Friends, I’d like to get your suggestions on what more I could do to help elect Hillary. The last few days have been really tough on me emotionally (have been waking up at nights), so I just want to make sure that I am doing all that I can.
First of all, a bit of background. As I have mentioned in other comments and posts, I have been a naturalized citizen for about 15 years. I have never voted before, as I am registered in Maryland, in one of the DC suburbs, so whether it’s Presidential elections, senate or the house, there was never any doubt. But the stakes are so high this time, I will make sure that I vote—and make sure that my kids see me vote (my 6 year old son, upon hearing that Trump wanted to build a wall to keep everyone out, just said spontaneously, “is he crazy?”). But we are living overseas so there are some limitations on what we could do
What I and my family have done so far:
- Those of us who can vote—my mom, my wife (who was naturalized three weeks ago and already registered) and I will for sure vote. Even though Maryland will never be in doubt, we wanted to make sure that the margin is as high as possible and also contribute to the national margin. BTW, down ticket races are again not in doubt, but we will be voting straight ticket anyways
- I maxed out my personal contribution to Hillary’s campaign, and I will make sure my wife also contributes
- My mom is talking to her friends in Florida to make sure they are registered and will vote
- I made sure a few friends are registered in swing states and vote, e.g., one woman who is starting MBA at Wharton will change her registration to PA from a safe blue state
- I try to take as many online polls (e.g. Yougov) as I can so as to not to lose the polling narrative
So, any suggestions on what else we could do, and some questions to the group about whether some activities are possible/effective:
- Should we contribute to various victory funds, etc.--i.e., not directly to the campaign? I was never quite so sure whether these are useful and effective?
- Can we legally contribute to out of state down ticket races? I’m not quite sure and haven’t had the time to investigate. Our state of Maryland is so blue right now that I don’t see a race to really contribute to (and the governor’s election is not this year)
- Any other activities that have high effectiveness? Is there a way to directly contribute to GOTV efforts
Any ideas would be hugely welcome!
