10/15/20
What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise.
-Barbara Jordan
NATIONAL ISSUES
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COMPETING TOWN HALLS: When Trump chose not to partake in a virtual presidential debate sponsored by the Presidential Debate Commission, ABC announced it would hold a town hall with Joe Biden tonight instead. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/abc-news-announces-town-hall-democratic-nominee-joe/story?id=73506593 However, yesterday NBC announced that it will hold a Trump town hall at the same time tonight. While seeming to be “fair’, this denies the American people a chance to hear both and compare in real time. The announcement “resulted in considerable blowback on social media”. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/521003-boycottnbc-explodes-on-twitter-after-trump-town-hall-scheduled-against-bidens Let’s ask ABC to hold Biden’s town hall an hour later so that Americans will have a chance to see/hear them both. We can contact ABC by 1) calling -818-460-7477, 2) leaving a message here: https://abc.com/feedback , 3) @ABC on Twitter, or 4) comment on a post on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ABCNetwork/
CENSUS HALTED BY SUPREME COURT: Lest we doubt the importance of the Supreme Court’s decisions, the Court has just cleared the way for Trump to try to change the count before his term ends by excluding unauthorized immigrants from the numbers used to reallocate congressional seats and determine Electoral College votes for the next 10 years; the census count will now end at 11:59 p.m. (Hawaii time) on THURSDAY, OCT. 15th for online responses (Oct. 15th is also the postmark deadline for paper forms). The Constitution calls for a count of "whole number of persons in each state," but apparently the Constitution is only to be strictly constructed when it is convenient to the Republicans: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/13/921428056/supreme-court-allows-trump-administration-to-end-census-early If Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the census bureau, gives new state counts to the White House by Dec. 31, Trump—even if he loses reelection--can attempt to make the unprecedented change he wants to make to who is counted and who should, therefore, be represented in our government for the next decade. Let’s urge Ross-- (202) 482-2000 or @CommerceGov—and our MoCs, to declare the Census incomplete and work to delay the report of a tally until the inauguration of the next president is over. And if we (or our neighbors) have not yet done so, fill out the Census form now!!
USE INDIVISIBLE TOOLKIT TO FIGHT BARRETT NOMINATION: Koch -backed fundamentalist Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett seems poised to end the ACA, Roe and won’t even commit to supporting the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Even though these are unpopular positions with the American public, her approval rates are soaring, https://morningconsult.com/2020/10/14/supreme-court-barrett-confirmation-polling/ and so we must let our Senators know that we do NOT support this nomination and that our votes will reflect that. It's time to do everything we can to keep her off the bench before the election and Indivisible has a toolkit to help us fight. We can click here for tweets and tactics to help us save the court: https://savescotus.indivisible.org
IMPEACH BARR: “Two private groups focused on U.S. government ethics on Monday accused Attorney General William Barr of misusing his office to support President Donald Trump’s political goals and called on the House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against him.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-justice-barr/u-s-ethics-groups-say-barr-uses-doj-as-political-tool-call-for-his-impeachment-idUSKBN26X2RS Let’s contact our House reps and share our support for this.
MORE OF TRUMP, THE SUPER SPREADER: Despite backing from Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar, the White House blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from implementing a rule mandating all passengers and employees to wear face coverings on public and commercial transportation--that is, on airplanes, trains, buses and subways, and in transportation centers, such as airports, train stations and bus depots--instead throwing the decisions on this matter back to the states; the decision to disallow this rule was made by Pence’s Coronavirus Task Force: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/520454-trump-administration-kept-cdc-from-issuing-mask-requirement-on-public This move is consistent with others keeping the CDC from doing their job and demonstrating Trump & Pence’s utter disregard for our health. Let’s protest to the Task Force--vice.president@whitehouse.gov or 202-456-1111--and see if our MoCs can intervene.
CALL OUT SENATOR CORNYN FOR DELIBERATELY SPREADING MISINFORMATION: Senator John Cornyn recently tweeted a picture of two Democratic Senators and called them out not wearing masks. What he failed to mention was that the picture was taken in 2018. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/521009-cornyn-shares-picture-of-democratic-senators-from-2018-questions-why-theyre. Let’s make sure Senator Cornyn knows that we don’t appreciate his lies, and demand that he make a public apology. We can tweet him @JohnCornyn or comment on his Facebook Page.
