Deb Callahan, League of Conservation Voters

Deb Callahan is president of the League of Conservation Voters, based in Washington, D.C.

Today sure seemed to fly. Between releasing our 2000 National Environmental Scorecard, planning for tomorrow's Dirty Dozen events, and returning all sorts of media calls, I've hardly had time to come up for breath.

Our Scorecard release events in California and Washington, D.C., went really well. Our D.C. press conference, starring LCV Political Director Betsy Loyless, was covered live on C-SPAN. Not to mention, about 20 reporters showed up. Our Los Angeles release was smaller, but I was able to talk to several radio stations and a reporter from La Opinion.

This year's Scorecard includes key congressional votes on issues ranging from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to funding for new national monuments, to citizens' right to know about harmful smog in their communities. We also scored a House vote to prohibit the EPA from setting stricter standards for arsenic in drinking water.

These votes, which were selected by issue experts from more than 20 respected environmental and conservation organizations, presented members of Congress with real choices in terms of environmental protection. Unfortunately, a majority of Congress voted more often to weaken environmental protections than to strengthen them. But that's why we're here. Until the dirtiest members of Congress know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their constituents will hold them accountable for their anti-environment actions, they will be hard-pressed to clean up their act.

Aside from Scorecard releases, I did lots of media interviews today for our Dirty Dozen races, in which we're pushing for the defeat of anti-environmental members of Congress. Among others, I talked with the Spokane Public Radio station about the Dirty Dozen race in Washington with Sen. Slade Gorton, and I did an interview with Investor's Business Daily in which I discussed the relevance of environmental issues in the presidential campaign. I am excited about all of these calls because it means the environment is playing a key role in these races. This is the most hair-raising election that anyone in our generation has been through, but it is energizing to know that the environment is capable of making a margin of difference in close races across the country.

I've also talked with staff and supporters about strategic choices we're making in these closing two weeks of the campaign. Supporters are calling to relate their concerns and ideas about certain Senate or House races, or the presidential race. I talked with a board member about the possibility of getting a major celebrity to go on the road to promote the environment and our campaigns. And I participated in a phone call with our California coordinator, Sue Burnside, and our media coordinator in D.C. for the California campaigns, Shalini Matani, to talk about our California Dirty Dozen events on Wednesday.

That's how we run things at LCV. We've got the big picture plan -- we've been working for two years to prepare for this Nov. 7. Just as a marathoner knows how fast they should pace themselves so they can run a race in under three or four hours, a good campaigner knows how to set a pace that can last until Election Day.

However, we always expect the unexpected as well. Campaigns are by their very nature imperfect projects. You can never go to bed at night thinking that everything is done. There's always that one more phone call, one more media call, one more fundraiser, one more ally to reach out to. It's an imperfect business. The worst feeling in the world is to think that there might have been something else that could have been done to achieve a win. You just hope that you do enough. In the end, that's what matters.

Until tomorrow.

D.