(WARNING TO READERS!!! Since its well over 100 degrees outside, in the shade, and since the momentum of this bus tour is "red hot" we will be using way too many heat-related jokes throughout this blog - we apologize in advance…)

The heat is on.

The last two days in the desert have been so hot and so amazing.

We just finished an early morning press conference in Vegas with over 150 people and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Gubernatorial candidate Dina Titus, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, U.S. Senate Candidate Jack Carter, and Nevada Democratic Party Chairman Tom Collins.

Now, I don't know about you, but over 150 people at 9:30am on a hot August Saturday morning in Vegas...wow!

The momentum of this campaign is heating up, and hotter than ever, and the list of great leaders speaking out just keeps growing...

All of the speakers talked passionately about why Wal-Mart can and must change for the better. They made great points about how our country needs more corporate responsibility, and why we deserve to live in a nation where all Americans have affordable health care and decent paying jobs.

Best of all, these true leaders joined our growing movement that is calling on America's largest employer, Wal-Mart, to stand up, do what is right, and help lead the way to that better America we all care about.

Now about Phoenix...

First, it was hot, real hot, hotter than, well, Vegas (but to be frank, once it breaks 100, is there really any point in comparing?)

Now sorry about the delay in posting about yesterday's event in Phoenix, but have you ever driven up highway 93 from Phoenix to Las Vegas? It is incredibly beautiful, but the spotty internet access was causing a few fiery outbursts and heated discussions.

The Phoenix press conference was great though. We were joined by U.S. Senate Candidate Jim Pederson and Reverend Trina Zelle. Then we hopped onto the bus and went down to City Hall to be greeted by the Mayor of Phoenix, Phil Gordon.

The truth is that desert heat is blazing, but so is the 2006 Change Wal-Mart, Change America bus tour. The campaign to change Wal-Mart and change America is on fire.

With great crowds and an incredible turnout by some of the nation's most prominent political leaders, our bus tour roared through the state of Nevada and is on its way to Los Angeles, California.

Now, we digress for a moment and would like to pass along a very quiet message to all of the "paid paid critics" over at Wal-Mart's PR firm, Edelman, who were suggesting that our Vegas events would go pfft.

Now we know it's hard for some of the Edelman folk (that is if you define hard in terms of making loads of money off the backs of hardworking Wal-Mart shareholders, sleeping in till 10, having weekends and evenings off, drinking lattes made from llama milk shipped in from China, or being fed fois groi sandwiches every day -- ok, we made that last one up -- and not having to be locked in a bus for 35 days… oh wait, Wal-Mart does know something about locking in employees) to face the facts. But let us describe to you our Vegas tour...

The stop in Vegas were "pfft-astic," it was "pfft-nomenal," and it was beyond our wildest "pftt-asties." So for those meanies over at Edelman (aka the Wal-Mart right wing war machine, we say pfft-you, but we say it with love.)

Now a few words of wisdom to Wal-Mart, since we're feeling really upbeat and generous today. If you want to reach out to Democrats, maybe start by not having one of your spokespeople refer to them as "Hezbocrats,". Now call us crazy, but calling Democrats terrorists is not going to win you many friends. But then again, who knows, what real "strategery" is part of the great Wal-Mart/Edelman machine.

Now as a side note, funding right-wing causes, shipping American jobs overseas, opposing expanding health care to families, and opening up a communist party office in China, probably aren’t the smartest PR moves either, but what do we know.

So back to the tour...its day 26, with 9 days to go.

We're rolling on to Los Angeles right now because we have over 50 WUWM supporters and volunteers on the Santa Monica Pier signing up new supporters to the campaign. We'll be around L.A. all weekend, with a special town hall in Rosemead before heading north to the Bay Area for more incredible events.

Trust us, you want to come to the events in LA - they will scorching hot! (Sorry, last one).

- The WakeUpWalMart.com Team