Chop Wood, Carry Water 9/23
Something is happening.
Hi, all, and happy Monday!
We’ve got 42 days until the last day to vote! WOW! Early voting has started in several states, and will start soon in many more. It’s exciting, it’s scary, and it’s exhausting. But I still feel really, really good about our chances. From the comments on Friday’s post I know you’re all working hard; I’m so proud of and grateful to you.
Some encouraging miscellany:
There were over 10K people at Harris’s rally in Wisconsin over the weekend.
We have tens of thousands of enthusiastic volunteers knocking doors and making phone calls—Grassroots Dems HQ had 500 volunteers on one national phonebank over the weekend! Meanwhile, no one seems to be on the doors for Trump.
Democrats up and down the ballot are outraising Republicans. And Harris is absolutely whooping Trump in that regard.
In Texas the Senate race is in a dead heat. In Florida it’s surprisingly close. In Missouri it’s the same! And in Nebraska, the SAME! Wild!
As Mike Lux said this morning on one of my calls: “Something is happening.”
Finally, the Nebraska state senator who Republicans hoped would “help ease Trump’s path to the White House by agreeing to change how the state allocates its Electoral College votes” said this morning that he would not do so. This likely ends the GOP’s efforts to rig the state of Nebraska’s electoral college votes in their favor. Phew!
There’s a lot going on, and a lot of it is really, really hopeful.
Having said that, we are, as Heather Booth says “still the underdogs.” It doesn’t make sense—in fact it’s outrageous—but it’s the truth. So we must keep fighting, keep working, and keep talking to voters with every fiber of our being. We can win, but we’ll have to leave it all on the field in order to do so.
Fortunately, you guys know all about that. So let’s get to work one more time!
Call Your Senators (find yours here) and House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I understand that there are big rallies happening in DC this week in support of allowing Trump’s tax cuts to expire. Even though I’m not there in person I strongly support this cause. Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for rich people were disastrous. They disproportionately helped rich people and corporations—not people like me—and added trillions and trillions of dollars to the deficit. We want no further tax cuts for households with incomes higher than $400,000! We need higher taxes on the rich and corporations, and investments made with that revenue into working families and communities. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Please consider pre-ordering Jessica Valenti’s book “Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win.” It gets released on October 1. I’m reading an advance copy—it’s outstanding.
Many of you likely subscribe to Valenti’s incredible
— if you do you’ll know that Valenti is, at this point, the authority on abortion policy in our country. Her writing is clear, scathing, and absolutely relentless in its determination to show the lies, cruelty, and duplicity Republicans are using to pass awful abortion policies in the U.S.The reason I’m adding this as an Extra Credit item is because we’re trying to ensure that her book lands immediately on the bestseller list. This matters, as we want as many people to read it before they vote as possible. If you can afford to, then, please pre-order a copy for yourself and/or for the important women in your life. I just ordered three, for my mother and two sisters.
This book is worthy and amazing; it can also help us win. Spread the word. Thanks.
[Bonus points: use this toolkit to help spread the word about ordering the book!]
Get Smart! 📚
This should be great: Join the Women for Harris-Walz grassroots coalition as pollster Celinda Lake discusses how to reach female voters, frame key issues that resonate with them, and create strategies that will motivate women to take action at the ballot box.
With decades of experience, Celinda Lake has helped shape winning campaigns for progressive women across the country. She’s absolutely wonderful.
September 23 at 6PM ET CLICK TO REGISTER HERE
Spread the Word! 📣
A subscriber, Lydia, along with her family, is making free, downloadable images to promote and inspire voting. They’re calling their efforts Promote the Vote.
From Lydia:
We launched this poster series in 2020 for the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Borrowing from the visual language of Barbara Kruger, our posters use her strong sense of protest to implore people to exercise their right to vote. Our motto - They Couldn’t Vote. You Can. - describes our mission. The images represent historically disenfranchised groups and people to empower those who can vote to make their voices heard.
These posters are a free shareable resource to inspire people to get out and vote. Please share them far and wide!
