Chop Wood, Carry Water 2/14
You did it again!
Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!
Also, happy Valentines Day to those who celebrate it.
Finally, a HUGE, huge congratulations and thanks to all of you who helped us win two commanding victories yesterday. I couldn’t be more proud. The fact that Tom Suozzi prevailed isn’t a huge surprise to me—I saw firsthand the number of volunteers who were throwing themselves into his race—but the fact that he won by 8 points is an unexpected delight. Add to that that we prevailed in Pennsylvania’s HD-140 by thirty-five points and we can conclude that we had another superlative election day.
I’ve read a lot of the coverage on the NY-03 race this morning, and although every pundit is quick to offer their “takeaways” most of them, to me, seem to miss the point. (Only Simon Rosenberg has gotten it right so far—because he’s one of us!) And the point is this: YOU made the difference in this race. Sure, Suozzi was a good candidate, and his campaign was extremely well-run. But without the thousands of grassroots volunteers showing up at doors, signing up for phonebanks, writing postcards, handing out flyers at train stations, and raising money for the candidate, it’s uncertain that this race would have gone this way.
I find it endlessly confusing and astonishing that the political punditry won’t acknowledge the existence, let alone the power, of the so-called Resistance. But never mind. We can—and will—use our invisibility to our advantage; we always have.
Anyway. My three takeaways from this race?
The polls, the political press, and the headlines they generate will continue to insist that Democrats are doomed. That we’re heading for disaster. That winnable races look poorly for us. And we will keep blowing their predictions out of the water. Every time. I don’t know why this dynamic is so stubborn; perhaps it doesn’t matter. Our job? Ignore them.
The grassroots, the Resistance, the pro-democracy faction—whatever you want to call us—are far more powerful than most realize. We are the difference in close elections. We are seasoned. We are strong. We are organized. We are smart. We are showing up in bigger and bigger numbers. AND we remain invisible to the strategists. This, itself, is a strategic advantage. Keep on underestimating us. We’ll keep whooping you.
Simon Rosenberg has taught us how important the early vote is. Yesterday we saw why. A blizzard on election day? After NY has been in a “snow drought” for two years? This is why we must vote early in every election. EVERY ONE. We went into election day with an early vote advantage. Many Republican voters, whose minds have been poisoned against early voting by Donald Trump, waited for Election Day to vote. Skewing, as they do, towards the elderly, many then likely stayed home due to the inclement weather. Too bad, so sad!
In short: Disregard the polls and the gloomy headlines. Celebrate and be part of the Resistance. Vote early and tell your friends to do the same.
This, my friends, is how we win. Because remember: polls don’t vote. Neither does a Politico headline. You do. I do.
We do.
Never forget it.
P.S. — I am aware that the link to donate to the Mind the Gap-touted radio network yesterday didn’t work. Sorry about that. I have an email out to them and will post the corrected link when I get it.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m extremely frustrated that Republicans in the House voted to impeach Secretary Mayorkas yesterday. I know the Senate is now required to hold a hearing, but I also know that Mayorkas won’t be convicted. Meanwhile the Senate has only a week to pass several appropriations bills or we’ll have a partial government shutdown. I’m asking the Senate to quickly get this hearing done, exonerate Mayorkas, and get back to work doing the people’s business. Republicans are focussed on the wrong things and we are fed up with it.
Also, please pass the Child Tax Credit extension. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling to say that we absolutely must pass aid to Ukraine. Please ask the Congressmember to do whatever is necessary to help make it happen. Protecting democracy everywhere is critical. MAGA Republicans who oppose this aid are working against American interests. Shame on them.
[If GOP other than Ken Buck, Mike Gallagher, or Tom McClintock add:]
Also, I am extremely frustrated and angry that Republicans voted to impeach Secretary Mayorkas yesterday. Not only do we all know it was groundless, but now the Senate has to waste precious time holding a hearing when we all know he won’t be convicted. Congress has appropriations bills to pass—if they don’t pass we’re facing another government shutdown. Republicans need to stop focussing on the wrong things. As you saw yesterday we will vote you out if you all keep this up. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Feathers of Hope is “a network of ordinary citizens who have joined together around a shared commitment to diminishing the power and influence of MAGA extremists in the House of Representatives.”
Since January, 2023, they have been urging moderate Republicans and Democrats to form a bipartisan majority voting bloc in order to conduct our nation’s legislative business, and to defend the institution from its internal enemies.
In today’s post they are urging us to call the office of Speaker Mike Johnson at 202-225-2777 (or 337-423-4232 or 318-951-4316 or 318-840-0309) to say something like:
My name is ___ and I’m calling Congressman Johnson in his capacity as House Speaker. I want to remind him that Ukraine is fast running out of resources and needs our assistance immediately. Please ask him to bring the combined aid package to the floor now. This is about protecting democracy, standing with our allies, and preventing harm to U.S. forces. Bring this bill to the floor now. Thanks.
There’s a script and phone numbers for six Republicans in the House they feel are also persuadable in their post. Please check it out and make some calls!
Get Smart #1! 📚
On February 15th at 8:30 P.M. EST the Union’s partner Civic Engagement Beyond Voting will host a workshop on how to have conversations with persuadable Republican voters. Learn the essentials of political persuasion and how to bring others to your side.
