Report From The Front #1: Turning Out The Vote in Nevada

Baptism by fire.

I arrive in Las Vegas late Thursday night and report for duty Friday morning at the offices of MoveOn PAC. (If you need a hit of energy relating to this election, check out any MoveOn PAC office.) Everyone is busy on the phone banks but fortunately for me, a MoveOn PAC dynamo gives me 30 minutes of one-on-one training on door-to-door canvassing. Ready or not, Friday afternoon I am out canvassing for voters in my newly assigned precinct near the airport.

Wow. Las Vegas really is different: Neighborhoods are in flux and folks work strange hours - so who knows when they might be home. Other folks simply won't answer the door. When folks do answer, the most common repsonse is: "they don't live here anymore." Others see no reason to share information - "Yes I already voted. No. It's private."

Nevertheless, I feel like I am making a difference! The goal of MoveOn PAC's Leave No Voter Behind strategy is to "recruit 50,000 volunteers to work in 10,000 key neighborhoods in battleground states to get 440,000 new votes for John Kerry to the polls."

"Hi! My name is John Eaton and I am volunteerting with MoveOn PAC to get out the vote for John Kerry. Have you decided who you are going to vote for?" "Kerry? That's great! Did you know that in Nevada you can vote early? Where? Take a look at my list of early polling places."

Stay tuned! Saturday (October 24), reinforcements start to arrive.