As the presidential race winds down, you can feel the Republican desperation.

Now, that’s not to say I think this election is a done deal.  I’ve got my phone bank list open in another browser window (Obama’s website couldn’t make it any easier).  So after reading this post — and commenting on it, if you’d like — let’s all get back to work.

But back to the desperation for a moment.  Whether it’s the latest hypocritical (and just plain false) guilt-by-association with Rashid Khalidi or hitching on the Ashley Todd stereotype ride, you sense Republicans are searching for a surprise …. But it’s no surprise that they are hoping, expecting, working to make sure it’s something that plays on those good ol’ racial fears.

Thankfully, this time progressives have been meeting fire with fire — and the mainstream media has not been far behind.  We’re still counting the like of Rachel Maddow and Campbell Brown as mainstream media, right?

On the frontlines has been Stop Dog Whistle Racism! — which has never let any veiled racial attack pass them by.  They define “Dog-Whistle Racism” as “political campaigning or policy-making that uses coded words and themes to appeal to conscious or subconscious racist concepts and frames.”  Suffice to say, they have been plenty busy.

To here the power of their perspective, listen to their “Race in the Race” conference call from this past week.

When this election is over, we need to have a Hall of Fame of media who, like many of the canvassers and other volunteers that are hitting the streets and the phones this weekend, represent a new generation of awareness and activism.

Change isn’t coming.  It’s already here.