Progress Illinois

Rose, a freckled, brown-haired field organizer, laughed when I asked what time she got up this morning. "Three-fifteen," she said with a slight grin. "But we didn't get to bed until 2:30."

Over the past week, staffers like Rose and a bevy of volunteers for Democrat Scott Harper's 13th District campaign have worked at a frenetic pace. When I arrived at at their Naperville-based headquarters just before 6 AM, 60 canvassers were already out in the field, posting signs and passing out campaign flyers. Throughout the day, the campaign plans to run phone banks from 14 office phones, dispatch volunteers for election protection, and hit targeted precincts with GOTV materials.

According to Harper, his campaign's enthusiasm matches that of the district's voters. "I've been out to train stations and coffee shops and I've knocked on doors," he told me, standing next to his daughter who had flown in from New York City, "and it feels like a lot of people out there want change."

I later tagged along on a literature drop in Aurora with a group of canvassers -- all of them young, brimming with the energy one might expect from an upstart Democratic campaign. Spencer, a 16-year old high school junior, couldn't drive or vote, but he cut physics class to donate some of his time."If I can get one person to vote who wouldn't have voted otherwise," he said, "I think it partially counts as my vote." Throughout the weekend, only one of the four Harper canvassers had run into anyone working the ground for Rep. Judy Biggert, a fact they seemed to find comforting.

Yet none of them knew how Harper might fare. While the GOP incumbent seems to be winning the yard sign contest, the Cook Political Report downgraded the contest from "Safe Republican" to "Likely Republican" last night and Biggert herself expressed concern about the effect Barack Obama might have on the race.

It's still a long-shot, but with a big turnout and the Harper campaign's grassroots energy, anything is possible.