Chop Wood, Carry water 9/5
Actions > thoughts.
Hi, all, and happy Thursday.
I’m in the green room for the Americans Abroad for Harris call right now, listening to Jane Fonda give (spicy) romantic advice to a group of students joining from France. It’s…something. I’m blown away by the speaker lineup they have on this call, and also the enthusiasm, patriotism, and determination being shared by the viewers in the chat. It gives me such hope!
[I have since left the green room, because I just found out I’m not speaking for another three hours! This may end up being the longest Zoom call in history!]
There’s a lot happening right now, and a lot of moving parts. The Tenet indictment is a huge deal—
did a great job of breaking down what happened and why it matters here. I highly recommend not just reading the piece but sharing it widely—especially with anyone you may know who ingests right-wing media. They are being manipulated and used by a foreign adversary; the more people that know it the better.And, of course, there was the massacre in Apalachee, Georgia. I won’t go into details—you all know what happened. It’s heartbreaking and sickening. But it’s also straightforward: gun violence is on the ballot in November. We can keep seeing gradual improvement in our gun violence rates—as we have under President Biden and VP Harris—or we can return to an ever-increasing level of carnage under an unfeeling president who tells us to “get over it” every time we have a recurrence.
The choice, to me, seems clear.
Finally, I am already hearing from folks who are exuberant that Alan Lichtman has predicted a Harris victory in November (the link is paywalled—I used this site to access it). While I’d rather this to be the case than the contrary, Lichtman’s prediction won’t change a thing for me, and it shouldn’t for you, either. We need to not just win—and even that is far from guaranteed—but to win in a landslide. It’s the only way we can achieve what we need to achieve. So I’m glad Alan thinks we’re going to win; me, I’m going to take action to ensure we win.
Guess what gets more voters to the polls, thoughts or actions?
I know you know the answer.
So let’s get to work one more time.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) AND Your House Rep (find yours here)📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I am absolutely devastated by the latest school shooting in Apalachee, Georgia. I am also furious about America’s epidemic of gun violence, as it is entirely preventable. This doesn’t happen in other countries. It happens here, because our government has put the rights of gun extremists over the rights of our children to simply survive. It’s shameful. I will actively work to vote out every lawmaker who is dithering on gun laws. Americans, by wide margins, want background checks. We want an assault weapons ban. We want safe storage laws. We want red flag laws. And we will not stop voting until we get lawmakers who will give them to us. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
From Newtown Action:
Please send an email to your Members of Congress using THIS SUPER EASY EMAIL FORM to urge them to pass S25/HR698 to ban assault weapons and S173/HR660, Ethan’s Law to keep kids safe from unsecured guns.
Get Smart! 📚
Activate America’s webinar series looking at each of their priority states takes on Montana next week on Wednesday, September 11 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET. THIS IS OUR TOUGHEST US SENATE RACE RIGHT NOW! We need you!
We have a great candidate in incumbent Senator Jon Tester, and despite its red reputation, Montana has a history of electing Democrats like Tester. Join Activate America to find out where the race stands and how you can help.
You can sign up HERE.
Spread the Word! 📣
Over the weekend, Donald Trump announced that he plans to vote to uphold Florida’s six-week abortion ban at the ballot box this November.
Well, first he announced he was going to vote against the ban. Then, amidst a stern backlash from his base, he changed his tune, saying he’d keep one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans on the books.
Given all the flip-flopping, it’s understandable if some voters are confused about his views – he seems confused himself. But it’s really pretty simple.
Since entering politics, Trump has catered to anti-abortion extremists with every single move he’s made.
He is responsible for the overturning of Roe which has resulted in 43% of women (and more trans and non-binary people) living in states with abortion bans.
If he wins a second term, he will, without doubt, try to ban abortion nationwide.
Indivisible’s new explainer covers Trump’s record on abortion from his first campaign to now, the full extent of the crisis he’s created, and what he plans to do (even if he doesn’t say it) if he wins a second term. Please read and share it! Help get the word out about the devastating impact of Trump’s attacks on reproductive rights so we can get all hands on deck in this fight for our rights. [H/T Indivisible Team]
Give 💰!
