She also told me that the first five minutes of any doorstep conversation with a potential voter was taken up with listening to how angry people were about expenses.

BBC: Expenses anger on the doorstep

When the council campaign got under way, the Sinn Fein candidate Conor Maskey confessed to blasting a football straight into the face of the young son of a potential voter.

BBC: 2011: The accidental election

And their permanence allowed the campaign to develop vital local insight: to build detailed voter files on potential supporters, field test the best ways to motivate them, and push them to cast their votes weeks before Election Day.

CNN: Analysis: Obama won with a better ground game

If we examine the facts with an open mind, if we consider the long-term ramifications of the choice we make in the upcoming election and how it will affect future generations, each of us has the potential to be a swing voter.

FORBES: Romney And Ryan Draw Focus On Battle Lines To Save U.S.

This week another court ruled that the government's demand that potential voters must produce several forms of identification was unfair, and may have discouraged many during the three weeks of voter registration that ends on December 9th.

ECONOMIST: Zimbabwean law and order