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Okay, yes, I am election obsessed.

And yes, Barack is looking pretty electable right now.

But let me paint a picture for you.

There are a handful of counties around Philadelphia: Berks County, Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Lehigh County, and Northampton County. They are a mixture of suburban and rural… If Barack Obama does well in those counties, plus Philadelphia-proper and Pittsburgh, he wins Pennsylvania and makes it virtually impossible for McCain to pull off a dramatic last-minute upset.

Also, Pennsylvania does not have early voting. So for PA voters, it all comes down to one tiny slice of time out of one day of the year — from 7 am - 8 pm, tomorrow, Tuesday, November 4th — and that slice of time could very well determine the course of history.

Does every single vote matter? Yikes! Of course! Especially places like Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio.

Remember this: 537 people, out of millions, saying things like: “Nah, I just don’t have the time,” or, “I just don’t feel like it,” effectively gave George W. Bush the Presidency in 2000. Yes, George W. Bush beat Al Gore by 537 votes in the state of Florida in 2000, and thus took the Oval Office. And we’ve seen the results…

I’m just saying…. that if we don’t want a President who will deregulate the power industry to benefit the worst polluters…. if we don’t want a President who would rather cater to the NRA, logging, and drilling than protect endangered species…. if we don’t want a President who gives billions upon billions of dollars to massive corporations that produce unsafe food from factory farms…. if we don’t want a President who will refuse to stand up to Detroit and their 20 mpg cars…. if we don’t want a President who will promote “Drill, baby, drill” over 5 million green jobs…. if we don’t want a President who will stay in Iraq for 100 years or 1,000 years or will joke about bombing Iran….

THEN WE HAVE TO WIN THIS ELECTION.

We have to. And that means making sure PA stays blue.

They will slime, they will suppress, they will subvert…. but regardless of those underhanded tactics not trying hard enough to get Barack elected is simply not an option.

Okay, so what to do?

First, if you know anyone in PA, here are some important links for them:

• www.votespa.com — The Pennsylvania Department of State’s online voting information and resource center
• Find your polling place in Pennsylvania.
• VotesPA.com’s Voting Reminder Sign-up — receive alerts delivered right to your phone or computer
• Any questions? Contact your county elections representative.
• Any problems? Were you not allowed to vote for some reason? Was your voting machine switching your vote from Barack Obama to John McCain? Never walk away from the polls if you are having problems. Simply report the problem immediately to poll watchers on-site. If you are turned away, you should be able to vote by provisional ballot. You can vote by provisional ballot right then, and they will be counted separately but added to the total within 7 days of Election Day.
• If you have any problems or see anything fishy, don’t hesitate to contact the media. CNN has a Voter Hotline: 877-GOCNN-08. Send photos and videos to iReport.com. Another number to call is 866-OUR-VOTE (or 888-VE-Y-VOTA for Spanish-language help). Put that number into your cell phone before you go to the polls! Do you Twitter? Report problems, lines, delays, and any other such update to TwitterVoteReport.com.

And lastly, below is an email I sent to my whole address book yesterday. Feel free to copy and paste it into an email of your own:

———————————————————————————-

Hi,

So we have this big election on Tuesday. I have decided to do everything I can to help my candidate, Barack Obama.

My message is two-fold:

First: Please vote. Please make voting on Tues Nov 4th your #1 priority. Please be determined to cast your ballot come hell or high water. Vote as if your life depended on it. B/c the direction this country takes will drastically effect your life, as we have seen.

Second: Take 5. Please take 5 minutes and send an email to your whole address book. Call 5 people - or all people - in your cell phone. Take 5 people to the polls with you on Tuesday. Call 5 swing state voters. Meet up with 5 friends at a phone bank and make some calls (there are dozens of phone banks set up in cafes and clubs all over the place)… Please remind people to vote and ask them to remind 5 of their friends.

Here are some links/resources where you can help out… pass ‘em on!

• Find your Polling Location (and what you need to bring in order to vote, if anything):
  http://www.govote.org
• Call Swing States from Your Home:
  http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/phonebankmap
• Call Obama Voters in Swing States from Phone Banks in NYC-area (these are committed Obama voters, you’re just reminding them to get out and vote):
  http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/nylastcall/
• Obama Events, Gatherings, Parties, Phone Banks, etc (search by zip code and radius):
  http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple
• Call MoveOn.org Members in Battleground States:
  http://pol.moveon.org/obama/teams/index.html?id=14931-3543074-GKMyW2x&t=2
• Are you a lawyer? Volunteer to help the Obama Voter Protection Program make sure the election is fair and legal:
  http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/vpcvol2
• Got Friends + Fam in Florida? Schlep out the Vote!
  http://www.thegreatschlep.com/schlep/election_day_reminder
  http://www.thegreatschlep.com/schlep/phone_call
• NYC to Philly GOTV Trips:
  http://www.brooklynforbarack.org/2008/09/26/gotv-weekend-help-bring-pa-home-for-barack/
  http://www.brooklynforbarack.org/2008/09/25/oct-26-fired-up-for-philly-lets-bring-pa-home-for-barack/

Let’s get out the vote, and, as Barack says: “let’s change this country and change the world!”

Barack Obama Phonebanks In Pittsburgh

Brooklyn For Barack makes a strong pitch in their latest e-mail for “get out the vote” volunteers in the all-important state of Pennsylvania.

If you haven’t been following too closely, all Barack needs to do is win PA on Election Day — Tuesday, November 4th — and he will be the next President. As New Yorkers — in need of better energy policies, better health care, more green jobs, an end to the War in Iraq, and a fix for this broken economy — we have to do our best to make sure PA goes for Obama!

