Rogan's List

 10/22/20

 If American women would increase their voting turnout by 10 percent, I think we would see an end to all of the budget cuts in programs benefiting women and children.

                                                                                 — Coretta Scott King

 NATIONAL ISSUES  

Contact all Federal Members of Congress (includes contact info and links to social media) https://www.contactingcongress.org/   Fax legislators for free: Reps:  https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php Senate:  https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php   Or use Resistbot:  https://resist.bot/   Purchase stamps, postcards, and other mailing supplies:  https://store.usps.com/store/   White House contact:  https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house

 FAMILY SEPARATION: While the Trump administration has separated thousands of families at the border, there remain 545 children who have still not been reunited with their parents (https://nbcnews.to/2Tg0wMw). These families were separated under a 2017 pilot program that operated before the official "zero tolerance policy" was fully implemented in 2018, which separated an additional 2,800 families. Justice in Motion, a group of human rights lawyers and nonprofit organizations, is working on the ground to locate parents and reunite these families. For those of us with the means, let's donate to support their work:  https://www.justiceinmotion.org/donate  Let's also call each of our MoCs and speak out against the atrocities at the border, and tell them that we expect them to use their platforms to call out these human rights violations.  Let’s also make our rage at this situation clear to the White House and to the Department of Homeland Security, the agency responsible for this horror: (631) 226-2796 or Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, DHS, Washington DC 20528 or @DHS_Wolf

 SPEAK OUT AGAINST AMY CONEY BARRETT CONFIRMATION: The Senate will vote on the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Monday, just a week before the election. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/521148-judiciary-committee-to-vote-on-barretts-supreme-court-nomination-next-week?userid=200565. While it is likely that there are enough Republicans who will vote to confirm, we can still contact these Republican Senators and remind them that in 2016, 7 months before the election, they refused to confirm an Obama nominee because they thought it was important to give the voters a voice. Let’s also write letters to the editor about this double standard and publicly tweet these Senators, reminding them of their duplicity. 

 MCCONNELL URGES TRUMP TO WITHHOLD CORONAVIRUS RELIEF: An anonymous source has reported that  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a closed-door lunch Tuesday, told fellow Republicans that he urged the White House not to strike a deal with Democrats on a COVID-19 relief package;  McConnell and his allies are, after all, only interested in the Supreme Court nomination not in the roughly 12.8 million unemployed people in need of the government’s help: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/10/20/covid-19-stimulus-senate-vote-ppp-loans-deadline-nears/3664901001/ or https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/10/20/trump-economic-stimulus-pelosi/ or https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/politics/stimulus-deal-mitch-mcconnell-nancy-pelosi.html “More than 34 million U.S. adults live in households that find it very difficult to pay for their usual expenses, according to government data that offer the latest evidence of how low-income and minority Americans are facing intense economic insecurity as the pandemic wears on.”  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-21/economic-pain-persists-for-millions-in-u-s-as-aid-talks-drag-on  In addition to expressing our outrage at McConnell—202-224-2541 or 317 Russell Senate Office Bldg., Washington DC 20510—those of us in KY should make McConnell’s appalling disregard for his constituents known far and wide before the election—through letters to local papers, local call-in radio, or in any other way we can think of.

 FIGHTING PROPAGANDA: “The Media Manipulation Casebook is a digital research platform linking together theory, methods, and practice for mapping media manipulation and disinformation campaigns. This research is intended for researchers, journalists, technologists, policymakers, educators, and civil society organizers who want to learn about detecting, documenting, describing, and debunking misinformation,” https://mediamanipulation.org/. In this time when bad actors, foreign and domestic, are trying to turn Americans against one another, let’s make sure that our Members of Congress and our favorite journalists and responsible media outlets are aware of, and use, the Media Manipulation Casebook.

 ELECTION/VOTING

 ELECTION - GET OUT THE VOTE (GOTV)

 TEXT A VOTER EVERY TIME TRUMP ANNOYS US DURING THE DEBATE: The NILC Immigrant Justice Fund will be holding a text bank training today at 8:30 pm, just before the debate. That way, if we’re watching, we can text a voter in a swing state every time Trump annoys us. Let’s sign up here to text voters tonight or at other times before the election.

