What's A Progessive To Do?

Okay, so we're 3 days out from the completion of what may be regarded as the greatest Democratic National Convention ever. We cried. We laughed. We cheered. We were inspired.

And the GOP came out punching on Friday morning, like we knew they would. To an extent, they stole a little of our thunder because between them and Hurricane Gustav, I've hardly heard a mention of our man, Barack Obama.

But now, many serious questions have arisen regarding Sarah Palin's judgement, ability to tell the truth and qualifications in general. I'm not going to repeat them all here. Do a Google search yourself. Trust me, they're easy to find.

So what's a Progressive to do? We have work to do, my friends. Inspiration, hope, and a burning desire for change alone will not put Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the White House on November 4th. We must get to work.

Here are some ideas of how you can contribute to a Democratic Landslide in November. If you have more ideas, please list them in the comments. By no means is this list all inclusive.

1. Put a yard sign in your yard for ALL of your Democratic candidates. If you can't put signs in your yard, put one in your front windows.

2. Put bumper stickers on your car. If you don't want to permanently affix them, use some Scotch Tape to affix them to the inside of your back window.

3. Donate to Democratic candidates. The local candidates desperately need your financial help.

4. Write letters to your local newspapers in support of the Democratic candidates.

5. Call your local Democratic committee (maybe your town, township or county has one) and ask what you can do to help. They may need you to come in and stuff envelopes, pass out fliers at a local train station, march in a parade, host a candidate coffee, answer phones in the office, etc.

6. If you live in a strongly Democratic state, but near the border of one not so strong (I'm thinking of those of us living near the Illinois-Wisconsin border), see how you can get involved in canvassing or calling voters in the neighboring state.

7. On the Obama website, you can make phone calls to voters in key states. There are scripts and everything. It's actually a ton of fun and very easy. And you can do it from home in your pj's (or naked if you'd like!).

8. Canvas for local candidates. Again, this is a ton of fun and pretty easy.

9. Do you know Democrats who have a difficult time getting to the polling place on Election Day? Offer to drive them. Or offer to help them get a vote-by-mail ballot and get it mailed back in.

10. Make sure all your Democratic friends are registered to vote.

11. Buy a t-shirt or buttons supporting Democratic candidates and WEAR THEM in public.

12. Check out the Obama website Action Center for ways to get involved.

13. Take part in Election Day GOTV (Get Out The Vote) efforts. Even if you have to take the day off from work, I would say do it if you can. I'm going to.

14. When you get smear emails about Obama, hit REPLY ALL (seriously this is my favorite thing to do when my ignorant relatives are too stupid to use BCC when they're spreading their venom) and send them the truth. There's lots of great info at Fight The Smears.com (put together by the Obama campaign) and at snopes.com and at Factcheck.org.

15. Talk to your friends and neighbors, especially if they're sitting on the fence, sharing why you are so passionate about Obama and the other Democratic candidates. When you do, try and stay positive about your candidates and avoid smearing the other guy. You'll sound more credible and be more in line with the Change that Obama is working to bring about.

We can do this! Yes we can!