Swing State Project

Cigarettes: Be ready for long hours by down-grading your cigarettes. If you smoke regulars, get lights; if you smoke lights, get extra lights...save your voice. Inversely, if you are trying to not smoke, consider upgrading your nicorette intake (I'm a blogger not a doctor).

Batteries: If you are going down to buy a carton of lighter cigarettes, bring your laptop, your cell phone, and all of your chargers. This sprint will be a battle against batteries, ensure you have access to more juice.

Links: Be generous with links. Help everyone find the best and don't hesitate to pile on.

Duty: When this goes 24 hours, we need 24 hour blogging. If you live on the west-coast, plan on blogging until 3AM local time. If you live on the east-coast, plan on waking up at 5AM local time. If your time zone isn't at either end, maximize your blogging according to the most natural schedule.

Browsers: While I admit I use Internet Explorer as part of a multi-browser array, IE is not suited for surviving the explosion in information. Organizing the information requires Tabs, I recommend Firefox.

Offline: Work as a team with bloggers in your area to focus on the people your area sent to D.C. Use email and free conference calls to call plays, move action, and create the personal relationships that will serve us well in future battles.

Multi-Media: The video of senators is ending up online within minutes. Download, edit, and post your own ads. Get creative with photoshop and flash and MP3.

Shelter: When the hours get long, having a satellite office will help keep you sharp. I recommend a park or a coffee shop...someplace with wi-fi that isn't the place you're used to. Bring your headphones, a cup of coffee, and enjoy standing up to save senate rules.

Lead Locally: Let Reid worry about whether we are winning nationally while you worry about winning locally. Ensure people are sending letters to the editor, let local political reporters know your blog is covering the story from a local angle, and keep the local press honest in their coverage. Follow other progressive bloggers in your state at BlogPAC.

Focus on the Story: This isn't a single event, this is part of a pattern. Help build the storyline for the 2006 cycle by putting this week's extremism in context.

Working together, it is possible to survive. This is the perfect event for bloggers to cover and traffic suggests a helluva lot of people appreciate this fact. So kick ass.