my latest column:
"Swingin' Back Home to Swing the Swing State of Missouri, Or, How the Election of Our Lifetime is Taking Us Home"

As I'm writing this, I am packing my bags. I'm leaving San Francisco for my home state of Missouri. About a month ago, I had an epiphany. I realized that I needed to go home and work this election like none other. And apparently I'm not the only one. I read in the news everyday about another person who's picked up stakes and returned home or moved to another state or is constantly traveling around the country to work this election.

Have you ever witnessed such an effort for an election before? I mean, I'm relatively young, but I've been working elections and reading history of elections and I have never in my life experienced the level of attention and excitement and motivation from my fellow people as I do now. I have friends who I have literally begged to vote in previous years, now begging me to help them make sure they're registered. I read newspaper stories every day about the record numbers of new registrations around the country. I note the strength in numbers and ability to speak out by individuals who are normally oh-so-quiet about such political matters. I see a movement to take back our country afoot.

This truly is the election of our lifetime. And we are showing that we do truly have the power of grassroots activism. The media and the pundits and the government in Washington and around the country decided long ago that this was either a oh-so-close race or that Bush was going to win handily. Remember the doubt we felt in September? Remember the worry we felt a year ago when Bush was high in the polls? Remember how we were constantly told that it was useless to fight back?

We've been here before. With his father's incumbency we were told that it was impossible to challenge him in 1992, as he was at 90% poll ratings. We prevailed. In 1998 we were told that Clinton needed to resign, that Democrats were going to lose big, and that we should just move on. We came roaring back. In 2000, we were told more than a year before the election that Bush was going to win, and win strongly, and that Gore was not a strong candidate. Regardless of the legal shenanigans, we all know that we strongly won that election, we won the popular vote, and Gore showed that he was more up to the fight than the media wanted us to see.

And now we're here again. The media and the pundits and the government officials and all those mouths of negativity continually tell us that our elections are no longer relevant, that the polls tell us what's what, that simply feed us tired campaign lines instead of giving us hard news, that allow our democracy to be whittled down to sound byte form.

But we know better. In our hearts, we are seeing the election of our lifetime and we are giddy with excitement. The masses are not allowing the media and the pundits and the government officials and the sound bytes tell them what to do. The masses are registering to vote. We are more involved and motivated than ever. We are showing a grassroots movement in all its glory, without the help of anyone but ourselves. We are going for the gold and no negativity or poll numbers or sound bytes are going to stop us. And we know we are about to win the big prize. Regardless of what the polls may say from day to day, or from what the media tells us, or what shenanigans go on, we know.

So as I pack my bags to swing back home to Missouri for this crucial election, I reflect. I know that the media and the pundits have now written off the swing state of Missouri into the Bush column. But I take heart in what I know. I know that this is no normal election. I know that Missouri is not a lost cause. And I hearken back to my hometown president, Harry S Truman, who had his own media-infused-negativity way back when. In fact, not only was he believed to be a lost cause, but the media went to print on election night with its infamous incorrect headline.

You see, I come from a place where grassroots activism and the power of the people have been proven time and time again to be the true symbol of democracy. When the media and the pundits and so forth tell us what's what, we give 'em hell! We get on that train and ride around the country and barnstorm like never before, and we give 'em hell! This is what I see now. This is why Kerry is about to win more strongly than the media will allow us to believe. This is why we all believe more than ever in the power of democracy.

So, I'm almost finished packing. Tomorrow, and through election day, I will be doing the necessary GOTV work in the land of Truman to swing my swing state the Democratic way. Just as so many others are doing around the country. And I know that you, dear reader, are doing the same wherever you are physically at this time. So, now that you've finished my column and this newsletter, get back out there! Get Out The Vote (GOTV) like never before. And do so with a smile on your face, with love of your work and home and family, with pride in grassroots empowerment, and with the knowledge that this election of our lifetime is taking us all back home to a country we know in our hearts.

We are on the road to victory! So get back out there and GOTV!

Reese Aaron Isbell, M.P.P.
Editor