We grew up in spite of it.

There are 5 of us sitting in the office listening to Romulus (although, it sounded better at gas works). Yesterday I went canvassing for eight hours. The idea is to try to get 40,000 Obama supporters to vote-by-mail, so they avoid intimidation at the polls and they can vote early, which will give Obama an early lead. The intimidation-at-the-polls thing is real, dozens of Hispanic voters say they didn't get the chance to vote in 2004 even though they were sure they were registered, it's then kind of hard to reengage them in the political process...

There was also a handful of reports of people that came to our office and said they had registered with a man outside of Wal-Mart about 4 months ago and hadn't received their voters card. Come to find out, the man was hired by the Republican Headquarters in town and most likely threw out every registration that had the letter "D" in the choice of party box. And we can't track it, we have no way of knowing how many voters lost their voice 'cause of that man.

Today, a couple of us went to "The Whole Enchilada Festival" where Roberto makes the world's largest enchilada. There were carnival games and large inflatable soldiers and plenty of men in cowboy hats. Tough crowd. I was told I would "burn at the stake" and one said "I wouldn't vote for that man if he was the last man on earth." Good news. I'm not in Seattle anymore, no one walks around with dandelions behind their ears. Except us.

But there is still hope. They must put it in the water down here for us. On a conference call we were told the Native American tribes in the area all endorsed Obama; a Sargent that came said American soldiers in Iraq are donating to Obama's campaign versus McCain's at a rate of 6 to 1; AND we may get Eva Longoria to speak in the area. When I meet her, I'll put in a good word for you.

And in other news, Carrie Underwood is playing a sold out show in Las Cruces on November 3rd. So, do some research, make her support Obama and email request@19entertainment.com telling her to tell the sold out (!?) audience to vote the next day.

I've had too much Red Bull today.

The Uprising

Tonight we saw, The Slacker Uprising, which is Michael Moore's new movie about the youth vote in 2004. It got me fired up. We can't have the republican party take the White House again in January. I know everyone more or less agrees with me, but you have to do something about it.

Make some calls, knock on some doors, talk to everyone you can. It seems difficult at first, but all you have to do is find the Obama headquarters in your city (or another progressive organization if you're not convinced by Obama quite yet) and go in.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/statepages

Or call them, or email and get signed up. Everyone is busy, but on Saturday or Sunday, wake up an hour earlier or skip a happy hour after work; you won't regret it. It only takes a couple of hours. At this point you would only be speaking to registered Democrats whom most likely already support Obama. You don't have to argue with them or work to convince them, you just have to remind them to vote. I promise after three people invite you into their home for a drink or to play with their puppy, you'll be hooked. There are 39 days left to the election, and we cannot lose. Do something in your neighborhood, please.

42 Days Until the Election

Or you can sit on chimneys/Put some fire up your ass/No need to know what you're doing or waiting for/But if anyone should ask/Tell them I've been licking coconut skins/And we've been hanging out/Tell them God just dropped by to forgive our sins/And relieve us our doubt.

Here in Las Cruces, New Mexico, it is hot. That thought probably consumes my brain at least eight hours of the day. There are also far too many chihuahuas that yip, jump at you and try to intimidate with their bulgy eyes; but despite the obnoxious dogs and heat, we are making progress.

I'm still very new to this. The office is full of full-time volunteers that have been here for months, working diligently all day, every day after having left their families in other states, all in the name of Barack Obama. We all sit around this table until painful hours in the morning; reading, entering data, eating fast food and gettin' all fired up. We have to get fired up 'cause Las Cruces county will decide the state of New Mexico, and Al Gore won New Mexico in 2000 by only 366 votes. So every last person matters and that's a pretty good feeling: knowing every door, every vote, every hunted down registration form may impact this.

My supporter housing is perfect, an elderly lady and her golden retriever and I have a comfortable bed for my six hours of sleep and I enjoy her company as much as I hope she enjoys mine. Yesterday I went to a hospice to register a woman to vote, in case she doesn't make it. I stood outside a high school today and hassled 18-year olds. The other day I outran a pit bull and met the nicest old Mexican man with a trucker hat who had never registered to vote. I spoke to an old woman who said she is voting for McCain 'cause he is old, and she is old and likes old people. Every day is a trip. I'm looking for a night job in the meantime, but Denny's wanted a resume, and another job wanted me to wear a black mini-skirt, so in the meantime I have come to love all the food other volunteers bring in for us.

There is a big sign in the office, "On November 5th, will you have done all you could do?" And if it keeps going like this, then I think we can all say yes to that question.

And, right now, Allison is playing the guitar and the office is singing "Let it Be". man oh man.

The office and everyone in their prime