Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!
Iāve been very busy this morning, and itās made me late, so Iām going to keep this short.
Yesterday was a tough day, with a poll dropping from the New York Times that seemed to reflect a giant swing away from us with Independent women. There was also a poll āI canāt remember now where I saw itāsaying Trump would win against Biden if the 2024 Presidential election were held today. And an email from Galvanize saying we have to do better talking about the economy. And on and on the bad news seemed to come.
It was a lot. The grief and anger I, for one, feel that this election is even closeāthat any of this is even up for debateācanāt be understated. Iāve wondered for a long time āWhat is wrong with Americans?ā and thatās apparently not going to change anytime soon.
But then I consider all of you. And all of the people I see at my postcard depot. And at my canvasses. And on my mobilization calls. And at my phonebanks.
And I remember that there is way more right with us than wrong. That more of us are decent and honest and determined to save our democracy than are hate-filled and greedy and racist.
That, in fact, I am surrounded by everyday heroes bringing about wildly positive change every day.
I have no idea how trustworthy these latest polls are. At a meeting with Mike Podhortzerāa well-known political strategistāyesterday we were told the methodology of the Times poll was different than the one they used last time, so the results are misleading. Mike said we should all take a deep breath. As he put it: āWe always knew this election was going to be close. Itās still going to be close. The party who turns out their people better is going to win.ā
So thatās what we must do.
And look: Weāve been told we were going to lose every single election weāve worked on so far. If weād given up after every bad poll we WOULD have lost. But we didnāt. And we won, over and over.
Why? Because we showed up.
So I, for one, am putting the proverbial wax in my ears and doubling down on my work. Iām phonebanking pretty much every day this week, except for Wednesday, when I will go canvass in Santa Clarita for Christy Smith. Iām writing more letters with Vote Fwd and Greenpeace. Iām pushing myself harder than Iāve ever pushed myself before.
I will leave every single ounce of myself on the field. As, I know, will you.
That, after all, is how we wināeven when weāre told we canāt.
So letās go do that one more time.
P.S. āIām so behind this morning that weāre taking a day off from calling our reps. Sorry, not sorry!
Extra Credit ā
Please sign this petition to META demanding that they stop censoring posts from women protestors inside Iran.
Win Racesāwrite letters! āš¼
Thereās a PA-related letter-writing event tonight that a) is really important and b) needs more volunteers:
October 18th at 7 PM ET (4 PM PT / 6 PM CT) join special guest Ed Helms at a Pennsylvania letter-writing party for Vote Riders!Ā
This is your chance to ensure that first-time PA voters know what ID they need to cast a ballot that counts in November. And Vote Riders is even offering FREE letter-writing kits including stamps and custom return address labels to volunteers who commit to writing 50+ letters before October 29.
Win Racesācall with Dan Pfeiffer! š²
Iām joining a Sister District phonebank today at 2PM/5ET to call into North Carolina with Dan Pfeiffer. Can anyone join me? THESE STATEHOUSE RACES ARE SO IMPORTANT! Plus weāre in GOTV so itās just pure fun.
Register here. (Canāt make this one? There are loads of other dates and times to choose from. Please help!)
Win Racesācall on your own time! š²
From subscriber Susan Morgan! So important!
I wanted to let everyone know about an easy, flexible, accessible and convenient way to be on the front lines with voters in key races, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE!
As we all know, INTERACTIVE conversations are THE most important tactic this close to the election. While canvassing is ideal, itās not feasible for most people in blue districts. However, phonebanking IS feasible for every volunteer. Even we organizers can bang out some calls when we have a free window, thanks to Activate Americaās āCall Anytimeā CallHub platform that is open to everyone! You can make calls on your own most anytime via the CallHub automated dialer which increases the number of live conversations! You will also be are leaving voicemail messages with important voter information. You can hop on when you have a short window of time and make ten calls or so, then hop off until your next free window. It's easy and very gratifying to have live conversations with voters! Watch this 4 minute video, then you'll be ready to start making calls. It will direct you to all the links you need.
Current campaign options are:
Toss up House races: CA-13 - Adam Gray, CA-22 - Rudy Salas, CA-41 - Will Rollins, CA-45 - Jay Chen, PA-07 - Susan Wild.
Toss up Senate races: PA - John Fetterman, NC - Cheri Beasley, NV - Cortez Masto, WI - Barnes, GA - Warnock
Thanks for making calls and spreading the word!
