Andrew Tobias - Money and Other Subjects

Kathryn Lance: "You say, It's going to work out. We're going to win. Really? Do you truly think so? I'm so depressed at all the negativity and lies about Kerry, and all the scary stuff about untraceable ballots, that I feel sure that they will steal the election again. And if they do, I truly wonder if this country, or indeed the world, will survive another four years. Why do you think we will win?"

F Because of turnout.

In October of 2000, voters were asked whether they were 'unusually excited'� about the upcoming election. And now, in 2004, they've been asked again: Are they unusually excited about THIS upcoming election?

Among Republicans, the number is up - 51% are 'unusually excited'� versus 48% last time.

Among Democrats, the number is up from 36% to 68%.

That is not a typo.

When we were complacent and unexcited last time, we won by 537,000 votes. Now we are wide awake, fighting mad, and determined to win.

You can see the energy in the massive primary turnout this past winter. You can see it in the huge crowds Kerry and Edwards attract. You can see it in the jaw-dropping response to our tens of millions of pieces of direct mail - like nothing direct mail marketers have ever seen before. People recognize this is not business as usual.

But if the rank and file on the other side is only marginally more energized than before, up from 48% to 51% (could some of them, in their heart of hearts, be disappointed that we've turned massive surpluses into massive deficits? had a net job loss for the first time since Herbert Hoover? advantaged the rich at the expense of everyone else? turned much of the world, which was so ready to be with us after September 11, against us?) . . . the leadership of their party - the guys orchestrating the campaign - are hugely motivated to keep, indeed to extend, their control over all three branches of government (and, increasingly, the press).

So we're going to win, but it's going to be a very, very tough fight. And speaking to those of you who want to see it happen (and I know not all of you do, and am particularly grateful and impressed that you come to listen anyway) - please spend the next 76 days making sure that it does. Visit JohnKerry.com for ways to help.

Why are going to win? Here's the blah-blah-blah answer - and I completely believe it:

We're going to win because John Kerry's domestic policies favor the vast majority of voters, who are not rich and powerful. And because people sense we need to rejoin the world if we are to succeed in our war on terror, as we unquestionably must.

Help is on the way.

(I found the link at Kevin Drum's.)