Chop Wood, Carry Water 9/13

Friday fire-up!

Hi, all, and happy Friday!

It’s my favorite day of the week!

Why? Well, first because it means we made it through another set of workdays during the extremely exhausting “MAGA era.” Bravo to us!

Second, I love Fridays because they’re the day on which you drop into the comments what you’re doing over the weekend to help ensure that we win! I LOVE THIS NEW RITUAL! It’s deeply uplifting and inspiring. I’m calling it the “Friday fire-up.”

So I’ll start:

At 12:30PT today I’m going to try out a DNC Voter Protection phonebank for the first time. I want to see what it’s like so I can report back to you.

Tonight I’ll be joining Robert Hubbell to speak to a terrific (and formidable) local group called Hang Out Do Good. If you happen to live in or near the Larchmont area in Los Angeles I can’t recommend joining them highly enough.

On Sunday I’ll be speaking at the Durham Dems for Reproductive Freedom fundraiser I mentioned yesterday, then at a VoPro Pros event (this one isn’t public—sorry!) and finally joining Robert Hubbell again, in person, for a Swing Left Dessertathon fundraiser in Pasadena.

I will also write 20 more Vote Forward letters — they still have so many left!

Phew. Busy days! Now it’s your turn. Please let us know what inspiring, incredible, and deeply helpful things you’ll be up to this weekend. And if you’ve got nothing on tap yet I hope you’ll find some helpful ideas below!

And if you can’t participate this weekend for some reason that’s OK, too! You can cheer your fellow subscribers on in the comments! Sometimes the best way to resist is to rest. Or so they tell me.

OK, all. Have a great day and a great weekend. And please, have a great feeling of pride, too, in knowing that you’re fighting for your country at a time when it needs you badly.

Together we will win.

Let’s get to work.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m really concerned about delivery delays at the Postal Service, especially in light of reports that they are going to affect mail-in voting. This is infuriating. First, why is Louis DeJoy still running the USPS? He’s a disaster. Second, we need a Postal Board of Governors that is willing to hold him accountable. I know President Biden has nominated two more board members. Please vote to confirm Val Demings and William Zollars to fill the final two slots on the Board of Governors as soon as possible. And for goodness sakes please ask the Senator to demand that Louis DeJoy get it together or step down. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m calling to ask the House to hurry up and pass the DEFIANCE Act, HR 7569, or the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024. It passed the Senate with bipartisan support in July. This Act will create a federal civil right of action for victims of “digital forgery” like nonconsensual pornographic deepfakes. As such deepfakes become easier to access and create Congress needs to act to show victims that they won’t be left behind. Will the Congressmember push for this? Thanks.

[If GOP add:] One more thing. Please ask the Congressmember to communicate to House Republican leadership that I think their behavior right now is appalling. House Republicans need to forget about the SAVE Act, stop wasting time on divisive messaging bills that won’t pass, and pass a clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open. Thank you.

Extra Credit ✅

Subscriber Bob Morgan, moved by Robert Hubbell’s new, excellent post about Springfield, OH, wrote me this morning and asked if he could compose a letter based upon it that I could turn into a Resistbot. I said of course, he did so, and now here it is! You can read the letter here and send it to your MOCs by texting SIGN PURSFH to 50409, or however you reach Resistbot.

(I didn’t put this in the Resistbot section below as I already had something queued up there, and, as you’ll see, it needs to be sent today.)

Get Smart! 📚

The Progressives & Grassroots Coalition is hosting a Democracy & Election Essentials Call with Stacey Abrams and other special guests on Monday, September 16, 2024 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Learn where you can find state-specific information, tools to identify your registration status, access your ballot, and your polling location. Additionally, learn how to address common accessibility challenges and how to seek help in case of a problem. Most importantly, come hear how safe, simple, and effective the overall election process is.

Sign up here.

Spread the Word #1! 📣

Swing Left Peninsula has created 14 state-specific videos about voting on Day 1 or at least voting early. They’re so great! They include North Carolina and Georgia, in English and Spanish. Please watch and share!

Spread the Word #2!

A small group of Democrats in Louisville KY decided to do their own deep dive into Project 2025 and created a FB page called CitizensAgainstProject2025. It contains shareable links, videos and memes in plain language about the dangers of Project 2025 and Trump’s Agenda 47. Spreading the word and educating the public is essential for people to understand how this Authoritarian White Christian Nationalist agenda would undermine Democracy, the rule of law, and install Trump as a dictator. Here’s the page!