Field Team 6 has given so much to the grassroots community by using every outreach method there is — email, text, phone, geofencing, direct mail, targeted ads, social media storms, postcards, and live voter drives — and by providing us with data so we can register new voters and get out the vote.
It’s now our time to give back to Field Team 6! Because of the unexpected tsunami of outreach (by postcard, text and phone) achieved by the now 26,000 Field Team 6 volunteers — the result of the widespread excitement and engagement to help elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz — Field Team 6 is running out of the data they need to do their jobs. They need more money to acquire more contact information for unregistered, likely Democrats!
Donations to Field Team 6 now would help immensely. For 2024, Field Team 6 set a goal of $3M to deliver 3M new Democrats and independents in the battleground states where we need them the most. At $1 per new voter, your support can literally swing the upcoming elections.
Here’s Field Team 6’s donation link. If you’d rather donate by check or Zelle to avoid the 4% ActBlue fee, you can do so here. Please help Field Team 6 by making as meaningful a contribution as you can to help save our democracy!
Win Races—Call with Indivisible! 📲
Saturday, September 7 - Join Indivisible and the Fated Mates Podcast team to reach out to voters across the country at 1pm ET/10am PT. There will be fun conversation about romance novels, giveaways, and special guests to scratch your romance itch while we reach out to voters and save democracy.
Monday, September 9 - Call voters in Florida for VP Harris and Coach Walz at 5:30 ET/2:30 PT. The polls in Florida are narrowing, offering yet another potential path for Harris/Walz. Join Indivisibles from across the country in helping turn Florida blue.
Tuesday, September 17 - Call voters in Wisconsin to defend democracy at 6pm ET/3pm PT. Wisconsin is another key state in the electoral map this year -- remember, Trump’s 2020 fake elector scheme hinged on Wisconsin. Help us win Wisconsin and the election.
Win Races—Attend a Hopium Calling and Postcarding Event! ☎️
is continuing with his Winning the House/Vote on Day 1 events where we have an opportunity to phone bank or write postcards for one of the House candidates Hopium is supporting. Tonight’s event is for George Whitesides, who is running in CA-27, one of the flippable CA districts. (That’s where I canvassed on Saturday!)You can sign up for tonight’s 4:30PM PT / 7:30 PM ET event here.
You will be asked when you register to pick a breakout room - postcard or phone bank. If you choose one of the postcard breakouts you will get an email from "Winning the House" with 10 names and addresses. You provide the postcards and stamps, but they are all mail later, so you could attend this week even if you don't have any postcards - just save your names and addresses to write later!
Again, register here!
Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥
It’s going up to 106 in Los Angeles today. Want to make sure that climate voters turn out? I know I do!
Join the Environmental Voter Project to make impactful calls Friday, September 6, at 11am ET / 8am PT; Monday, September 9, at 7pm ET / 4pm PT; and Tuesday, September 10, at 12pm ET / 9am PT. Their friends at Commit to Democracy are now hosting weekly EVP phone banks every Saturday from 2-3:30pm ET / 11am-12:30pm PT, so if weekends are better for your schedule then you'll definitely want to join them.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text text SIGN PRKRMI to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]
Food banks have been struggling under rising food distribution costs and higher demand. Please pass a fiscal year 2025 agriculture appropriations bill that fully funds critical nutrition assistance programs. Specifically, provide full funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) storage and distribution at the authorized level of $100 million to help food banks offset the high costs of storing, transporting and distributing foods from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Federal commodity assistance programs like TEFAP have helped millions of families keep nutritious food on the table during tough economic times. Please remain committed to ensuring these vital programs serve individuals and families in every community, as well as American growers and producers who have excess food.
We must fully fund TEFAP food storage and distribution to maintain the vital support that this program provides to families facing hunger and our nation’s farmers.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
We've been giving to Field Team 6 since you talked about the organizations you think give us the most bang for the buck several months ago! Thanks for ALL you do!
I suggested in my email to Sen. Hawley, Sen. Schmitt, and Cong. Wagner that they think about how they'd explain their inaction to the victims and their families. Not having to directly confront the results of one's decisions makes it much easier to take the easy wide road, especially when it's paved with donor dollars.