According to a study by the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, voting turnout increased by a whopping 6 million voters in 2000 - from 49% of eligible voters in 1996 to 51.2% in 2000. The report - which is mysteriously unavailable at http://www.gspm.org/csae - credited "grassroots efforts to increase voter turnout." That sounds pretty good to us - so why does author Curtis Gans say voter turnout is still declining? And why did the NY Times report falling Democratic registration, but failed to report Republican registration trends? Is this just part of the ongoing psychological warfare by the editors of the NY Times against Democratic activists? After all, the Times refuses to report on our never-ending protests, and refuses to publish letters from Democratic activists. Complain to letters@nytimes.com.

I work as a graphic designer, and often I am tasked to create imagery that will invoke a certain type of emotion. In doing so, I will often consult work that has been done by others in order to get a sense for what types of images will invoke the particular feeling or feelings that I am trying to achieve. I was sitting in my study last night, evaluating some images from scenes of The Lion King, when I came to a stunning realization.

The official results had Bush beating Gore by 80,000 votes in Gore's home state of Tennessee. But according to Catherine Danielson, voting problems involving black and poor voters in Tennessee rivaled those of Florida.

We now live in a corporate democracy. It is a system whereby a board of directors - read Supreme Court - selects the chief executive officer. The CEO in turn appoints new members of the board. But Gore's campaign proved that there is a majority for a government that is truly a progressive coalition. Americans will elect a government that includes and represents labor, women, minorities - and greens. This is the government we must seek to elect. And for that, the first task is to assure that the information ministries of our new corporate republic do not cast a fog of forgetting over the crime that we have all just witnessed, with our own eyes.

Readers of Democrats.com and BuzzFlash.com tell you why you should act now. So what are you waiting for, visit TrustthePeople.com and call your senator today.

"Ignorance is bliss only for those who enjoy living in ignorance. If acquired immune deficiency syndrome is loose in your country, ignorance and denial make poor public health policy. It is disturbing that a campaign run on a mantra of "trust the judgment of the people" seems reluctant to do so. I may, like most Americans, care only mildly whether Gore or Bush is president, but I care a great deal about the processes before, during and after the election. We need to know the truth." So writes a Florida professor in an Orlando Sentinel commentary.

We will be getting a bellyful of Bush's calling for "bipartisanship." But that has a different meaning for Dubya than it does for you me. Basically, he defines the term to mean, "Vote for my bill and you are an official bipartisan"; "Vote for the Democratic bill and you are a divisive obstructionist." That's the usual Bush "Heads I win, tails you lose" approach.

The Village Voice details the five worst Bush campaign acts of outrageous and hypocritical behavior during the Florida recount process. Why the Voice stopped at 5 we don't know. Maybe they ran out of space.

Jesse Jackson is calling for protests of a court-led Coup D'Etat, God Bless Him. He is drawing attention to the partiality of some of the conservative justices who helped the loser win and the winner lose. Keep the fire burning Jesse!

Mike Webb hosts a progressive radio call-in show -- and he wants you to call in and express your outrage at the grand theft of the presidency! That's right, a media person that wants to hear from you. And what's more, he has a toll free number, so it's on his nickel.

"If This Were a Dictatorship, It Would be a Heck of a Lot Easier," Says GWB. The Reuters report said he chuckled after his comment. What a card Dubya is, add moron to that description.

How about the Shammy Awards? The nominations were carefully screened and the winners chosen on the basis of merit. Here are just a couple: "Hester Prynne Certificate Of Virtue: Karen Hughes, PR flak for a guy who declined to serve in Vietnam, for attaching the term "anti-military" to a man who chose to serve in Vietnam. Richard Milhaus Nixon Truth In Advertising Award: James Baker, for educating America to the reality that counting dimpled chads in Texas is admirable, but counting dimpled chads in Florida is depraved, unpatriotic, and felonious."

As to why Blacks voted in such large numbers for Gore, Raspberry says "When you're convinced that the church across the street is a shortcut to hell, your pastor doesn't have to offer much to keep you from bolting. It's enough for him to remind you just how terrible the other congregation is." Praise the Lord!

