Chop Wood, Carry Water 10/18
Friday fire-up! 🔥🔥
Hi, all, and happy Friday!
And it is happy, because we had another good day of early voting yesterday!
In North Carolina a record was set for highest turnout EVER on day one in the state. 353,166 people voted early in person yesterday. While this isn’t a huge increase from 2020, it is an increase, and in a state where a decent number of residents are still recovering from a major catastrophe it’s HUGE.
There’s more: as of this morning, almost a million people have returned their vote by mail ballots in Michigan. To quote Ethan Nichtern on Threads, moreover, “in 2020 [Dems] only won early and absentee voting by 60k. This year they *already* have a 162k early vote lead.” Wow.
And more: Georgia has crossed the 1 million voter mark! Daniel Nichanian from Bolts posted that “About 124,000 people have voted [there] already who did *not* vote in the 2020 election. For many, it'll be because they turned 18, but the vast majority are older. (Some should be new Georgians.) 7.5% are Hispanic or Asian, vs 3.2% for the rest of voters so far.
I could go on, but you get the gist.
It’s all very encouraging and we should celebrate it…and keep doing the work. Resting on our laurels is not possible. In fact, we should throw our laurels away, or eat them for lunch so we have extra fuel to go knock on more doors. (Are laurels edible?) I’m going back to Palmdale again tomorrow. I’m tired, but this is not time for resting!
What all are you up to? Drop it in the comments! Because it’s time for our Friday fire-up!
Oh, and on that note, one last thing: Friends, the comments section is open to all! One of my readers mentioned in passing that she wouldn’t be able to see it because she doesn’t have a paid subscription! Not so! I put NOTHING behind paywalls. I despise them, and as long as enough folks voluntarily pay for subscriptions to cover my bills I will never resort to them.
So again, there is NOTHING paid subscribers are getting or seeing that you free ones aren’t also. OK?
Now let’s get to work. The wind is at our backs. Time to sail.
P.S. — Some of you told me that the post-it notes I shared about yesterday sold out. I found these, which I might even like more—I just ordered some for myself.
Extra Credit ✅
Save the Post Office’s letter campaign to protect rural mail has been one of their most high-engagement actions yet! So far, they’ve sent over 282,000 letters to Congress and the postal board telling them to stop the proposed rural mail slowdowns.
Help them reach their goal of 300,000 this weekend!! Send a letter today to make your voice heard. Rural mail slowdowns are simply not OK.
Get Smart! 📚
With just weeks until Election Day, Supermajority, a leading women’s equality organization, will host a briefing and panel discussion on Monday, Oct. 21 at 12 p.m. ET to share findings from a recent survey done in partnership with HIT Strategies and Lake Research Partners. The event will shed light on the positive vibe shift of young women aged 18-35 who are sporadic and non-voters as well as highlight how they’re feeling about presidential candidates and what will motivate them to vote in 2024.
Topics of discussion include:
Sentiment changes on government and political power in high-opportunity young women voters;
Polling on support for Vice President Harris and priorities in the 2024 election of this key demographic, comparison to other young voters; and
Messages and issues that resonate with this electorate.
Panelists and presenters include
Jessica Herrera, senior director of communications at Supermajority
Roshni Nedungadi, chief research officer and founding partner of HIT Strategies
Celinda Lake, president and founder of Lake Research Partners
John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics
Register to attend this event here.
Spread the Word! 📣
From
, a wonderful messaging newsletter:One answer to “Why should I vote for Kamala Harris?” is simple. Vote your pocketbook.
For most Americans, a Kamala Harris presidency will save you more money than a Donald Trump presidency.
There are three main components to this:
—Vice President Harris’ record of using the power of the government to make our economy fairer and take on corporate greed.
—Vice President Harris’ plans to continue that legacy as president.
—Donald Trump’s record and plans that will enrich billionaires at the expense of working Americans.
They’ve put these arguments into one video and two simple graphics (one of which is posted at the top of this newsletter). Use their social media toolkit to help spread the message!
Give 💰!
Blue Tent discourages donating to Democratic candidates, party committees, and most super PACs. At the same time, donors can have a real impact by giving to electoral groups that precisely target key groups of voters with tested ads of proven effectiveness.
So they are strongly recommending giving to the Center for Voter Information, which is launching digital persuasion videos targeting undecided male voters. This work is incredibly important. Polls show Trump winning male voters by a wide margin. If Harris and other pro-democracy candidates can close that gap by even a few points, it could decide the election.
