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Monday, August 30, 2004
From the Streets of New York City to Main Street, USA
Posted by SeamusOf course, one of the most fundamental aspects of winning a Presidential Election is the Get out the Vote effort. To that end, MoveOn PAC has put together some pretty cool ads and millions of dollars are being collected by a whole variety of 527s towards this effort. Pollsters, for their part, are doing their best to project who the "likely voters" are - which of course influences their polling numbers.
Much of what we can try and project regarding voter motivation is anecdotal. And one thing that certainly is evident on the left this year is the mass mobilization all across the country. Whatever you think the impact of New York City protests will be, there is no question that the demonstrations, characterized by the New York Times as "New York City's biggest in decades", represent more than just a simple anger but a mass mobilization that is an ongoing affair.
I happen to be intrigued by the mobilization that is occuring in Republican strongholds. This may not seem that important. After all, Bush will undoubtedly win in these areas. However, I believe these are threshold events. I do not recall having a Democratic option for state senate since I moved to Clarion County, Pennsylvania, in 1996. Not only do I have a 2004 Democratic State Senate Candidate in Kevan Yenerall but on Saturday the Clarion County Democrats opened the first county Democratic Party office in a long time.
This growth is not isolated to Clarion County as evidenced by this Daily Kos Diary regarding efforts in Lancaster, PA. I strongly believe we should take heart in these developments and help them grow. If folks know of other good stories from these unlikely places please share them.
Posted at 05:45 PM in Pennsylvania | Technorati