Sometimes, it's best to hear it from the Heartland. As we wrap up our postings of who readers want to run in 2004, we want you to read what a Wisconsin family has to say on the subject. You may agree or disagree, but you will realize how the "grand theft" of the presidency affected families throughout America.

"While losing the Electoral College and the presidency to George W. Bush, Al Gore actually is leading the popular vote by more than half a million votes, making this only the second-closest race of the last century. Gore's margin, according to an Inquirer review of the latest official numbers posted by each state, is 540,435 votes - a wider spread than John F. Kennedy enjoyed over Richard Nixon in 1960. Most news organizations, including The Inquirer, had been reporting in recent weeks that Vice President Gore led in the popular vote by 337,576. Those numbers reflected totals announced by each state in the days following the election, but they did not yet include late-arriving absentee ballots in a number of states, most important, California. Now, according to The Inquirer's review, Gore has 50,977,109 votes to 50,436,674 for Bush."

With each new revelation, the outrage should be growing. We know that Scalia's two sons are benefitting from their law firms working directly on the Bush legal assault on Al Gore's victory at the polls. We know that Clarence Thomas's wife was collecting resumes for the Bush administration. Now, Newsweek confirms that Sandra Day O'Connor shouted "this is terrible" when Florida was called for Gore early on Election Eve. Her husband explained to the surprised party goers that the O'Connors wanted to retire to Arizona, but if Gore won Sandra would stay on four more years just to keep Gore from appointing a "Democrat" jurist. When will Daschle, Gephardt and the rest start fighting for justice? The Supreme Court ruling that stole the presidency for Bush was worse than common burglary. It was a violation of our Constitutional guarantee of "electing" a President. It was, in a word, treason.

George W. Bush picked the pea-brained Dan Quayle as his V.P. Now Papa Bush has handpicked his son to be the official head of state while Papa, Baker, Cheney, Powell, et al, pull the strings. Pretty nifty strategy -- and we get Dan Quayle-lite as our booby prize!

So many readers have responded to the Democrats.com/BuzzFlash.com request for nominations for 2004 that we are posting a second panel of responses. Some clear contenders are emerging, including a large contingent wanting a Gore/Bush rematch. Well, you be the judge, and send us your preferred Democratic nominee for 2004 to BuzzFlash@BuzzFlash.com. (Sorry, but because of the volume of response, we cannot print every e-mail.)

The egomaniacal Ralph Nader looms as one large factor behind the circumstances that Bush close enough to steal the election. Ralph still is running around as smug as a, well as a Country Club Republican. "Mr Clean" deserves our scorn, that's for sure.

Okay, let's get your early handicap on who should be the one to retake the White House from the Bush Monarchists and Tory ticket. Some Democrats.com and BuzzFlash.com readers have already cast their votes. Send in yours to us, and we'll post as many as we can. (Send to BuzzFlash@BuzzFlash.com.)

As Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune notes, "To those who now warn angry Democrats not to let lingering acrimony destroy them, as happened with the Republicans during their extended orgy of Clinton hatred, I ask, "Oh, you mean the Republicans who now control the House and the Senate and the presidency, the majority of state governments, talk radio and the U.S. Supreme Court? Those self-destructive Republicans?""

It takes a movie critic to review a political performance, and Roger Ebert says the emperor is wearing no clothes. Bush prevailed by running a campaign based on a strategy of deception. That's immoral and unethical, isn't it?

The GOP certainly knows how to make the wicked witch look like a kind angel, by comparison to them that is. So, are we just not angry enough to counter the junkyard dog hate of the Republican party?

Dubya's sad-assed court claim amounts to this: "By counting all the votes, you will do me irreperable harm. That harm will be that I will not be able to restore the Bush family to its rightful place on the throne. Papa will be very mad at me, if this comes to pass. So, please, please, don't count all the votes. I will end up in a pickle of family trouble if you do."

At Democrats.com, we off a variety of activist opportunities. Take advantage of them to make a difference. We can't just bemoan that the right wing Bush forces are more visible and activated, we need to do something about it. In addition, a BuzzFlash reader offers a number of ways that you can support Al Gore's efforts to get the votes that are his due. Pick one or two of them -- and go for it!