 VOTING “EARLY AND OFTEN” IS ILLEGAL. BUT “VOTE TRIPLING” IS NOT!: “Vote tripling is a type of relational organizing where you commit to get three people you know to turn out and vote,” according to Indivisible. Let’s boost voter turnout by taking the pledge to reach out to three friends and urge them to go to the polls—here’s how: https://2020.indivisible.org/vote-triple/

 TEXT BLACK VOTERS:  People For the American Way Foundation is volunteering with Defend the Black Vote campaign to text Black voters in states across the country in an effort to fight back against voter suppression efforts and increase voter turnout in 2020.  Let’s sign up here: https://act.pfaw.org/sign/dtbv-signup    

 BILLBOARDS AND RIDES:  Reclaim Our Vote is raising $150,000 for highway billboards and to fund COVID-safe rides to the polls for voters of color in the rural South.  Let’s donate here if we can: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/billboard-campaign

 CALL AND TEXT MOMS:  Moms Rising  is coordinating GOTV calls/texts to moms who don’t always vote. Let’s help:  https://action.momsrising.org/sign/GOTV_phonetext_2020

 ELECTION – SUPPORT CANDIDATES

 POSTCARDS TO VOTERS: At press time, Postcards To Voters continues to write for Jaime Harrison for Senate in SC and for Margaret Good for Congress in Florida and Mike Siegel for Congress in TX (postcardstovoters.org) This is the last big writing weekend before the election. Let's try to get creative over the weekend about engaging new folks in our community in writing during the final push: stamped postcard packs with addresses and clear instructions that folks can pick up or a socially distanced outdoor drop-by open house where folks stop by and write 5-10 postcards outside.

 MAXIMIZE SENATE FLIPPING EFFORTS: We know that flipping the Senate is important: without a Blue senate, Biden will struggle to make any of the reforms we so badly need. But how do we know, in these final weeks, where to focus our efforts to get the results we so badly need? Fortunately DemCast has crunched the numbers for us, analyzing fundraising reports, dark money expenditures, polling and predictive analytics. The candidates most in need of 11th hour donations, if we can make them, and of our volunteer efforts as well  are: 1) Theresa Greenfield (IA) https://greenfieldforiowa.com, 2) Steve Bullock (MT) https://stevebullock.com,  3) Raphael Warnock (GA) https://warnockforgeorgia.com, 4) Jon Ossoff (GA)  https://electjon.com, 5) Dr. Barbara Bollier (KS) https://bollierforkansas.com,  6) Gary Peters (MI) https://www.peters.senate.gov, and 7)Dr. Al Gross (AK) https://dralgrossak.com  We can click here to learn more and to donate to these candidates as a group: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/flipthesenatedc

 ELECTION - REGISTERING VOTERS

 ROCK THE VOTE:  It is not too late in some states to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election.  Let’s use this Rock the Vote site to check and, if we are too late, let’s sign up now for the next election:  https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/register-to-vote/ 

 ELECTION - OTHER

 DOCUMENT THE POLL TAPES: Volunteers NEEDED! Choose whichever group suits you - they're all great! (Some have training, some have Apps, some ask for uploads.)  *This is a very important project - the photos taken are able to be used as evidence in Court should there be elections questions. (You know, like when Stacey Abrams & Jon Ossoff totally won their races, but the evidence was conveniently disappeared…) Let’s choose one:

 1)     PhotoFinish, a project from Protect Our Votes working with Jenny Cohn (@jennycohn1).   Volunteers can take action to detect potential hacking & voting equipment problems. Photographer volunteers take photos of precinct poll tapes & then screenshot to uploader. We can sign up here:  https://www.protectourvotes.com/photo-finish-volunteer-sign-up-form/

 2)   SeeSay2020 by DemLabs.  Volunteers can expose voter suppression, election interference, machine problems, intimidation, etc. by using cell phones to report.  Goal is a central ‘citizen owned' database to help ensure fair voting & vote counts. Here are real examples so far: https://thedemlabs.org/2020/10/20/dirty-tricks-abound-what-voter-suppression-looks-like-in-2020/   Let’s learn more here: http://seesay2020.com

 3)    Scrutineers and Reclaim Our Vote have another option for documenting poll tapes. We can sign up for next (Oct 23) training here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-quick-election-protection-action-nearly-everyone-can-and-must-do-tickets-125761212171

 4)    Count the Vote project from SMART Elections is working to protect and verify the election results.  Co-Sponsors include DemCastUSA and Democracy Counts who did an explanation video here: https://youtu.be/vsUi10giixo & a Free App! We can sign up for Wednesday trainings here: https://www.mobilize.us/smartelections/event/353962/  

