Some people have been asking me where, as we come down to the wire, they should contribute their money. (Incidentally, I know for a fact that some of us have not yet contributed anything during the entire course of the campaign. Don't worry: you can atone for that right now.) The following is a little roundup of where you can (and should) be giving your money and/or your time.

Money:

1. The DNC (which supports the Kerry campaign) is begging for money. They have a big fundraising deadline of September 30, which I believe is really the last big deadline before showtime. So if you haven't given to Kerry yet, do it now.

2. MoveOn PAC is running a massive Get Out the Vote effort with hundreds of volunteers on the ground in key states, as well as important TV ads. They can definitely use your help.

3. Super-blogger Daily Kos has chosen a list of a dozen crucial house races in various states, including Jan Schneider, the woman running against the evil Katherine Harris in Florida. You can make a contribution to be spread equally among all 12, or select individual candidates of your choosing.

4. You could also contribute to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, of which uber-blogger Atrios says, "The role of the DCCC (and its Republican counterpart) is to be the bonus cards in this election. Your opponent knows you have them, but they don't know when and where you're going to play them. The DCCC can suddenly throw money into a race that the Republicans thought was safe, and they have to have some money in the pot to react if the Republicans try to throw a nuke onto another race.."

5. Kos is also promoting the Coalition for a Fair Michigan, which is actively working to defeat a very, very nasty anti-gay amendment to the state constitution which will be on the ballot this fall. This amendment--unlike versions in other states that are more or less symbolic--would actually deprive same-sex and unmarried partners of existing rights. Help fight it.

Volunteering:

1. The Kerry camp is asking for volunteers who can make phone calls, and volunteers who can go on a road trip to a swing state.

2. Act with ACT (America Coming Together). Visit their site. They've got Saturday bus trips to nearby battleground states, they've got letter-writing happy hours, they've got cellular phone banking from your nearby park. Whether you've got a free hour or a whole weekend, they've got something we can do. This page provides a neat function where you can search for activities going on within a given radius from your zip code.

3. Swing the State is organizing day and weekend trips to battleground states. If you've got a car, you can drive, and if you don't, someone else will drive you.

4. Voting is kind of important. If you're not sure whether you're registered to vote, or know someone who might not be registered, MoveOn can help you out here.

Your Vote Matters will help you register to vote; contact your Sec. of State to verify that you are in fact on the rolls; get an absentee ballot; or volunteer to help out at polling sites.

5. When you're done giving money and time, get sloshed and meet people with Drinking Liberally, which hosts get-togethers every Thursday evening in cities around the country.

Hope that helps. We all need to do something NOW, whether it's a few bucks or a few hours. Probably in the next few days I'll be off to Allentown, a battleground district in a battleground state. More on that later.