"I got this"

"We can't ask anything more of our candidates. They have been all in since the get-go. Hard, hard work, and many miles traveled. It is no longer up to them. They have been the right messengers delivering the right message. Now it is up to us."

I got this. Is it not a wonderful feeling, when it is your turn? Like Jack Morris in the World Series, when he told the coach in the ninth inning - "I got this". When the rest of the team is looking at you to clinch the victory. That one special moment when you turn to not only the coach, but also the rest of them. You smile, and maybe wink, and say, "I got this". It is like, don't worry - it is in my hands now.

Well, in less than three weeks, that is what we all can say. "I got this". Because in less than three weeks, all the traveling, all the door knocking, all the lit dropping, all the money collected - won't mean spit anymore. The only thing which will count is if more of the Red Team get to the voting booth than the Blue Team. Each member of the Red Team needs to look back at our candidates who have worked so hard to get this far, maybe smile, maybe wink, and say - "I got this". 

In 2012, the last time Amy Klobuchar ran, almost 2.7 million people voted. Amy received 2/3 of those votes. Beat Kurt Bills by about a million votes. Ouch! What does this tell me? We need 1.4 million people to vote for Jim Newberger this time around. 

In 2014, the last time Al Franken ran, almost 2 million people voted. Al Franken got 53% of the vote, or slightly over a million votes. Karin Housley needs to have at least 1.1 million people to vote for her this time around.

In 2014, in the race for Secretary of State, Steve Simon received a hair over 900.000 votes. "Doc" Severson received a hair under 900,000 votes. For John Howe to win this seat in 2018, we need a million people to vote for him. 

In 2014, Lori Swanson got just over a million votes to win the Attorney General race. Scott Newman from the Red Team, was far behind. To put Doug Wardlow as our next AG, we need somewhere between 1.1 and 1.3 people to vote for him.

Now here is the big one. In 2010 and 2014, Mark Dayton did not crack the one million vote mark. Neither did Tom Emmer or Jeff Johnson. For Jeff Johnson to win this year, we need (at a bare minimum) one million people to vote for him. If a million people had voted for Jeff in 2014, he would be running for re-election this year. If a million people had voted for Tom Emmer in 2010, he would be running for this third term. 

Now comes the big one - the grand prize. If the Red Team gets out in numbers like we have not seen during the past two state wide elections, if we can garner 1.3 million votes for our Republican candidates, we might just be able to run the table. Turn this state a very bright red. If however, we vote in numbers like we have in the past, we will be at the bottom, looking up (again).

We can't ask anything more of our candidates. They have been all in since the get-go. Hard, hard work, and many miles traveled. It is no longer up to them. They have been the right messengers, delivering the right message. Now it is up to us. We need to look ourselves in the mirror, as well as the person next to us, and say one simple thing - "I got this". If we say it, and then do it, we will have victory in 2018. And how sweet it will be!