Chop Wood, Carry Water 8/22

Let's DO SOMETHING!

Jess Craven

Aug 22, 2024

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This and so much more good DNC 2024 content here

Hi, all, and happy Thursday!

The DNC’s stellar convention continues, and I’m enjoying every minute of it. And I mean that literally—I have pretty much abandoned all of my other responsibilities in order to watch! My family, I suspect, will be pleased when it’s over.

There’s been plenty of coverage of last night’s speeches already, so I won’t recap them here, except to say that if you only watch one, make it Tim Walz’s! His was a staggeringly good, deeply moving, and powerfully effective speech. It was the first of his I’d watched in full, and Walz won me over completely—not that he needed to. The man is already superlative on paper; hearing him speak took my admiration to a new level. He absolutely exudes heart. He embodies patriotism. He emanates care for his fellow man. Walz loves his family, he loves his neighbors, and he loves his country. It’s breathtakingly clear in everything he does, every gesture he makes, and every word he speaks. So watch, please, if you haven’t already!

If you have more time, be sure to check out the non-politicians—Stevie Wonder, Sheila E., and John Legend all tore up the stage. Amanda Gorman’s poem was magnificent. And Kenan Thompson’s “comedic” take on Project 2025 was pitch-perfect. It’s a relief to see the facts about this nefarious plan finally reaching such a wide audience, and in such a culturally accessible way! Too many voters still don’t know what Project 2025 will actually do. This convention, and segments like Thompson’s, are helping to change that.

Speaking of educating voters, I did manage to squeeze in some phonebanking into Pennsylvania with the Environmental Voter Project yesterday. As we’ve been reminded over and over again this week, there are still a LOT of undecided or uninformed voters out there. They need a conversation—sometimes many—to get to where we need them to be. In the case of this phonebank, though, we were simply telling voters in PA that they could now apply for their vote by mail ballots and giving them information on how to do so. So easy! Try it!

I’ve committed to phonebanking at least once a week between now and November. I also signed up to go knock doors in the Antelope Valley (CA-27) a week from Saturday. Being inspired is great, but translating that into action is how we win, right? If anyone lives in the area please come join me! Email me for info.

OK, all. I leave you with a line from Oprah Winfrey’s speech last night (which was terrific, too, by the way).

She said: “Let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday.”

I choose that sweet promise, and I know you do, too. And I know that YOU know that a promise means nothing without the showing up that comes after.

So let’s do that one more time.

P.S. — Once again, we are forgoing Congressional calls today because…convention.

Extra Credit ✅

The good news is that RFK Jr. looks set to drop out of the race; he will likely endorse Donald Trump; that shouldn’t surprise us.

The bad news is that Cornell West is still in the race, and, unlike Kennedy, he takes far more votes from our side than from Trump’s. We need him to drop out, and time is getting short.

So let’s do a Hail Mary and write him in huge numbers. His campaign’s contact page is here. (Make sure you unclick the boxes that say “sign me up for email/text updates.”)

I said (and obviously you’ll need to tailor yours to your situation):

I'm writing as a mom who is terrified for my child's future under a Trump administration. Dr. West, please drop out of the race. You can't win, but the 2% you will take from the Harris-Walz team will elect a man who will make the lives of trans kids like mine horrible. Our climate hopes, too, will be dashed. Millions of immigrants' lives will be destroyed. And so much more. You have the chance to preserve--rather than destroy--your legacy. Do the right thing. Don't go down in history as the man who handed America to the fascists. Drop out now. Thanks.

Get Smart! 📚

Join Supermajority Ed Fund next Wednesday, August 28 at 12 p.m. ET for a briefing on the priorities of young women in 2024.

It’s 2024 and we are, yet again, faced with the most important election of our lifetimes. With the July candidate shake up, the race has been completely reshaped in just a few short weeks. That said, we still have significant work to do to turn out young women voters—those who have the power to shape this election and every election to come—whose feelings of voting and overall sentiments of the government remain frustrated and hopeless.