Hate consumes the hater, Paul Begala argues. Will the right wing Bush jihad in Florida ultimately be consumed by its own flames of rage? Begala thinks so, and we agree.

No doubt, Janet Reno wanted to be "fair," as Democrats are wont to be be. So, she didn't pursue the Bush "debate" tapes caper during the general election, even though it looked like a botched Bush dirty trick from the get go. Now, too late, word comes out that a grand jury in Dallas is looking at a Bush consulting firm as the culprit. Of course, Bush may be president by the time it comes out that the ghost of Lee Atwater was running his campaign. But we knew that all along, right?

It's getting ugly and uglier for the Bush campaign. Now it turns out that Jeb's gang hired a conservative consulting firm to uproot minority voters from the election rolls. This is Jim Crow at its worst. Al, hang in there. If you pull out now, we will never get to the bottom of the GOP cesspool of political tactics.

Republicans are in a frenzy. They are apoplectic about the massive vote fraud which they have no evidence exists. They are hysterical about Democratic attempts to "steal" the election by following Florida's legal recount process. They are morally outraged that dimpled ballots that count in Texas might also count in Florida. They are appalled by their Democratic opponents' "lies, corruption, conspiracies, felonies, sedition, and hatred of the military." And so, they scream. And they organize. And they threaten. And they intimidate. And they riot. And they do all of this self-righteously. And they do all of this in the name of "self-defense". And it works. (Click for More.)

Oh, it's great to see the Clinton White House up to its fighting form. They took on Cheney's pathetic attempt to blame a recession (that may or may not occur) on Clinton and Gore. Cheney, the White House said, should know a thing about recessions. Under his partnership with Papa Bush, the United States experienced its last recession, followed by 8 years of prosperity under the Democrats.

It's not a good sign of being a unifier when your lead lawyer is one of the central figures in attacking the legitimacy of the Presidency. But George W. Bush thinks it's his right to speak one way and act another. Ted Olson, who argued Bush's case before the Supreme Court, helped orchestrate the behind-the-scenes activity that led to Clinton's impeachment trial. Once again, Bush has proven himself a divider, not a unifier.

Most Americans want thousands of disputed South Florida ballots to be counted by hand and a majority of the public wants the Florida legislature and the Congress to stay out of the presidential election, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Even as the litigation battles on, the Democrats are finally hanging tough for Gore. Dick Gephardt came through with this straight-talk comment from the "Show Me State" of Missouri:"It would be terrible a month from now, after this is all over, if Gore is not declared the winner, somebody is going to go back and recount these ballots and . . . see who actually won. Would we want to wake up in a month from now and have the national popular winner and the actual winner in Florida not be the president of the United States?"

A lot of the extended Bush support system - businesses, the right wing, family members, etc. - are just waiting to pull out the shivs. A British paper offers up an excellent analysis of who are the puppeteers behind Junior. And it's a pretty scary picture.

An editorial writer for the Atlanta Constitution cuts through the bull, and pens a cogent commentary on how George W. has sold his soul to win the White House. But since he has cheerfully executed more than 135 people, it is unlikely that he can save his soul. One important addition to the commentary: it is no surprise that Bush is adopting Lee Atwater's tactics, since in the 1988 election, Bush rode shotgun with Atwater as he scurrilously assaulted the Dukakis campaign. Insiders say that Atwater and Dubya were two peas in a pod.

Maureen Dowd doesn't play favorites, but she seems particularly offended by the Bush (Corleone's) clan's sense of entitlement, and their use of hired help to do their dirty work. Of course, the story making the rounds is that they picked the wrong Corleone to run for President. By mistake, they chose Fredo instead of Michael.

A hard working team of volunteers has compiled an Election 2000 FAQ. Enjoy!

As unbelievable as it may seem, the Bush team can still outdo itself in hypocrisy. It has hinted it may seek a full recount and decertification of the Gore victory in New Mexico. The hypocrisy is so brazen it can leave you wondering if there is any morality at all within the Bush camp. Or is it just an ethical sewer?

Jeb Bush has been trying to give the appearance of not interceding in the Florida shenanigans. He's a bit concerned about retaining his Governor's seat in 2002. But an unimpeachable source says that J.B. is head deep in Dubya's strategy to steal Florida. And Jeb can't call the source a liar, because it's Papa B.

