Ohio DUers, a plea from your neighbors in PA...

[friesianrider]

PLEASE GOTV for Kerry...

My PSU College Dems and I were pouring over the electoral map tonight and while I hate to state the obvious, it is virtually impossible for Kerry to win without Ohio!

I know you already know this, but pleeeease turn OH blue (and we'll do the same for you in PA) :)

With neighborly love,
Melissa :)

[flowomo]

1. Love ya Lions, but.....

How can you say it is "virtually impossible for Kerry to win without Ohio"? What states have you written off?

[friesianrider]

4. Most specifically Florida...

If it were fair I'd definitely say Florida will go for us. But since it's way too shady down there, we desperately need OH.

How do you Ohioans (is that right or did I make a Bushism?) feel down there - totally honesty opinions on if it'll go for * or Kerry?

[Kolesar]

5. WV may be out of reach for Kerry, so we need Ohio

We need Ohio and one of WI and NM to get 274 or 279 electoral college votes.

[meisje]

2. you have friends in Columbus, Ohio

[Momof1]

3. HEY !!! I second that plea from PA -

I live right near PSU, I know PA is going to go for Kerry. We really need Ohio. I know this county will go for Kerry because of the job losses.

[cmd]

6. Thank you, friesnianrider!

Most of us that post here are heavily involved in GOTV; but for those of you who haven't volunteered yet - listen to Melissa!

[Kukesa]

7. We're going to do it, friesianrider.

We really are.

Last night we held our last pre-election Ohio Women for Kerry meeting and the energy in the room was bounding off the walls.

We're walking precincts, phone banking, volunteering to drive people to the polls, phoning people who are new registrants, and showing up to protest BushCo everywhere we can.

Thanks for the challenge. And you do the same, please.

[Beware the Beast Man]

8. Done and done, for my old home state!

:hi:

[flobee1kenobi]

9. Doing all I can!

you also have friends in Dayton! This fight is exhausting and it is getting worse! In the paper this morning the rnc stated they will be at the polls challenging voters. A Democratic presence is needed so that they cannot pull any stunts or scare away voters
HELP IS NEEDED!!!!!

[BQueen]

11. Can help in Dayton or Lima...

will need to get an absentee ballot tomorrow if I do -- would hate to have to juggle voting and a significant commute to volunteer. Are the BOEs questioning assertions that one will be "out of county"? (since I don't have a firm commitment yet...)

I don't know Dayton that well, but only about an hour north of I-70 - Lima more familiar and only 1/2 hour, don't know if they're expecting problems, was going to try to check with K/E HQ tomorrow. I'll check back in case you have suggestions for who to contact or pm me. (I tried to respond to a truemajority/commoncause e-mail today and kept getting error messages.)

[friesianrider]

10. Thanks guys, looks like we got a good team over there...

If we can snag Ohio, we'll be in excellent shape (and Kerry will of course get PA too!) Let's keep it up and GOTV!!!

PA Dems <3 OH Dems

:grouphug: :pals: :toast: :hi: :yourock:

[BQueen]

12. Some Encouraging Signs in Ohio

As to whether we'll take Ohio, I think the votes are there -- it's really not that far from Fla -- *IF* we're allowed to vote and the votes are counted -- Kerry in a landslide would be my call -- all those people didn't register to vote for w.

I live in little red hell, but LOTS of Kerry signs -- many more than I've EVER seen for a Dem Pres candidate 'round here -- and the B/C04 signs are only at about the level I would expect for a "normal" election. This R base is not energized....or they're too ashamed to back him publicly. Some B/C04 displays are desperate in their attempts to look 'big' -- huge signs, mulitple signs to a lot -- others almost hide their signs right next to their house as if they fear retribution -- but the single K/E signs still outnumber them, with more going up daily.

Also, at least one Ohio paper with a large readership stuck by it's subscribers' interests and endorsed Kerry -- and their readership is NW ohio -- notoriously conservative outside of Toledo -- The Toledo Blade 10/24 editorial and those leading up to it dealing with the debates and Sinclair made Kerry's case quite well, in common-sense terms Ohioans like. (Blade also picked up much reportorial cred this year with a Pulitzer for a series on Vietnam war crimes and another great series on the sleazy Mike Oxley -- both still featured on main web page)

Link to the Blade's endorsement http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041024/OPINION02/410240329/-1/OPINION

[Dangrmom]

13. We're gonna take Ohio

and here's how I know: as you drive through my incredibly conservative and god-fearin' town (about 20 miles SE of Columbus) you see lots of Kerry signs, which is encouraging. But what is more exciting is noticing the Bushies are so intimidated that they feel the need to put up not one sign, but three or four all in the same teensy yard.

We can't keep up with the demand for Kerry signs down here and have had to say one sign per family, but the Bush folks seem to have plenty of theirs and not nearly enough yards to place them in. So they stack them up and hope we won't notice. But they still only get to vote once...

Smell the fear folks! We have them on the run, and as long as we keep getting the voters out and excited, I agree with the landslide idea! Kerry is definitely going to win Ohio!

[BQueen]

14. I love the smell of Repug fear in the morning!

I've noticed the multiple sign thing too -- property owners with signs placed at the extreme corners of their lots to make it appear as though 3 houses in a row are for w. Huge signs placed in turnarounds on what I'm pretty sure is corporate farmland (if not, big property owners anyway, and at least one near where new mall to go up...)

One display I saw was particularly desperate: BC04 signs framing a collection of 3 saying "Moore is WRONG!" "Rather is WRONG!" "Kerry is WRONG!"

Also, the varied types of houses sporting Kerry signs is very encouraging to me. I see them in front of McMansions, ivy-covered brick manses, tract homes, trailer parks. There is broad-spectrum support in Ohio, folks.

Heard on the local news tonight that there were just under 150 voters being challenged in Allen County (Lima) The guy they interviewed (with dem Konop for Congress sign in his yard) seemed to have a clerical problem -- his address was __ 9, and the BOE had __4, but he's gotten mixed messages on where his appeal is...

Compared to the newly registered numbers around here, that's looking good to me. Lima rebelled (iirc 1000+ new Dem registrants for the primary) against the repugs last year over Taft's closing of the local prison for criminally insane (you know that's a community pretty desperate for steady jobs.) The tank plant has lost something like 3000 jobs during the tenure of Oxley and he did nothing to intercede with Taft (Konop, his opponent, said during debate that Oxley was golfing on the crony dime out west when the final axe came down.) After the registration switch -- Oxley started producing pork and photo ops, and now multiple slickly produced TV spots....he's scared, too.

Even the little counties around Lima were reporting being "swamped" with new voter registrations. iirc, anywhere from 1000 to 1500 new per county in the rural area surrounding Lima. (Here's a laugh for you City Mice -- they were cautioning people that they may have to wait in line AS MUCH AS A HALF-HOUR to vote!) The percentage of Dems may not be as high as in other more urban areas, but I'm betting it's pretty significant. And then there's that youth (and their parents) 'no draft' vote...these ARE the people who end up going.

They just called up a NG unit out of Lima -- local TV reported that armor of Humvees STILL inadequate and that a local company stepped up and designed industrial steel sheeting cut to fit that they can take with them and attach easily (great idea, btw. may have a story on www.wlio.com if you want to find out co name to learn more). Great story of Yankee ingenuity, but also highlighted the wh lack of concern for troops.

People are pissed here just like they are everywhere. The axe will fall in Ohio...

edit for typo