Election Day Morn

Dave and I began Election Day phonebanking to Florida, urging registered Democrats to get out and vote. For the most part we got answering machines and left heartfelt pleas to vote for John Kerry, but among the people we did reach, many had voted already and still more were planning to vote later. I didn't encounter any Bush voters but I was surprised to speak to 2 undecided voters. How in the world can these people still not know whom they're voting for? It was remarkable. I refrained from expressing this disbelief and simply made my case for John Kerry. But more notable than the undecideds were the several people who didn't know where their polling place was. I proceeded to provide them with a toll free number to call to find out where they need to go to vote, and they assured me they would call it and go vote for Kerry, but I had to think, what if I hadn't called? They would have gone about their day without even thinking about voting. This is the true value of phonebanking and the Get Out The Vote efforts -- not to convince UNDECIDED voters, but to deliver UNLIKELY voters. And conventional wisdom is that there are more Democratic unlikely voters than Republican, hence why large turnout helps Democrats. Keep an eye on turnout. Chris Matthews said that if it reaches 120 million, this could be a big night for John Kerry.