Calling Texans, New Yorkers, and Californians

Do you live in one of the thirty or so non-swing states? Are you feeling left out of the rush of activity in other states? Do you want to help register and recruit new voters? Well, maybe you too can help.

If you have a cell phone with free weekend (or evening) minutes? Then check out Democracy in the Park. The organization was started when a bunch of blue state New Yorkers decided to meet in Central Park and pool their free cell phone minutes to call swing state voters. They've since put a structure in place by which others with phone minutes to spare can join in the effort.

This got me to thinking. What if you don't have a cell phone? Or, at least, a cell phone with free minutes?

Well, if you've got a broadband Internet connection, for $15 to $25 you can easily get a swing state phone number and start dialing away. Companies like Vonage offer extremely low rates for local service anywhere in the country. Thus, you can sit in Los Angeles but have a Detroit area code and phone number. And $25 is about what you might donate to your favorite campaign. So maybe after you've made your August and September contributions to the Kerry campaign, you can sign up for Vonage service. Then, get a list from Democracy in the Park of voters in a swing state you'd like to target and help turn out the vote.

This election is going to be EXTREMELY close. Every. Single. Vote. Counts.

Can you do something to make a difference? Make the call.