The Home Stretch

A week from now, I'll know the election is over when:

-I get more sleep and exercise.

-I'm consuming less caffeine and more healthy red wine.

-I can start to seriously clean up the clutter around my house.

-The phone bank scripts begin to fade from my memory.

-I'm making no more political donations for awhile.

-I go back to spending more time at Space.com than I do at RealClearPolitics.com.

-I have more time to blog on more various subjects.

But that's a week from now. In the meantime, I'm signed up for phone-banking this weekend and on Tuesday. (I'm taking the day off from work.) Gov. Ehrlich is virtually tied with Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley in the Maryland Governor's race and Michael Steele is gaining national attention as he is closing in on Rep. Ben Cardin for the U.S. Senate seat.

We had our final Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) planning session in Montgomery County last night. The volunteer base here is fired up and ready to climax months of effort with the big push during these final days. And while there are some unique circumstances here in Maryland, I hear that grassroots efforts in other states are also large and energized.