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

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 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

 

 

 

   10/20/20

 

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. – John Lewis

 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

 DO NOT FILL SUPREME COURT OPENING NOW:  Most Americans want the Senate to hold off on filling the Supreme Court seat.  https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/most-americans-want-to-wait-until-after-the-election-to-fill-the-supreme-court-vacancy/ Let’s call the Judiciary Committee and tell them we want them to wait:  202-224-5225.  Then, let’s also contact the GOP senators on this list who might be willing to vote no:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gXI2Z_nOswK0wrXDCj-uVpRe6QUfHuz9/view?usp=sharing

 UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN ARE BEING DEPORTED:  Journalist Jeff Abbott tweeted last Friday, “Today, the United States deported 58 Guatemalans to Guatemala City from Mesa, Arizona on an ICEair chartered Swiftair (iAero) flight. 56 of the 58 Guatemalans are unaccompanied minors.”  This may be part of a wide program.  “Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have started to implement a policy that allows officers to arrest and rapidly deport undocumented immigrants who have been in the US for less than two years, according to internal emails and documents obtained by BuzzFeed News.”  https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/ice-fast-track-deportations  Let’s let our MoCs know that this is not how we treat children and that we want our asylum program to be respectful and responsible to those seeking a better life.

 REGULATION FRENZY:  “Facing the prospect that President Trump could lose his re-election bid, his cabinet is scrambling to enact regulatory changes affecting millions of Americans in a blitz so rushed it may leave some changes vulnerable to court challenges.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/us/politics/regulatory-rush-federal-agencies-trump.html  The article lists many of them with links to each regulation, from changing independent contractors to biometric data to bomb trains, where we can comment. Let’s check it out, share it, and comment as we can.

 SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT TO PROTEST NEW CHANGES IN ASYLUM-SEEKER RULES: The Department of Justice is once again trying to strip due process rights from our asylum seekers by shortening deadlines for submitting paperwork and disallowing fee waivers. These procedural changes will make it even harder for asylum seekers to find a lawyer and have a fair hearing in court.  https://immigrationimpact.com/2020/09/24/asylum-15-day-filing-deadline/#.X425bdBKiyI   Comments on this proposal are due this Friday, October 23. Let’s submit a comment here.

 DARK MONEY AND THE SUPREME COURT: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) used his time during the Barret Supreme Court nomination hearings to school her, and us, about the disturbing influence of dark corporate money interests on judicial appointments and court rulings. We can watch here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcXVKg43qY and here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5-Snk_thAs. Whitehouse has published a law review article that delves deeper into this subject and makes recommendations for legislative reform, https://harvardjol.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2020/05/Sen.-Whitehouse_Dark-Money.pdf. Let’s share the link to his law review article with our US Senators, and let’s tell them that we want them to prioritize eliminating the influence of dark money on US courts, including the Supreme Court.

 TRUMP CRITICIZES FAUCI: “People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots,” Trump said of Dr. Anthony Fauci, declaring the government’s top infectious disease expert “a disaster.” https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/fauci-trump-wearing-mask-weakness-430114 He suggested it would create a controversy to fire him. Fauci, in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fauci-no-surprised-trump-covid-19-media-appearances-60-minutes/), had said he was not surprised by Trump coming down with the virus after he held large events with no face coverings. Fauci also objected to the president’s campaign using his words in a campaign ad. Unfortunately, Dr. Fauci now needs federal protection due to threats on his life.  Let’s support Dr. Fauci, who continues to give us science-based help to protect us from Covid 19 despite trump’s misinformation about the virus. We can send a thank you to him here via Email: oarinfo@nih.gov. or phone: Phone: 1-301-496-0357, or snail mail:  Mail: Office of AIDS Research, Dr. Fauci, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health,  5601 Fishers Lane, Room 2F40,Rockville, Maryland  20852 

