A lot of times in a big country like ours, so dominated by big money and big media, people feel disempowered, that they can't make a difference in changing things. That is never true, as I have seen the poorest and youngest and most seemingly powerless of people do amazing organizing to change the world. But it is least true on election days. Right now, in the middle of this day with the hours ticking away, you can still do things that matter in this election. The pundits may have already called it. The big money guys have already spent their hundreds of millions. Rove and Boehner are already smoking their victory cigars. But this election is not over, and you can make a difference.
Rachel Maddow was kind enough to have me on her show last night to talk about turnout and getting out the vote, and here was my point: If everyone watching her show (and if every progressive reading Rhe Huffington Post today) got on the phone using MoveOn's GOTV tools, or OFA's, or PCCC/DFA's; or if you headed down to your local Democratic party headquarters to knock on some extra doors; if you made sure and called, emailed, Facebooked, Tweeted, and/or texted every Democrat you knew; if all those things happened, we would surprise the hell out of all those pundits and Republicans smoking those victory cigars. It is not too late. There will probably 40 House races around the country, in every part of the country, that will be decided by a few votes per precinct or less. There could well be half a dozen governor's races and Senate races in the same category. There will be hundreds of state legislative seats in the same category, and hundreds more county commission seats. Incredibly important state offices like Secretary of State and AG and State Treasurer will be close, too.
And you can make the difference in these final few hours. Get on the phone, go through your e-mail and text message contacts, go on Facebook, go on Twitter, volunteer. Do it now.