OK, an e-mail and some Repulican Stupidity played a big role, but I couldn't get that into the title...

Several years ago, I ended up on John Kerry's e-mail list and I'm not even sure why, because I had never been an activist or a contributor.  When Kerry came out for Obama, I received one of those e-mails and I was interested enough to give this senator I had barely heard of a good look. 

I read Obama's first book.  It was pretty good, so I read the second one and I decided that Obama was the right person to support for president in the primaries.  About the time the primaries came to Texas, I gave my first on-line donation to the Obama campaign.  It was $100. I believed the Obama message, because he convinced me that he believed it. I voted for Obama in the primaries, and I attended my first Democratic Caucus and I made a few more donations, usually about a month or so apart.  It was way more than I had ever done before.  

After the primary was conceded, I coasted for the summer.  Watching the convention, I saw the number of people buying in to the idea of hope and common purpose and I was moved by the spirit of it.  Then John McCain picked Sara Palin for VP and I was moved by fear.  I was driven to activism by this irresponsible act and while I gave a lot more money, like a lot of other people, I had to do more.

Since the conventions, I've registered voters, phone banked, and canvassed, all to a fairly minor degree.  I don't want to over-sell my involvement.   I seriously doubt that I spent more than 30 hours volunteering and I feel a little bit guilty for not doing more, because I know how important it is to win this election.  

But the thing is, while I was doing this minor bit, millions of people were having very similar experiences and doing the same things.  Millions of people were phoning and canvassing and block walking.  It is the most incredible thing I've ever witnessed.  I looked around at the Obama/county democratic campaign office today, and there were a couple of hundred people in the building, and there were lists of people who were out block walking, and this isn't even a battleground state.  This is Texas!   I can only imagine what it must be like in Ohio or Missouri or Florida or Virginia or Nevada.  How badly the republicans have misjudged the power of leverage in this campaign.  How badly the republicans have mis-read the mood of the electorate. 

We're going to win this election because millions of people are going to make sure it happens, and I'm going to be one of them.  We're all going to vote, and we're all going to make sure that millions of other people vote.  Thanks to all the millions of you out there working to make this happen.  Keep it up.