 PERDUE MOCKS KAMALA’S NAME AT RALLY: “Republican Sen. David Perdue mocked Sen. Kamala Harris on Friday, derisively mispronouncing the Democratic vice presidential candidate's name during a campaign rally in Georgia. “Kamala? Kamala? Kamala-mala-mala? I don’t know. Whatever,” Perdue (R-Ga.) said at a rally in Macon, just before President Donald Trump was set to take the stage.”   https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/16/david-perdue-mocks-kamala-harris-name-429996  Let’s tell him he needs to apologize to Kamala in the Senate. Senators need to respect each other. He doesn’t seem to know how to do that, let’s remind him. Tweet him @Perduesenate 

 POSTCARDING OPPORTUNITIES:  From one of our own: Please use/share/distribute as you see fit. This week's material should help motivate all of us to fight for a Blue Senate—as well as a Blue House and a Blue White House.  Click here:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HU6DH8V6BzSywtT7dlTwPblRomt7B0DTL7b_WbsaYdU/edit?usp=sharing

 ELECTION/VOTING

 ELECTION - GET OUT THE VOTE (GOTV)

 THE LAST WEEKENDS: There are only two 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 VOTERS CURE REJECTED BALLOTS: With so many people voting absentee for the first time, and regulations varying for state to state, it’s not surprising that ballots are being rejected. These ballots can be fixed, the votes can still count and Swing Left has a way for us to help by calling voters whose ballots have been rejected cure the defect and make sure their vote counts.   Shifts are available from now through Nov 5, Spanish and Haitian Creole volunteers needed for Florida calls, as well.  We can click here to learn more and sign up:   https://swingleft.org/event/register/mobilize:318422?s=u

 ELECTION – SUPPORT CANDIDATES

 FLIP SOUTH CAROLINA! We can help by writing to voters with Postcards to Voters'  Campaign 225: Jaime Harrison for Senate. Jaime is running against incumbent Lindsey Graham. (The Guardian: The upset of 2020?) Let's request some addresses today to encourage SC voters to vote for Jaime. 

 SPEAKERS OF NON ENGLISH LANGUAGES NEEDED FOR VOTER HOTLINE: Biden/Harris campaign's National Voter Assistance Hotline needs speakers of Apache, Arabic, Cantonese, Creole, French, Hindi, Hmong, Korean, Mandarin, Navajo, Punjabi, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, or Vietnamese. If we speak any of these languages and can help out, we can sign up here: https://go.joebiden.com/page/s/Voter-Protection-National-Hotline

 TEXTING FOR DEMS:  There is still time to learn how to text in support of Biden and down ticket as well.  We can sign up here for the DNC 2020 Victory Text Team: https://www.mobilize.us/2020victory/event/293967/

 GET OUT THE VOTE IN MAINE: Senator Susan Collins' PAC made contributions to two Maine candidates running for the state legislature who support the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon (https://bit.ly/2HjwnZK, https://bit.ly/3o5FGxC). While her campaign has claimed that they were unaware of the candidates' ties to QAnon, social media accounts and interviews with the candidates show that they have been openly supporting this dangerous conspiracy theory. This kind of irresponsibility can have far-reaching consequences and is yet another reminder that it is time to vote Senator Collins out, and vote candidate Sara Gideon in. Let's set aside some time over the next two weeks to phone bank with NextGen Maine and Vote Save America to encourage Mainers to GOTV. We can find the time slots and sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/crooked/event/293707/

 POSTCARDS TO VOTERS: As of press time, Postcards To Voters (postcardstovoters.org) is still fortunate enough to be writing for Jaime Harrison for Senate in South Carolina. If we are a PTV volunteer, let's pull out all the stops in the days ahead to get as many written for Harrison as possible - are there friends, family, neighbors that we can get engaged in some socially distanced postcard-writing - or can we prepare sets for them with very clear directions (a sample helps) and stamped postcards included?

 TEXT WITH UNION WORKERS FOR BIDEN/HARRIS:  Join union workers from across the country on Fridays at 4 PM ET as we come together to talk to text voters about electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris! Will need an internet connection and a laptop or tablet.  Let’s sign up here:  https://www.mobilize.us/nea/event/348500/

 POSTCARDING FOR CANDIDATES:  From one of our own:   "Postcarding isn’t over yet! There are some campaigns that are still going strong and could use your help - like Jaime Harrison’s race against Lindsay Graham for Senate in SC, and Phil Arballo’s race against Devin Nunes for Congress, and Mike Espy’s race for Senate in Mississippi. Additionally there are efforts afoot to get GOTV postcards to Navajo and Hopi voters in Arizona, and to infrequent Democratic voters in the swing states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and many more. Let’s check for more info at:  www.tinyurl.com/dem-GOTV-postcards".

