Chop Wood, Carry Water 10/11

Art by Bunnie Reiss via Amplifier Art.

Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!

Yesterday was *quite* a day.

I started that day by waking at 5AM, too stressed to sleep. I had 100 Working America letters I’d signed up for that I knew I couldn’t finish in time. I had 6,000 postcards that all needed to be written in a handful of days, with another 6,000 coming behind those. To say I felt overwhelmed is an understatement.

So I asked for help.

I did so on Instagram, on Facebook, and here. For the Working America letters, which were to Wisconsin, I reached out to my Chop Wood, Carry Wisconsin list as well.

The response was overwhelming, immediate, and massive. By 5 PM I had virtually no postcards left—even after a Christy Smith refill! As of this AM they’re all gone. All. Spoken. For. I had to find more cards to put out so no one would arrive to empty bins. (I had some, of course. I always have some.)

As for the Working America letters? Those were snapped up within 10 minutes of my email going out.

You guys. I am moved, awed, and beyond grateful. The offers of help are still coming in. From everywhere! What a community! What an effort. What a day!

I will confess to being so exhausted from it, however, that I am sending an abbreviated newsletter today. I need to take a second to catch my breath.

For those of you who asked how you could contribute to my postcarding expenses, by the way, thank you. That link is here if you feel so inspired. To the many of you who upgraded to paid subscriptions to help with funding these campaigns, thank you.

To every one of you who offered to help in any way, thank you. You give me hope.

Together we are mighty. Just ask the empty bins in front of my house. 💙

P.S. If you reached out to me after all the cards were spoken for but still want to write I posted an important new opportunity below—they’ll even send you the cards!

Get Smart! 🧠

Don’t forget to come to the Fireside Chat with the incredible Dan Pfeiffer happening TODAY from 4:00 - 5:00 PM PT! I’ll be there!

Sienna Guzman will be leading a conversation with the Pod Save America host, author, and former aide to President Obama about his latest book, Battling the Big Lie, and how activists can help control the Democrat message during this pivotal time of the election.

RSVP here.

Get the Word Out! 📣

I’ve got another easy and VERY effective way for us all to help Get Out the Vote! I’ve used it before and can vouch for it 100%.

The fancy name for it is relational organizing.

The simple version? Talk to your friends! Why? Studies show texts from friends are 29 times more effective than texts from strangers.

And guess what? There’s an app for it! SwipeBlue helps find all your Democratic friends by securely matching your phone contacts to the public voter file, while fully protecting your privacy.

Then SwipeBlue makes it easy and fun to ask your Democratic friends to vote by swiping them blue - like Tinder for voting.

When you swipe your Democratic friends, SwipeBlue helps you send them a friendly voting text (which you can customize.) They’ll help them register to vote, vote absentee, and vote for progressive candidates at all levels with their personalized #VOTEPROCHOICE Voter Guide.

Every single swipe could persuade a friend to vote. And every single vote will help us wiiiiin! Download the app here.

Win Races—write postcards! ✍🏼

Postcards to Climate Voters is two-thirds of the way towards their goal of sending one million postcards to make sure folks who care about climate action vote in key races across the country. But there are only a few days left to sign up, so they need your help!

Please sign up now if you can write 100 more postcards by Oct. 28. THEY WILL SEND YOU THE CARDS! You just write them and pay for stamps. These cards use a “social pressure” script which is known to boost turnout significantly.

Here's what's at stake:

• Oregon's three-way gubernatorial election is a toss-up

• The County Judge election in Harris County, TX will have a huge impact on climate

• Michigan and Illinois have critical state supreme court elections

• Control over Minnesota's state legislature is on the ballot

• New Mexico has a key Land Commissioner election 

These races aren’t getting huge attention but they’re all HUGELY important. Won’t you sign up for some cards now?

Win Races—write letters with celebs! 🗳

Join actor Abbi Jacobson (of Broad City fame) and volunteers from across the country for a Big Send letter writing party! At this virtual event, you’ll learn about how Vote Forward letters have been proven to increase voter turnout, get tips and training on refining your message to voters, and have your letter writing questions answered by the Vote Forward team—all while hearing from Abbi about why she’s excited to help get out the vote this year.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 12 from 8 – 9pm EDT. Sign up here.

Want to check out other letter writing opportunities? I have them all listed in one place—here!

Win Races— Text! 💻

Movement Politics Text Bank

TODAY (and every Tues & Thurs) @ 6 – 8:30 pm EDT
Join People's Action to text Wisconsin voters, encouraging them to send pro-democracy Senate candidate Mandela Barnes to Congress. Each session will begin with a 45 minute training for new participants. After training, you can join returning texters to listen to live music and send texts. For the last 20 minutes, volunteers come back together to do a group debrief. [H/T the Union]

Sign up here.

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OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk tomorrow.

Jess