Business Time.

Hey you guys.

Thanks for all the love and support. Now, go register some voters.

I thought that by doing this I would get less anxious about the campaign. Not true. I can't sleep a wink, I'm so worried. News in the New York Times today about the fundraising concerns of the Obama campaign is not good news, because even before the convention, the RNC had a lot more cash on hand than the DNC. Like, ten times as much. They are going to spend it all on negative advertising. If you can, give Obama some money today. But there's other ways to make up the gap.

Fact: Republicans have more money than Democrats. Republicans traditionally win on the air.
Fact: Democrats have more volunteers than Republicans. Democrats traditionally win in the field, person to person.

Therefore, while the fundraising issue is a scary one, what's scarier is that the Republicans are closing the "enthusiasm gap." It used to be that, like, 80% of Obama supporters were REALLY EXCITED about Obama, and like, only 35% of McCain supporters were REALLY EXCITED about McCain. Now McCain is catching up, big time.

If the McCain campaign has more money, and just as many excited and passionate volunteers....oh crap.

The Obama campaign knows that the Republicans can outspend them. So they have been counting on the enthusiasm and dedication of volunteers to make up that gap. They need New York City to go to Pennsylvania, register voters, talk to undecideds, get information out there, and get out the vote. Seriously -- that's the strategy to win Pennsylvania. Illinois? You are in charge of Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. California? You are in charge of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada. That's how it works.

The Obama campaign has the largest grass roots field operation in history.

But there are not enough volunteers. There are not enough! Not enough!

One of the things I learned at Camp Obama is how much of a numbers game this all is, and we don't have the numbers, yet. If you possibly can, see if you can get to a battleground state to volunteer. If you can't do a long stint, like me, see if you can commit to a couple of weekends in a row. Just go. Go now, while we can still register voters.

If you can't travel, find a phone bank in your area where you can get on the phone with undecided voters in those states.

And please, encourage everyone you know in those battleground states to do everything they can - now. We don't need a huge influx of volunteers right before election day. We need them now -- learning the territory, registering new voters, making contact with undecided voters, and recruiting more volunteers on the ground.

The other thing that you can do, right now, if you want to, is to write a letter to the editor. Of any paper. But especially papers in battleground states. Ladies, fight the 12 point increase that John McCain has made with women by picking Sarah Palin. Write down your thoughts and opinions, and send them to papers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina.

For information on which papers to write to, and how to get involved in Pennsylvania and other battleground states, make an account on my.barackobama.com

I have to admit, until this week, I have had very little truck with the Obama website. It was a little too overwhelming, and seemed like another social networking thing, which I felt weird about. But if you go there looking for something in particular ('I want to go to Pennsylvania this weekend." "I want to find a phone bank calling undecided voters in New Hampshire." Etc. Etc.) you can find it under the "events" tab.

You can also find templates for letters to the editor and the contact information for the major papers in battleground states.

More soon. Don't give up. Fight harder.