The Stampede to Grass Roots

Knock-knock. Who's there? Every political organization in the country.

The streets of key swing states could get awfully crowded in the coming months. It seems that every day, at least one national political group -- left, right or center -- announces that this year it plans to spend more time and money than ever on an enormous field campaign to get out the vote, knocking on doors and registering hundreds of thousands of voters in four or six or 12 swing states.

Yesterday, it was the Human Rights Campaign's turn.

The campaign, the nation's largest organization advocating the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender(GLBT) people, announced what its president, Cheryl Jacques, called a "massive and unprecedented effort to elect fair-minded leaders in November."

"This year's election is the most important in our members' history," Jacques said at a morning news conference in HRC's office here.

The issue of same-sex marriage, in particular President Bush's endorsement of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, Jacques said, has motivated the HRC to commit a record $10 million on election-related activity. That includes $1.3 million in political action committee funds for candidates the HRC endorses, untold millions more on a soft-money campaign "to educate our community about what is at stake in this election" and a knock-on-the-door campaign with volunteers and staff dispatched to four battleground states: Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

Like other political groups, the HRC is using sophisticated computer databases to identify prospective voters. Its target includes not only GLBT voters but also their friends and relatives who oppose the proposed constitutional amendment against same-gender marriage.

"The president is playing with fire," Jacques said, "and he's going to get burned."

South Carolina Senate Contestants Picked

The race to succeed retiring Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C) is set: Rep. Jim DeMint won the GOP Senate nomination in a runoff election Tuesday and will face Inez Tenenbaum, the state superintendent of education. And the expectation is that it will be a close race.

Former governor David Beasley won the most votes two weeks ago in the Republican primary but failed to win 50 percent, forcing a runoff with DeMint.

"Mission Two is accomplished, and we're in the finals now," DeMint told supporters. "This was one of the most competitive and expensive primaries in South Carolina history, and we ran a great race." DeMint has put $3.5 million into the campaign.

Employment, and the loss of thousands of textile jobs, probably will be at the heart of the campaign for the seat Hollings held for 38 years.

"Over the next four months of this campaign, a lot of people may talk a lot about me," Tenenbaum said in a statement. "But I want to talk about the people of South Carolina -- their schools, their health care, and most importantly, their ability to find a job."

As for Beasley, he told the Associated Press: "I thought we were going to Washington to protect America, to fight for America, but I'm going back home. I'll be cutting the grass tomorrow and I'll be doing my chores. I can assure you that when that sun comes up tomorrow that David Beasley will not fade into the sunset."