Before we get to that, don’t forget to watch the half-hour special called Barack Obama: American Stories, tonight at 8pm.

Barack Obama: American Stories
Tonight, 8pm - 8:30pm
NBC, CBS, Fox, Univision, MSNBC, BET, and TV One
Check your listings.

That will be sure to get people fired up!

Now, onward to PA!

Here is the note from the good people at Brooklyn For Barack:

We have buses running from Brooklyn straight to our work location in Philly. Couldn’t be easier. Buses run Saturday, Nov. 1, Sunday Nov. 2, and Election Day, Nov. 4 (3 buses staggered throughout the morning).

You know that amazing Obama ground game you keep hearing about? Tag, you’re it!

To buy your tickets for the buses for Philly on Nov. 1, Nov. 2, and/or Nov. 4, go to: http://cbidems.org/bus-trips-to-philly

Important information:

1) No tickets sales on the bus. All ticket sales through the website only.

2) If you do not use Gmail, the payment page may ask you to set up a Google account. This is free and only takes a minute.

3) All trips are round-trip only — if you leave on the early bus on Nov. 4, you must return on that bus, and so on. We are not set up to accommodate any mixing and matching.

4) There are no physical tickets. Do not worry about the “shipping.” The person checking you in will have a list of who has paid. If the person paying and the person traveling are different, please print out your Google Checkout receipt and bring that with you.

5) All buses EXCEPT NOV. 2 leave from Pacific Street between Flatbush and 4th Avenue (behind the Modell’s/PC Richards parking lot). If the bus must move at police request, the driver will wait on 4th Avenue, alongside PC Richards. Nearest subways: 2,3,4,(5 on Tuesday only), M,N,Q,D (B on Tuesday only) to Atlantic/Pacific. C to Lafayette; G to Fulton. Here is a Google map of the block, showing the nearest subways.

6) Nov. 2 travelers ONLY: if you have traveled on one of my Sunday trips before, please note that the Nov. 2 bus leaves an hour earlier than usual: load-in 7:30-7:45, departure PROMPTLY at 8 am. This is to allow for New York Marathon related delays — we cannot travel via Staten Island on Nov. 2. Also please remember that clocks go back one hour on Saturday night.

7) NOV. 2 BUS ONLY leaves from 57 Rockwell Place between Fulton and DeKalb. You will see banners for Urban Glass and Brooklyn Community Access Television outside the building. Nearest subways: 2,3,4,to Nevins; M, Q, R, to DeKalb; G to Fulton; C to Lafayette, N, D to Pacific. Here is a Google map of the address, with subway stops.

8 ) Please leave ample time to get to the bus. Every bus will be leaving on schedule. If you are coming to the bus via subway on weekends, please check the MTA website to see if your line has any delays. http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/ service/subsrvno.htm

9) Tickets are first-come, first-served. Please buy now to guarantee a seat.

Please forward this info to friends. We need all hands on deck for this last critical push. We don’t want to send any buses down with empty seats!

Fired up!
Ready to go!

Let’s WIN PA, people! And as Barack says, change the country and change the world…

As ever:

Find your polling place, early voting, and register to vote (in select states) at: VOTE FOR CHANGE!

It might be unlikely that we see any federal energy legislation before the 2008 Presidential Election in November.

But here is more evidence that suggests that extending and increasing tax credits for renewables across the country would have a major benefit not just to the country’s economy and environment, but a real local impact to NYC and NYS as well.

RenewableEnergyWorld.com:

Since many solar energy components are manufactured near the markets the industry serves, extending the ITC would create manufacturing and installation jobs in all 50 states, with California, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Washington as the states most likely to see the largest economic boost. In some states, the number of jobs could grow as much as 300% or more.

Similarly, the economies of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and the rest of the Great Lakes region would grow significantly from solar energy if Congress passes the ITC extension [...] The Navigant study also pointed out that the solar industry creates high quality domestic jobs. The greatest growth will occur in new manufacturing, construction, and engineering jobs, and in the roofing, electrical, and plumbing trades.

Read the full article.

Speaking of the big election coming this November 4th, how do the candidates pair up on renewable energy investment?

It sounds like these guys are all for it:

Invest In A Clean Energy Economy And Create 5 Million New Green Jobs:
Obama and Biden will invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial scale renewable energy, invest in low emissions coal plants, and begin transition to a new digital electricity grid. The plan will also invest in America’s highly-skilled manufacturing workforce and manufacturing centers to ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer the first wave of green technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world. [...] Obama and Biden will also extend the Production Tax Credit, a credit used successfully by American farmers and investors to increase renewable energy production and create new local jobs.

John McCain, not so much. According to his website, he wants to “commit our country” to expanding domestic oil exploration, he refuses to raise CAFE standards for cars, and wants to put $2B per year into coal. But what about renewable energy tax credits? He wants to “rationalize the current patchwork” of tax credits for this critical growth sector in the American economy. I’m not sure what he means by “rationalize,” but it sure doesn’t sound like he wants to increase nor extend these critical renewables tax credits.

Check out the LCV’s top 10 reasons to vote Obama/Biden in November.

Now is your chance to get involved! Support renewable energy and green jobs by helping to elect Barack Obama as President of the United States! Here’s how:

• Tell your friends in Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio to support solar jobs in their state!
• Use this tool to write a letter to the editor to any newspaper in the country (but especially papers in those states). LTE’s can be very effective, so give it a shot!
• Get involved locally at Brooklyn For Barack, Brooklyn neighborhoods for Barack, and at any of these events.

Register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and find your polling location at Vote For Change.