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [Quick send: SIGN PGTISO to 50409]
The Iranian people, led by women, are standing up in the face of brutal repression to challenge mandatory hijab laws and demand their most basic rights. Already, dozens have been killed as a result of the governmentās brutal repression, which includes an internet shutdown as the government seeks to silence their voices.
As your constituent, I urge you to take steps to ensure that US policies support the Iranian peoplesā cause. This should include:
1. Passing the bipartisan joint resolution (H.Con.Res. 110/S.Con.Res. 47) from Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) condemning the killing of Mahsa (Jhina) Amini and the Iranian governmentās brutal crackdown while commending the bravery of the Iranian people. It urges targeted sanctions on human rights violators in the Iranian government while encouraging additional steps to support internet freedom in Iran.
2. Passing legislation mandating reporting from the administration on the Iranian governmentās online repression and steps that the U.S. can take to enable the Iranian people to communicate freely online. This provision was already included in Sec. 1266 of the FY23 House-passed NDAA (H.R. 7900), which was a bipartisan provision supported by the National Iranian American Council and other groups.
3. Urge the administration to support a formal UN Human Rights Council condemnation of the Iranian governmentās repression of protests in coordination with other countries across the globe. The UN plays a major role in tracking violations of human rights around the globe, including via the UN Special Rapporteur for the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It can and must be vocal in condemning and pressuring the Iranian government over its human rights violations.
Many Members of Congress have also spoken up in support of protesters demanding their rights, and I encourage you to do the same in condemning and showing solidarity with the brave people of Iran.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! Youāre amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
Although I am disgusted with both parties (kind of really only one party as the government is run by the 1 percent) I think it would help democrats win their elections if they talked more about the real issues. We must stop any thought of raising the SS age, and the medicare age of eligibility! No one is talking about plans to make those changes a reality by the republicans.
Yesterday (Tuesday 18-October) I was at a local (based in Connecticut, but held via zoom) anti-racism meeting and one of the participants expressed a desire for guidance on how to direct resources (donations) most effectively for getting out the vote. I wrote an email to the group after the call, but it was somewhat off the top of my head and based on what links I had stored in my browser favorites. I also included a PDF copy of Jess' "Where Do I Give" document.
Here is what I wrote:
1. I looked at the link that <name redacted> posted to crushthecoup.org. I am sold in general on the idea that state legislature races are the place to expend donation and volunteer resources, especially in swing states and tight races but winnable races; and that seems to be the focus of crush-the-coup. The parent organization, indivisible.org, is quite credible in my opinion, though I have not worked with any of the local organizations directly. I like that a single donation can be split between multiple key races in multiple key states. A similar approach is taken by The States Project at https://statesproject.org/, but there is a good bit of overlap between the states in play, so you might want to choose one or the other.
2. Beyond donations, if you have some time to spare for the work, there is some evidence that lightly tailored hand-written postcards or letters to voters (targeted by alignment with (small 'd') democratic values) can be somewhat effective in improving turnout. Some of the leading 'cards and letters' programs are:
https://postcardstovoters.org/
https://www.centerforcommonground.org/postcarding
https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/
Note that these programs typically require spending some money for postage and/or cards. Also, some of the deadlines for sending the postcards/letters are coming up fast (or already due).
3. There is some evidence that a more effective method of getting out the vote is direct contact with prospective (targeted) voters. A typical method for focusing on key states is phone banking sessions of various types. I do not have direct experience with phone banking, but it is on my bucket list to give it a try.
4. A very good source for phone banking opportunities and other advocacy opportunities is Jessica Craven's substack blog Chop Wood, Carry Water. Craven is particularly appealing because she offers a variety of actions and activities on a daily basis, including not only phone banks and zoom webinars but also recommendations for calls to make to Senators and Congressional Representatives and IM-based generated messages to politicians and bureaucrats via resistbot. I have gone through brief stretches where I have called [Connecticut] Senators Murphy and Blumenthal and Rep DeLauro every weekday for a week or two, following scripts provided by Jessica. What I most like about her daily substack is her emphatically positive outlook and energy.
5. I have attached a short document from Jess Craven on Where Do I Give? This document lists specific races with links, particularly for Secretary of State and Attorney General races in key states. For US House of Reps races, I am inclined to donate via the Force Multiplier service that Craven highlights. She advises not to donate to US Senate races because Senate candidates are typically well-funded and supporting local and HR races will benefit the Senate races as well.