Give 💰!

THIS IS SO COOL!

Want to help register more likely Democratic voters? Then check out Civitech’s New Voter Initiative, an interactive map of the USA that targets nearly five million people they’ve identified who aren’t in the voter files used by Democratic party vendors but who they’ve scored as likely Dems. For just $2 per voter, Civitech will mail a voter registration form and include a pre-paid return envelope where possible. I just did it for 10 voters in Nevada!

[H/T and more info in this Micah L. Sifry piece here.]

Watch This! 👀

Sister District had a briefing on downballot drop-off yesterday and it was EXCELLENT. It was also only 30 minutes. I cannot recommend it enough. And please share! If people had this information it would make a world of difference.

Win Races—Voter Protection! 👈🏼

Ensuring safe and fair elections is essential — you can play a critical role! Consider becoming a Poll Observer for a day of Early Vote or on Election Day. Or both!

Here’s a National Volunteer Interest Form for people who are available to volunteer in person as observers for relatively shorter periods of time during Early Vote or on Election Day.

The Wisconsin Voter Protection Team is looking for help across the board for the November 5 election. Here’s a link to volunteer with the WisDems VoPro Team.

Arizona needs volunteers for in-state poll observers. They also need Spanish speaking hotline volunteers. Use this link to access the intake form.

Win Races! 🗳

Prefer doing your GOTV work as part of a team?

Head to Vote Save America and sign up! In less than 5 minutes you’ll receive high impact volunteer actions you can take, with your team, to help Democrats up and down the ballot.

Even if you’ve never volunteered before, Vote Save America makes it easy with weekly Welcome Calls and regular office hours so you can phone bank, canvas & door-knock with confidence.

Sign up here.

Win Races—spread the word about Volunteer Blue! 📣

Prefer volunteering as a “lone wolf?” You can still access help! Go to Volunteer Blue, a volunteer portal with coaches and info sessions that will assist you to become a volunteer.

Forty organizations have come together to create Volunteer Blue, connecting volunteers to the most impactful actions to win the U.S. Senate, House, and White House. Volunteer Blue provides training for first-time volunteers and helps seasoned volunteers find the best options. You can sign up for coaching or to volunteer directly from a calendar filled with volunteer opportunities. It’s easy and efficient.

You can become part of the Volunteer Blue community by: 

• Signing up for or referring a friend to a coaching session here

• Joining the upcoming Volunteer to Win: Week of Action, Sept. 17 to Sept. 24 with powerful volunteer actions every day.

• Share Volunteer Blue’s social media posts that focus on promoting volunteering

Win Races—Write Postcards!

From the Northeast AZ Native Dems:

We are a Native-led project of the Navajo County Democrats, writing postcards to Native voters living on sovereign lands in NE Arizona –Hopi, Navajo and White Mountain Apache. We put people in touch with their local organizers—people who live in their communities & give them key information about registering to vote & voting. 

To sign up, email:  nativevoteaz.postcards@gmail.com

This is an amazing project and these are critical voters for us to turn out, too. Please help! You will need to supply your own postcards for this one.

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

[To: all 3 reps] [Cribbed from this Newtown Alliance press release] [Text SIGN PYRWHM to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

Today marks 20 years since the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired and nine days since Apalachee High School joined the ranks of mass shootings carried out by an assault weapon. Sadly, the list is anything but exclusive, with places including Las Vegas, Pulse Nightclub, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Sutherland Springs, El Paso, Robb Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Aurora, and Dayton forever scarred by this deadly weapon. 

AR-15s are used to murder humans, responsible for devastating families, tearing apart communities, and fueling America’s gun violence epidemic. Louis Klarevas, a research professor at Teachers College at Columbia University who wrote the book “Rampage Nation,” found the number of gun massacres during the ban period fell by 37% and that the number of people dying because of mass shootings fell by 43% compared with the 10-year period before the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. When President Bush allowed the ban to expire in 2004, mass shootings increased by 183% and deaths increased by 239%. 

Charles DiMaggio, a professor of surgery at New York University, and his team studied mass shooting data from 1981 to 2017 and found that an assault weapons ban would have prevented 70% of the mass shooting deaths during the years when the ban was not in effect. 

It could not be clearer that reinstating a National Assault Ban on the weapon of choice for killing humans means saving lives. These weapons are not symbols of freedom—they are instruments of murder and have no place in our society. Be TRULY pro-life. Pass S. 25 / HR 698 the Assault Weapons Ban Act now.

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

Talk soon.

Jess