I know it's not the first time I've posted this but election time is getting closer.

I'm quite frankly concerned that you do NOT have your shit together in terms of getting your candidate elected. And if you don't start really, really soon, it's gonna be too late.

I've worked on election campaigns and for Elections Canada and I know what it takes to get a candidate elected - and very little of it has to do with the candidate.

Granted, Obama is a great candidate but that's useless unless you can actually get him elected. That means getting ballots into ballot boxes (or the mechanical or electronic equivalent) and having them counted and having the results matter.

The one big thing a great candidate will get you is great and committed volunteers. You're going to be needing them. Lots of them. You're going to be needing them for long haul so treat them nice. Get them top of the line tools to use; good computers, and phones. If you are volunteering, we need to hear from you loud and clear that it's a positive experience so others will want to join in.

You're going to need paid staff as well such as professional fundraisers, lawyers and campaign managers. Up here an election can be called almost literally at the drop of a hat. A friend of mine is a professional campaign manager. As soon as the writ is announced, his phone starts ringing off the hook 'cause everybody knows he's the best.

You need to know who your voters are. That's a long and arduous process. You've got to track them down wherever they are following changes in phone numbers and addresses. Ideally, you should be starting nearly a year in advance unless you've got one hell of a lot of volunteers. Once you've got this list, everything else follows. Guard it with your life.

You need to know that your voters can actually vote. You need voter registration drives. You need to tell us about your successfully voter registration drives and encourage others to do the same. As we found out in the last election, there is a concerted effort going on to disenfranchise voters. You need to find out if your people have been disenfranchised. If they have been, you need to get them un-disenfranchised (is that even a word?). This can be a long and arduous process so you need to start NOW! Get out your phone list and get on the phone. Tell us how it's going.

You need to make sure that your votes are actually counted. If you've got Diebold machines - scream bloody murder. Tell us so we can scream bloody murder. If you've got some other wierdass system (eg. connect the arrows), do the same. If the person in charge of elections is in bed (perhaps even literally) with the Republican candidate - tell the world.

You need to line up your people for election day. Make sure they get to vote (perhaps by absentee if it can be trusted). Keep harassing everybody on your voter list to actually get out and vote and don't leave them alone until they do. Send a driver for them. Hell, send a taxi for them. Fuck it - go for the limousine if that's what it's gonna take (assuming that's legal).

On election day, nothing is more important than the scrutineers. I've been one and seen the damndest things, including my opposite number going behind the curtain (figuratively) to see how people were voting. He would say anything, even completely fantasy, delusion or barefaced lies to get a vote counted his way. You need to line up your scrutineers and get them trained. You need to tell us how it's going.

What's really concerning is not what I'm hearing, that Obama is great, but what I'm NOT hearing - the "chatter" associated with a great campaign getting off the ground.

Get to it. For everybody's sake.