You can find all 20 of our FREE posters/images on our website, follow us on Twitter and IG, or shoot us an email to suggest a person or group you think we should add or just to say hi!
Give 💰 for PA—TWO opportunities!!
TODAY! Join Swing Blue Alliance's Power Up Pennsylvania Fundraiser tonight at 8pm — I’ll be speaking at it. We are raising money for Janelle Stelson running to flip PA 10 (running against MAGA Scott Perry), Ashley Ehasz running to flip PA 01 to help flip the US House, and Sara Agerton and Anna Payne running to flip two PA House seats. To sign up go here. To donate go here.
TOMORROW: Come learn about the latest additions to Walk the Walk’s 2024 Democracy Preservation Portfolio with a deep dive into the current Pennsylvania electoral landscape. Walk the Walk funds strategic grassroots initiatives that utilize the most effective voter engagement tactics, supporting the most impactful voters in the most competitive geographic “pressure points” in the country. They’ll be sharing evidence-backed recommendations for ways to have outsized impact with limited political dollars. In a nutshell, they support voters rather than candidates.Tuesday, September 24, 5:30pm PT / 8:30pm ET: Register in advance here.
Win Races—Write Postcards! 🗳
TONIGHT THROUGH TOMORROW NIGHT!—Our Freedoms Are On The Ballot—Postcard Around The Clock
Monday, September 23, 7:30pm ET through Tuesday, September 24, 7:30pm ET on Zoom
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will be kicking off the event!
Read more about the event and RSVP here to get the Zoom link now for the full 24 hours, so you can come in and out as you please. Here is the Schedule for the full 24 hours and here is the Speakers Bios page. If you register, you will receive a reminder with the Zoom link again Monday and any last-minute updates. Bookmark and check out the Linktree page to see the Merch page, postcarding info, and more! Attendees are welcome and encouraged (but not required) to write Get-Out-The-Vote postcards during the 24 hours. New to postcarding? If you’d like to be ready to write during the event, please visit our Postcard Resources page
Hosted by Downtown Nasty Women, Markers For Democracy, and Team Min
Win Races—Make Calls (or canvass) with Broadway Stars! ⭐️
Join Broadway For Harris as they make calls into crucial battleground states for Kamala and Walz. Gather together on Zoom with your favorite Broadway stars!
Monday, September 23 - TODAY! - Cast members from The Notebook including Carson Stewart, and more to be announced. Click here to register.
During "intermission" breaks from making phone calls, Broadway stars will share why they need you to get out the vote for Kamala and Walz.
Broadway for Harris is also Canvassing! Check out their link tree for information on signing up to canvass in Battleground states with them.
Win Races—send texts!
From activist Susan Morgan:
I highly recommend a texting program run by Gavin Newsom which reaches voters in swing states.
Newsom’s "Campaign for Democracy" produced amazing results in July and August, texting over 22 million voters and recruiting more than 169,000 volunteers across the country! This very professional and well-funded campaign has excellent tools, terrific training and support, tight scripts, and LOTS of texting! They have now switched the focus of the scripts to a “make a plan to vote” message.
In lieu of Slack, TGN uses Discord as its virtual community meeting space. Join the Team at this link to access self-serve onboarding and texting links.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: your House rep] [H/T Alan Unell] [Text SIGN PWJULX to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]
I am your constituent and I want you to know that Azerbaijan has expelled ethnic Armenians from their homes in Artsakh and made them refugees. They have created a humanitarian disaster and those refugees need our help. H.R. 9666, the Artsakh Revenue Recovery Act, will allow Armenians who have been hurt by Azerbaijan’s vicious actions to be compensated for their losses. I want you to cosponsor and support H.R. 9666, the Artsakh Revenue Recovery Act and see that justice is done. Thank you.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
I heard the Republican candidates claim their rallies had more attendees. Somebody should tell them that flies don't count.
Thank you for including the Resistbot for Armenian refugees, Jess. I appreciate it.