Motorola Droid :: Unlock Screen Not Responding / Bypass It?

All of a sudden my screen stopped responding to touch input on the home screen where you have to slide to unlock.

If I hold the power button the phone options (silent mode, airplane, and power off) buttons work, but I cannot physically slide to unlock the phone.

I need to get into the phone to backup some information, is there a way to bypass the unlock screen? the keyboard works and so does the screen, but for some reason I can't hit the slider at the bottom of the screen to unlock or mute the phone.