How can someone like me make a difference this Nov??

Grad student (no money, very little time) in Blue state (NY) from Blue state (MA) with only liberal/progressive friends/acquaintences.

I've made sure my mom who now votes in FLA has made arrangements to get an absentee ballot which was no small feat. And I've given what I could to Kucinich and MoveOn.

Beyond that (and given my constraints), if I manage to magically create a couple of free weeks in July or August, HOW CAN I HELP??

And you could always focus on local and state elections.

Kerry may need to win NH to win the election.

Call and email them when you see outrages. Each day do something. Such as today, the top story is a disgrace with so many important things occurring.

In July and August, work to get out the vote with your local democratic party office. And on election day offer to drive voters to the election polls.

You can come to Ohio, stay at my house and do some door to door canvassing. ACT will even pay you eight dollars an hour for your work.

I would say just work at getting the correct information to the regular people.

It seems that we are in a information fight at times to correct an ocean of lies and twist that are churned out by a huge corporate agenda and the Republican party. The reason so many people are willing to vote for a man that will cut their overtime and send their kids to die is because they are duped into believing that he is doing the good things instead of us.

So i say just try to gird yourself with knowledge and speak out.

that will really help
is to register people to vote
do it on campus
do it in front of the grocery store
anywere you can
you can get blank voter registration cards
at your voter reg. office locally

this will make you feel like you're helping the cause
you'd be amazed at how many people
are actually NOT registered to vote!!!!!!

go get em

I actually have written/called CNN et al many times and things just keep getting worse and worse.

Maybe a pair of weeks in NH would be a good idea.

it had ideas

College students come from all over. Plant a seed. Have them spread the message with siblings and friends from their home state/community. Go into low income neighborhoods and register potential voters. Empower those who have been marginalized. Good luck.

who's planning on voting for bush, though.

There are many undecided voters there who could make a difference.

...however, there are numerous other offices to think about, both for today and in the future. The governor, for example, is republican, and his policies are not helpful to most middle- and lower-income families. Students who attend college in NYS should be active in the registration drives needed to change this. NYS has two Senators who will be targets for the national republican machine in the not-too-distant future. Meaningful change takes time, and a serious investment ..... just like your master's degree. If you are only able to do a little bit now, that's fine. But if you want to invest in the effort to make serious changes in the system, you do not need to go to any other state. There's plenty of work to be done right where you are. Good luck to you!

I'd see if my campus had a voter registration drive, and work with them. I live in Georgia, so I have the opposite problem that you have. Helluva lot of people here who couldn't be moved to vote for Kerry even if * sprouted horns and cloven feet, head spun around 360, and started spewing green stuff. My husband asked this dork he works with today what would it take for him NOT to vote for Bush. He couldn't think of ANYTHING that would persuade him to vote for Kerry. This ass wipe was even blaming gas prices on the dems. These freepers in Georgia are beyond nuts.

I have a similar social circle to yours, and come election time there are so many people who don't know how to register (or even whether they are eligible to vote or not), and where the polls are. Even the post-docs can be a bit hazy about all of this. If all the people you know are Democrats, and you manage to help even a couple of them to the voting booth -- that's important. Remember how the vote split last time (and how many didn't actually vote at all).

If you have a car, you can help drive people to the polls. If you don't, you can find out the locations of voting places, etc., and point them in the right direction.

If you live in an apartment building or housing complex, you can help organize local canvassing -- these places can be gold mines for votes, and sometimes the landlords don't want to let the teams inside (and they may be so rushed or stressed that they just move on).