For Many, TODAY Is Election Day

from MoveOn:

In key battleground states, today is Election Day. In Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, and elsewhere, early voting has begun. And if this year is anything like 2006, up to 25% of voters will vote before November 4th.

Every vote that's cast early is a boost for Obama heading into November. So right now we're calling MoveOn members in these states to hook them up with the Obama campaign's voter outreach efforts.

Can you take just 20 minutes to boost Obama's campaign with a few phone calls into swing states like Ohio, Virginia, and Nevada?

Our calling tool lets you have a big impact on the race from anywhere —- even if the state you live in isn't a swing state this year. And using the tool is fun —- most MoveOn members you call will appreciate you reaching out to them with information on how to get involved.

Plus, it's simple to use. You can make a practice call ahead of time, and the only requirement is that you can be online and on the phone at the same time.

If enough of us call from California or Arkansas or DC, we'll be able to recruit an army of volunteers for Obama in the states where he needs them most -— and make a huge difference in this race.

DO SOMETHING: If you've got 20 minutes to spare, start calling!

Demand the Debate!

from MoveOn:

Yesterday was one of the stranger days in presidential election history. John McCain actually asked to "suspend" Friday's much anticipated debate with Barack Obama so that he could posture on the financial crisis.

Even the arch-conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board was mystified.

Bottom line: This isn't presidential behavior. It's a desperate, reckless move that actually threatens to make it harder to resolve this crisis. And of course, presidents have to be able to handle lots of important issues at once—they can't panic and take their eyes off of one urgent priority when another one pops up.

Obama wants the debate to go forward. So do millions of other Americans. With 40 days left until the most important election in a generation, we deserve a debate on the issues.

DO SOMETHING! Sign our emergency petition to the Commission on Presidential Debates urging them to hold strong and make sure that the debate go forward on Friday, as planned. We'll make sure they get your comments by the end of the day.


The petition reads: "Now more than ever, the American people deserve a presidential debate. We urge you to make sure the debate goes forward as planned tomorrow night."

What's motivating all this panicky erratic behavior from McCain? It's hard to tell, but here are what some of the experts are saying might be behind it:

A drop in the polls. As Politico writer Ben Smith pointed out, "In terms of the timing of this move: The only thing that's changed in the last 48 hours is the public polling."

Stopping the VP debate. Last night, McCain surrogate Sen. Lindsay Graham suggested that the vice presidential debate between Gov. Palin and Senator Biden be cancelled to accommodate his request to postpone tomorrow's debate. (Now, why would they ever want to postpone or cancel the VP debate?)

Pure reckless decision-making. McCain has a history of reckless decision making. Here's how Time's Joe Klein put it yesterday, "McCain suspends his campaign because of financial crisis? Oh please. Given today's poll numbers—even Fox has him dropping—it seems another Hail Mary (like the feckless selection of Palin) to try make McCain seem a statesman, which is difficult given the puerile tenor of his campaign's message operation." And the Wall Street Journal wrote last week: "In a crisis, voters want steady, calm leadership, not easy, misleading answers that will do nothing to help."

But whatever the cause is, McCain's wrong. Serious situations like this one are exactly the time when Americans most need a real discussion—a debate.

We've got to make sure that the Debate Commission doesn't bend under Republican pressure. Can you add your signature now?

McCain and Obama Must Debate on Friday

from CREDO Action at Working Assets:

John McCain thinks we don't need a presidential debate on Friday night.

We at CREDO disagree. We need a real debate on the economy, and we need it now. The presidential candidates, as Senator Obama says, should hold their debate Friday as scheduled, and address the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

We've been hearing a lot this week about how our economy is in a crisis — maybe the worst crisis since the Great Depression. Politicians on the left and the right have made all kinds of claims about exactly how much or little we should panic and what that means for the policies we should enact.

The Bush Administration, for its part, has continued to insist that we must give the largest free lunch in history to the Wall Street tycoons who got us into this mess to begin with, We at CREDO disagreed strongly with this position, and we put forth some of our own policy recommendations in accordance with Robert Reich's suggestions.

If these issues are so serious, then that's only more reason to have a national dialogue about them, and to understand how Senator McCain and Senator Obama would handle them as president.

Americans have a monumental decision to make this November, and we need as much information as possible in order to make the best choice. We reject the notion that canceling the debate is the best way to focus on the economy. Rather, let's use the debate to spotlight the importance of economic issues.

DO SOMETHING! Encourage Senator McCain to show up for the debate on Friday as planned, and to focus on the economic issues facing our nation. As Americans caught in a pivotal moment in our nation's history, we deserve nothing less.