 JOIN PROTECT THE RESULTS TO ENSURE SAFE TRANSFER OF POWER: As Trump tries to cast doubt on the legitimacy of a possible loss to Biden, it is time to make sure that every vote gets counted, the loser concedes and Congress, the Electoral College, and state officials honor the accurate, final vote count. To ensure this Protect The Results, a coalition of more than 100 organizations committed to protecting our democracy, are preparing to launch nationwide mobilizations to if Trump declares "victory" before all votes are counted, tries to stop votes from being counted, or threatens the peaceful transfer of power. We can help out by using their event map to find local actions to join, their toolkits to prepare for mobilizing, and spreading the word with our friends on social media. We can click here to learn more and sign up: https://protecttheresults.com

 CALLING ALL MUSICIANS: Play for the Vote is an effort to bring musicians to polls across the country to perform for voters on Election Day. We can sign up to play or donate to this delightful effort here: https://www.playforthevote.com/

 STATE BIDEN-HARRIS GRAPHICS:  Graphics State-by-State sized just-right to download for the wallpaper or lock screen on your phone:  We can grab them here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JUj0fNj2eWkMMJUsfOmMRBXe3Anc8Udv?usp=sharing  (h/t)

 HAPPY DAYS REUNION:  The Wisconsin Dems have another fun fundraiser planned.  This time it is a Happy Days reunion.  Chip in any amount to join us for a Happy Days Reunion with Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Anson Williams, Marion Ross, Don Most, and special guests!  It's only going to be livestreamed once at 6pm CT on Sunday, October 25th. We can sign up here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/happy-days-reunion  

 GRAPHICS SUPPORTING BIDEN-HARRIS:  Rise Up. Show Up. Unite! has gathered artists who have come up with positive graphics we can use for person use (not for profit).  Let’s check out the collection and use what we can:  http://riseupshowupunite.vote/

 VOTER ASSISTANCE HOTLINES:  If we find we need help during this election season, there is help available.  Let’s check and share this list of voter assistance hotlines:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l6IAol6F34UnOuXu3KuMZY1wZCz7Bb8ZAs7hQmzy5PI/edit 

 STATE-BY-STATE POLL WATCHER INFORMATION: Wondering about poll watchers, observers, monitors, challengers?  Let’s check out this state-by-state guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jcZHYdmKeNdETx02UsMKpyEjgtYQHZ7CSX6XzYkqoGU/edit  

 JOIN BERNIE AT PROGRESSIVES FOR BIDEN/HARRIS UNITY TOWN HALL: As plans for a Biden/Harris administration take place, Progressive ideas and policies will need strong advocates. This Friday, we can hear from some of them. We can join Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. Chuy García, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley in a Virtual Town Hall starting at 8pm, EDT. On the agenda is discussing the Biden-Harris plans to advance democracy and justice, and to put the people first. We can click here to learn more and sign up: https://www.mobilize.us/joebiden/event/351796/

 STATE/LOCAL ISSUES

 RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS/GROUP ACTIONS/TWEETSTORMS

 LEARN TO WRITE LEGISLATION: The Rise Justice Labs accelerator’s goal is to help everyday people pass their first law--and the application for our next cohort is open until November 15! The team at Rise has compressed several years’ worth of learning into a 3-month accelerator program to teach us how to research and draft a bill, craft our story to make the case for change, connect with lawmakers and other key stakeholders, and construct a community to build support to pass our legislation.  If this is us let’s go here to apply! risenow.us/apply

 READING/WATCHING/LISTENING

 Sam Elliott narrates Biden ad premiering during World Series: 'There is only one America' - https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/522011-sam-elliott-narrates-biden-ad-premiering-during-world-series

 Deepfakes: Is This Video Even Real? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OqFY_2JE1c

 A Campaign of Voter Subtraction - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/threat-voter-subtraction/616746/

 Dr. Fauci says his kids aren’t coming home for Thanksgiving as Americans ‘sacrifice’ holiday gatherings to stay safe from coronavirus - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/14/dr-fauci-says-his-kids-arent-coming-home-for-thanksgiving-to-stay-safe-from-coronavirus.html

 Former President Obama campaigns for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlSZOcY8T3k

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 We can stay up to date on Congress by checking out their schedules. a) The House publishes a weekly schedule at The Weekly Leader (published and dated Friday) as well as daily schedules at The Daily Leader. b) The Senate updates their schedule daily at the Senate Floor Schedule