On Friday, the Flordia Supreme Court turned down a Gore request to proceed with an expeditious recount. Democracy will have to wait a bit longer to become a reality in Florida.

Tom DeLay is still lurking around, waiting to see if he can do some dirty work. If the Florida legislature doesn't do Jeb's bidding, watch for good ol' crazy Tom to try to steal the Presidency once again. It will be impeachment redux.

It's all a Republican slow-down tactic. Why not count 10 million, 20 million, and so on. Because it will take too long, which is exactly why the Republican lawyers asked the judge to transport hundreds of thousands of ballots to the state capital. Because the clock is running out.

Finally,there is justice. The Concord, New Hampshire, paper editorializes that Bush should concede. Why? Because his conduct in Florida is unbecoming of a President. When it comes down to it, Bush has shown contempt for the American voter by trying to bully his way into office. George W. Bush, have you no shame? The Concord paper concludes "apparently not."

This case may be the main reason the Bush team is employing high-risk, high-pressure tactics. The law is with the Democrats on this one, indisputably. The only issue is what the penalty will be. Obviously, however, if more than 4,000 votes are disqualified in Seminole County, you can start repeating "PresidentGore." That's got Dubya's undies in a bunch.

If Bush wins, we'll get President Cheney. It's getting clearer by the moment. Or we will get a co-presidency, Dick Cheney and Papa Bush. Junior will be relegated to jumping out in front of the cameras every once in awhile and getting indignant about one thing or another. But, that's okay, President Cheney will be taking care of business -- after consulting with Papa B.

Maria Cantwell leads incumbent U.S. Senator Slade Gorton by 1,953 votes, but she is not throwing roadblocks in the way of a statewide recount the way George W. Bush is doing in Florida. Cantwell's amazing victory gives the Democrats a 50-50 tie in the U.S. Senate. Note for chad-watchers: in Washington, election workers REMOVE hanging chads before feeding them into the machines. If they did that in Florida, Gore might have won already.

Robert Reich is the latest Democrat to wimp out and go public with reservations about Al Gore's strategy. The man gets littler every day. A reader lets Reich knows that he's helping to disenfranchise thousands of people. E-mail Reich yourself. Let him know that you want him to stand tall for the victims of Jeb Bush's new Jim Crow regime in Florida.

If Bush pulls off the win, is anyone still wondering who is going to run the United States. It will be a Bush alright, but not the one they are trotting out in front of the cameras now and then. Given that Andrew Card, a Papa Bush campaign volunteer dating back to 1980 and his former Secretary of Transportation, and Dick Cheney will run the transition operations, expect the Papa to be the guy really running the show. It would be amusing if it weren't so pathetic. Junior doesn't have an original bone in his body.

It takes an overseas paper to get to the heart of the matter. This article from the Guardian (England) is more informative than anything that has aired on all the TV news networks combined.

Minutes after Jeb Bush's poodle, Katherine Harris, put the fix in for Dubya, Joe Lieberman denounced the call. ``We have an opportunity here, and we have a responsibility to ensure that this election lifts up our democracy and respects every voter and every vote -- no matter what the outcome,'' Lieberman said. ``And that is precisely what Vice President Gore and I will seek to do in the days ahead,'' he said. Go Joe!

In a mega-lame performance that almost evoked sympathy for the frat boy out of his league, Dubya declared he was the new emperor. He declared that he was going to get the keys to the Presidential transition office in D.C. and start moving in. His handlers didn't allow him to answer questions, fearing another prime-time "Bushism." After all, in the last news conference Dubya lied to the country when he declared that Dick Cheney didn't have a heart attack, and then wrote the Judicial branch right out of the Constitution. By the way, George W. asked Gore to stop his legal challenges, but never mentioned the Bush team's Supreme Court appearance on Friday. Just a minor oversight we presume, or another attempt at deceiving the American public. You can never tell with this guy. He's equally capable of both.