Online testing by CVI has shown that its videos are very effective at moving male voters toward Harris. The challenge now is getting them seen by as many men as possible on sites like YouTube and Facebook. Please donate to CVI to support this critical effort.
Win Races—urgent door knocking need in battleground states! 🗳
Team Harris-Walz has put out an urgent call! Canvassers are needed in battleground states! See below!
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania is THE STATE most likely to decide this election. Team Harris-Walz urgently needs volunteers to knock on doors to ensure voters show up on Election Day! They need at least 10 more volunteers to join them in Pennsylvania every weekend this month.
WHEN: Every Saturday & Sunday this month, 9AM-9PM (3 hour shifts)
WHERE: Three critical counties in Pennsylvania.
CHESTER COUNTY/DOWNINGTOWN [Southeast PA, close to: New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland]
ALLEGHENY COUNTY/MONROEVILLE [Western PA, close to: Ohio, West Virginia]
LEHIGH COUNTY/ALLENTOWN [Eastern PA, close to New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland]
WISCONSIN
They also need canvassers in Southern Wisconsin - convenient for Illinois & Iowa Volunteers! SATURDAY, 10/19 8AM - 12PM (CDT)
They need 10 more volunteers at the Oconomowoc Farmer’s Market this Saturday. There, you’ll talk to attendees about important issues, Democratic candidates up and down the ballot, and why this election MATTERS.
WHERE: 155 W Wisconsin Ave, Oconomowoc, WI, 53066 [Oconomowoc Farmer’s Market]
I’LL GO TO OCONOMOWOC THIS SATURDAY
MICHIGAN
WHEN: Every Friday & Saturday in October. Shifts are 2 hours!
WHERE: Join us at HQ in Grand Rapids. Exact address at the sign-up link below.
WHAT: We’ll meet Unregistered Voters to help them register and work out a plan to vote. You will be resourced with voter applications and talking points.
KNOCK ON DOORS IN GRAND RAPIDS
Win Races—Phonebank woman to woman!
Join Super Majority tomorrow, October 19th for a Day of Action helping women voters across the country make a plan to vote.
To win in 2024 women must be seen as the political force that they are in key elections to protect our freedoms. Supermajority will turn out 430,000 voters to represent us and achieve policies that help make the Majority Rules real for all of us. To do that, we must reach 5.5 million women -- the largest woman-to-woman voter engagement program we’ve ever built.
New to phone banking? Don’t fret! They’re going to have staff on the call to train and support you. REGISTER HERE!
12-2pm ET: 🍑 Georgia
2-4pm ET: 🔔 Pennsylvania
2-4pm AZ: 🌵 Arizona
Win Races—Be a Poll Watcher
I was on a call with the Voter Protection people at Harris-Walz this morning and they desperately need more poll watchers—especially in Georgia. But everywhere!
Fill out the interest form here and they’ll be in touch. This is so, so important.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN SIGN PLIFRA to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]
I am writing to you as a constituent to implore you to actively support the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Our free and fair elections are under continued assault. More than half of states have enacted laws that make voting harder for millions of Americans, often targeting communities of color, lower-income voters, and people with disabilities.
In response, it is imperative to pass federal legislation to protect every American’s constitutional right to vote and ensure elections are decided by the will of the people. The Freedom to Vote Act would counteract many of the antidemocratic voting rules being passed in the states, while stopping partisan gerrymandering and reducing the dangerous role of big money in politics. And the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would make it harder for politicians to implement discriminatory voting laws in the first place.
Your constituents are counting on you to be a champion for democracy and to help ensure that our government fairly represents us all. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
I came home last night after voting to find a precious girl of maybe 9 years of age running from the back seat of her car to put something on my door knob. It was 6:30 ish. I flagged the car down to find a young mom in the front seat, at the witching hour(dinnertime for kids) in her car delivering voting info to democrats to nudge us to early vote. I told her we had just voted and how much I appreciated her efforts on behalf of saving our democracy. We are surrounded by Angels doing the good hard work. I begin my work as poll observer tomorrow. I'm praying for fairness, accuracy and safety for all of the volunteers at the voting sites. Thank them when you go in. Now let's do this, guys!
Out in Ohio for a few days to visit my fiancé. The one road that only had republican signs for the special election last year. I drove down that same road yesterday and saw all but 2 flipped to having Democrat signs including for Harris/walz. This is in deep red Ohio. The change is real and people are fired up