GOTV. It has been a key ingredient in Republican victories for the past decade. It is also something we need to counter in order to insure a win this November.

GOTV is simple. It is the “get out the vote” campaign. Republicans target key demographics on the days leading to the election and on election day itself. The main tool they use for this is phone banking to urge voters, who would lean to their side, to get to the polls.

This year the Democrats are working on a GOTV effort – an effort that must succeed if we are to win. To give you a general idea of how we are doing it here in Butler County Ohio:

• The Monday night before Elections, we will be conducting phone banks to contact Democrats and Independents to urge them to vote the next day.
• On Election Day – volunteers will go to the polling places throughout the days to find out how many people have voted. After that they will start calling Independents and lean-Democrats to urge them to get out. Some are even going to offer rides if people have no way to get to the polls.

I have had experience with this effort in the past (in 1992) and the results are very rewarding.

Right now the polls look very good for Democrats, but a scary rumor I have heard was confirmed last night. Here in Ohio, Ken Blackwell’s campaign for Governor has been urging their supporters to say they support Ted Strickland in any polls. This is obviously being done to push Democrats away from the polls on Election Day (why waste your time when the victory is all but guaranteed?). I can’t believe this tactic is unique to only Ohio. We must assume that Republicans are trying this in other races around the country as well.

While this news is troubling, it is also good to get confirmation on. We can counter this new Republican weapon by focusing more on the GOTV effort. This also makes the GOTV that much more vital. We must let Democrats and Independents know they can not choose to sit out Election Day – that every single vote is imperative.

Everyone that can is urged to contact their local party and volunteer to help out with this effort. You can get in touch with your state party via this link and they can direct you on whom to contact.

We are in a marathon here where the prize is our country. We have been pacing ourselves well thus far, but we are no on the final sprint. We have a little over two weeks to go and need to push, with all our might, across the finish line. If you are fed up with how this country is running and want to change the course in our nation’s future, then by all means please volunteer to help GOTV.