Well, here's the rub about the Senate being 50-50 in January. If Gore pulls it off, the Senate goes back to 51-49, with the Republicans one seat ahead. That's because Joe Lieberman will give up his seat and his replacement will be appointed by a Republican Governor in Connecticut. Of course, we'll take the Gore victory and worry about the Senate later. If Bush wins, the Senate will be 50-50 and Cheney will have the tie-breaking vote. Although on some of the social issues, expect the few moderate Republicans to vote with the Democrats.

Of course, maybe Dubya didn't know that Cheney had a heart attack, his fourth. The real question is, naturally, why did Bush pick a vice presidential nominee with such a serious reoccurring medical problem. That was unfair to the country. The answer, of course, is that Junior didn't pick Cheney, Papa Bush selected him to be Junior's caretaker and senior advisor. Of course, the post-election maneuverings in Florida have shown that Jim Baker and Dick Cheney will be running the country, in any case. They'll trot Junior out for the well-timed photo-op, but behind the scenes they'll be calling the shots as Junior chows down on a PB & J sandwhich while he watches TV.

Whatever happens in the presidential race in Florida, Sunshine State Dems have clearly had enough of Bush -- Jeb Bush that is. Having alienated minority voters with various backward stances already, Jeb's behind the scenes efforts to ensure a Gore defeat have motivated Florida Democrats like never before.

In an unconscionable act of hypocrisy, the Bush attorneys are arguing that a hand recount in Florida violates the U.S. Constitution. Has anyone heard the expression, "Will say anything and do anything to win"?

The Florida Supreme Court so thoroughly cleaned the clock of the Bush legal team that Jim Baker was left to whine and bully before journalists in Tallahassee. One-by-one, the Court took a fly swatter and squashed the specious legal arguments that the Bush legal eagles had presented. Not that George the Junior would have understood any of it anyway.

From the New York Times: "Five days ago, Democrats said it would take a miracle for the challenger, Maria Cantwell, to come from behind and defeat the Republican incumbent, Slade Gorton of Washington, in the nation's last undecided Senate race. Tonight, after Ms. Cantwell pulled ahead by nearly 2,000 votes with fewer than 12,000 still to count, Democrats said the miracle was in sight."

The flame throwers of the right wing of the GOP have crawled out of the swamps, where they were hiding in waiting while Dubya did his Trojan Horse sell job to the American Public. Now, with Al Gore prevailing in the courts, the McCarthy Like threats and scurrilous, hateful diatribes have once again emerged. Of course, the Bush campaign is doing nothing to discourage their rabid followers.

Forget the cultivated image of Jeb Bush having a low key presence in Florida. Behind the scenes he is pulling the strings -- and sending out inflammatory e-mails. Check out the response his communication director sent back to him.

My Lord, rewards come those who are patient. In a "news analysis" from the Knight Ridder News Service, Gore is deemed "more aggressive, more on the ball, and he looks hungrier. It's an extension of the campaign's dynamics. Bush's attitude, in general, has always seemed more lackadaisical." The GOP has been flat footed, the analysis claims. Amazing!

The Bush Campaign is shrieking to the rafters about the "unfairness" of the hand count. As usual, they want to be so annoying and obnoxious that the Democrats will just give up because at least the Dems have a life to live. But a CNN reporter who has been a witness to the recount finds, with a Republican and a Democrat watcher recounting each vote, that the process is eminently fair. Nevertheless, be prepared for more fake protests from the inimitable Battleship Hughes and Bloated Windbag Baker.

In papers filed before the Florida Supreme Court, Al Gore's attorneys called the behavior and requirements of Sec. of State Katherine Harris "Kafkaesque."We'll just call them Bushesque.

It doesn't take long for the truth to will out. While the GOP starts blubbering about military absentee ballots that were disqualified for good reason, they haven't cared one iota about the ballots of Jews, the elderly and minorities. Now, the incoming GOP speaker of the Florida House says that voter confusion can be eliminated by re-instituting literacy tests. What's that Rising Star Republican's name, Jim Crow? He's a Bush man, sure thing.

