Chop Wood, Carry Water 7/18
We've GOT THIS!
Hi, all, and happy Thursday!
I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a shift. The decent, reasonable majority of Americans who make up the “guardrails of democracy” (to quote Heather Cox Richardson) are showing up and showing out! They are tired of being told they’re going to lose. They are fighting back.
Speaking of Heather Cox Richardson, 2400 people attended our event with her yesterday; we raised $236,000 for Democratic state legislative races and NOPE’s FLIP THE HOUSE candidate slate. The original goal was 50K. WOW! It was an incredible event. Once I have a recording I’ll post it here.
But there’s more. Postcards to Swing States has received so many postcard requests in the last two weeks that they had to pause sign ups! (They re-start on August 1). And last night I made an expletive-laden TikTok directed at “white men who say we’re going to lose,” and to say that it resonated is an understatement. The comments on TikTok and Instagram are amazing! It turns out many, many women feel the same way!
The negative nellies are loud and they get a ton of press, but the determined democracy supporters are OUT THERE—millions of us!—and we are hellbent on winning. We are NOT watching the RNC speeches—I’d rather have my fingernails pulled out—we are WORKING. We are writing postcards. We are writing Vote Forward letters. We are signing up for phonebanks. We are canvassing.
We are rallying to win, despite the doom-saying of the pundits and pollsters. They’ve been wrong before—way more often than they’ve been right, in fact. And they are wholly wrong this time. As I said in my rant video, the vast majority of us are hellbent on winning regardless of who is at the top of the ticket. And win we will!
They have underestimated us so many times. They’re doing it again. Fine.
We’ll do it without them. It won’t be the first time.
Now let’s get to work.
Call Your Senators and House member
Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______. I’m just calling to make sure first that the Senator/Congressmember has called for Senator Menendez to step down. He needs to go right away.
Also, I understand that at the RNC yesterday participants were chanting “Mass deportation now!” I just want to be really clear: this xenophobic behavior is appalling. Mass deportations of 11 million undocumented Americans, which I know is a top priority for Donald Trump, is not only cruel and impracticable but would absolutely ravage our economy. Has the Senator/Congressmember called out this terrible Project 2025 policy and promised to fight it? America needs a compassionate, orderly approach to immigration reform—not racism and dogwhistles about the Great Replacement Theory. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Read this, and then please send this email—personalized!—to the Dodgers at fanfeedback@ladodgers.com. I borrowed the text of the letter from the article.
I am a _____ who’s worried about climate change because _____. I’m also a sports fan.
A few days from now, the Dodgers will return to Los Angeles, where Dodgers owner Mark Walter will almost certainly keep taking ad dollars from companies whose South Bay oil refineries poison the air breathed by millions, especially people of color.
The team’s official charity, meanwhile, will likely keep hosting health events for kids sponsored by one of those oil companies — a scheme to make us forget that fossil fuels are terrible for our health, even as their fumes scar our lungs and roast the planet.
This matters. Oil companies use partnerships with trusted institutions to influence the way we perceive them, even if most of us don’t realize it’s happening. Meanwhile, they’re literally killing us. This is what Walter and the Dodgers have been letting Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum get away with.
It’s not just our energy systems that need to decarbonize: our sports teams and their charities ought to do so also. I’m asking that the Dodgers sever ties with both of these companies and start acting like you REALLY care for your fans.
Thanks!
Get Smart! 📚
On Thursday, August 1, Run For Something is partnering with For The People to host a free conversation about how to protect public libraries.
You’ll leave with specific actions, toolkits, and resources you can use right away to make a difference in the face of book bans, censorship, privatization, and loss of funding.
Spread the Word! 📣
Yesterday in Nevada, President Biden announced actions to lower housing costs—including calling on corporate landlords to cap rents at 5% or lose valuable tax breaks, and repurposing public land to build more affordable homes, including thousands of new homes in Nevada.
The contrast between President Biden’s and Trump’s housing policy is in this two page fact sheet: https://joe.link/housing-factsheet. Please share it!
Give 💰!
I made a TikTok about the ten best organizations to which to give political dollars. If you find it useful please share, and even if you don’t, now’s the time to share the strategic giving doc that goes with it. It has all the links to the places I mention.
People are fired up and want to give money RIGHT NOW—let’s make sure they do so strategically.
Win Races—North Carolina! 🗳
On Monday, July 22 at 4:00pm ET, All In for North Carolina will be holding an open event for anyone interested in hearing about the exciting team that is working to turn North Carolina BLUE in the upcoming election.
North Carolina represents 16 of the Electoral College votes that Joe Biden needs. We are in the home stretch and the stakes could not be higher. Join AINC for an hour of encouragement, hope, good news and calls to action from our friends in North Carolina:
AINC Monthly Meeting, July 22, 4:00pm ET.
Win Races—Make Calls into PA!
Join us later today for a Janelle Stelson Phone Bank/Defeat Scott Perry tonight at 6pm ET. Given the uncertainty of the election results it is critical that Democrats FLIP the HOUSE, The PA 10 Congressional race is one of a number of races that we need to win!
