Why do we vote? Why do some stay home? And with the right persuasion techniques, can the political industrial complex manipulate those patterns?

These important questions are at the heart of a new book exploring the science behind campaigning, because for all the hullabaloo made over television ads, this election will be won and lost by the ground game.

The Victory Lab, The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns, by journalist Sasha Issenberg, has been called the Moneyball of politics. It takes readers into the minds of pollsters and field operatives to reveal some of the tactics behind getting-out-the-vote.

Nobody could have predicted that Green Party presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein and her running mate would be accused of being running dog wannabe-lackeys of the corporate oligarchy.

I tweeted my commentary on the Massachusetts Senate debate between Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren in real time, so no need to go much further on it. Basically you saw an incumbent Senator clearly behind in his own internal polling, so he decided to go hard negative. Warren wasn’t flustered by it and played the front-runner role of sticking to her script. You would have thought she was the incumbent. And it showed.

With marijuana legalization initiatives on the ballot in an unprecedented 3 states, this November could be a turning point that begins a national wave of reform. To get there, we need to raise at least $5,000 over the next week to set up our phone bank, identify supporters, register voters, promote these initiatives and get folks to the polls on Election Day.

Lisa Keen wisely wonders what lies ahead for a Democratic party that fails to deliver for a core voting bloc they may have taken for granted one too many times.

This silly season does NOT bode well for the country’s future.

The fate of Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana in California, is still very much up in the air. Depending on which most recent polls you look at, the measure is either winning by a few points or losing by a few points. Looking into the crosstabs of the polling on this proposition, it is clear that the success or failure of Prop 19 rides on the ability of its supporters to get out the vote.

After an insanely successful weekend of Just Say Now activists making thousands of calls for Prop 19 and marijuana reforms, we’re proud to announce a brand new phone banking effort to target other key voters.

Together with the Women’s Marijuana Movement, Just Say Now is rolling out an online phone banking tool for women marijuana activists from across the country to place phone calls to women voters in California, a key demographic to turn out for Proposition 19.

This weekend Just Say Now is doing a huge push to call young voters about marijuana initiatives, primarily about Prop 19 to legalize marijuana in California. More than 2,000 people already pledged to make calls this weekend, and dozens of people have been consistently calling for the last several hours.

Click here to start calling young voters for marijuana reforms – all it takes is a phone, and an email address or Facebook or Twitter account.

Just Say Now is rolling out a huge Get Out The Vote effort that will contact tens of thousands of voters between now and Election Day. To pull it off, we need to raise $40,000 over the next week. I recorded a video to tell you about our plans to pass marijuana reform in 4 states in November. Check out the video, and then chip in $25 to help us Get Out the Vote for marijuana.