It's simply astonishing to hear that some Republicans in Congress want to hold hearings on how, allegedly, the TV Networks helped Gore remain competitive in Florida. BuzzFlash thinks that the bellyaching by Congressman Tauzin, hailing from the Louisiana Bayou, is meant as a proactive effort to counter the growing public opinion that the media, television in particular, acted as a PR conduit for the Bush campaign --and they still are. BuzzFlash watched the McLaughlin Group briefly on Saturday night and heard four white adult males honestly assert that Katherine Harris has been acting in a fair and just manner. Only Eleanor Clift, of Newsweek, brought some perspective into the discussion. Poor Eleanor was so mortified by what she was hearing that she was forced to adopt the tactics of the pro-Bush journalists, which is to cut everyone off and hog as much airtime as possible.

Here's an excerpt:. "Ms. Harris, who served as co-chairwoman of the Bush campaign in Florida this year, announced last evening that she would accept no further manual vote counts. That is an abuse of her public duty and an irresponsible act at this sensitive moment in the nation's political life. She is doing grievous damage to Mr. Bush's reputation, and potentially to his presidency."

Would anything surprise us at this point? The Florida Supreme Court should send Katherine Harris into exile. But she'd still have a job, we're sure. FOX News would hire her as an expert unbiased commentator, just to please the Bush campaign.

Just a little nudge here and there, that's all it takes for Florida's Secretary of State needs to do the work of the Bush campaign. However, Jeb Bush had the usual shameless Bush audacity to assert to claim that Harris was just upholding the law of the state of Florida. The Bushes look so sincere and earnest when they're lying through their teeth.

Sometimes a photograph is worth 10,000 words. The Governor, by the way, looks like he just swallowed a lemon.

In a stinging rebuke to GWB surrogate, Katherine Harris, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected her request to stop the recounts in at least three Florida counties. The decision, rendered on Wednesday afternoon, was reached without even a full hearing. While other court activity is still proceeding, this ruling indicates that at least the Supreme Court of the Sunshine State is going to follow the rule of law -- and not the rule of the Bush.

It's hard to believe that the media pundits get paid for the biased blather they spoon out on a daily basis. Now with FOX admitting that a Bush cousin headed their election desk, spent the night sharing info with Dubya and Jeb, and called Florida first for Bush, the raw evidence is out in the open. A BuzzFlash reader penned an incisive reflection on the supportive role the media played in pushing along the daily message of the Bush campaign.

Katherine Harris not only co-chaired the Bush campaign, she even led a delegation of Sunshine State Dubya fans to campaign for him in New Hampshire. What's more is she has squandered taxpayer money on lavish travel and misused campaign funds. Appearing on CNN, Alan Dershowitz didn't mince words. "She's a crook," he said.

Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a George and Jeb Bush surrogate, announced that Dubya has a 300 vote lead after she "officially certified the returns." Of course, the overseas absentee ballots won't be counted until Saturday, so there's only one reason she rushed the count: to make sure that Gore doesn't get the votes that are due him.

The Bush campaign got its allies in GOP leaning counties to play fast and loose with absentee ballots. The Democrats should be pouncing on this one!

This one is almost too preposterous: FOX was the first network to call Florida for Bush, but the FOX executive who made the call is a cousin of Dubya's. What's more, he spent election night on the phone with George W and Jeb Bush, giving them inside information on the vote tally, among other things. Why doesn't FOX just become the PR Department for the Bush campaign. Because they are already!

According to the latest results, Al Gore beat George Bush by 263,975 votes. However, Bush refuses to concede the election. Ralph Nader may have cost Al Gore the Electoral College by getting enough votes to swing the outcome in Florida and Oregon.

It happened. In Missouri, the dead man won. Deceased Governor Mel Carnahan beat right wing John Ashcroft. Carnahan's widow will be appointed to the seat.

Scary news. It looks like the Republicans will still control both houses of Congress, although the Democrats may hold up to 49 Senate seats. If Bush does indeed win, it's going to be the fast track treatment for all of Bush's half-baked ideas.

Howdy Doody will probably win Florida, but may lose the popular vote. But there will be a recount in the Sunshine State no matter what.

The far right hate mongers have been eerily quiet this election campaign. It makes one think that the Bush campaign has told them to stay low profile until after the votes are counted. That didn't stop David Duke, however, from scurrilously attacking Joe Lieberman. You can be sure that the Duke isn't voting for Al Gore. So,who is he going to vote for anyway? After all, he is a Republican.

