Chop Wood, Carry Water 10/4
Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!
First of all, welcome to those of you who found me through Dan Pfeiffer’s post from this morning. To say that it’s an honor to receive a shout out from the likes of him is an understatement. I’m very grateful.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, the article, from Pfeiffer’s Message Box newsletter, includes several excellent sources of messaging information, political data, and action opportunities; I encourage you to check it out.
Now on to our daily actions. Speaking of which, I notice with some alarm that this newsletter is getting overstuffed as we approach the midterms. I promise it’ll slim down again after November 8th, (at which point I may need to spend a few days in bed anyway.) There are SO many events happening right now, so many fundraisers, so many volunteer opportunities—it’s hard to decide which ones to exclude. So forgive the slightly fatter editions, and know that they’re only temporary.
Thank you for all of the work you’re doing, and all the work you will do.
We’re tired. We’re nervous. We’re angry.
But we’re not beaten. And I don’t intend that we will be.
If you feel the same—or even if you don’t!—let’s get to work one more time.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
It’s been heartening to see labor unions forming across the country, but disturbing to see the coordinated attacks against them by giant corporations and the union busters they hire. I’m wondering why the Senator has stopped pushing to pass S. 420, the PRO Act. Labor unions are more popular in this country right now than they’ve been in 50 years. Why is Congress not working to support them by passing this excellent bill?
Call Chuck Schumer
At (212) 486-4430 or (518) 431-4070 or (202) 224-6542
Say:
Hi, my name is _______. I'm calling from [zip]. I’m calling the Senator in his capacity as Senate Majority Leader to ask when he is going to bring two very important Big Tech accountability bills to the floor. They are S.2710, the Open App Markets Act, and S.2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. I certainly hope that Senator Schumer isn’t caving to big donors from the tech industry by blocking passage of these bills. That’s supposed to be what the other party does—not ours. Please ask him to bring them to the floor for a vote as soon as possible. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Send this to President Biden via his contact form—please personalize slightly so it’s not discarded as a duplicate. [H/T Declaration for American Democracy]
It’s past time to curb the power of secret money in our politics.
Wealthy special interests hold a monopoly on political power, silencing the voices of millions of Americans. This silence causes our politicians to fail to act swiftly and sternly on the issues affecting Americans the most, ranging from gun violence to the climate crisis.
President Biden, you have the opportunity to act. With a stroke of your pen you can take executive action to require large federal contractors to disclose their secret political spending.
By issuing a Contractor Disclosure Executive Order, you can enforce federal contractors to publicly disclose their political expenditures, thereby revealing previously hidden secret money deals that are rampant among the three branches of government. This is critical for our democracy. Please do it now. And thanks.
Extra (Repeat) Extra Credit! ✅✅
This is only for those of you who haven’t already taken this action—I rarely repost stuff like this, but for those of you who are new we have two more days to DELUGE Biden and Deb Haaland with comments about why leasing vast tracts of our oceans out for oil and gas drilling is a terrible idea.
If you haven’t already, please use this quick and easy tool to send an official public comment to Deb Haaland and Amanda Lefton (Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) demanding that they not pursue this plan. It’s important that you personalize the letter a bit so it’s not discarded. Just one sentence is fine.
Again, click here to send your comment.
Get Smart! 📚
You’ve heard me sing the praises of the Environmental Voter Project repeatedly. Have you ever wanted to learn more about how they target voters, or the messaging they use, or their results? Or maybe you want to introduce EVP to a friend?
This is your opportunity. All are welcome to join their Introduction to the Environmental Voter Project webinar this Friday, Oct. 7th at 12pm ET.
I really, really love this organization. They’re using tried and data-tested techniques to get out a critical and often ignored segment of the electorate. They’re well worth following, volunteering for, and supporting.
Protect the Vote!
Help make every vote count! Join Swing Blue Alliance and VoPro Pros on their last volunteer recruitment Zoom before the mid-terms to hear about voter protection opportunities to:
Monitor the count of mail ballots by local election officials;
Work with individual voters to remedy mail ballots that have been rejected on technical grounds; and
Staff voter hot-lines to answer urgent questions that for thousands of voters will make the difference between a tossed vote and one that counts.
Serve on rapid response teams that respond to immediate voter protection needs.
They’ll tell you all about the work VoPro Pros does and how you can get involved!
This Sunday from 5 – 6pm EDT. Sign up here.
Give 💰!
Please consider coming to meet amazing Montana Congressional candidate Monica Tranel on Thursday. She’s running against Ryan Zincke (the former deeply corrupt Interior Secretary under Trump.) After watching her video, I think you'll be impressed!
The open Montana CD 1 is a new Congressional district with an affordable media market, a disliked, Trumpist nominee and an inspiring Democrat. To hold the House, we need to take advantage of idiosyncratic match-ups like this one that aren't getting the attention they deserve. Polls show that once voters know Monica's story, she leads by seven points.
Join the Senate Circle advisory committee for a special 30 minute briefing with Monica. Thursday, Oct. 6 at 1pm ET/Noon CT/11am MT/10am PT/9am AK.
Email david@senatecircle.org to RSVP without giving or donate any amount here and you’ll receive the Zoom link. I’ll be there—hope to see some of you!
Win Races! 🗳
The Katie Muth campaign in PA has reached out to me for help, so I, in turn, am reaching out to you.
Muth is a first time state senator and really good one, so she’s now being targeted by the Republicans. She needs our support!
The PA legislature is majority GOP but activists at Turn PA Blue have been working hard to flip it since 2016 and making progress. Holding Muth’s seat is a critical part of their strategy.
Fortunately, her campaign has hybrid events (in-person + virtual) every Wednesday from 5pm-7pm ET. These events, called “Wine Wednesdays,” are mainly focused on talking to Super Democrats to remind them to turn in their mail-ballots. Easy calls, and oh-so-important! Can any of you help? Remember, this is also an excellent way to help John Fetterman and Shapiro win!
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to President Biden, yes, again!] [H/T] [Quick send: text SIGN PVZZCH to 50409]
The head of the World Bank — David Malpass — admitted he is a climate denier at the 2022 Climate week in New York City. Asked repeatedly by a New York Times Reporter if climate change was real, he said "I'm not a scientist."
The head of the World bank is in charge of funding energy projects across the globe and is hand-picked by the President of the United States to cary out the mission of acting on climate change and golbal inequality. Malpass isn't President Biden’s pick, however, he's Trump's World bank chief.
There is simply no excuse in 2022 for climate deniers to stay in positions of power — and certainly not at the head of a massive financial institution. Before the annual World Bank meeting this October 10-16, please fire Malpass and appoint a world bank leader who will divest from fossil fuels and invest in clean energy instead. This is critically important. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
I’ve really been trying to do the work because I know how important this election is. I’ve text banked a lot of times and almost everyone opts out and it’s discouraging. I’m also sending letters to voters with information and I just want to know that this is making a difference.
The media push to elect Republicans, en masse, has accomplished one thing: I won't vote for ANY of them, come November 8.