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Make a difference in Washington elections today


Human Rights Campaign

 

November 2nd is right around the corner, and the election season is kicking into high gear. Pundits and observers on both sides of the political aisle agree; the elections this year will be decided by who gets their voters to the polls. We want to make sure your pro-equality voice is heard, so plan to vote early by mail– and tell your friends and family to do the same!

HRC-Endorsed Candidates in Washington

HRC has endorsed the following fair-minded candidates this year.

U.S. Senate
Patty Murray

U.S. House of Representatives
Jay Inslee (CD 1)
Rick Larsen (CD 2)
Norm Dicks (CD 6)
Jim McDermott (CD 7)
Suzan DelBene (CD 8)
Adam Smith (CD 9)

How to Vote by Mail

Voting by mail is one of the best ways to ensure that your vote is counted. You won’t have to worry about long lines on Election Day, going to the wrong polling location or feeling rushed at the voting booth. In Washington, almost all voting is conducted by mail and coordinated through your county auditor’s office.

In most counties (with the exception of Pierce County), county election officials will automatically send you a ballot in the mail if you are a registered voter. If your ballot does not arrive or if your address has changed, you may also register to vote or pick up a ballot in-person at your county auditor’s office until October 25th. Pierce County residents may request a vote-by-mail ballot online.

All ballots, including vote-by-mail ballots, must be signed and postmarked or delivered to your county auditor on or before Election Day.

If you’re not yet registered to vote in Washington, it’s not too late. You can still register in person at your county auditor’s office until Monday, October 25th.

With so much at stake this November, we cannot afford to have a single pro-equality voter sit this election out. Make sure you are all set to vote early – and don’t forget to spread the word to your friends, family and colleagues!

Sincerely,
Joe Solmonese Signature Blue

Joe Solmonese
President

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The final weekend


Forget the “enthusiasm gap.” Here’s the real story about who is more fired up and ready to go — just as our campaigns shift into GOTV (get-out-the-vote) mode.

Reports are coming in from across the country of record early voting turnout in key states like Ohio and Iowa — with Democratic turnout far outpacing our opponents.

On Saturday, OFA volunteers reached out to more than 1 million voters in a single day — levels we haven’t seen since the closing days of the presidential campaign two years ago.

And on Sunday night, Barack and Michelle Obama spoke to more than 35,000 Ohioans about these final two weeks. It was the largest rally since the inauguration.

But none of that will be enough unless we continue building through the final days of this election.

Will you sign up to fill a crucial GOTV shift in the final four days of our Vote 2010 campaign?

Sign up for a GOTV shift

As the President said in Columbus,”there’s no more important time to be out there knocking on doors, making phone calls, and helping voters get to the polls” than on the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before Election Day — and on Election Day itself, November 2nd.

Supporters across the country will come together in the final days to help eke out every last vote we can — from the grandmother who would like nothing more than to vote and just needs a ride, to that last call to convince a first-time voter from 2008 that he needs to get back to the polls this year.

And from New York to California, Alaska to Florida — and everywhere in between — there are key races that will need every ounce of energy you can spare.

Please sign up to help in the closing days of this campaign:

http://my.barackobama.com/ShiftGOTV

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

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Temper tantrum -repost-


Last month, Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller said that Republicans must have the “courage to shut down the government.” Republican Congressman Steve King recently demanded a “blood oath” from House Minority Leader John Boehner to ensure the full repeal of health care reform — even if it means shutting the government down.

And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, mastermind of the disastrous government shutdowns of the 1990s, has been crowing about a potential shutdown for months.

For Republicans, what once seemed radical is now wholly in the mainstream.

Even worse, they are pulling in huge donations from special interests who are comfortable with a shutdown that hurts the American people — so long as it gets them what they want.

We won’t stand by and watch this happen — and that’s why we’re growing the By the People Fund.

Grassroots Democrats have given 2.9 million donations to show that our voices won’t be drowned out by special-interest donations to fuel a special-interests agenda. Now we need to keep up the pace to reach our goal of 3 million individual donations — we need 20,000 contributors this week to hit the mark.

Can you donate $5 to help us keep growing the By the People Fund today?

All around the country this fall, Republicans are trying to convince voters to hire them for a job. But they keep saying that one of the first items on their agenda would be to go on strike.

A government shutdown would cut off the programs, benefits, and services relied upon by millions of seniors, veterans, and families around the country. Veterans’ hospitals would be closed; Social Security checks would not go out.

This is the political equivalent of a temper tantrum — and it hurts those who need help the most.

With just more than 40 days until the election, it’s time for us to step up.

We’ve got organizers on the ground in all 50 states, and we’re doubling down on efforts to register new voters and turn out the supporters who’ve helped us win all across the country.

The meaningful changes we’ve fought for and won have always been built on the energy and support of people like you.

So if you’ve been wondering when might be the best time to pitch in where you’re able, the time is now. And if you’re sick and tired of the notion that simply because Republicans are yelling louder, we are willing to go quietly — then it’s time for you to raise your voice.

I know that we can win this fall — but it’s going to take all of us.