ELECTION/VOTING
ELECTION - GET OUT THE VOTE (GOTV)
THE LAST WEEKENDS: There are only three more weeks before Election Day, with three weekends to do all we can to get out the vote. With this in mind, Swing Left has launched The Last Weekends campaign, where we can call voters in swing states in order to flip the Senate, turn state legislatures blue, and elect Joe Biden. For its first weekend, Swing Left is asking for 10,000 volunteers to make 500,000 phone calls, or for each volunteer to make 50 calls. Let's check out these resources on how to phone bank, then sign up for The Last Weekends: https://swingleft.org/p/the-last-weekends
HELP BATTLEGROUND VOTERS TO CURE THEIR REJECTED BALLOTS: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee needs volunteers to contact voters in Iowa and Montana to help them “cure” their rejected mail-in ballots. Let’s help make sure that every voter’s ballot gets counted. We can inquire about volunteering by contacting: volunteer@forcemultiplierma.org
GOTV BY MAILING LETTERS FROM VOTE FORWARD: We’re only a few days away from the Big Send on October 17, but there’s still time to write a few letters to likely Democrat infrequent voters in battleground states, urging them to vote. We can register at votefwd.org, choose a campaign, download 5-20 letters at a time, add a sentence or two on why it’s important to vote and then mail them on Saturday. So far, volunteers have prepared over 10 million letters, but we are aiming for 15 million and every little bit helps. Let’s check out this opportunity at votefwd.org
TEXTING WITH RESISTANCE LABS: From one of our own: Texters, it's time to get out the vote with Resistance Labs - they're sending millions of targeted texts each and every day until the election. The Spoke app is easy to use with nothing to download - it's all in your web browser. They have clear, self-paced training and support is available online. Who are YOU texting the vote for today? Let’s check here for more info: https://resistancelabs.com/text/
ENVIRONMENTAL VOTERS: Flip the West has teamed up with Greenpeace, the Center for Biological Diversity, Climate Changemakers, Future Generations, and Auk The Vote to offer phone banks each week to flip the Senate--because no climate legislation will get passed if we don't-- until the election. For more information and to sign up we can click here: https://www.mobilize.us/flipthewest/event/320787/
SIGN UP TO MOBILIZE FRIENDS IN TEXAS AND FLORIDA TO VOTE: Early voting has started, and Election Day is getting nearer. Florida and Texas may hold the deciding votes for the election, and if we have friends in those states, motivating them to vote could be the key to a Biden victory. Joining MoveOn's Vote Mobilizer community can get us the tools, resources, and support we need to make sure our swing state friends all vote by November 3. if we don't know which friends live in these states and we're logged into Facebook, we can find friends in Texas using this link and friends in Florida using this link. We can sign up here to find out more and become a Vote Mobilizer
POSTCARDS4VA UPDATE: Volunteers have written 463,000 postcards to Virginia voters this election cycle! Additionally, we helped Postcards4NC with their 148,000 postcards to North Carolina voters. (Source: Postcards4VA). Thank you to everyone who participated, from administration to postcard-writing, we worked together to get this done. Let's take a moment today to feel good about our accomplishments.
ELECTION – SUPPORT CANDIDATES
HAMILTON FUNDRAISER FOR BIDEN: “This Friday, Lin-Manuel Miranda and original cast members from Broadway's Hamilton will appear and perform as part of a virtual fundraiser for presidential candidate Joe Biden.” https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Original-Cast-of-HAMILTON-to-Reunite-for-Joe-Biden-Fundraiser-20201012 We can learn more and donate/sign up here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bvf2020_grfr_hamilton
POSTCARDS TO VOTERS: The campaigns with Postcards To Voters are moving swiftly in the homestretch with some targeted lists for key campaigns. At press time, the current campaign is for Adair Boroughs in South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District. She is running against Joe Wilson, the incumbent who once yelled "you lie" at Obama during the State of the Union. If we're PTV volunteers, let's go all out in the final run here and let's get friends and neighbors writing too... we can put together packets with 10-20 postcards, clear directions, and addresses to get folks out of despair and into action. https://postcardstovoters.org/
KEEP MICHIGAN BLUE: As we get closer to November 3rd, the Senate race between Michigan Democratic Senator Gary Peters and Republican candidate John James is getting tighter (https://bit.ly/33UL91Y). Along with Alabama, Michigan is seen as one of the best opportunities for the GOP to gain a seat in the Senate (https://bit.ly/372m1sc). Let's all take action to help re-elect Senator Peters and keep Michigan's Senate seats blue by phone banking with the Michigan Democrats' OneCampaign: https://michigandems.com/volunteer/
FLIP A MISSISSIPPI SENATE SEAT: Mike Espy is working to unseat GOP incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/520111-longshot-espy-campaign-sees-national-boost-in-weeks-before-election We can textbank in his support here: https://www.mobilize.us/espyforsenate/event/287575/
DEFEAT BY TWEET: Defeat by Tweet is a super PAC trying to stop President Donald Trump from getting reelected in November. Defeat by Tweet encourages people to pledge a few cents per Trump tweet, and then tweet at the president every time he does to say how much it has raised. They’ve raised over three million dollars for Black-led organizations working to defeat Trump in nine key swing states. Let’s join in: https://defeatbytweet.org/
ELECTION - REGISTERING VOTERS
VIRGINIA: REGISTRATION EXTENDED: “A federal court has extended Virginia's voter registration deadline after an accidentally clipped fiber optic cable took down the Department of Elections website on Tuesday for hours on the final day of voter registration.” https://www.npr.org/2020/10/14/923609956/virginia-extends-voter-registration-after-site-went-down-hours-before-deadline The Virginia Voter Registration Deadline has been extended to today, 10/15. We can register online here until 11:59pm: http://elections.virginia.gov/voterinfo or register to vote in-person at our local general registrar's office by 5pm on 10/15. Paper applications must be postmarked by 10/15.
