"There is no Republican surge" - the Good News Report

[Karin]

Dear Friends,

If you're like me, I bet you've been reading a lot lately about the
supposed enthusiasm gap - where Democratic voters are supposedly
discouraged and staying at home, whereas Republicans are motivated and
planning to vote in large numbers. Well a funny thing started to
happen when the voting actually started: you showed up.

Democrats are outpacing Republicans in 17 key early voting states.
They say the only poll that counts is the one on election day - but
election has already started in vital states such as Nevada, Ohio, and
Colorado - and the data suggests that not only are Democrats showing
up, but we are on pace to match our performance in 2006, the year we
took back Congress. The AP has noted, "Early voting shows surprising
turnout for Democrats." And the Atlantic reports that, "There is no
Republican surge."

But if you didn't know that, it wouldn't surporise me. "Democrats
doing suprisingly well, actually, considering" isn't the story the
media wanted to tell this year.

Here's another story they didn't want to tell:

Did you know that despite all the sound and fury about supposed
Republican gains in the Senate, with their candidates outspending
Democrats sometimes by a 10 to 1 margin, FiveThirtyEight.com and the
Cook Political Report both predict that Republicans have zero chance
of taking back the Senate? That means of 1,000 election scenarios
their computers ran, there were virtually no instances in which
Republicans achieved a Senate majority.

And what about the House?

The President's party has lost seats in the house in every election
for the last 50 years - except for Bush's post- 9/11 midterm in 2002.
So there's no doubt we are going into this race with the trend against
us. And, although the Democrats' stimulus package and auto industry
rescue has saved millions of jobs, and put us on the trend to recovery
- there's still a lot of economic pain out there that is making the
voters understandably grouchy.

But it's the voters who show up who make the decisions. And Democrats
still have the most formidable, sophisticated and determined get out
the vote progam anywhere. Bar none. I don't plan on underestimating
it, and neither should you.

My point is this: no matter what the outcome of Tuesday's election,
this will be the end of the beginning of Obama's Presidency, not the
beginning of the end. In the last two years, Democrats have made great
use of our Congressional majorities,

* passing a comprenhensive bill for universal health care that has
been the dream of every Democratic President since FDR
* delivering a financial reform bill that includes, among other
things, aggressive consumer protection rules
* creating a stimulus package that has literally saved or created as
many as 3.3 Million jobs
* stepping in to successfully rescue the US Auto industry - so
effectively that both GM and Chrysler are now restored to full
profitability, at a net PROFIT to the taxpayer

And that's not to even mention Obama fulfilling his promise to end the
war in Iraq, substantial new powers granted to the EPA to regulate
carbon emissions, and two new Supremem Court Justices - meaning,
incidentally, that 1/3 of the Court is now female for the first time
in history (and while 1 in three representation isn't yet fair, it's a
whole lot better than 1 in 9!).

We've made a start. On Tuesday, we could face a setback, or we could
outperform expectations. But no matter what happens, there will be no
excuse for giving up or going away.

Change is hard, and time consuming, and the forces of reaction are
always quick to step in when progressives grow tired, or complacent,
or when we take our eyes from the ball.

On Tuesday, and every day afterwards, let's never allow that to
happen.

If you haven't voted yet, DO IT RIGHT NOW.

If you have voted, go right now to this website and start making calls
to voters back home. No excuses, no complaining, no apologies. YOU are
the change you have been waiting for.
Yours,
Karin

PS: If you didn't get your absentee ballot, you can still vote! Go to
www.votefromabroad.org and download a FWAB - this is your back up
ballot. It's not to late!

_________________________________________________________

I blog at www.obamalondon.blogspot.com
I'm KarinJR on Twitter
I'm Karin.Robinson on Facebook