Chop Wood, Carry Water 9/30

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Hi, all, and happy Monday!

I’m quite behind this morning, so I’ll have to keep this intro short if I’m to get this email out in an even remotely timely fashion.

I’ll simply say this; it was a rough weekend, Trumpwise. His words are growing more angry, vitriolic and divisive with every day. It’s scary. And exhausting! We’re fighting fascism with everything we’ve got, and it almost seems like the harder we fight it the worse it becomes. It can feel frustrating and debilitating.

But we’re not giving up, are we? Nope! In fact, we’re doubling down. And what do we bring to our fight? We bring joy!

I got to see some of that joy in person this weekend at both the wonderful Ballots Over Broadway event and also at the Kamala Harris fundraiser I was fortunate enough to attend—thanks to the kind benefactor who got me a ticket. Both events were bursting with laughter, wit, music, energy, and massive talent (in the latter case, Stevie Wonder!) Both were packed and vibrant. Both rang with words like “love,” “community,” and “forwards.”

Both made me proud to be on this side.

Look. Ultimately, each of us must ask ourselves—to paraphrase LBJ—if we want our tombstones to say “They built?” or, contrarily, “They hated.”

I choose the former. I know you do, too. Thanks for that. Let your love fuel and energize you. Screen out the noise. Do the work. We’ve got this.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m calling because I know that Republican House members blocked extra disaster assistance funds during the latest spending fight. As we could have predicted, that funding is now necessary. I know everyone in the House has left on recess, but I’m asking the Senator to call on them to return to Washington and pass a supplemental funding bill now so that states impacted by Helene have the resources they need. Also, we’re in a climate emergency. Congress needs to do more and faster. No more delay. We need aggressive climate action and a transition away from fossil fuels as soon as possible. I will only vote for lawmakers who feel the same. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m calling because I know that Republican House members blocked extra disaster assistance funds during the latest spending fight. As we could have predicted, that funding is now necessary. I know everyone in the House has left on recess, but I’m asking the Congressmember to return to Washington and pass a supplemental funding bill now so that states impacted by Helene have the resources they need. Also, we’re in a climate emergency. Congress needs to do more and faster. No more delay. We need aggressive climate action and a transition away from fossil fuels as soon as possible. I will only vote for lawmakers who feel the same. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s contact CBS News about their recent decision to NOT fact-check the VP debate in real time. (Read this great Jay Kuo article about it.)

We can say something like the below (by the way you can’t copy and paste—you must, annoyingly, type your comments in or they won’t be accepted):

I’m writing because your network has announced that its moderators would not fact check the candidates during the VP debate set for Tuesday night.

Your network is supposed to do journalism. Journalism involves FACTS. Please reverse your decision. Fact check the candidates in real time. It matters. Thanks.

Choose “News'“ in the dropdown menu, as well as “CBS News Special Reports.”

Get Smart! 📚

CHN's Vote for Human Needs Campaign and Vote Rev Action Fund are teaming up to host a special webinar training on Thursday, October 3rd at 4 pm EST.

During this webinar you’ll learn about site-based vote tripling (SBVT). 

Site-based vote tripling (SBVT) is a simple but effective way to get people to vote. To conduct SBVT, all you need to do is greet people, and ask them to send a text message reminding their friends to vote! It can be done in high-traffic areas like college campuses, community events, and polling locations on Election Day. You can also provide participants with incentives like stickers or candy! 

SBVT has been found to increase voter turnout by 0.5 percentage points. In elections where the margins are razor-thin, that number can make all the difference in ensuring that we elect politicians who care about protecting human needs. 

You can register for the training here. If you aren’t able to attend the event, you can still register, and we’ll send you a recording and the toolkit in a follow-up email. Please feel free to share this training amongst your networks.

Spread the Word! 📣

This morning, ahead of tomorrow's VP debate, the Harris campaign released Donald Trump and JD Vance’s health care plan in a new report that publicly unveils the “concept of a plan” that Trump and Vance are running on, in full, for the first time.

You can read the full plan HERE or read Huffington Post: Harris Campaign Releases Report On What Donald Trump Could Do To Obamacare.

The TLDR is: the Trump-Vance plan would bring back the disastrous high-risk pools that would send costs skyrocketing for millions of Americans -- and much more. 

Give 💰!

Democrats only need to pick up 4 seats to regain the House majority. Force Multiplier is hosting two events with six House challengers that give us great opportunities to do that. With one donation you can attend one or both events. DONATE/REGISTER

• Monday September 30th 8-9 pm ET: House Event with new candidates Carl Marlinga (MI 10), Amish Shah (AZ 01) and John Mannion (NY 22).

• Tuesday October 1st 7-8 pm ET: House Event with new candidates Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI 08), Shomari Figures (AL 02) and Janelle Stelson (PA 10)

Win Races—send texts or make calls! 🗳

Movement Labs has vetted volunteer programs for the highest-impact activities for volunteers who can’t be boots-on-the-ground in a swing state.

Their Incubator program works to explore, analyze, and scale innovative strategies that persuade, mobilize, and register voters to counteract Trump's influence. They are investing millions in successful initiatives, focusing on new organizing programs and turnout tactics. These efforts target low-turnout, high-opportunity voters in marginalized communities, persuade Republican voters toward Kamala Harris, and enhance voter registration efforts.

Sign up for two hour shifts they host each Monday, Wednesday, and/or Saturday to call and text voters and organize your friends.

Here are some of their projects where you can make a difference:

• Phone banking: Registering + mobilizing voters from their lists of people who aren’t being contacted by other campaigns

• Text banking: Text conversations with voters

• SwipeBlue: Use their app to register and mobilize your swing-state contacts

They have weekday and weekend shifts convenient for East and West coast volunteers (and everyone in between)!

Join the Incubator Volunteers here!

Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥

The Harris-Walz Climate Engagement team is having a big relational organizing kickoff tonight: Climate Action for America.

This 8:00 pm ET call will feature Senator Ed Markey, Governor Jay Inslee, influencer Momina Mustehsan, and other movement leaders. In addition to rallying climate-minded folks to the Vice President and going over our strongest climate messages, the purpose of the call will be to give an in-depth climate-specific Reach training and have attendees reach out to their networks in real time.

We know climate is one of the perfect frames to persuade folks to get off the couch and into the voting booth, and no messenger is as effective as a friend.

Here is the Mobilize link 

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

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

I'm writing today to urge you to support and pass HR 4184 and S 2048, the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act to repeal PLCAA. Gun violence survivors must be allowed to seek justice in the civil courts. The 7th Amendment says: "In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law." 

Five months before the Sandy Hook tragedy, a gunman armed with an AR-15 and 100-round drum magazine killed 24-year-old Jessi and 11 others and injured 70 others (58 by gunfire) in the Aurora Movie Theater shooting. Jessi's parents Sandy and Lonnie Phillips filed a lawsuit against Lucky Gunners, an online gun/ammo dealer because they thought it was outrageous that companies could sell a dangerous man an arsenal without getting any information about him. The judge immediately dismissed the case due to PLCAA then he ordered Sandy and Lonnie to pay $203,000 to Lucky Gunners for legal expenses -- which forced Sandy and Lonnie to file for bankruptcy.  Sandy and Lonnie deserved to have their day in court. Gun violence stole their daughter and PLCAA stole their future.

HR 4184 and S 2048 do not impact anyone's Second Amendment rights and gun owners and non-gun owners will be better protected when the gun industry makes safer products and becomes more responsible.

Thank you for your consideration!

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

Talk soon.

Jess