P.S. Chris, lawn signs are good, social media chatter is good, but it's one person, one vote. You've got to talk to people, so they understand what you stand for, and why they should vote for you.  Simonson got out there and talked to voters. So did Nolan. Betsy Hall jumped up and down on a lot of street corners, waving her signs, but I don't know if she actually talked to people. And Cravaack's campaign in Duluth seemed to emphasize smearing Nolan with lies and exaggerations in the ads and on blogs. Never saw Cravaackj out there, shaking hands.

Signs don't mean a lot, if people don't vote. Betsy Hall has TONS of signs. But, I noticed, a lot of them on vacant land, and then there's families like the McKees who own the 3500 block I think it is of East Superior St. They had at least half a dozen Betsy Hall signs lining their side of the street for that entire block. Means nothing. 

When I was doorknocking for the DFL, a voter asked me how much I was getting paid to do it. I said, "Nothing, I'm a volunteer and an American who's fired up to re-elect President Obama and send Chip Cravaack home to New Hampshire!" He laughed, and I am pretty sure I got that vote in the DFL bag. It's the personal connections that matter most, the face-to-face conversations between voters. That's why someone like Erik Simonson, who was the target of an over-the-top smear campaign in the DNT and on the right-wing-extremist blogs, won so handily. He and his people were out there, talking to people, persuading them to vote for him -- despite some pretty heavy baggage.

Chris, if you want my honest opinion, I think the 7-B lost out big-time and the DFL shot itself in the foot by forcing -- yes, forcing -- Kerry Gauthier to step aside. He did something really breathtakingingly stupid which on a personal level repulses me, esp. since I have a teenager and the young man involved is not much older than she is. But, it was still legal, he didn't break any laws. And it's too bad, because he was one kick-butt legislator who really stood up for the people of 7-B. Erik Simonson has some big shoes to fill, and I hope he does right by 7-B.