One Day Until Victory (Let's Close the Deal Together)

[cross-posted at DailyKos [1]]

I have been through a lot of elections. I have seen Democrats and Republicans win big and lose big. But I have little doubt that with one day to go, Democrats are poised to retake the House and very possibly the Senate as well. Simply put, the American people - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents; Progressives, Moderates, and Conservatives - are sick of abusive one party rule and want to restore checks and balances.

The fact that Karl Rove - the same Karl Rove who predicted winning 400 or more electoral votes in 2000, and led his boss to the smallest second term victory of a war time president in history in 2004 - is predicting victory means little. The fact that the national Republican party - the one known for vote purging, voter suppression and phone jamming - is unleashing unethical and possibly illegal robo-calls is also not unexpected.

The latest set of national polls do not give me any pause whatsoever. The fact that some conservative Republicans have finally decided to hold their nose and vote is not a surprise. The fact that some GOP leaning "independents" have told pollsters they don't like John Kerry is no shock. Many polls, including the latest CNN poll [2] has Bush down to 35% and Democrats with a 20% lead in the generic poll, continue to show a distinct Democratic advantage. (See also the Newsweek [3], Fox [4], and Time [pdf] [5] polls).

Much of the difference in the polls revolves around whether pollsters predict Democrats to turn out to vote in large numbers. That's something we control. Rather than giving me concern, these events merely cause me to redouble my efforts until the polls close tomorrow. I will be doing radio call-ins, GOTV, rallies, and even going door to door. In my own state of Michigan I look forward to a smashing victory up and down the ballot, led by our great Governor Jennifer Granholm and our fantastic Senator Debbie Stabenow.

You have been with me since the beginning. You were with me when we asked "What Went Wrong in Ohio." You were with me when we held historic hearings in the basement on the Downing Street Minutes and when more than 500,000 of you joined me in asking the president about this documentary evidence. You were with me when we held more hearings asking how our own government could have outed a CIA Agent. You were with me when recruited 500 election protection volunteers and raised $50,000 [6] for John Cranley, Larry Kissel and Jerry McNerney, who will be joining me in Congress next year.

Now I want to ask you one last favor, let's stop any unproductive and unnecessary second guessing and close the deal together. I know Democrats are famous for going out of their way to find things to worry about, but there comes a time when we simply need to declare that we are proud to be Democrats and roll up our sleeves together. Now is that time.

Here is what I asked my supporters to do this morning, and I am asking you to do now:

First, Vote.

Second, make sure everyone in your family and your friends vote. Call them now.

Third, if you can, help us on our final drive to Get Out the Vote. To volunteer to help out today or on election day, you can go to the DCCC volunteer site [7]. You can also contact your local Democratic Campaign [8] to see how you can help on election day.

Fourth, if you experience or see any irregularities, immediately call 1-888-DEM-VOTE (1-888-336-8683). You can also call this number to obtain information on poll locations. We're not going to sit by and let anyone steal our votes this time.

Finally, lets check out the returns together. My web site [9] will post information on how you can get breaking news on the election returns.

The issues are on our side. The candidates are on our side. The energy is on our side. Even demographics are on our side. On Tuesday, the American people will be on our side.