 ELECTION - REGISTERING VOTERS

 ELECTION - OTHER

 FREE FOOD AND WATER FOR VOTERS IN LONG LINES: Chefs for the Polls will serve nourishing meals on early voting days and Election Day at polling places around the country. Let’s show our love to voters waiting in long lines by supporting Chefs for the Polls: https://chefsforthepolls.org/

PRO CHOICE VOTER GUIDE HAS INFO & TOOLS: With Roe in danger, it is time to make sure we elect as many pro-choice supporters as we can to help protect a woman’s right to choose. Fortunately VoteProChoice has a guide to help us with information in every race at the state and federal levels, as well as information in all judicial races.  County and local information will be added soon as well. We can also find sample email copy, social media graphics for download, and draft social media posts to use as we see fit.  We can click here to find Vote Pro Choice voter guides for our elections: https://www.voteprochoice.us/voter-guide  and toolkit:   
https://www.voteprochoice.us/partner-toolkit

 PROTECT THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION: Even though Biden has a comfortable lead in the polls, we need to continue to be vigilant about getting out the vote and making sure to mobilize across the country if Trump attempts to fight the results of a Biden win. Let’s check out Protect the Results and sign up to attend or host a November 4 event in our area.  

 REPUBLICANS LEAD IN REGISTERING SWING STATE VOTERS: As voter the two parties, especially in swing states:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/voter-registration-republicans-swing-states-narrow-gap/  and  https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/10/15/florida-republicans-cut-democrats-registration-edge-to-historic-low-1325644  Florida Republicans, for example, lag Democrats by just 134,242 registered voters, down from 327,483 when Trump won Florida by fewer than 113,000 votes in 2016.  Everything, in other words, now depends on turnout.  Let’s give Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse (R) the “Republican blood bath” he’s predicted:  particularly those of us in swing states.  Let’s postcard; write; call; offer transportation to the polls; where it’s legal, gather and deposit ballots for those who can’t go to the polls.  Anything and everything!

 PUMPKIN CARVING TEMPLATES:  “Looking for another fun way to decorate your home this Halloween and show your support for Trick or Vote? Try carving a patriotic pumpkin!”  Let’s check these out:  https://trickorvoteusa.wordpress.com/2018/10/26/pumpkin-carving-templates/

 STATE/LOCAL ISSUES

 AL, MS, PA, WI, WV, and WY: CALL FOR THE PROCESSING OF BALLOTS BEFORE ELECTION DAY—According to RepresentUs, the following states plan neither to process (that is, ready the ballot for counting) nor to count ballots before election day: WY,WI, AL, MS, WV, PA. This will cause extraordinary delays in getting an official ballot count from these states. If we are in these states, let’s contact our Secretary of State:  https://www.nass.org/membership and our State Legislators:  https://openstates.org/ and tell them that we are concerned with this state of affairs, that we want processing to start immediately, and we want assurances that our votes will be counted.

 MA: GUARANTEE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS BY SUPPORTING THE ROE ACT: With the likely confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the right for a woman to choose issues related to her health and her body hang by the thinnest of threads. S. 1209, The Roe Act will guarantee a full range of reproductive rights for women in Massachusetts, but the bill has been stuck in Committee. Let’s sign this petition urging state leaders to pass the Roe Act and contact our state legislators to urge their support.

 MI: CHILD MARRIAGE: Child marriage is still legal in nearly every state in the U.S. (https://bit.ly/3o5OFik). In December of last year, Representatives Sarah Anthony, Graham Filler, and Kara Hope introduced a package of bills (HB 4003, 4004, 4005) that would remove exemptions for marriage in the state of Michigan before the age of 18 (https://bit.ly/3jcvtLV). Since then, the bills have made no movement, even though one of the sponsors, Graham Filler, is the chair of the Judiciary Committee where the bills are currently sitting. Let's contact Chairman Filler and tell him that we want the Judiciary Committee to take up these bills immediately: Mailing Address: N-1197 House Office Building, P.O. Box 30014, Lansing, MI 48909. Phone: (517) 373-1778,  Email:  GrahamFiller@house.mi.gov. Then, let's contact our own state MoC and tell them that we support these bills and want them passed as soon as possible.

