I am sitting in a room in the Rayburn building, surrounded by some of the activists who have been pounding the halls in the Congress, talking to their representatives about supporting HR 550.

They are filling out the reports that they write after each visit (we've scheduled more than 100 constituent visits during the two days of lobbying). Here are a few random excerpts:

"Seemed very receptive; said she had received emails/letters on the bill from consituents."

"We all left feeling pretty good. Very receptive to our three main points (audit, papercounts, disclosed source code)..."

"Started off by saying his member was very positive about paper trails so he wouldn't be a hard sell."

Already, after the first day of lobbying, three new Democrats [ED: make that six Democrats by the end of the day on Friday] and three new Republicans have signed on to HR 550. We expect many more to follow today and in the weeks to come. These people, who came in from all around the country on their own dime, are amazing -- well informed, articulate, and totally committed. It is an honor to work with them. And they are having a blast. "This is by far the most effective political activity I have ever participated in," Carolyn Fuller of Cambridge, Mass., told me. I have to agree.