A random hodge-podge of thoughts

Today is mini-Tuesday, and Kos has a rundown of the latest poll numbers here. Adn according to some early diary reports, turnout has been through the roof in Delaware and South Carolina.
If we take nothing else from today - including delegates - it's that the Democrats are motivated and eager to beat Bush. They are going to the polls in droves, and that should scare the beejebus out of Karl Rove. If our base is motivated (and no doubt we must give at least partial credit to the Dean movement for this trend), that's a good thing. If we can draw in new voters, that's a good thing. Both Iowa and New Hampshire had great turnouts, record numbers of new voters, and some serious ABB displays. This bodes well for our party come November.
I'd also like to take a moment to thank everyone on this blog who's taken it upon themselves to get out in the streets and support Howard Dean. In particular, I'd like to recognise JenInSC, who pioneered the letter writing effort in South Carolina. Major kudos to the grassroots in Missouri, Delaware, North Dakota, Arizona, Oklahoma, and New Mexico as well. They have had a much tougher job over the past few weeks and they deserve serious applause for sticking with the plan and doing their best to GOTV. If we get *anything* out of today, it will be thanks to the grassroots. I just wanted to make sure that they know how much we appreciate and admire their efforts.
Looking forward, the Michigan contest is Sunday Saturday. Michigan allows online voting, and many in the Dean camp have speculated that might help us. As of last week, only 7500 internet ballots had been cast and only 7500 have been cast via snail mail. Michigan is expecting a turnout of at least 100,000 voters. To add another twist, populat Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm endorsed John Kerry the other day. Congrats to the Kerry camp - Ms. Granholm is a great asset.
The great state of Maine is holding their caucus this weekend, and it looks like a Kerry-Dean tossup at the moment. Washington State also holds their contest this Sunday Saturday, and I think we all know that the Dean grassroots there are strong. For upcoming events in Washington state, please keep your eye on washington.deanforamerica.com.
By all accounts, we're looking pretty good in Wisconsin on Feb 17. although nothing is certain at this point and the situation is changing daily. Depending on how things shake down tonight (Edwards has pledged to drop out if he doesn't win South Carolina, and others may drop as well if they don't pull out key victories), Wisconsin could be the place where the anti-Kerry emerges.
Burlington has announced that employees will be getting paid again next week, which is a good thing. The money is still rolling in (over $3 million raised since Iowa), and the grassroots (while a bit shaken after the events of the past few weeks) are still growing. Over 630,000 Americans have joined Dean for America, and Meetup is close to 190,000.
Overall, compared to some of the other guys, we are doing just fine. But it's certainly crunch time, and I'm hoping the grassroots will be able to deliver some delegates today.

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