15 days to go

My thought of the day: There are those people who always need something from you. (Foot massage, validation, whatever.) Then there are others who pay attention to what people are asking them for.

This only occurs to me because I think I've changed camps. For the better. The fringe benefit? You don't actually have to do what people want you to.

I am swamped at work. But not quite swamped enough to forget that I haven't received a phone call from a certain prospective employer. Did get an email tonight, though. The nice man's been out sick.

Funny, though. I've been relatively unconcerned about the whole thing. Maybe I really am growing up.

Donate now

It's 15 days until the election, my Democrats for Kerry email says. Things you can do, if you fancy to:

Phone banking

Visit a swing state and get out the vote.

For us lazy bones who don't want to take the time, there is the cash route. Donate now, before it's too late. ;-)

Here's a nice note from the DNC development office, just in case you think they're buying beer with your hard-earned, non-tax-deductible cash.

Dear Judy,

Last Friday I told you about an important strategy meeting taking place over the weekend. Now I want to report back about how that meeting went and how your efforts made all the difference.

Toward the end of every presidential campaign, strategists like me crowd into small conference rooms and huddle around spreadsheets with polling data and financial reports. We argue about the best course of action in key battleground states and then we argue with the finance guy about whether we can afford it. These meetings usually involve a series of tough decisions guided as much by cash shortages as they are by strategy.

The meeting we had this weekend was different. Time and time again when we decided on the best strategy to win a state and turned to the finance guy his answer was "go for it." It was "go for it" because of the contributions you made just last week.

You deserve some specifics: At one point during the meeting talk turned to Colorado. Many pundits thought this state was in the win column for George Bush. But polls show this is not the case -- we can win Colorado. We decided that we should be aggressive here and once again the answer was "go for it." On the night of November 2, when Colorado is called for John Kerry, know it was because of you.

I just wanted to say "thank you" -- you continue to make the difference.

Let's get it done,
Michael Whouley
General Election Strategist


Bush Matches Wits with Nobel Laureates

Great article in NYT Science section today: Bush vs. the Laureates: How Science Became a Partisan Issue. It's online, but you have to register. This is exactly what my brother J was complaining about at the EPA -- changing scientific research to fit policy. Anti-enviornmental policy, at that. He's going to quit if Bush is reelected, it's that bad. And the brain drain is phenomenal, he says, at the EPA and elsewhere in D.C. Even if Kerry gets elected, government agencies will have a hard time until they can stock back up on talent. Aye carumba.