Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!
Hope youāre all hanging in here and staying off of twitter.
Itās the weirdest thing: I know the āpolls are tightening,ā and I know the Democrats areāinexplicablyāgetting hammered on the economy, but even so, looking at the numbers above, and knowing what I do about the number of people volunteering to get out the vote, and hearing what I do on Tiktok from my young followers, I still feel optimistic. Call me crazy. But I recall feeling similarly in 2018. There was SO MUCH negative news then, too, and so much doubt. We were far from certain we could succeed in flipping any seats at allā¦
And then we pulled off a miracle. We flipped a whole, whole bunch. And I, for one, wasnāt surprised.
Because Iād seen what was happening everywhere: people holding postcarding parties, signing up for phonebanking, holding massive fundraisers, writing Vote Forward letters, doing textbanks, trying friend banksā¦it was just pure enthusiasm, determination, and hard work.
Iām seeing that exact same thing again. Weāre showing up, weāre persisting, and weāre fighting hard. EVERYWHERE.
And when we fight we tend to win.
So keep plugging your ears to the negativity, friends. Most of it is voter suppression, pure and simple, and itās only effective if we let it be.
If we donāt, itās just background noise.
Which gets harder and harder to hear, the more weāre out there doing.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
Iām calling once again after a school shooting, this time in St. Louis, to say that we must ban assault rifles. We must. And we will, eventually, once the carnage becomes too great. The only question is how many childrenās lives will have to be lost before that happens. Enough is enough. I want the Senator to co-sponsor and support S 736, the Assault Weapons Ban Act of 2022 and also S.190, Ethanās Law. Nothing will change in America until Congress gets serious about gun safety. Thanks.
Extra Credit ā
Letās call Senator Schumer AGAIN and ask him to call a vote on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Call: (212) 486-4430 or (518) 431-4070 or (202) 224-6542 and say:
My name is _____ and Iām from ____. Iām calling Senator Schumer in his capacity as Senate Majority Leader to ask him once again to bringĀ S.4431, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, up for a vote right away. We know the votes are there to pass it, and this bill is so important. [Feel free to share your experience if you have been a pregnant worker.] Please make passing it a priority. Thanks.
Get Smart! š
This year, the Supreme Court is considering two cases that could drastically impact how elections are run in this country.
In the first case, the Court could gut whatās left of the Voting Rights Act and make it much more difficult for voters of color to challenge election laws that dilute the strength of their votes. In the second case, the Court could give gerrymandered state legislatures nearly unlimited authority over how federal elections are conducted.
Join Demand Justice, Common Cause, and the Elias Law Group to discuss these two critical cases and the broader implications for our democracy. Rep Jamie Raskin will also make a brief appearance.
Tonight, Oct 25th, at 7 PM ET
Win RacesāTEXT!! š³
I want to thank subscriber HH, (who is also the creator of the incredible Democrats Deliver web resource) for this AMAZING document packed with every text banking opportunity imaginableāwow! I did some texting yesterday for Movement Labs and I must confess it was very satisfying! Please sign up to do some, too!
Not only will you find a huge number of text banking opportunities in this doc, it also contains an excellent summary of why democrats are better for the economy. Share it far and wide, please!
Win RacesāCALL! š²
Come join me today at my now-regular Tuesday Sister District phonebank! Weāre calling into North Carolina in support of State Senator Sydney Batchābut it also helps our friend Cheri Beasley, whom many of us heard last night! Weāre calling already identified supporters and helping them make a voting plan. Itās fun!
The phonebank is extremely well run. The training is excellent. Itās from 2-4 PT. Sign up here!
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [Quick send text SIGN PAXFPN to 50409]
The National Environmental Policy Act is a bedrock environmental law that has protected wild spaces and wildlife in the United States for years.
It has played a crucial role in protecting irreplaceable ecosystems across the country. But now, lawmakers are seeking to weaken the rule, putting special places across the United States -- as well as the vulnerable species that call them home -- at risk. This is unacceptable at a time of global climate crisis!
We need this law. That's why I write to urge you to strengthen the National Environmental Policy Act. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! Youāre amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
I'm feeling similarly hopeful! Dan Rather's post on hope yesterday really resonated with me:
"...the cumulative effects of hopelessness can become a feedback loop for more hopelessness. Elections, let us remind ourselves, are decided by actual votes, not by polls and media speculation. Maybe the polls, which have been wrong before, will be wrong again. But if voters are so despondent that they feel their activism is a lost cause, it will almost assuredly become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
(...)
While despair is contagious, so too is hope. It can be strengthened by realizing that others are in the struggle alongside us. It can be built through community and concrete actions. It can be made to feel urgent and essential.
Over the long arc of history, those who have bet against hope have often been wrong. Reason enough to keep hope alive, for this election and beyond."
I've spent 12 hours textbanking with the Harris County Dems yesterday and today, and in all my textbanking in the last two election cycles, I have never seen so many super enthusiastic replies coming back. Usually on a textbank - there are three yesses for every 20 STOPs. I'm getting 1-2 stops for every 40 yesses. And, I had a great conversation today which I posted on Twitter. https://twitter.com/truthjusticehph/status/1584995328427982848?s=20&t=v0YnPWJ5wJ19S9sNSEFnAg