Chop Wood, Carry Water 11/15 🔥

Josh Kraushaar @JoshKraushaar

CNN’s @ForecasterEnten says Biden’s first midterm performance for president is one of the best in modern history: Only 1934 (FDR), 1962 (JFK), 2002 (W Bush) did President’s party not lose Senate seats and less than 10 House seats.

Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!

I’m running very behind today, so I’ll make this quick.

I know it’s not looking good for the House. I’m sad about it, but also philosophical. While I would very much like to have been proven right in my confidence that we’d prevail there (of course there’s still a tiny chance that we will), I can also accept this loss as tolerable when viewed next to the major advances made elsewhere. Given a choice, after all, between losing the House or the Senate, there’s no question in my mind that the former is preferable.

And even after this loss—should it happen—we are left with the remarkable fact that Democrats smashed these midterms. Absolutely knocked them out of the park. In so doing, we humiliated Republicans everywhere and further weakened Donald Trump. I’ll take it.

We should brush off the failures, in other words, and focus on our joyous successes.

And let’s go farther. Let’s take a page from the Republicans. Let’s spend the next month crowing about our victories everywhere. Let’s re-post tweets like the above. Trumpet every victory. Share recaps of our wins widely. Sing Biden’s praises on social media. Make sure everyone understands how huge what we just did is.

Because it is. HUGE.

It’s time for us to brag about it.

And then get back to making more wins happen.

Call Your Senators (find yours here)

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

I understand that the Senate will vote on the Respect For Marriage Act this week. Will the Senator be voting yes? [If so thank. If not add:] I urge the Senator to change their mind. Marriage Equality is broadly popular with the American people. Also, the LGBTQ community and their allies vote in huge numbers. If the Senator opposes this bill we will not forget. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Send this to President Biden either through his webform (if you want to personalize) or through Resistbot if you are fine with sending as is. For the latter text SIGN PHEBOS to 50409. [H/T]

The climate crisis is no longer a future threat; instead, it is on our doorsteps. From wildfires in the American west, terrible floods in Pakistan, persistent drought in the Horn of Africa, intense heat waves in parts of Asia and South America, the climate crisis is already taking a deadly and costly toll. And it is the communities and individuals that have done the very least to contribute to climate change that are paying with their lives and livelihoods.

So I’m writing to demand that the Biden administration commit to establish a fund that will help frontline communities in the Global South respond to the effects of the climate crisis at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP27 in November. The responsibility and obligation of nations like the US is clear, as we are not only the world’s wealthiest nation but also the single largest historical contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. The US claims to be a climate champion, but it has consistently blocked progress on Loss & Damage for years, most recently as one of the only countries opposing the establishment of a Loss and Damage fund.

I demand the Biden administration stop blocking progress on negotiations on Loss and Damage finance within the UNFCCC process and to work constructively to advance a pathway for a Loss and Damage Finance Facility at COP27. It is now time to move beyond talk to action. Another year of failure and delay as people are losing their lives and livelihoods or facing devastating food and water shortages is not an option.

The success of COP27 depends on richer, polluting nations like the United States owning up to their fair share and ramping up climate finance as well as demonstrating a clear willingness to address Loss and Damage in a meaningful way. People on the frontlines of the climate crisis around the world deserve no less. Thanks.

Cure Ballots!

Y’all, I’m going to post the ballot curing doc I’ve put together one more time, for those of you who missed it last time. It’s here. Every ballot curing opportunity I know of is there. Yesterday Mobilize was down, so I’m sorry that not all of you could get on our CA ballot curing call. It’s happening again today and tomorrow—see the links in the doc.

Many of you have asked me for a link to cure ballots virtually in Lauren Boebert’s district. It doesn’t exist, as they are doing all in-person curing right now. Where we DO need help, though, is:

1. In person here in CA. If you live in a CA district whose race hasn’t been called yet—especially CA-47 (Katie Porter’s district), CA-27, or the district where Rudy Salas ran, we need you desperately. The campaigns need trusted folks to do in-person curing and they need it soon. Reach out to me if this is something you can do.

2. In North Carolina. Curing ends Thursday in NC - we are trying to block a supermajority in the state legislature, also defend some Dem judges, and a few school board races. Link in doc or here.

Win GA—Make phone calls!

Georgia Votes has multiple Get Out the Vote phonebanks a day (they are working in conjunction with VoPro Pros). They will do a training at the beginning of every shift. Sign up for a shift here!

Win GA—write letters or postcards! 🍑

Three ways you can help us win in Georgia with your pen!

1. Activate America has launched their GA postcarding effort. Sign up here. (You must supply your own postcards.)

2. Vote Fwd has launched letter writing into Georgia! Read instructions and guidelines here and then sign up here! 

3. Volunteer with the Civics Center to send hand-written postcards to encourage young people in GA to turn out to vote and to help them find their polling places for the US Senate Runoff. (You must pay for and use their postcards.)

Win GA—textbank! 🍑

Activate America has a textbank for Georgia on the 29th from 3-4 PM PT / 6 PM- 7P ET. Sign up here.

Working Families Party has textbanks for GA every Tuesday. Sign up here.

Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)

[to your Senators] [Quick send text SIGN PEBTUY to 50409]

I’m writing because our federal judiciary matters to me and the time is now to make our courts work for all of us.

The end of the last Supreme Court term was filled with devastating decisions that will have lasting effects on our lives. Gun safety, separation of church and state, the government’s ability to fight climate change, and of course abortion rights were all significantly weakened by the radical decisions of the Trump Court. We need a path forward, and one critical way is to ensure our lower courts are filled with diverse judges committed to equal justice.

There are a number of nominees waiting for the Senate to act. Please prioritize confirming all nominees who are or will be awaiting full Senate action by the end of the 117th Congress. We need judges who  protect the rights of all of us, not just the wealthy and powerful. Thanks.

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

Talk tomorrow.

Jess