Earlier today, Digby and I were talking about the strange calm we feel regarding this election. My confidence in our chances far exceeds our performance in the polls. That may be a partial product of the blogosphere, where unsettling news is often downplayed or desperately debunked, but it has much more to do with a hunch that turnout is going to far exceed expectations and push Kerry over the top, and easily.

There's a basic sense of fair play at work here, in that I simply don't believe America, having seen Bush in the debates and having lived through 4 years of his presidency, is going to give him 4 more. I don't believe that the extraordinary mobilization and energy of the left has confined itself to the enthusiasts and refrained from rippling out into the mainstream. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so. And God knows I hope not.

One way or another, we've built something vibrant and remarkable over these last 4 years. Had the narrative held, we should be wailing in the streets adorned in sackcloth and ashes as Bush rides to a comfortable and crushing victory, sweeping the last vestiges of liberalism from this country. Instead, we've united, organized, focused, fought, and worked. Now, here we are, and we're ready to win. But not just tomorrow. No more one-shot victories, we've created an infrastructure, and we're going to crash through the impediments conservatives have spent 30 years creating. Thank you Howard Dean, thank you MoveOn, thank you Blogger, thank you Karl Rove, thank you John Kerry, and thank you, readers and activists, who've made this something to be proud of.