Rep. Barney Frank tries to fire us up

Rep. Barney Frank, from nearby Massachusetts, posted this call for action at DailyKos"

We are just days away from an extremely important election. Our nation is at a crossroads – and you must help choose the direction in which we will go.

Right wing extremists know that they cannot convince the majority of the American people to adopt their agenda. Most Americans support the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Most support our successful efforts to restrict abusive practices by credit card companies, like raising interest rates on existing balances. Most agree that health insurance companies should not be able to discriminate against Americans with pre-existing health conditions. Most oppose privatizing Social Security and they want to protect Medicare. Most are against new tax cuts for the wealthy, which will cost approximately $700 billion over the next ten years. And most want to limit excessive military spending and use the money here at home, whether to rebuild our infrastructure, create jobs, or reduce the deficit.

The right wing cannot convince us that these ideas are wrong so their strategy is to discourage us. They want us to believe that we cannot win or that this mid-term election does not matter. They want us to stay home on Election Day....

What we do now will severely affect our choices in the future. We cannot give the right a larger foothold than it already has. We cannot sit on the sidelines or just to wish that things would get better. Now is the time to get up and fight.

It is exhilarating to fight for what you believe alongside people who care passionately about the same things. Your most powerful weapon is your vote. Your second most powerful weapon is your voice – when you use it to remind your family, friends, and others who share our values to vote.

There is a lot to do in the next two and a half days. I encourage you to give as much time as you can to help our candidates and our party to get out the vote.

This is no time to stay home or to leave our future in the hands of others. Please help me fight the right – and vote.

Rep. Frank's call to arms is on the mark. He faces a more determined opponent than he has in years, but he'll probably retain his seat.