Whew! September 18, 2012September 17, 2012 ARE WE BETTER OFF THAN WE WERE 4 YEARS AGO? A compelling one-minute answer. Share it with one friend. WHEW! For a minute I was afraid I had been asking you to give too much – hey, it now looks as though we’re going to win – but then I realized: 1. We might not. InTrade today puts Mr. Romney’s chances at 33%. If you were about to play Russian Roulette with only two of the six chambers were loaded, would you be unconcerned? Help us narrow the odds. They have a huge money advantage; they are unconstrained by the truth; the electorate cannot always discern the truth (as when Bush assured them that “by far the vast majority” of his tax cuts would go to benefit people “at the bottom of the economic ladder”); and they are working overtime to make it hard for people like Jim Cramer’s 92-year-old dad to vote. 2. There’s more at stake than the White House. Even if we turn out more voters than we need to re-elect the President, that extra margin would help us take back the House and hold the Senate. And to win state and local races. And send the message that voters reject the Republican obstructionism of the last four years. Do we really want to entrust the House committee that oversees climate change to a climate-change denier? It is simply not possible to win this thing by too much – if we win it at all. Now is the time to RAMP UP, not relax. Did you know that Florida’s Republicans have arranged for this year’s ballot to be 10 pages long? That alone might double the time it takes to vote . . . leading to endlessly long lines outside (what if it’s raining?) and causing people to give up in disgust; or because they simply lack the physical stamina; or the support system to care for their kids; or can’t show up so late to work. In 2000 we clearly had the better candidate. And our opponent’s arithmetic clearly did not add up. But in hindsight it’s equally clear that our failure to pull out ALL the stops had tragic consequences. So – whew! – don’t worry that you’ve helped too much. As amazingly generous as so many of you have been, you haven’t wasted a dime. And if you have any dimes left . . . . if MasterCard retains even the slightest faith in your creditworthiness . . . help make the morning of November 7 the best we ever had. As always, I’ll see your help the minute it comes thru to say thanks. Feel free to forward this to YOUR list.