 MI: MORE VOTER SUPPRESSION:  A Michigan appeals court ruled last Friday that ballots received after 8 p.m. on election day cannot be counted, overturning a lower court that had ruled that ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 and received within 14 days of the election could be counted; maybe this new ruling will be appealed, but meantime, Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan secretary of state, is urging voters to mail their ballots by MONDAY, OCTOBER 26 to ensure they will be counted: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/17/924930037/court-says-michigan-cannot-count-ballots-received-after-election-day We have Trump’s court appointments and DeJoy’s post office to thank for last minute rulings like this one.  Let’s make certain that Benson’s office uses the print press, the radio, TV, the phone, and social media to place urgent messages containing accurate information about voting that will reach ALL those eligible to cast a ballot: Secretary of State Benson, 888-767-6424 or 430 Allegan St, Austin Bld., 4th floor, Lansing, MI 48918

 RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS/GROUP ACTIONS/TWEETSTORMS

 UNBIAS YOUR BRAIN: "Are accusations of bias clogging your news feed? Are your friends quick to point out that something is unfair – but not as ready to explain why? Tune up your “fairness meter” to assess how objective or biased content really is. Reevaluate your media, win the battle for your brain!" Attend this October 21 webinar hosted by Freedom Forum, a non-profit that works to "raise awareness of First Amendment freedoms through education, advocacy and action." We can register here:  https://www.freedomforum.org/event/the-bias-meter-the-battle-for-your-brain/

 READING/WATCHING/LISTENING

 Letter to my Republican Dad on the 2020 Election - https://medium.com/@pjsimmons/letter-to-my-republican-dad-on-the-2020-election-19617719e573

 Emergency Rooms And Health Clinics Become Voter Registration Hubs - https://www.npr.org/2020/10/18/923754421/emergency-rooms-and-health-clinics-become-voter-registration-hubs

 Why Do Nonwhite Georgia Voters Have to Wait in Line for Hours? Their Numbers Have Soared, and Their Polling Places Have Dwindled. - https://www.propublica.org/article/why-do-nonwhite-georgia-voters-have-to-wait-in-line-for-hours-their-numbers-have-soared-and-their-polling-places-have-dwindled 

 Good Guys Win - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrBLqhXlGY0&feature=youtu.be

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 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

 

 

 

   10/15/20

 

What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise.  

-Barbara Jordan

 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

 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

 WOMEN’S MARCH: This Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17, the Women’s March is “holding socially distant actions across the country to send an unmistakable message about the fierce opposition to Trump and his agenda, including his attempt to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat.”  Let’s see if there is a march near us we can safely attend:  https://map.womensmarch.com/?eventType=oct-17-march  We can also text “MARCH” to 44310 for urgent action alerts & updates.

 ATTEND FREE VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF FEMINISM: If we are interested in the future of women's rights and expanding LGBTQIA+ rights, we can join the Feminist Majority and the National Organization for Women (NOW) for a free virtual conference on October 17th and November 7th on the power of the women’s vote and what is at stake during the first 100 days of the presidency.  Featured speakers include Gloria Steinem, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), former Senator Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) and newcomers Texas Congressional Candidate Gina Ortiz-Jones and South Carolina Senate Candidate Jaime Harrison. We can find out more about this free virtual conference and sign up here: http://action.now.org/p/salsa/event/common/public/

 READING/WATCHING/LISTENING

 Last Exit From Autocracy - https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/last-exit-trump-autocracy/616466/

 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse speaks during hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcXVKg43qY&feature=youtu.be

 Resistance Revival Chorus covers Woody Guthrie’s “All You Fascists Bound to Lose” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWUa7aAIfLE&feature=youtu.be 

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 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