FOLKS ITS TIME TO PLAN THE POST-ELECTION MEETUP

But I ain't doing it. I'm just planning to show up, smile broadly and drink.

Looking forward to seeing old friends and fellow travellers. :evilgrin:

Suddenly, Indiana is a battleground

Author: John Bachtell
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 10/09/08 11:21

HAMMOND, Ind. -- John McCain’s in real trouble. The state of Indiana which has not voted Democratic in a presidential election since 1964 and which George Bush won by 18 percent in 2004, is suddenly a battleground. Most recent polls show the race with Sen. Barack Obama a toss-up.

The dramatic shifts in voter sentiments here, especially among white working class voters, are a microcosm of the changes sweeping the country. Dissatisfaction is running high with state unemployment at 6.4 percent, a 16 year high. The heavily industrialized north and cities across the state have experienced plant shutdowns. Rural poverty is growing and foreclosures widespread.

The mounting anger against Republican policies was already reflected in 2006, when Democrats captured three traditionally Republican held Congressional seats. And there is a tightening race between incumbent Republican Governor Mitch Daniels and Democrat Jill Long Thompson.

Grassroots election activity has generated an estimated 700,000 new voters to the rolls. Over 26,000 new registrants were added in heavily Democratic Lake County since the May primary alone. Some are predicting a record turnout of the 4.4 million voters.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73, along with other unions, has registered over 6,200 new voters since the primary. SEIU's NW Indiana Division Director Alice Bush told the World, “It’s too late for McCain to expand his electorate. He did nothing to register new voters. He’ll have to rely on the old Republican base. It’s too late now to start.”

With a close outcome predicted, voter turnout could be decisive. Here Obama has the advantage. McCain had taken Indiana for granted and been all but invisible until recently. He had no field offices, was relying on county and state Republican Party organizations and wasn’t advertising on television or radio. Now he’s scrambling to shift resources into the state.

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/13823/