Thanks to all of our efforts, as well as irreversible demographic and cultural shifts, today’s Vermont has become a solidly blue state. This year, Sen. Obama will cruise to easy victories here. That’s why committed Democrats and liberal Vermonters should consider volunteering in neighboring New Hampshire for the Obama campaign. With about 80 days to go before November 4, every possible helping hand in the Granite state could contribute to a necessary and crucial victory there.

As canvassing operations commence in earnest over the next few weeks, every volunteer willing to spend a day or two–preferrably weekends–going door-to-door in key neighborhoods, either persuading voters or reminding them to go to the polls would be greatly appreciated.

There are already hundreds of Obama volunteers working in New Hampshire, a state that as you surely know, is crucial to our campaign. You might think that your assistance is not needed, or would be superfluous. That is simply not true. Despite New Hampshire’s recent Democratic leanings, there are many obstacles remaining in this ancestrally Republican state that contains a staunchly anti-tax (thus, conservative contigent) base as well as many remaining Clinton holdouts who are not yet willing to declare support for our nominee.  

If you cannot make it to nearby New Hampshire, especially places like Hanover/Lebanon, Keene, Concord, or Manchester, you should consider buying Obama merchandise from his online store, and selling it at a higher price in a nearby Obama-friendly neighborhood. You can contribute your profit as a donation to the campaign. Selling buttons and bumper stickers on a street corner in Brattleboro, I have raised about $1,000 over the past week. Money, is after all, as important as votes in a presidential campaign. Phonebanking from home is also a valuable pursuit, of course.

The challenges are certainly great. Only with drive and energy can we overcome them. You don’t want to wake up the morning of November 5 contemplating four more years of Bush-McCain policy. Now is the time to act.