The only way to prevent more Al Frankens is to win and win big. Your contribution will go toward the RNC’s proven 72-hour Get Out the Vote program and help us get the margins of victory we need to make sure the real winners are recognized on November 3rd. There is no margin for error. Will you help us?

Preventing “more Al Frankens” is not-so-subtle code language for the widely held belief on the right that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) stole the 2008 election from Republican Norm Coleman. Here are the RNC’s data points:

• In 2008, Norm Coleman was ahead on Election Night by over 700 votes.
• Soon, additional ballots were discovered, over 300 of which should have been disqualified as they appear to be have been cast by convicted felons.
• Yet, Franken was declared the winner by 225 votes out of nearly 2.5 million cast.
• Now…Reports are emerging in Las Vegas that Republican voters are finding electronic ballots defaulting to Harry Reid.
• And…Governments in New York and Illinois failed to mail absentee ballots to U.S. service members on time, potentially disenfranchising those who wear the uniform.

The RNC is realizing, correctly, that voter fraud fears are animating a sizable element of the Republican base like nothing else — and they’re trying to leverage that energy into fundraising for its underfunded GOTV program.

Clinton, who employed Sestak on his counterintelligence team at the White House, will join him for Get Out the Vote rallies at Bryn Mawr College, Cheyney University and Temple University today. He has also cut a radio ad for Sestak, which makes the case for why Sestak is the best man to represent Pennsylvanians in the Senate:

I’d like to tell you about the Joe Sestak I’ve known for 15 years. He’s a true patriot. Thirty-one years in the Navy. A Three-star admiral. His dad was a Navy man who taught Joe that it’s his duty to serve, to look out for the little guy, to stand up to the special interests. That’s why the Washington crowd is spending so much to elect his opponent. Because Joe is tough enough to really make a difference in the senate.  He’s a very good man.

Having Clinton at your side these days is a better bet than having just about anyone, including the sitting president and his predecessor. He’s still quite beloved in Pennsylvania, and a new Bloomberg poll shows he might just be the best person to have alongside you on the campaign trail, period:

President Barack Obama’s campaigning isn’t helping Democrats, the poll shows, with a majority saying it makes no difference and almost one-fourth saying his efforts on behalf of his party actually make them more likely to vote Republican. Another Democrat, former President Bill Clinton, may be helping, as he outscores other politicians tested on popularity by a wide margin.

The Times’ piece digs into corporate tax filings and finds that while the Chamber claims 300,000 members, nearly half of its $140 million in contributions in 2008 came from just 45 donors — and  many of those large donations coincided with lobbying or political campaigns that appeared to benefit those donors. Its accompanying graphic, which calls the Chamber “The Top Non-Party Spender,” says the Chamber has thus far spent over $21 million on this election cycle — more than any group save three of the traditional political party committees.

The Journal’s piece, for its part, says that AFSCME  is spending a total of $87.5 million on the midterm elections following a decision by the union — made possible by Citizens United — to tap its membership dues to pay for $17 million worth of ads backing Democrats. The article observes that while the political debate and the public’s attention have thus far largely focused on the advertising buys of Republican-backing groups, unions have flown partly under the radar because they traditionally spend much of their cash on other forms of political activities, like get-out-the-vote efforts. Its graphic shows AFSCME’s total edging out the Chamber’s $75 million goal and American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS’s $65 million pledge.

Neither paper’s claim is wrong, per se — they’re simply measuring different things. The Times has attempted to tabulate money that’s been spent (though other databases, like the one at the Sunlight Foundation, suggest that the Times’ figures might be too low), while the Journal is comparing money that groups have pledged to spend. There’s no reason that these groups would lie, of course, but there exists a convoluted logic in campaign finance in which many groups try to both downplay and talk up their importance. “We’re the big dog,” Larry Scanlon, the head of AFSCME’s political operations, couldn’t help telling the Journal. “But we don’t like to brag.”

Beck spent a segment of his Fox News show decrying the march – and pointing out that among the more than 400 groups that have signed on are the Communist Party USA and the New York City Democratic Socialists of America.

“All of these groups, and the president of the United States, want nothing short of fundamental transformation of America,” Beck said on a recent show. “Do not allow them to get away with the lies! Do not allow them to say that we are just ‘one nation, working together.’ ‘We’re just trying to put America back to work, and putting America back together.’ These people, a lot of them, have fought their entire life to destroy America!”

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, who’s playing a leading role in organizing the event, described the coalition somewhat differently, telling the Post that “What unites our coalition is a common goal to pull America back together and put America back to work. We are unified through a deep concern over a lack of civility in the political discourse. We are unified around our common vision of an America where we acknowledge our differences and work together to solve problems.”

It’s a nice, albeit somewhat vague message that has managed to bring together a diverse coalition of progressive groups from African American churches to LGBT groups, but whether it’s enough to motivate progressives across the country to show up at the polls in November remains an open question.

Denise Gray-Felder, communications director for One Nation Working Together, tells me that they “certainly hope that people will remain energized and engaged and carry that energy into the voting booth on Nov 2.” One Nation is registering as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Gray-Felder notes, and as such it won’t be doing any direct political advocacy. She confirms, though, that getting out the vote will most definitely be a central mission of the group going forward.

“There is a major civic engagement and public education component,” she explains. “We’ll have get-out-the-vote information, and we’ll be giving out voter registration applications, so that is a big, big component of the next step of our strategy…. There is a civic engagement staff that’s part of the One Nation team, doing social media outreach, and there’s also a face-to-face component where, as of first thing Sunday, people will be out going door-to-door. People at the rally will be asked to make a commitment to make ten calls, recruit least two friends to volunteer, and volunteer at least ten hours getting out the vote.”

The MOVERS program will be augmented by GOTV activities in these and other states by other independent groups that are working with American Crossroads. In each of the eight target states, American Crossroads will use enhanced voter files and data on absentee ballot and early voting patterns to deliver absentee ballot mailers with chase calls, early voting notifications by mail and phone calls, and a 72-hour mail and phone call blitz prior to Election Day. Target universes for the program include high, medium and low propensity Republican voters, as well as high propensity independent voters.”

His campaign also released a statement to traveling reporters, but otherwise avoided the topic on Monday night. There was no press release for broader distribution, no mention of her passing on the main page of the campaign website, and, so far, no clips of Obama’s touching remarks posted on his usually thorough YouTube channel. Footage of Obama’s remarks, however, is already making its way around YouTube.

A new clip, taken from cable news, quotes Obama’s statement on the trail in North Carolina. “My grandmother, who helped raise me, passed away early this morning. And look, she has gone home,” says Obama. “And she died peacefully in her sleep — with my sister at her side. And so there is great joy as well as tears. I’m not going to talk about it too long because its hard, a little, to talk about,” he added. Here’s the video: