Paladin Elspeth & Curmudgeon's recent references to their volunteer work with the Kerry campaign, and some new, well-placed Buckley for Senate signs in my neighborhood got me to wondering if anyone else has been so inspired by this election.

Are you volunteering for any campaign(s)? If so, for who? What are you doing? How about voter-related causes, like getting people to the polls or being an poll worker?

Even if you're doing something as simple as putting up a lawn sign or bumpersticker, share it with us. It would be great to hear what all of you are doing as the election draws near.

Moveon.Org has held voter registration events a few times this year which I have participated in. One of them asked everyone to form groups to call potential voters on our cell phones and register them, they had quite a few of those going on in San Francisco parks.

I have also taken the opportunity to write letters, emails and make phone calls to various Senators and Representatives, as well as Kerry's campaign (when I thought he made some mistake or was going in the wrong direction). I have no idea if anything reached its intended target, but I'd like to think that atleast a few did.

This year, I have mostly helped out financially, by donating fairly significant (for me anyway) funds to various campaigns, with the lionshare going to Kerry and the DNC.

I regret not volunteering at campaign offices, but I just really haven't had the time to give so I have tried to compensate in other ways.

My biggest accomplishment though, has been convincing a few friends and family members back home in Texas not to vote for Bush. I know that it won't matter one bit, but it was satisfying.

I also think that everyone does their part simply by participating in Americas Debate and contributing to the various threads. The fewest number of guests I have seen online during the daytime or evening hours is in the 30's and 40's and sometimes we have 80 or so guests online. I have to think that at least some of them have been influenced by arguements presented here, or have learned something they didn't know before.

Being a man without a party now this will be the first Presidential Election Since 1992 that I did NOT volunteer for someone.

I was volunteer / city leader for Perot and local Democrats in 1992, the Republican Congressional Revolution in 94, For Dole in 96 (Begrudgingly), Congressional Republicans in 98, and For Bush in 2000.

Now, as a man who puts reason and principle before politics I have had no luck in finding anyone to support in this election (on the national level) who feels the same.

So, this year, I spend my time advocating voting for a third party candidate, any third party candidate. The idea being to get enough votes for people other then Democrats and Republicans to scare the two leading parties back to thinking for the good of the country rather than the good of themselves.

It's a pipe dream, but it is all I have at the moment.

Unfortunately, Texas isn't one of those states that's up for grabs. There is nothing I'd like better than to upset Bush and embarrass him in his own backyard, but it ain't gonna happen.

Still I've spent some time answering the phone at Tarrant County Democratic headquarters, delivered a couple of yard signs and just annoyed the natives by wearing a Kerry cap, placing a first a Kerry then a Kerry/Edwards sign in my yard and having three pro Kerry bumper stickers on my car. I have been so vocal in my support of Kerry, that one employee at a Starbucks said I reminded him of the Michael Douglas character in Falling Down. (Don't worry, my cats keep me calm when I'm home. LOL) I also made two small monetary contributions to Kerry and one to State Rep. Lon Burnam--the man who filed the civil suit against Tom DeLay.

I wrote one letter to the editor to the Fort Worth Star Telegram and had a jeer for Republican State Senator Jane Nelson published in the paper. The jeer was for printing and mailing a two color, double sided 25.5" X 8.5" flyer at taxpayer expense, after the state cut budgets 7% across the board in 2003.

Here's a link to what Tarrant County, Texas Democrats have been doing from the throw away Fort Worth Weekly.

http://www.fwweekly.com/issues/2004-10-20/feature.asp

Although we might not win big this time, I think we can eventually restore two party rule to Texas. Part of Lyndon Johnson's philosophy, according to biographer Robert Dallek, was to take half a loaf if that's all he could get and come back for the rest later.

This has been a strange election season for me. Being a Republican in So California is a strange thing to start with, but this year especially there isn't a whole lot going on. We have another "gold watch" GOP candidate for the Senate and I'm actually reasonably happy with the job my Democratic Party congressman (Adam Schiff) has done in DC so I'll probably vote for him. I've done a few evenings making phone calls at GOP headquarters for Bush/Cheney and I attended a rally with Laura Bush which was excellent - super nice lady.

Mainly though, I've been doing stuff with the Swift Boat guys. In addition to giving cash to their organization, I've been working with my media contacts in S California trying to get those guys' stories told. It's not going to turn the election in California for Bush, but my hope is that at least some people will be educated about what really happened back in those days. I've had mixed success in terms of getting air time for these guys, but I've had the chance to meet some fine men and make some friends. My "last hurrah" for this election season will be to see if I can get the documentary Stolen Honor aired in it's entirety in at least parts of Los Angeles. Trying to work on a way to make that happen.

Being active duty military, I am bound by an ethical code not to campaign or take an active role in endorsing candidates.
So for now, (and since I am for none of the above this year) I simply talk up the Libertarian idealology whenever the situation presents itself. I'm very politically aware and fervent in my beliefs, so it's hard to not be able to help where I see fit.......but my time will come when I retire in a few years.

I am careful not to espouse my beliefs in the professional environment of my job, though I do engage in some casual debating with some of my equally savvy peers and subordinates, off duty.

AD pretty much represents the extent of my overt political activism.

This is the first year that I have been actively involved in politics.

Before I only voted and that was the extent of my activities.

The last 4 years have been so disgusting and disheartening to me. I have never seen a adminstration so secretive and being arrogant.

I have put a bumper sticker for Kerry(first bumper ever on any of my cars) on my car, put out a yard sign and have done some volunteer work for the local Democratic party.

I don't agree with Kerry on a few things(but that is about normal ) but he is so much better of an alternative than Bush.

My ideal candidate would be an independent with no strong ties to any of the 2 major parties and would do what is best for the American public.

In the meantime Kerry is the man for me until that ideal candidate comes along, it ever.

I belong to a campus libertarians group- and have donated money to the party. I have a couple yard signs for Knowles and Kerry, and have donated to thier campaigns. My local involvement is much more than my national involvement- I am usually very active in Assembly races.

In 2000, the most overt act of political activism I engaged in was working a phone bank a week before the election to get out the vote for Al Gore. Even then, though I felt the need to do so, my heart wasn't in it because Gore had pretty much written off Ohio (a mistake in a campaign full of mistakes as history has proven).

This year I waited two weeks to get my "Kerry/Edwards: A Stronger America" yard sign. I got three and placed one in my front yard and gave the other two to my brother and sister. It's been amazing to me to see those yard signs pop up in yards on my street where I've never seen one before and I've lived in this neighborhood for seven years.

I placed two bumper stickers on my car (which is something I've never done before and may never do again). The "African-Americans for Kerry/Edwards" sticker is kind of unique and though I was initially reluctant to do so, it just feels right.

As a family we watched three out of the four debates. I've discussed the importance of registering and voting with friends, co-workers and relatives. I wrote a column for the weekly newspaper I contribute to about the election (though I didn't tell anyone who to vote for).

I've already told my employer that I will not be in Election Day as I have volunteered to drive voters to the polls. With gasoline over $2.00 a gallon that's a sacrifice, but one I'm willing to make if it makes a difference.

I vacillate between optimism and pessimism, but I am glad that we're nearing the end of this election. I'm wearing out my TV remote clicking away from the campaign commercials.

Unfortunately, because I reside in Indiana, there isn't too much I can do to change the way people will vote. The latest poll published in the Indy Star shows Bush leading Kerry, 61 percent to 33 percent. I do have a Kerry/Edwards sign in my yard, which sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the sea of Bush/Cheney signs.