Chop Wood, Carry Water 10/20

Hi, all, and happy Friday.

Welp. A third vote, and still no speaker. All 22 Republicans who opposed Jordan last time did so again, and three new Republicans—Fitzpatrick, Molinaro and Kean—flipped to no as well. (Note: all three represent districts that went for Biden. They are clearly feeling the heat.) My friend Jamie Carter at DemCast has been keeping a spreadsheet you may find helpful. She updates it after every vote.

It’s unclear what Jordan’s end game is, but it seems he is determined to attempt further bids in the hopes that he will wear down his opposition. This appears unrealistic, but, in the interests of not having to reverse myself an hour from now, I won’t try to predict where we go next. We’re in truly uncharted territory. Here on this list we will keep pushing for a bipartisan solution and hope that eventually such a thing will come to pass. It’s a mess.

Let’s face it—things are a mess pretty much everywhere. It’s a tough and frightening moment that feels deeply unstable. To cope, I’m falling back on tools that have gotten me through moments of crisis before: taking it a day at a time, trying not to panic about a future I can’t possibly predict, looking for ways to be of service, practicing self-care, and, instead of trying to figure out the answer to the world’s thorniest problems, simply looking for the next right action to take. Chopping wood and carrying water, in other words, is the only thing I know to do right now.

That, and to “go where it’s warm.” Because boy, do we need each other at a time like this. We need community. We need support. We need compassion. We need connection. We need grace. We need to cry. We need to help. Some of us need to pray.

We need to give each other leeway to disagree while also insisting on common humanity.

Let’s try to remember that anger rarely—if ever—leads to sound decisions. Much of what is being done and said right now will be deeply regretted later. Little of it will be reversible. That is the shame of it all. That is the grief foretold.

I will try not to add to that with my actions. I will try to keep working for peace in the ways that make sense to me. I trust and hope you will do the same.

As the anonymous author of Field Team Six’s weekly email wrote yesterday, “Your beautiful heart is the best medicine for this world’s sickness.”

I couldn’t have said it better.

In every one of us is the possibility of love. Let’s nurture it in ourselves. Let’s look for it in others. Let’s visualize it for our broken, limping world. Let’s ground our actions in it.

And let’s do what we can to preserve the democracy we must have if any of us are to thrive.

P.S. I am taking a mental health day today so this is going to be an abbreviated newsletter. ❤️

P.P.S. Chesebro just took a plea deal. A small bit of brightness in all the dark!

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

Jim Jordan has lost a third speaker vote. He won’t—and absolutely shouldn’t—become speaker. There is clearly no Republican who can get the votes without Democratic support. The only way forward is for a majority of House members to unite in a cross-party alliance, and elect a Republican Speaker. This speaker must reject MAGA extremism. It’s past time for a consensus coalition to come together and save the House—and America—from this extremism and chaos. Will the Congressmember support this? [H/T]

Get Smart! 📚

We’ve got a new secret weapon to boost 2023 turnout: BlueVoterGuide.org 

Blue Voter Guide is focused on increasing Dem turnout by enabling faster, smarter, more confident Blue choices up and down ballot. Enter your address & you’ll see your whole ballot. Next to every candidate, judge, and proposition is a list of endorsements from trusted orgs on the left - allowing you to decide in minutes instead of hours. Studies show confusion is the biggest obstacle to new and hesitant voters voting all the way down the ballot. Blue Voter Guide solves that problem, and helps us win elections at all levels. Use it, and let your friends and contacts in battleground states know about it. Blue Voter Guide works for all major target states now, rolling out in all 50 states in ’24.

Give 💰!

Please consider attending the next Focus for Democracy Zoom Briefing: The Road to 2024 and our First Recommendation

Focus for Democracy is an AMAZING pro-bono donor advisory organization that approaches political investment in an effective, dynamic, data-driven way. Founder Aaron Frank will present a look ahead to the 2024 race, then share F4D’s first data-backed recommendation for 2024, based on months of research and analysis by their evaluation team. 

Feel free to forward this invitation to others (but not on social media, please).  

Thursday, October 26th 5:00pm PT/8:00pm ET
Register here.

Win Races! 🗳

A bunch of progressive orgs I work with have just launched a unified volunteer recruitment hub called VolunteerBlue.org. It’s a one-stop-shop for volunteer opportunities with—check this out!—live human coaches to help people get signed up. 

They're kicking off with a pilot program to recruit volunteers for Ohio’s abortion referendum and the Virginia state legislature elections, which are both critical battlegrounds for reproductive freedom. They see this project as laying a cornerstone for volunteer efforts leading up to 2024. 

Whether you're already volunteering a lot or have been away from it for a little while, please check out VolunteerBlue.org to see where you can help!

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

Talk soon.

Jess