We will have comprehensive training, the phone bank will be staffed the whole time you are calling with people who can answer your questions or help you with technical issues. We end with a debrief where we share stories, learn from each other and create community.
If you would like to review in advance: Here is a Janelle Stelson Fact Sheet and here is Today’s Script
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: your HOUSE rep] [H/T] [Text SIGN PUZRIN to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]
I’m writing to urge Congress to advance a Community Safety Agenda offering a preventative, multidisciplinary approach to public safety, health, and healing. Enacting this agenda is critical to building healthy, safe, and thriving communities while increasing opportunity for children and families nationwide.
What's in the Community Safety Agenda?
1. The People’s Response Act (H.R. 4699): This act proposes the establishment of a Division on Community Safety within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Its primary goal is to allocate flexible funding for local initiatives aimed at interrupting violence, responding to civilian crises, preventing abuse, and other related efforts.
2. The Mental Health Justice Act (H.R. 6451): This legislation advocates for redirecting interventions for mental health crises away from law enforcement agencies. Instead, it suggests deploying trained social workers and professionals to handle such situations, thereby promoting more effective and compassionate responses to individuals in crisis.
3. The Break the Cycle of Violence Act (H.R. 5003): This act focuses on investing in community-based violence intervention programs. By addressing the underlying root causes of violence, such as socioeconomic disparities and lack of access to resources, this legislation aims to provide targeted interventions and support services within communities to mitigate and prevent violence.
These acts collectively aim to foster safer, healthier communities by prioritizing prevention, addressing systemic issues, and promoting compassionate responses to crises. Please co-sponsor these bills to show that Congress is committed to building a safer, more equitable society. Thanks!
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
Jess - There might have been something in the water yesterday because while I did not do a expletive-laden TikTok, I did comment on Simon Rosenberg’s newsletter pushing back a bit on his use of the survey of 67% of US adults wanting Biden to step down. I am including my comment here for you to see because I think I was coming from the same place of frustration with the white men’s assessment of we are going to lose that you were. I am so tired of men getting to forecast the end of the world while we women are in the background doing the work of GOTV and holding up the sky, so to speak. It also resonated with others members of the hopium community. Sorry for the length but I think it provides a bit of context while I work up to the last section where I mention women are used to being disregarded by the establishment as it blithely goes on discounting women thoughts and feelings.
Simon - Did I miss something?
At the beginning of your message today you point to the 538 forecast this morning has Biden at 277. Yet, later on, near the bottom of the newsletter you point to the poll about Biden stepping aside or continue his campaign with 67% US adults recommending he step aside. This poll seems disingenuous based on what you've been telling us about polling for a couple of reasons.
1. 67 % of US adults is not the same thing as 67% of registered voters, nor actual voters. We've never had 67% of US voters turn out in ANY election that I am aware of, so why highlight this?
2. I wonder if the followup question sb, but given a race between Biden and Trump, who are you going to vote for?
I'm pretty sure that the majority of the women who participated in the poll would have told the pollster, they would vote for Biden, old or not. WE know we are 2nd class citizens in this country post Dobbs and there is NOTHING, NOTHING in the RNC platform, Project 47 or Project 2025 that will DO ANYTHING but continue to negatively impact and take away more of our rights and freedoms should Trump return to the White House. There was actually 42k on the zoom call, with more folks turned away due to demand on the call sponsored by Red, Wine, & Blue with Heather Cox Richardson on Tuesday. Given that the "resistance" is 90% women, who are highly engaged, and wanting to know more about the Project 2025 ideas, (see above), I think allies such as yourself are discounting/overlooking the deep fear and rage women are feeling at the betrayal this country has dealt us over the last 9 years. I know not all women are "Riden with Biden" I've been having discussions within my women friend groups about this very issue. But I know, while some want Biden to step aside, in the end, they will vote for Biden regardless because women have to think about their reproductive health nearly every day and we KNOW the Trump/Vance ticket are not going to be supporting any legislation that will restore our reproductive rights and will be all in on supporting and passing even more legislation to further control OUR bodies and remove our autonomy to make decisions about how we navigate our lives!
You may not pick this up in polls because we are too busy writing the postcards, the letters, making the phone calls and text banking to answer a call from an unknown number. I know you will point out that this is not backed up by any hard data, but since time immemorial we've (women) been overlooked and disregarded by the establishment because we are not in the streets, we've kids and aging parents to take care of, after all, AND we have to finish writing the next batch of postcards to send out to the battleground states to be either answering calls from unknown callers or marching in the streets.
We put our heads down and work, just as you've been advocating here in the Hopieum community.
Best regards,
Kellidee Little, CA
Why is everyone else so stupidly negative! They call it realistic but no one knows the future! And if everyone gives up then it's a self fulfilling prophecy. I'm not giving up. I'm going to work harder than ever to get the word out! And thank you for all that you do! You're a goddess!