Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot telll you how important making these phone calls really can be, or how much of a difference they can make in a political campaign.

A few years ago, we came really close to beat Ken Cuccinelli in northern Virginia in a race that saw a lot of help from Planned Parenthood volunteers. We ended up losing by less than 100 votes - and it was because we didn't make enough phone calls or knock on enough doors.

This past election, as a staff member for the Democratic Party, I again saw first-hand the power of community organizing, and how it can effectively change a race. We won in Virginia because of a strong campaign that reached out to voters.

It's not the most fun thing to do on a political campaign, but it's critical - and I urge you each to do this, whether in northern Virginia or elsewhere in the States. We're down by 14 points, but we can make it up after Labor Day.

If you think the stakes were high in the November elections, this one is even higher. At no time in history has the political been more personal. I promise you that with Cuccinelli and McDonnell in office, you'll see your personal autonomy to choose what happens to your own body, and the bodies of those you know and love intimately, be taken away.