Please donate $5 or more to the By the People Fund today:

http://my.democrats.org/Shutdown

Thanks,

Governor Tim Kaine
Chairman

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Google


Official Google Blog

 

–Posted: 16 Oct 2010 11:37 AM PDT–

**This is one of a regular series of posts on search experience updates. Look for the label This week in search and subscribe to the series. – Ed.

Search is always evolving, and we’re excited to share the latest this week—from Google Auto complete to our fun homepage doodles—as well as a glimpse at what the U.S. is searching for. Here’s this week’s round up of updates:

A birthday surprise
Because doodles are such a fun part of the search experience, we thought we’d share a fun little way Google will help celebrate your birthday. When you include your date of birth on your Google profile, you may notice a special treat on the Google homepage on your birthday (be sure to sign in). Click on the doodle for another birthday surprise!

Renaming Google Suggest
We first launched Google Suggest in 2004 in Labs to help people enter their searches faster. Suggest has been a very popular feature, and some people have been asking what happened to it. Never fear, it hasn’t gone anywhere—we just renamed it to “Google Autocomplete.” As part of our launch of Google Instant, we thought “Autocomplete” fit better with the new functionality—automatic queries and automatic results.

Google Instant in new countries across Asia
We’ve been rapidly expanding Google Instant around the globe. Last week we launched Instant in Australia, India, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore. Now that it’s been a few weeks since our initial release, we’ve been finding that people are really learning how to get the most out of Instant. For example, in just two weeks, we saw an increase in the fraction of searches performed without hitting enter or clicking search. This is a very demanding launch for our infrastructure and we’re expanding around the globe as soon as we can.

Eurostat data in search
We’ve also rolled out some improvements our public data search features. We’ve been working closely with Eurostat to surface some really useful and interesting data about unemployment rates, government debt, minimum wage and broadband penetration across Europe. Try searching for [arbeitslosenstatistik deutschland], [smic france] or [deuda publica españa] to see examples of this data visualisation in action. The data is available across 34 languages. We’ve also internationalized data from the World Bank. You can learn more on our European policy blog.

The week in searches
Curious to know what Google Searches skyrocketed in the U.S. this week? Check out the Google Beat, where you’ll find an inside look into what people are clicking on Google. This week, we cover everything from Columbus Day to Brett Favre and the buzz around “Cigar Guy.”

We hope you find these updates useful. Stay tuned for more next week.

Posted by Johanna Wright, Director, Search Product Management

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From the Field Updates …a message from Jon Vogel


17 Days Until the Election

I can’t thank you enough — because of you Democrats are surging in these final weeks.

With your help, we reached our goal of $500,000 for rapid response and wired urgent support to our campaigns for television ads for next week and to send even more on-the-ground support.

While shadowy outside GOP front groups continue to barrage our candidates with attack ads, we have planned for the final two weeks, a $40 million wave of television ads for Democratic campaigns nationwide and to continue our $20 million voter contact program.

So far, our efforts are paying off and we are seeing poll numbers move, BUT we can take nothing for granted. The margin of victory on many of these races are small and this is the time to go all in.

For the final two weeks, my strategists and I see about a $300,000 gap for what we need before Tuesday’s two weeks out deadline. Can you help us again with another generous gift? Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

Some other updates from the field:

Another Bad Week for the GOP

GOPMisfires.com

This week, Republican candidates have been consumed by one media firestorm after another:

  • First, there was news that police are investigating one of their most highly-touted candidates for an alleged sexual assault of a potential campaign volunteer.
  • Then, photos surfaced of one of their tea party candidates dressed as a Nazi in World War II reenactments.
  • Lastly, NBC News reported that GOP candidate Allen West has ties to an infamous motorcycle gang and crime syndicate, the Outlaws.The Department of Justice has said the Outlaws are a gang known for making and distributing meth, committing homicide, and prostitution. The Outlaws have a history of denigrating women and considering women property – actually branding women like cattle.

What’s worse? These are just a couple of the Republican extremists running in battleground races. Early voting has already started in many states so we have to act fast to expose the troubling records of the Republicans’ radical “Young Gun” candidates before Tuesday’s TV ad buy deadline.

Check out our GOPMisfires.com website and help us expose these Republicans’ radical records.

Early Voting and Voter Outreach Continues

Your dollars have enabled Democrats in hard-fought races to fight back with ads and launch their state-of-the-art voter contact efforts. But it’s too close for comfort with so many like these running in battleground races.

There is no margin for error and every dollar you give has an impact. We have already been on the air with over $17 million in television ads and it’s working. Our poll numbers in key districts are moving!

Early voting has started and so has our voter outreach programs. Phone banks are 7 days a week here at headquarters and voter outreach programs continue over in 75 districts across the country. It costs $28 to outfit a grassroots canvasser with the proper supplies — consider sponsoring 1 or even 2 canvassers today. Contribute today >>

Together, we can be the difference between victory and defeat for Democrats and keeping these and many other right-wing extremists out of Congress. But we must raise $300,000 before Tuesday’s deadline to wire money to the field to fund next week’s campaign activities.

Just days left: Contribute before Tuesday’s two weeks out deadline so we can raise the $300,000 we need to fund next week’s activities for Democrats in too-close-to-call races.

Onward to Victory,

Jon Vogel
Jon Vogel
DCCC Executive Director