I'm just finishing up a campaign for a local race. We did a few nights of phone banking which went ok, but most people concluded it was not worth their time. We got too many people not home or bad numbers. We averaged about 9 or 10 actual conversations an hour!

For each conversation, I think we did well given that this was a local race. The average person doesn't even know the candidates and we could tie myself to positions on various local issues. As the candidate, I had a special touch as people were impressed I was actually calling them and did ok. Not surprisingly, my volunteers reported significantly worse results.

There was a time when I didn't even know my City Council people. Most people don't. So phone banking can educate people at the local level. I can't believe there are many people who could be swayed either way on the presidential race right now. Calling to find them could easily do more damage than good.

I'm glad we didn't put an emphasis on phone banking in my campaign. The bottom line is that most people I called didn't want to spend time talking to me. When I sensed that, I got off the call quickly. It's hard to make someone interested who simply isn't interested.

My campaign emphasized leafletting at grocery stores which I found to be very effective. The face-to-face is important and people can talk to you at whatever level they feel like. About 8,000 got a flyer from me personally. I'll find out just how effective it was tomorrow. :)

After reading the Rolling Stone article I was hopeful that this issue would get some additional coverage from at least the not-so-mainstream media. I took from the article that there was significant Republican malfeasance that warrants additional investigation. (Remember in New Hampshire Republicans have already plead guilty to such charges.) And the Diebold lock on the election apparatus is a travesty. This is the most dangerous issue the MSM can bury!

I am very disappointed that the Manjoo article is the only such additional coverage I've found to date. I was annoyed by the original Manjoo articles which suggested we just shut up and take it. Indeed, this is much of the same. If he acknowledged the sad state of our elections while rebutting Kennedy's points I might have some respect. But he doesn't. Again, we're just supposed to shut up, ignore the widely acknowledged Republican chicanery and avoid being called sore losers.

I was a Salon reader before they went public. I was a Premium member when it first became available. I was happy to have a competent left-leaning news site on the web. (It was actually after the 2004 elections that I swore off CNN altogether. I now get all of my news from the Internet.) I hate to be dramatic but I also view this article as egregious enough to not resubscribe. I just got my renewal letter. I think I'll spend the money on Mark Crispin Miller's book instead.

Salon

Your article hit the nail on the head. If he was trying to be funny, it was ok. Not great but ok. If he was trying to make a point, he hit a home run. I think it's obvious to all that he was more interested in the latter. The MSM does not want to address the real substance of his spiel so they focus on its comedic value.

Let's think about what he talked about. There is a growing global environmental crisis that the administration is trying to sweep under the rug. We started a war in Iraq that has cost over 2,400 American lives and at least tens of thousands of Iraqi lives. And on and on. I don't know about you, but Bush Co. is a terribly depressing subject matter. It's really nothing to laugh about.