Originally posted by Katie Hanson

Today we have been doing more traditional style door-to-door canvassing, delivering “trick or vote” goodie bags with GOTV literature and a Will and Grace CD. I went round some student accommodation attached to the medical school and had a generally very good reception. It’s unseasonably warm for the time of year here, which is good news for us if it holds until Tuesday. Good weather helps turnout, which is good for the Democrats.

What isn’t clear from the polls published in the media is that they don’t take account of people who didn’t vote last time, meaning that first time voters are excluded, along with people who abstained in 2000. Also, pollsters can’t call cellphone (mobile) numbers, so people without a land line are also excluded. All this means that things are probably much closer than the polls suggest, and there really is everything to play for on Tuesday.

We had a “honk for Kerry” session at a busy intersection during the rush hour yesterday evening, and the (very) small number of Bush supporters were treated to chants of “three more days”. The life-size Kerry cut-out was held up to various bus windows and was kissed on more than one occasion.

This evening we have a rally with Barney Frank, the first openly gay US Congressman. Frank was actually outed after an indiscretion rather than choosing to come out, but this doesn’t seem to have harmed his career - he subsequently stood for re-election on an openly gay ticket and is in his eleventh term in Congress.