Good morning!
This is the weekly DKos Asheville open thread where we try to get together every Saturday morning around eleven, and then drift in and out throughout the day. We hope this group serves to reinvigorate us locally and regionally here on Daily Kos, building on the sense of community that's grown through our online engagement. DKos Asheville can give us all a better sense of connection, a better understanding of who these people are that we stand with, work with, and share with in the political process. We hope, through this community, that we can do a better job of leveraging our orange passion for progressive politics to help elect more and better Democrats.
If you would like to host a weekly open thread, please let us know.
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Our next meetup is two weeks from today! If you haven't done so yet, please send your RSVP's and Maybe's to Randall so he can add them to the list in the "New Day" diaries. And it's ok to go ahead and send him a Maybe, as you can always upgrade to RSVP once you get all that other stuff erased from your calendar. We currently have 15 RSVP's and 9 Maybe's!
The meetup will once again be at The Bywater in Asheville. This is an outdoor private club by the French Broad River. There is an outdoor grill, and we will be bringing food to share, eat, and to serve as subjects for photography. The first two meetups were wonderful events; so do please plan to come if you can.
And I should point out that folks from the extended area, not just us Western North Carolina residents, have been coming to these meetups. So it's a good opportunity to meet a number of Kossacks whom you've been reading; and at the same time visit Asheville, maybe take a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, or even spend some time hiking and enjoying the fall colors. So do mark your calendars!
As reported last week ...
We are on the calendar at Earthfare for our Voter Registration Project. The two dates that we presently have are in October; Tuesday the 22nd and Tuesday the 29th. We haven't decided on a specific time yet, and Randall doesn't yet know his work schedule for those days; but he's planning to come by as soon as he can depending on where he's working that day, and all of you should too. At this point we're basically looking at being there from mid-afternoon to early evening.
We need your help with this; no one should be out there by themselves. This is intended to be a group event, a chance to spend time with each other and to work together as part of our engagement in the political process. And of course the more voters we register, the greater the chances of us taking back our state legislature, governor's house, and maybe even our congressional districts. We'll also be inspiring others by our example to get politically engaged.
I have a card table I can bring. Each of us should bring something to sit on. I've already picked up the registration forms; and I can bring some pens. We'll need a large sign with some catchy phrase like "Register to Vote Here". Clip boards might be helpful; I have one or two, but more might be good.
We'll need some handouts; they'll need to be written up, and they'll need to be printed.
There are some rules for registering voters. I'll post a link to state board of elections site as we get closer to the day, and I'll bring copies to have with us.
Those of you who attended Moral Monday events know that Reverend Barber implored us to start registering voters now; this was the thing that he stressed we do more than anything else. It is important. But we'll try to make it fun as well.
Please mark these two dates on your calendars.
And share any questions, comments, and suggestions in the comments.
Early voting ends today for the primary for Mayor of Asheville, with election day this Tuesday, October 8. There are three candidates on the ballot; two Democrats and one Unaffiliated. The primary will narrow the field from three to two for the general election in November. The candidates are
Martin Ramsey,
Esther Manheimer, and
John Miall. If you live in Asheville, please vote, and encourage others to do so as well.
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Gorgeous day in Asheville today! Enjoy!
Greetings! randallt here. The sky above Western North Carolina is so blue this morning it's surreal. Here's hoping the 19th will be as kind and beautiful. Can't wait to catch up with old friends and meet new ones! And if you are close, please consider helping Dave and I with the voter project! Have a great day everyone!