What's the point of contacting voters in Moscow?

Sometimes it feels a little futile to bother with political activism in my fairly liberal town.  A food  co-op is one of the centerpieces of downtown, and most of our local elected officials are Democrats.  This isn't Darkest, Idaho.

It really doesn't matter whether I vote for President, as long as I'm voting in Idaho.  I am going to be honored to vote for America's first African-American President, however, and might as well get that historical thrill.

A column at Slate by Bill Bishop explains why it's voters like me and the people I can drag to the polls who can deliver the red-state upsets like John Tester and Claire McCaskill - these candidates were successful by driving up their numbers in the more-urban areas of their districts.  Ma and Pa Rural Idaho aren't about to have bolt-of-lightning conversions.  Moscow is nothing, population-wise, compared to Boise or Meridian, so there's only so much influence our area can have on this trend.  I have absolutely no feel for how well Obama is doing down South, though when I was at the convention this summer, I got the impression that there was unprecedented excitement throughout the state.

McCaskill won in '06, as did two other Democratic Senate candidates in traditionally "red" states: Jim Webb in Virginia and Jon Tester in Montana. It's a cool threesome. Webb packed heat. Tester sported a flattop. McCaskill could talk to hog farmers, and she looked good at a campaign event standing next to Willie Nelson. Webb dubbed the group the "redneck caucus," and the myth began.

If you're only going to be pulling off people who live within a few blocks of each other, you should consider the return you're actually getting for driving a couple of hours to the edge of your district to knock on the doors of people who just don't want to hear from a politician. 

Comments

[Stephen]

I canvassed for McCaskill, and at the end of the day I went to bed disappointed at her loss. Then at 1am I was awakened by a phone call from one of the people I spent the day with, shrieking that McCaskill had won.

It was awesome.

[Voice o' Reason]

I live in uber-liberal Cah-lee-forn-ee-yah (as our Governator pronounces it) and I've been phone-banking for Obama, calling Nevada and New Mexico to let people know about early voting and let them hear a friendly, reasonable voice that fervently believes Obama's the best choice. If we disagree, we disagree, and it's "Thanks for your time" and on to the next call. But if they're undecided and want to talk, we talk. Next weekend, I'm knocking on doors in Las Vegas. No matter where you live, there's stuff you can do. If your local races are a lock, you can always talk to friends in other states and see what you can do to help them out. I have a friend who ran for the school committee in my home town in Massachusetts, and I made myself available to write, edit and proof his campaign materials. I'm loving this whole global/national village thing.

[Sir Charles]

Don't you people have to vote for Putin?

[steelhead]

Even though the majority of the "well informed" Idaho citizens will be voting for McCain, this one submitted an absentee ballot for Obama today and hopefully and finally will be on the winning side in the overall Presidential Election for the first time since 1992-96. It has been a long time in the wilderness.

[drip]

I live in the bluest of the blue -- Maryland. I am going to Maine where I have much family and many friends to work for Tom Allen in his long shot against Susan Collins. They offered to send me to Biddeford and Brunswick to GOTV. I hope it helps. Comments like yours and Sir C's awhile back make it seem like it will be worth it.

[Neil the Ethical Werewolf]

Good for you, drip. I did something similar in 2006 -- flew up to Ohio for a week to campaign for Victoria Wulsin. We ended up losing by about 1%, but I'm very glad I did it.

[janinsanfran]

I've been to Reno -- and I'm off to Denver for the last few days. California is no place to be in a Presidential year, though we do have to pull out a victory for No on Prop. 8.