The Washington Post lays out three possible election scenarios. Fasten your seat belts!

DON'T GET EXCITED YET, BUT THE MONDAY NIGHT REUTERS/MSNBC (ZOGBY) POLL SHOWS GORE TAKING THE LEAD OVER BUSH 48 - 46%! Gore now seems securely ahead in Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, according to the Monday release of the tracking poll.

Well, at least one poll is showing signs of positive trending. And the weekend Fox Poll showed a dead heat. But other polls show a 2-4 point Bush lead, still within the margin of error for the most part. And most of the battleground states are up for grabs.

Remember actor Ronald Reagan's famous line from his fictional death bed: "Win One for the Gipper?" For eight long years, Republican bottom-feeders spread one scurrilous rumor after another about Bill Clinton, blind to the pain they caused Clinton's family. But when Bush gets caught hiding the truth from the American people, he says he was only trying to protect his daughters. Here's our battle cry for Election Day: "Win One For Chelsea!"

The polls are all over the place. But this is the bottom line: Bush is ahead 1-4 points nationally, and Gore is ahead in many of the key battleground states. If Gore pulls up a point or two and a lot of the Nader voters move his way, he's got a good shot at winning.

After you’ve forwarded today’s urgent last minute e-mail appeals to your friends push back your chair, turn off your computer and leave the building. Head to the local campaign headquarters, pull up a plastic folding chair and jump in. The techniques of last minute mass voter contact may seem archaic by our “new economy”’ standards – folding letters by hand? – but they also represent our best chance to win. The remaining undecided voters are people who will reach a conclusion based on sense of smell. It is certainly among my personal favorites of the five senses, but it is not one that responds well to reason. And remember, there is a great medium for reaching the last minute voters called television. Let it do its job. Our job is no longer talking to the undecideds. It is down to the one-on-one telephone calls to Democrats reminding them that this is the election of a lifetime, a contest for the most powerful position on earth that will be decided by their vote.

The Republicans now control the U.S. Senate with a slim 54-46 majority. Democrats need a net gain of 4 Senate seats to tie the Republicans at 50-50, and a net gain of 5 to take control of the Senate. A Democratic net gain of 2 seats is now likely, with 7 races simply too close to call. These close races include 5 possible Democratic pickups and only 2 possible Republican pickups. That makes a Democratic Senate statistically possible. Let's get out the vote!!

Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has a special get-out-the-vote message for the readers of Democrats.com News. It's cool - check it out and pass it on!

President: Gore 45%, Bush 43%, Nader 4%, Buchanan 1% (Reuters/MSNBC)
Electoral College: Gore 256, Bush 252 (National Journal)
CA Senate: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) 60%, Tom Campbell (R) 35% (Los Angeles Times)
FL Senate: Bill Nelson (D) 42%, Bill McCollum (R) 33% (CBS)
MI Senate: Sen. Spencer Abraham (R) 41%, Debbie Stabenow (D) 41% (Detroit Free Press)
MN Senate: Mark Dayton (D) 48%, Sen. Rod Grams (R) 33% (St. Cloud University)
MT Senate: Brian Schweitzer (D) 43%, Sen. Conrad Burns (R) 41% (AP)
NJ Senate: Jon Corzine (D) 46%, Robert Franks (R) 41% (Quinnipiac)
NY Senate: Hillary Clinton (D) 50%, Rep. Rick Lazio (R) 43% (NY1 News)
WA Senate: Sen. Slade Gorton (R) 46%, Maria Cantwell (D) 43% (Elway)

Hey, we're Democrats, so we're open to thoughts, comments and perspectives. Theresa Kelly, one of our readers, e-mailed us her personal perspective on the third debate. We thought that you would enjoy it.

Where is campaign finance reform when we need it. The Republican Presidential candidate is the prime example of how money can make even the most talentless of candidates look legitimate. Without all media tools available to re-package candidates, maybe they would have to run on their records and talk straight with the American public. In that case, Bush would lose by a landslide.

Well, stock up on the Malox. The race is still a deadheat. If more people knew that Bush is a Trojan Horse and a hollow head, maybe Gore could break away. So get the message out, tell ten people a day about Bush's lamentable record in Texas. And don't forget to bring up that he's an exaggerator and fibber too.

