Sherry Chandler

Get Out the Vote

According to Political Wire, Greg Giroux of Congressional Quarterly is tapping races in Kentucky and Southern Indiana as bellwether races in the upcoming election. Here’s the quote:

There are quite a few that could be described as bellwether contests. But it might be helpful to note the key contests in states where the polling stations close early (Kentucky and Indiana at 6 pm). Those returns might foreshadow how the rest of the evening will go.

There are at least six contests — all being defended by Republican incumbents — in those two states that merit close watching: KY-2 (Rep. Ron Lewis vs. state Rep. Mike Weaver); KY-3 (Rep. Anne M. Northup vs. alternative newspaper publisher John Yarmuth); KY-4 (Rep. Geoff Davis vs. former Rep. Ken Lucas in a rematch of their 2002 race); IN-2 (Rep. Chris Chocola vs. lawyer, ‘04 nominee Joe Donnelly); IN-8 (Rep. John Hostettler vs. county sheriff Brad Ellsworth); and IN-9 (Rep. Mike Sodrel vs. former Rep. Baron Hill in a rematch of their close 2004 race). The Republicans in Indiana by and large are in a more perilous political condition worse shape than their counterparts in Kentucky, but we consider all six contests as competitive. (We’re also keeping an eye on the IN-3 contest between Rep. Mark Souder and Ft. Wayne city councilman Tom Hayhurst).

A few weeks ago, NRCC chairman Tom Reynolds told reporters that he expected Northup to win — but that he would be in for a long night if she lost.

I’ll tell you the truth — this election has me frightened. Maybe I’m falling for Karl Rove’s hype, but I have been so distressed by the events of the last six years, especially the elections, that I don’t even feel like I can stand to hope any more.

I just really hate feeling like elections are this dangerous. But I do feel that way. The current Republican government has been radical in transforming our nation into something like an oligarchy. An incompetent oligarchy.

And they’ve done it against the will of the people. The people of the United States did not want George W. Bush for President in 2000 (and I’m not totally convinced they wanted him in 2004), they did not want the War with Iraq, and they do not want rule by the Christian right.

Somehow, we need to garner some opposition with legs.

Turnout is the key and so I would urge both my local and my farflung readers to vote. And to vote for Democrats, no matter how flawed you may find them.

And if possible, to join a get-out-the-vote effort, such as MoveOn’s Call for Change, link below:

Here’s the way it works:

Basically, it allows people to log onto www.callforchange.org from their home computers and then phone target voters in the 30+ top House and Senate races around the nation. Our goal is to make 5 million phone calls to inconsistent voters who lean Democratic - we recently passed 1.5 million.

More here at the Daily Kos.

[Update: If you want to keep abreast of the ins-and-outs of local Kentucky races, I suggest you visit Mark Nichols's Bluegrass Report and René Thompson's View from the Sandbox.]

[Update 2: What's more, I'm tired of being demonized:

SUGAR LAND, Tex., Oct. 30 -- President Bush said terrorists will win if Democrats win and impose their policies on Iraq, as he and Vice President Cheney escalated their rhetoric Monday in an effort to turn out Republican voters in next week's midterm elections.]

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