Power Vote

Today records numbers of voters, especially African-Americans went to the polls to vote in the most historic presidential election of our lives. I was in line waiting to vote for over two hours, feet a little tired, blatter ready to burst and then I got a text that read: Rosa sat so Martin could walk, Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama is running so our children can FLY!

Its a quiet, rainy day in Raleigh North Carolina. I've been here at North Carolina State University in Raleigh with the amazing veggie-oil powered Bio Tour bus. We've been driving people to the polls are reminding people to vote... they are just really hard to find.



Since 8:00am, I've talked to 215 people. 8 hadn't voted yet. And its the case across the state, where over 42% of the population has already voted. Early Voting has been HUGE this year in North Carolina, especially on college campuses. At schools across the state, polling locations were set up in student centers of libraries. And how did students respond to this novel idea? They voted!

We're down to it.



10 weeks and over 302,492 young people later (with box loads of pledges still coming in), we're down to the point where we either make our voice heard and demand a clean energy future or we don't.



I went back and forth for a while about what we should try to say "strategically" in this email, but at the end of the day - or the very beginning of the day in this case - I realized I didn't need to say anything.



You know what's at stake: Our credibility as a voting block, and much more importantly, our future.



http://www.powervote.org/platform



In North Carolina, teams of us are picking up students on college campuses and taking them to the polls in the Bio Tour bus. In Portland, Oregon, Lewis and Clark College is getting praised by the media for their work Getting Out the (Power) Vote. In Michigan, even Jesus is getting in on the Power Voting act.

We're not in any way partisan or religiously oriented here at Power Vote. We want to work with anyone who wants a clean, just energy future in this country. That said, no matter who you are or what you believe, it's undeniable that a person called "Jesus" has had a big impact worldwide, and people often ask themselves what he would do.



Encouraging news on that front. While it's possible we're mistaken, Jesus may have just signed the Power Vote pledge in Michigan.



;-)

Power Vote is taking names and creating jobs! Check out this video of Bessie Schwartz, NWF organizer for Power Vote, getting Joe Biden on camera committing to "Investing 15 BILLION!" in the new green economy. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. We are getting out (Power) Vote all over the place.



Check out Brianna's amazing press release of our activities. Inspired? Personalize it, write to brianna [at] energyaction.net, and send it to your own local press.
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From Jessy Tolkan, Energy Action Coalition (and Power Vote)'s Executive Director:



My father is a dealer of American cars and trucks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Just like so many of yours, my family is being hit hard by our economic crisis.



In the midst of the challenges we're all facing, my dad wants nothing more than for our government - at all levels - to pass bold legislation that transitions our
national manufacturing infrastructure and economy to one based on clean energy. I know this is what he wants because he's told me his vision for what a clean energy future would mean for him and others across the country.

Next week Thousands of Power Voters From around the country will take to the polls and vote to shift the Power of the United States!


That's Hot!


But what's even hotter are the thousands of people who will also hold their elected officials accountable after the elections.


See the real work begins in January, after the speeches, the parades and the after glow of the elections wears off. there we will be, ready to say... "HEY I know you ain't forget about that Clean and Just Energy Economy."

In a little over 2 months the Power Vote seed was planted, fed, and has grown to bear fruit. Over 300,000 great pledge signers. These people have been calling, writing, and showing up asking how they can help in remarkable numbers. They are the face of Power Vote and in the spirit of Halloween we'd like these people to make Power Vote their face.



Download and make this image your profile on the internet. Use it to haunt Facebook, Myspace, Google, Twitter or on whichever web you crawl.



Have a great Halloween and don't forget to get out that (Power) Vote

After Wednesday night's Gore-cast, it's never been clearer. For young people, clean energy is worth voting for. And worth fighting for.



As a campaign, we've gone from 0 to 302,497 young people committed to fighting for a clean energy future in just over 2 months, and this country is clearly taking notice.



Now we need to make sure we live up to the billing. Here are 5 things to make sure you do in the next 4 days:



1. Trick or vote. Grab 5 friends and Get Out the (Power) Vote in costumes. Homeless polar bears work great. Hit up parties, classes, your dining hall, or the dorms reminding everyone to vote and gather pledges as you go. It works all weekend.



2. Phonebank like crazy. It's not sexy, but it works. Call through your pledge list one last time and keep track of your numbers so we can brag later.

This was just sent to me by Casey Roe- the American University senior and Power Vote leader- who won the Power Vote Facebook challenge and got to be in-studio for tonight's Power Vote webcast with Al Gore.

"A few hours ago I had an incredible opportunity to be in the studio with Al Gore while he and Jessy Tolkan, Director of the Energy Action Coalition, filmed the live Powervote webcast tonight. After winning a competition to recruit the most Powervote pledge signatures through the Powervote Facebook application, I flew to Nashville, Tennessee this morning. I spent the day exploring Nashville with Jesse and the Energy Action Coalition's Christine Irvine as we prepared to join Al Gore for the webcast this evening.