Sunday, November 2, 2008

Commentary: Next 72 hours are crunch time for McCain, Obama

By Donna Brazile
CNN contributor

art_donna_brazile_cnn Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist, serves as a political contributor for CNN. She also serves as the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and founder of Brazile & Associates, a Washington-based political consulting firm. Brazile, who served as the campaign manager for the Al Gore-Joe Lieberman ticket in 2000, wrote "Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics," a memoir about her life in politics

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Have your friends voted yet? What about members of your family? And how about you? How are you going to feel November 5, and for the next four years, if you don't?

What if your candidate loses? You're not allowed to complain if you don't vote, and if you're anything like me, it would be impossible to stay silent for four years.

Regardless of which campaign you're working for or merely supporting, the next 72 hours are the most critical period in this, the home stretch. Campaigns are now focused on one thing and one thing only: getting out their voters. And you registered voters are their targets.

Over the next few days, Barack Obama's and John McCain's campaign teams will begin their "dry run" up to Election Day. Dry runs are held to work out any kinks, test the field operations, and recruit last-minute volunteers to fill in the gaps.

There's also the "fire drill" with key campaign staff members gathering in the "boiler room" and testing everything, including the databases with lists of supporters and undecided voters and the auto dialers used to make last-minute calls to voters who need reassurance. iReport.com: Share your early voting experience

Commentary: Next 72 hours are crunch time for McCain, Obama - CNN.com

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