Also, Messaging Tips for Persuadable Conservatives is a tool produced by The Union you can use with the persuadable voters you know. Your outreach to them will make a difference. And feel free to share these tips with others.
Get Smart #2
Indivisible just announced their response to the Republicans’ Project 2025: it’s Project 2024: Majority Over MAGA, a nationwide program to build a new Democratic trifecta, reelect President Biden, and mobilize a majority against the anti-democracy, anti-abortion politics of MAGA. You can read the summary of their plan here, but you can and should also attend their big strategy call tomorrow, February 15, at 5:00 PM PT / 8PM ET.
Their political team will be doing an in-depth dive into their plan to win, their targets, and the most strategic actions they’ll be asking us to take over the year. These calls are always amazing. I’ll be there.
Sign up for tomorrow’s national strategy call here. If you’re not a member of Indivisible just leave that part blank or say you’re with my newsletter.
Give 💰!
A reminder that tomorrow at 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET the wonderful Robert Hubbell from
will be joining Airlift for an event about winning in Nevada.You will hear not just from him, but from leaders of One APIA Nevada. Nevada is a key battleground state in 2024, with high-stakes Presidential and US Senate races as well as multiple down-ballot races and ballot measures. Nevada also has one of the fastest-growing yet overlooked constituencies--Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders, a powerful emerging voting bloc. With its innovative, multi-lingual, and multi-generational engagement, One APIA Nevada effectively mobilizes these communities.
Come hear how with your support, One APIA Nevada will execute a winning ground game in November.
Win Races! 🗳
Wisconsin Voter Assistance Hotline Trainings!
Signups for WisDems’ spring hotline trainings are now open! The WisDems Voter Assistance Hotline aims to make sure the voting process is as smooth as possible and reduce barriers to access by providing accurate and helpful answers to voters' questions. The hotline is staffed for every election with volunteers and staff who are thoroughly trained on Wisconsin election law.
WisDems especially welcomes volunteers who are comfortable helping voters in Spanish and Hmong. But all are needed and welcome!
Sign up for a Voter Assistance Hotline Training
Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥
Share this video from Third Act, please, along with this signup form to let Third Act walk you through the process of “breaking up” with your big, dirty, climate-crisis-fueling bank.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: all 3 reps] [Source: The Hartmann Report] [Text SIGN PXUNTS to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]
I’m worried about Donald Trump’s ability to abuse the Insurrection Act should he regain the Presidency. He has indicated that he will do just that, and we should believe him. Congress, therefore, needs to fix the Insurrection Act right now.
This may not be as difficult as it seems: Utah Senator Mike Lee, for example, introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act in 2021 that would have made major reforms to the Insurrection Act.
His amendment, restated later in the year in a standalone bill co-sponsored by Bernie Sanders and Chris Murphy, would time-limit presidential proclamations of insurrection to 30 days unless Congress approved an extension, and even then that extension could only last a year. Good!
In addition to time-limiting a president’s powers to declare an insurrection and invoke the Insurrection Act, it should also be reformed to clearly define what is an insurrection that would justify mobilizing or deputizing a militia or the military on US soil. Right now the law uses vague terms like “combination” and “assemblage” that are both obsolete and subject to wide interpretation.
Finally, Congress needs to tighten up the definition of a militia.
Please get this done now so that no President, whether Republican, Democrat, or other, can abuse this outdated law for their own ends. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
Yesterday was a great day to be a grassroots activist. First Jim Prokopiak wins by a lot in purple Bucks County and then Tom Suozzi wins by 8 in NY-03 (that has been trending red for the past 3 elections). Markers For Democracy wrote postcards for both campaigns and phonebanked and canvassed for Suozzi. We hosted 5 Sundays For Suozzi virtual postcarding events with visits from Tom Suozzi, campaign staff and volunteers, and special guests including Simon Rosenberg, David Pepper, Representatives Grace Meng (who was an amazing advocate for Tom Suozzi with the large Asian community in the district), Ted Lieu (who came to the district twice to canvass!) and Joe Neguse. It was great to see Simon acknowledge the work of the grassroots on Lawrence O'Donnell and Tom Suozzi acknowledge us twice during his victory speech. Here is a video compilation of the two prepared by Robbin Warner of Network NOVA (another amazing grassroots group): https://youtu.be/1tLf1xHHO74?si=GtNq7UXxXH-97pLi We are, of course, still writing postcards (we never really stop) and we have Zev Shapiro from TurnUp joining us on our Friday morning Zoom and all are welcome. https://www.mobilize.us/markersfordemocracy/event/604164/
In response to your wish that the punditry and others would acknowledge the tremendous amount of work we have been doing, I have a different take and would love your feedback, Jessica. A couple of weeks ago, a subscriber of Robert Hubbell took offense at PBS's Lisa DeJardin referred to us as ragtag groups of activists. Here is my take. Perhaps we would do well to maintain our reputation as being ragtag groups. If even PBS does not recognize our power, that means the Republicans are even farther from understanding the work we have done, are doing, and will do. Let’s keep it this way. What do you think?