Most of the returns weren’t even in yet, but already the National Education Association, a 3.2 million-member union, had sent around a press release bragging about its election efforts.

The union, which endorsed Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, distributed more than 21.3 million pieces of mail, made more than 2.1 million phone calls, and sent more than 1.3 million piece of e-mail to members in battleground states throughout the political season.

The union focused its efforts on 15 presidential battleground states, 11 Senate races, 54
congressional races, four gubernatorial races, and 20 state ballot
initiatives, according to the release.

And, as an indication of how low education ranked on voters’ priority lists this year, the NEA made it clear that it included information on other issues, such as the economy and health care, in its campaign materials.