While the seven and a half months seems like plenty of time, the fact of the matter is it offers precious little time to turn a county, let alone a state blue. This is particularly true if we are talking about the reddest state in the country. That said, there are a number of actions we can take that can have a real measurable impact on the election this fall both locally and statewide and the time to begin organizing is now!
The impact a few dedicated individuals can have on an election was brought home to me recently in an article by William Rivers Pitt appearing on Truthout.org.
This article (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030606J.shtml) tells the story of a group of New Hampshire activists calling themselves New Hampshire Swing the Vote . This group started by focusing on a single county, Cheshire County, and a single goal, to turn this county from a red to a blue county in time for the 2004 presidential election.
Swing the Vote launched a voter registration drive that increased turn out in Cheshire County by 6,000 in 2004. Kerry was only the second Democrat to carry the county since the 1948. If they can do it in Cheshire County New Hampshire there is absolutely no reason we can’t do something similar here.
Among the suggestions offered to individuals and counties looking to organize from the precinct up is a precinct welcoming program. Newcomers need to hear from the Democratic Party soon after moving to the neighborhood. Giving people a welcome card and voter registration form and letting them know we are active will bring out Democratic voters we never knew existed. Too many people moving into traditionally conservative areas assume everyone is Republican because they don’t hear from us and it is time we take some simple steps to change this perception. As a few activists in a small county in New Hampshire have shown, we can have an impact in our communities just by taking a few simple steps.