Happily, in the final debate Gore showed that he’s done permitting Bush to turn the presidency into a race for class president. The aggressive and energetic Gore is great at rallying voters and now is his chance to cut loose and go after Bush. But the key to this late-breaking election is not really convincing the “undecided” voters. The central fact that Democrats need to take to heart is that more than half of the eligible voters are not going to make it to the polls. If we want to win there is no action we can take that is more powerful than taking time off during these three weeks of the campaign to make telephone calls to Democrats.

A lot of people think the PBS star has squandered his opportunity to ask sharp questions and follow up on details. A vigorous, probing moderator would especially help Gore, because Bush would probably have difficulty with going to the detail level of any question. But Lehrer defends his soft ball style. Let's put Sam Donaldson in there and stir up some dust.

Little Ricky was supposed to have it more together than this. But he doesn't. His campaign seems to be going in four directions at once. And Ricky has all the charisma of a wet noodle when he addresses meetings of the faithful. That's good news for Hillary, New York's next Senator.

Al Gore stuck to the facts last night, and Bush could not refute a single statement he made. On the other hand, Bush told one whopper after another on topics including hate crimes, trigger locks, the environment, Kosovo, Haiti, Russia, and Iraq. The worst part of Bush's performance was the uninhibited joy on his face as he described the execution of 3 (fact-police: only 2!) men. This was reminiscent of the contemptuous way he mocked Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman he executed, in a magazine interview. Bush's heart isn't dark - it's a black hole.

You had to wonder. Both Bush and Gore seemed to pull their punches most of the debate. Gore was afraid to come on too strong and Bush decided to deal with his greatest weakness, foreign policy, by agreeing with a lot of what the Clinton administration has been doing. In the last 20 minutes things started to pick up. But for the most part, Al and George were following defensive game plans. Very weird indeed.

Admit it: It is exciting to watch George W. Bush debate. You always have the feeling that he is just about to melt down and start sprouting gibberish, which he has been doing with increasing frequency on the campaign trail. The best strategy for setting him off, and starting an irreversible downward spiral for his campaign, is for Gore to keep his answers short and to the point and give Bush plenty of time to fill. Bush is the student who hasn’t done the reading, ignored the homework, and got by all year by getting the Dick Cheney’s of the world to let him copy off of their exams. The best way of showing him up is just to let him ramble on until he runs out of material.

If this story continues to develop, it could blow the whole campaign wide open. The investigation into who sent the Bush debate tape to the Gore campaign is picking up steam. The FBI focus remains firmly on the Bush campaign. It has subpoenaed all sorts of records from Austin. Stay tuned. This one could be a sizzler.

It's not good news, and it's not bad news. Forget the poll that showed Bush way out ahead. Most polling is still showing the race a dead heat. And when push comes to shove, it's about the same for the electoral map.

The Governor of New York went to Yale, just like George W. Bush. And like George W., he apparently didn't get much out of his Ivy League education. As a post-debate spin doctor for Little Ricky Lazio, the Governor chided Hillary Clinton for quoting from E.B. White. Pataki mispronounced his name as Wyatt and didn't know that he was from New York or that White had written for the New Yorker. In fact, White grew up just a few miles from Pataki in upstate New York.

This election figures to be so close, a state like Iowa or maybe Wisconsin might decide it. Never has so much time been spent by presidential candidates wooing states with so few votes. That's how tight the race is looking on the electoral map. You can expect Bush and Gore to keep eating a lot of cheese in Green Bay for the next four weeks.

For Bush, the greatest challenge will be to maintain direction and control and avoid perils that appear suddenly and force crucial errors on the campaign trail. But without an issues-based premise and plugging a tarnished Honor and Dignity theme, avoiding errors alone may not be enough for the Bush campaign.

Some tapes of George W. Bush preparing for the debates showed up on the door step of a top Gore Aide. They were immediately reported to the FBI. The Bush campaign asked for their return. Is that because the tapes might have been sent by the dirty tricksters in Austin to entrap Gore? Sounds like a bungled Bush operation to us. In the end, however, the Bush debate tapes will probably end up on Comedy Central.