1 Day to go

I have been busier then I expected over the course of the last week. This has been a good thing. The experience of the motorcade was unbelievable. Then it was right back to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday was probably our best day of volunteer turnout yet. It caught us a little off guard. Now we are finalizing the plans for Tuesday's GOTV.

With Missouri being a tied race with one day to go, it is going to be a very interesting state to watch.






We will get a view of any Bradley effect that may be in play.
We will get a view of the actually results of one campaign being clearly out organized by the other.

Another thing I have been sawing over the last few days as we concentrate on getting the actual voters to the polls is the affect a Secretary of State has on the voting process. The two most extreme examples would be Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004. This year around there are more Democrats sitting in the SOS position and it makes a difference. The Secretary of State acts on the states in implementation of rules and regulations of the election process. The net effect is to impact the number of voters that realistic access to the ballot box. They have many ways of affecting this. Some examples are purging voter rolls and requiring voters to re-prove their right to vote, Adding additional layers of proof to vote such as citizenship proof in addition to thier registration and already required identification requirement. They can affect the number and location of polling locations, polling hours etc.

The net effect can be to make it difficult for people to vote and dissuading them to do so. They do this in name of securing the sanctity of hte ballot box and various other vagaries. The bottom line though is that when more people vote Democrats general do better. There for the plan has always to find ways to keep the turnout down. This is one reason they were so adamently against th motor voter law which allowed a person to register to vote at the DMV and various other government locations. This is why they push for picture Id and proof of citizenship forms above and beyond the registration. This is how certain counties and certain parts of a county have massive lines and others do not.

While the Obama campaing is working hard to address all these potential issues in addvance, there is also one other asset to the voter this time around. The new Secretaries of States. Between 2004 - 2008 a number of states have elected Democratic SOS's. This should prove positive for people wanting to vote. It happens to help democrats as well.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15105.html

Perhaps more important, in those five states Democrats are now in a more advantageous position when it comes to the interpretation and administration of election law — a development that could benefit Barack Obama if any of those states are closely contested on Election Day.

The effort began in 2006 when a group of liberal California activists created an independent 527 group designed to elect secretaries of state.