The sound of desperation you hear when some people talk about Michael Moore is usually an indication that they understand that Moore and his messages are resonating with an ever-widening swath of the electorate. It’s beyond dispute that Moore has already affected the national debate about the war in Iraq as well as the credibility of the Bush administration, but it could be that we ain’t seen nothing yet.

The video and DVD for his documentary film Fareinheit/911 will be available beginning October 5th in video stores nationwide. Millions more people will be renting it, and having group showings and discussions. Fundamental questions about the behavior and intentions of the Bush administration will be raised in ways largely unaffected by slick television ads, stodgy newspaper editorials and yammering commercial radio talk show hosts and TV talking heads.

That Michael Moore has struck a chord is indisputable. Although some in the mainstream news media sneer at his style, others quietly cringe that he beat them to important stories about the Bush administration and that he raises questions that others dare not. Moore is popular because people recognize his profound sense of humanity, and his clear compassion for and identity with the lives of ordinary people — something that too many people in public life are at considerable pains to find within themselves. What’s more, the baseball-hatted filmmaker clearly has the guts — and the means — to take on the rich, the powerful, and the hypocritical. That he makes us laugh – and cry – is such a refreshing change from the insufferable tedium, sanctimony, and transparently disingenuous “spin” of so much that passes for public discourse, we appreciate the effort, even when the gags get a little lame.

Currently, Moore is on a speaking tour of 60 college campuses and NBA arenas — and he is drawing big crowds. Five thousand people turned out to hear him at Richard Stockton College in the swing state of New Jersey; ten thousand at Syracuse University in upstate New York, four thousand at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and so on. Moore calls it, “The Slacker Uprising Tour,” and he is seeking to rouse students and other non-voters to register to vote prior to the registration deadlines, which vary by state.

If all this were not enough to make Moore a factor in the closing weeks of the national elections, he also has two books coming out — a collection of letters letter and emails he has received from American servicemen, titled “Will They Ever Trust Us Again? Letters from the War Zone” and “The Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader.” Additionally, the film is still showing in hundreds of theaters across the country.

Of course, Republicans are freaking out, and in at least one instance, have resorted to censorship. When two GOP Virginia state legislators publicly twisted the arms of administrators at the state funded George Mason University, the school quickly caved and cancelled a scheduled appearance by Moore on October 28th. CBS News reported that this institution of higher learning didn’t even bother to inform Moore before announcing its reversal to the press. But the censorship is already backfiring, generating more attention than the event itself would have. Never one to back-off in the face of censorship, Moore is promising to show up anyway.