ELECTION - OTHER
PIZZA TO THE POLLS: Pizza to the Polls is sending free pizza to folks standing in long lines waiting to vote! Let’s check this out to donate or to report long lines: https://polls.pizza/
REPORT ELECTION IRREGULARITIES: "Federal law prohibits voter intimidation. How can voters report issues preventing them from voting or other election related irregularities in time to do something about it?" SEESAY2020.com is a website that allows regular people to report voter suppression tactics in real time. First used in the 2018 elections, this upgraded website includes a heat map that displays the crowdsourced information generated by people's input. More information on the site can be found here: https://thedemlabs.org/2020/10/10/see-something-say-something-about-voter-intimidation/
PAID TIME OFF TO VOTE: Some states provide paid time off to vote. Let’s check here to see what’s the case in our state: https://politicalcharge.org/2020/10/14/how-to-find-out-if-youre-entitled-to-paid-time-off-to-vote/
DUMP TRUMP HAPPY HOUR FUNDRAISER: Join the Grassroots Democrats HQ and Field Team 6 for a night of comedy, trivia, and music from Dawn Oberg, Len Seligman, Lauren Mayer, Friction Farm, Chas Castell and others on October 16th at 5:00 pm (PDT) / 8:00 pm (EDT) at the DumpTrump: Three States & He’s Out Fundraiser. More info and RSVP here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ft6dumptrump
VOTING TIMELINE BY STATE: If we are trying to decide whether to vote in person or by mail, it is worth having some idea how long the latter might take in our state—especially now that Trump has made an issue of the count on election day. The NY Times has published a useful timeline for the various states: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/13/us/politics/when-votes-counted.html Whatever we decide, let’s vote and get everyone we know to vote.
VOTER GUARDIAN TRAINING: From one of our own: CPD Action is gearing up to protect voters’ rights in key states. On Thursday, October 15 at 1 PM ET and Monday, October 19 at 6 PM ET they are hosting a Voter Guardian Training. The program equips people like you to be a guardian for voters in your community. You’ll be prepared with voter information, training on de-escalation and supporting voters at the polls, and ways to fight misinformation. We can sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/cpda/event/338072/
STATE/LOCAL ISSUES
PROTECT ELECTION INTEGRITY: The recent controversy in California, where Republicans put up unofficial dropboxes has raised the possibility that they could use these to gather and discard Democratic ballots https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-fresno-elections-california-santa-ana-be803bfe99f5eb35e17a6ee56315deb0. Meanwhile, in Texas, the appeals court upheld Governor Abbott’s suppression tactic, limiting drop-off boxes to one per county, and some of Texas’s counties are bigger than the state of Rhode Island. The courts also allowed “poll watchers” at the ballot dropoff boxes, who could potentially harass voters. https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/13/texas-election-ballot-drop-off/. Let’s find out what our state is doing to protect election integrity, make sure we know how to drop off our ballot at an official and secure site, if we are choosing not to risk late postal delivery or on-site voting, and make our voices loud and clear to both our state and federal legislators and executives if we disapprove of our state’s tactics.
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM & JUSTICE: A coalition of elected prosecutors and attorneys general have signed a statement pledging not to enforce laws that criminalize personal health care decisions, including abortion: https://fairandjustprosecution.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Joint-Statement-from-Elected-Prosecutors-on-Abortion-Laws-10-14-20.pdf. If our elected district attorney and/or attorney general have signed the statement, let’s thank them. If they haven’t, let’s ask them to. Look up state attorney general: https://www.usa.gov/state-attorney-general Look up district attorney: https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-legal-help/district-attorneys.html
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS/GROUP ACTIONS/TWEETSTORMS
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