It’s time to draw a line in the sand, folks.
On August 22, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 257-150 to pass the bipartisan Delivering for America Act, legislation that ensures the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) maintains uninterrupted service through the election this fall. 26 Republicans joined Democrats to pass this emergency legislation.
Sadly, most Republicans voted No, kowtowing to Trump and supporting his scheme to disrupt mail voting during the election. By refusing to guarantee the on-time delivery of vote-by-mail ballots, these Republicans are aiding and abetting the undermining of our democracy. But they’re also disrupting the delivery of medication to veterans, livestock to farmers, and so much more.
But there is good news: some of these Republicans are running for re-election in congressional districts that could elect Democrats this November.
As progressive activists, we need to hold these Republicans accountable. And to do so, we need to mount a concerted, strategic effort. We need to make Republicans in Congress suffer consequences and feel political pain for choosing outrageous adherence to Trumpism over on-time deliveries of medication, bills, livestock, as well as the vote-by-mail ballots for our elections.
So to that end, it’s time to take action. And we need everyone reading this article to take a moment to step up and help via two means: monetary donations and spreading the word!
I have created an ActBlue fundraiser that equally splits donations among the Democratic challengers to 12 of the most vulnerable Republicans who opposed the Delivering for America Act. The 12 Republicans are based on the current predictions of election observers Cook Political Report and Sabato Crystal Ball.
This fundraiser allows everyone to support the challengers to these Republicans easily and in one swift click. For a $12 donation, each candidate receives $1. For $24, each candidate receives $2. And with more donations, the money adds up fast! This type of ActBlue fundraiser allows us to easily support the candidates in these critical, swing-district races all at once.
The Democratic candidates that the fundraiser supports are as follows:
- Hiral Tiperneni, challenging Rep. Schweikert in Arizona’s 6th congressional district.
- Joyce Elliot, challenging Rep. Hill in Arkansas’s 2nd congressional district.
- Christy Smith, challenging Rep. Garcia in California’s 25th congressional district.
- Josh Hicks, challenging Rep. Barr in Kentucky’s 6th congressional district.
- Dan Feehan, challenging Rep. Hagedorn in Minnesota’s 1st congressional district.
- Patricia Timmons-Goodson, challenging Rep. Hudson in North Carolina’s 8th congressional district.
- Nancy Goroff, challenging Rep. Zeldin in New York’s 1st congressional district.
- Eugene DePasquale, challenging Rep. Perry in Pennsylvania’s 10th congressional district.
- Sima Ladjevardian, challenging Rep. Crenshaw in Texas’s 2nd congressional district.
- Lulu Seikaly, challenging Rep. Taylor in Texas’s 3rd congressional district.
- Stephen Daniel, challenging Rep. Wright in Texas’s 6th congressional district.
- Julie Oliver, challenging Rep. Williams in Texas’s 25th congressional district.
These Democratic challengers are all progressive-minded candidates who care about healthcare, economic justice, and protecting our democracy—and, of course, support the USPS. The 12 Republicans they’re challenging are all far-right extremist hardliners who do not deserve a place in Congress. These Republicans do not represent the values of their constituents in a myriad ways, and their refusal to help the USPS should be the last straw.
Please click the following link and make a donation of any amount to the fundraiser, supporting all 12 of these Democratic candidates. Any amount makes a difference--$48, $12, or $6. Each donation to these candidates helps show that we, as a nation, do not stand for partisan games that undermine the Post Office and our most basic voting rights.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/save-usps-defeat-gop
In addition to monetary donations, though, we need to spread the word about this effort. For folks who cannot afford even a small donation, this is just as important a way to help. Feel free to do so by sharing the fundraiser on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites. Click the following links to do so:
Share the fundraiser on Twitter with pre-written tweet text and hashtags. The hashtags correspond to saving the Postal Service and the congressional districts being contested.
Share the fundraiser on Facebook.
Encouraging others to share the fundraiser and donate to it as well will help focus people’s attention on these Democratic candidates, as well as the problematic nature of the Republicans they’re challenging.
If you are not comfortable sharing the fundraiser directly, you can choose to share this blog post instead. If you have many other progressive friends or connections on social media, they may want to know about this effort. You can do so easily by clicking the Facebook “Share” or Twitter “Tweet” buttons at the top and bottom of this blog post. When sharing on Twitter, it can help to add relevant hashtags, such as #SaveThePostOffice or #SaveTheUSP.
Lastly, if it isn’t too much trouble, it can help to select the “Recommend” button at the top and bottom of this blog post, so more readers on DailyKos can see this fundraiser and contribute.
If we spread the word widely enough, we can alert many more people to the need to support these Democrats and hold this dirty dozen of Trumpist Republicans accountable for their vote.
Together, through our donations and word of mouth, we can make a major impact—and make sure the Postal Service is never used as a political pawn ever again.