Political pundits continuously underestimate the power of youth and women voters. They claimed that the youth would not turn out for a midterm election and that the Supreme Court’s overturning the constitutional right to abortion wouldn’t make a difference. Yet in 2022, youth voters under 30 had the second highest voter turnout in three decades, second only to the 2018 midterm election. And in every election since the Dobbs decision, abortion continues to be one of the most salient issues to drive civic engagement among women and young voters. That said, politicians, media outlets, and even progressive organizations do not know how to talk to women about their leading concern: economic wellbeing.

Come to this webinar and learn not just why that is, but how to message effectively to this critical group!

Register here.

Give 💰!

IMPORTANT!

I reached out to the leadership at three organizations I care deeply about yesterday: Movement Voter Project, Run For Something, and the States Project. I wanted to see whether the explosion of fundraising for Team Harris-Walz was trickling down to them too. After all, the Harris campaign and its affiliated entities have raised somewhere close to half a billion dollars since late July. So are these vital groups also feeling the flush of cash?

Sadly, they are not. Quite the contrary, they are doing worse. Why? Because donors are giving to Harris-Walz instead of them! Oy! After learning this I made a video explaining why we can’t abandon the grassroots and down-ballot organizations now. Please watch, and please share, along with my Where to Give document, which features links to all three groups. I worry that underfunding them could rob us of the massive victory we need in November.

Win Races—CALL! 🗳

Join Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison this Saturday at the Progressives and Grassroots for Harris-Walz weekly phonebank at 3 PM ET / 12 PM PT!

Coming off an inspirational and joyful Democratic National Convention where former First Lady Michelle Obama called on us all to “do something,” join Progressives for Harris-Walz on Saturday, August 24, 2024 at 3pm ET to hear from civil rights defenders Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison as they kick off a weekly phonebank.

Even if you’ve never phonebanked before, it’s fun and easy. And they will have staff on hand to teach you everything you need to know.

Register Voters—TEXT!

Join Field Team 6 and The Union for a weekly, MASSIVE, SUPER FAST text bank, contacting unregistered likely Democrats in swing states! This is the work that wins elections!!

All training provided - no prior experience necessary.

Saturdays, 11-1 PT / 2-4 ET

Chop Wood, Save the Planet! 🔥

Every Tuesday from August 27th until November 5th, a coalition of environmental groups will be calling voters to encourage them to make a plan and get out to vote for Kamala Harris and climate champions for Congress.

This Tuesday, August 27th they’ll have 2 shifts. Here are the details for both:

Christina and Kirsten will champion policies that will protect our communities and the climate. They are both facing tough elections this November and are working to flip seats currently held by Republicans. Help send them to DC and flip these seats! Sign up here to join them for a calling shift this Tuesday.

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

[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN PGSLAO to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

As your constituent, I am urging you to protect Medicare and Medicaid from attempts to cut their funding or privatize them.

Sixty-seven million older adults and people with disabilities rely on Medicare for primary health insurance and 81% of Americans hold a positive view of traditional Medicare. By making Medicare Advantage the default Medicare option, the authors of Project 2025 will sacrifice the care of millions of people in order to enrich multi-billion dollar insurance companies and their CEO’s. Project 2025 would also place time limits or lifetime caps on receipt of Medicaid aimed at denying care to 18.5 million low-income beneficiaries who are not elderly or disabled.

At the same time, the Republican Study Committee has called for a $4.5 trillion cut from the Affordable Care Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Medicaid, resulting in more than 45 million people with low incomes losing care. More than 7 million seniors and people with disabilities rely on Medicaid for home care services and nursing home payments.

We cannot allow corporations to make millions off the backs of vulnerable Americans, and we cannot allow extreme cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act that would deny health coverage to tens of millions of people with low incomes. I strongly urge you to oppose any attempt to deny or make unaffordable health coverage to the millions who need it; instead, you should work towards making health insurance available and affordable to all.

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

Talk soon.

Jess

Chop Wood, Carry Water