At NPR.org, Maria Liasson reports in “Democrats Count On The Fine Art Of Field Operations” that “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is planning a massive investment to address that problem. It plans to spend $60 million to hire 4,000 staffers in the most competitive Senate race states. The goal is ambitious: to make the midterm electorate — which tends to skew older, whiter and more Republican — look more like a presidential year electorate: younger, browner, and with more single women. In short: more Democratic.” Liasson quotes Sasha Issenberg, the author of The Victory Lab: “Everything we know from basically 15 years of field experiments shows that high-quality, face-to-face contacts for a volunteer living in the same community as the voter is the best way to turn somebody out…So there is a road map to doing this. But it is expensive and it takes a lot of staff, and a lot offices and infrastructures to recruit and train those volunteers.”
Mark Sappenfield’s ‘DC Decoder’ post, “Nate Silver’s new Senate forecast could terrify Democrats into action (+video)” at The Monitor says that Silver’s statement that the odds favor a Republican takeover of the Senate in November may actually help Dems hold the Senate because “Democratic operatives have found that the most effective way to get a potential donor to open an e-mail is to put Silver’s name in the subject line, according to a report by National Journal’s Scott Bland…”
Drew Westen’s “A Southern Strategy for Democrats” in the Washington Post offers an interesting observation about addressing racial politics: “Too often, Democrats have dealt with racial issues by avoiding them. Research shows that’s the wrong strategy, particularly in the South. Speaking directly about race allows our conscious values — which tend to be intolerant of racial intolerance, even in the heart of Dixie — to override our unconscious prejudices, which control our behavior when we’re not looking, or when other people aren’t, as in the voting booth. The best way to handle this kind of dog-whistle politics is to expose it for what it is…A successful political message that addresses race or any other divisive issue tends to have three components. The first is a value-laden statement that connects with most voters, making clear that the candidate cares about people like them and understands their ambivalence. The second is a statement raising a concern that makes the average person anxious or angry enough to want to do something about the issue. The third is a statement of hope, wedded to a solution, which suggests that the problem is solvable in a way that reflects the values and interests of ordinary voters.”
Kimberly Beller’s Liberty Voice post “Red State Women: Propaganda for the 3rd Millennium,” illuminates the GOP’s women’s group — and the Repubican men behind it — tasked with defeating Wendy Davis’s bid for Governor of Texas.
Ashley Parker reports in the New York Times that ” Senate Majority PAC, a group that supports Democratic Senate candidates, is preparing a $3 million advertising campaign against Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch…The group’s effort will last for roughly two weeks and span five states — Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan and North Carolina.”
MSNBC’s Steve Benen reports on how a Canadian hospital president, Dr. Danielle Martin made Republican Sen. Richard Burr eat his smirk…Maybe you should see it for yourself:

At the Hill Brent Budowsky explains how “Dems can win O-Care war“: “Will Democratic athletes, movie stars, television stars, rock stars and best-selling novelists fight for the future of their country as hard as the Koch brothers and the Chamber of Commerce? They will — if they are asked. Can they move the market, increase sign-ups and inform voters of the benefits of ObamaCare? They can — if they try…Democrats today have their backs against the wall. They need to think big, take names and kick butt. If the president extends the enrollment deadline and the all-out war against ObamaCare is answered by the full force and power of the Democratic world, the battle of ideas will be won, the Democratic base will be roused and the elections of 2014 will be saved for Democrats.”
The Libertarian fantasy of charity as the best way for a modern society to address social problems is consigned to its rightful place on the dungheap of history by Mike Konczal at Democracy, flagged by E. J. Dionne, Jr.
Re CREATIONISTS DEMAND AIRTIME ON ‘COSMOS’ FOR THE SAKE OF SCIENTIFIC BALANCE: AUDIO, no, it is not a parody from The Onion.