Americans are struggling.  We all know that foreclosures are up.  More Americans are losing their jobs. And everyone feels the constant anxiety caused by our current healthcare system.

But sometimes the scope and depth of our nation's suffering don't hit home until tragedy strikes us, a friend or loved one. And sometimes, if everything is still going well for us personally, the exhilaration of these final days before the election can lead us to forget all the reasons why this fight is so important.

To help all of us remember, Progressive Future has just launched a somber but beautiful ad that focuses on our nation's economic challenges.  

Election Day is almost here!  And I know that everyone on MyDD wants to do everything possible during these last eight days to help carry Obama over the finish line to victory.

This is such a committed group that I know many of you are already engaged with one of the many great progressive programs that are doing voter outreach and GOTV.  But if you're stilllooking for a fun and effective way to get involved, please come join Progressive Future's Obamathon!

What's an Obamathon?

I am posting this on behalf of Progressive Future's Media Associate, Sarah Payne.

Things got a little touchy at the Hofstra debate.

McCain jabs right, Obama parries left - it's wasn't quite a rumble but sparring we definitely saw, and talk of campaign negativity took up a valuable chunk of air time.

And, truth be told, we saw some of that outside the debate, too.

Sure, the polls look good now.  But there is still at least one more way that we could lose this election.  The other side could simply rely on their old tried and true voter suppression tactics to take away the votes of thousands of key voters in swing states around the nation.

Yes, many throughout the progressive movement have worked hard to register hundreds of thousands of new voters; but there are still many ways that Republican party operatives could either purge those names from the voter rolls or otherwise seek to have their ballots disqualified.

There have already been so many reports of such nefarious activity around the country that I am really surprised that this issue isn't getting more coverage.

It's getting worse. Even as America faces some of the greatest challenges in our history, McCain and Palin aren't addressing the issues at their rallies. Instead, they are leading gathering where their followers focus on fear, anger and hatred. We need to tell them: it is time to stop.

Each day, more stories are surfacing about what is really going on at these McCain rallies. Now even middle-of-the-road commentators like David Gergen are alarmed. As Gergen commented last night on Anderson Cooper's 360: "There is a free-floating sort of whipping-around anger that could really lead to some violence . . . And I think we're not far from that."

This shouldn't happen in America. With all of the tremendous challenges our nation is facing, we don't need more anger, division and hatred. We need hope and solutions. It needs to stop -- and only one person can stop it: John McCain. Tell him to stop it now, before it gets any worse. Progressive Future has an email tool that makes it easy to send John McCain this message. Please use it today.

Times are getting desperate over at McCain headquarters. Poll numbers are dropping and defeat is in sight.

Unfortunately, when the powerful become desperate, their followers can become dangerous.

Palin and McCain can't win on the issues; so they have been focusing their speeches and rallies on personal attacks fueled by anger and hate.

Frighteningly, as their attacks against Obama become increasingly vicious, so does the reaction of the crowds they are addressing.

I am posting this story on behalf of Sarah Payne, Progressive Future's intrepid Media Associate.

Wash U has a sense of humor.

I spent the afternoon today walking around the quad of Washington University in St. Louis in a Progressive Future t-shirt and mask, introducing myself as Sarah Palin. The mask -- Bush with red lacquered lipstick -- got a lot of laughs.

Along with Dania Becker, a Progressive Future volunteer, I welcomed people to "John & Sarah's Diner", where the stale old fare of the Bush Administration is still on the menu -- dishes like "Baby-Give-Back-to-the-Wealthy Ribs" and "John's Wall Street Sliders". I think I do a pretty good Sarah Palin. "How are ya!!?!" Lots of exclamation points. "Too, though, you should try my Baked Alaska! Made in a global warming oven!!"

The sun is still shining! The grass is still green! Puppies are still adorable! Whew. Despite the gloom and doom predictions, Congress' failure to pass Paulson's original bailout plan yesterday did not lead to the immediate implosion of our economy. In fact, the stock market was up this morning. So I think we can now safely set aside the threats of those who tried to frighten us into accepting an awful bailout plan. It seems that there is a brief time for us to address this problem fairly, effectively and responsibly. So what should we do?