of civilizations. But this shouldn't be the clash of civilizations Sam Huntington famously described in 1998, but rather, it is a struggle between civilized peoples and the radical islamic movement that wants nothing less than to establish an oppressive, fundamentalist empire from Eastern Europe, to Africa, across the Middle East, and into Asia.

Kerry did not avoid Iraq (now a new hotbed for terrorist groups), and he did not avoid going after the current Administration for its many mistakes and failed international policies. The fact is that in every single case, save the invasion of Afghanistan, this Administration has lead us vastly astray in our quest to defeat terrorism and make the United States and its allies completely secure from the threats of groups like Al Qaeda, who have been helped more than hurt by the current administration.

The crowd was alive and Kerry has hit his stride. It will be an interesting month running up to the election.

39 days...

Makes You Wonder...

...whose side God is really on.

Something to Realize

Athenae over at First Draft has a great post on keeping our collective minds in the face of all these crappy polls etc.

Personally, I think Big John is going to do great and we're going to win this thing. But I'm on the ground and I see that grassroots support and energy every day. I see the 100+ person waiting list for lawn signs. I see the clamor of volunteers wanting something, anything to do in order to help us put Kerry in the White House.

This is real, and I don't think it's confined to Chester County, Pennsylvania.

We're going to win. We're going to win.

41 days...

Good News

Well, I have some exciting news.

I was promoted today. I'm now in charge of organizing the entirety of Chester County (with the necessary and substiantial assistance and teamwork of two other great organizers). The title is nominal to a large degree - I'll still be responsible for my area of the county, and they'll be responsible for theirs, but I'm now overseeing the County at-large. My team of Benari, Mia and Scott is fantastic, and obviously, nothing is really done without them and their help. So when I say I've been promoted, it really means I'm just finally responsible for the county in name. But we all share the load pretty equally. The buck stops at my desk. And I'm proud to say that; it's something that our current president won't say, and it's something that needs to be said more often by more leaders.

We're going to win this county, so make sure you look us up come November 3rd.

Pictures Below

I've had a few minutes here, so I posted a few pics of the Kerry Travellers who came up to canvass from DC and the Edwards event on Sunday. I've only put 6 or so up because it's somewhat of a bitch to do them individually and I still haven't figured out how to embed them.

Anyway, check em out.

Travellers Rain

Travellers Rain
Originally uploaded by jaredcraft.

Here's the Travellers bus rolling in at about 11am last Saturday.

It would be a wet, wet day.

Kathy with Kerry

Kathy with Kerry
Originally uploaded by jaredcraft.

This is uber-volunteer Kathy, who not only acts as Travellers Co-ordinator, but also den mother for the staff. She's great to have around.

Travellers Group

Travellers Group
Originally uploaded by jaredcraft.

Here are our intrepid Travellers after a big day of canvassing. They knocked on over 3000 doors.

They didn't break a sweat, and they never even complained.

The Line

The Line
Originally uploaded by jaredcraft.

Here's the line for the event about a half hour before the gates opened. They streamed by for about 90 minutes without a break. It was a great great turnout.

Edwards on Stage

Edwards on Stage
Originally uploaded by jaredcraft.

John jumping up on stage with Senate hopeful Joe Hoeffel. If you've got some extra scratch, donate to Joe via Atrios. He's trying to knock off Arlen Specter.

Edwards Fist Pump

Edwards Fist Pump
Originally uploaded by jaredcraft.

John E. in his element. The crowd went nuts for him.

Breather

The phone banks are buzzing and the other staffers are out in the field, so I've got some time to actually blog. I'm going to post some Edwards Event photos from Sunday below, so take a look. I'll also throw some pics from the Kerry Travellers who arrived from DC to canvass in torrential downpours.

Anyway, check it out.

Long Time No Blog

Hey, Sorry I've been MIA for the last few days. It's been very hectic today and I've been trying to streamline the way we work with our volunteers. Here's a quick breakdown of how this grassroots stuff works.

The first staffer to get here worked hard to forge relationships with local county leaders. From that point, the field staff works with volunteers to identify individuals to act as Precinct Captains. PC's organize their local communities for phone banking, canvassing and Get Out the Vote activities on Election Day.

So that's where we were when I arrived here: A whole slew of volunteers (over 1,000 at this point) plus their PC's. I've been assigned an area in the Northeastern part of the county, around the town of Phoenixville, so I've begun to tease out PC's who are, in essence, super organized. These PC's become my Area Coordinators, who will manage a number of PC's over a couple townships. The idea is that I can call 8-10 of these AC's and mobilize entire sections of the county. That's the plan, at least.

So to organize these people, it takes a ton of phone calls and persuasion, but I'm slowly building my list. By the end of the week, it should be good to go, just in time for the new Phoenixville office to open.

So that's what I've been up to.

I'll be back in a bit with some more.

Take 5

While I have you all here, I wanted to mention a program that we're actively pushing here in Pennsylvania. It's called Take 5 Women to the Polls and it's very important. In the 2000 Election, there were 22 million single women nationwide who did not register and did not vote. And 2 million of them lived in PA. The idea behind Take 5 is that every woman (or man; we should all be doing this) finds 5 other women who are not registered and "adopt" them for this election. By adopt, I mean get them registered to vote, find out where they are supposed to vote and make sure they have a way to vote on November 2.

This is something that everyone should be thinking about, and not just women should be adopted. The priviledge of voting in this country has been taken for granted for quite a while now by quite a lot of people. We need to make sure that our fellow citizens (especially in my generation) understand that the best way to be heard is to become an active part of the electorate.

So if you want to do something this election season and don't have a lot spare time to canvass or stand on a corner, just try Take 5. It will get you out there, talking to your neighbors, and those in the cafes and library, and restaurants. Ask your waitresses, ask the valets, ask the guys behind the counter at Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. Make sure they're registered, and if they aren't, tell them you'll help.

Registration forms can be picked up at the post office near you. And be sure to ask what the deadline for your state is, or check here.

This is one civic action we can all take part in, with minimal effort. And it will go a long way to making our elections more representative and more democratic.

44 days...

Ignore the Fuzz

It's a beautiful, beautiful morning here in Chester County. The rains of Ivan have finally passed, and it's blue skies and a dry 60 degrees for the Edwards event today.

Tallying the numbers, our canvassers knocked on about 3000 doors, and made about 600 phone calls yesterday, and they managed to contact about 1100 people. That's HUGE for one days work, and definitely by far our biggest single day of voter contacts EVER. So we're pretty happy about that.

The staff here all managed to grab about 8 hours of sleep last night, so we're all feeling refreshed and ready to go for the new week.

And yes, I know the polls look bad today, but don't worry about them. Remember 2000? Back then, the polls had Gore losing the popular vote by a hefty margin, and we all know what happened then.

The fact is that old polling methods are somewhat outdated. Cell phones aren't contacted, and many people (especially under 30) no longer even have home phone lines, myself included. The numbers are NOT what they appear.

Stay positive, we're going to win this one.