I am seeing a lot of despair and despondency about the news that Russia is already meddling in the 2020 election (duh) and Trump doesn’t care (also: duh).
Of course they are meddling and of course he doesn’t care.
If that surprised you, I have other news that may shock you: Republicans are going to do what they can to suppress turnout. They are going to spread lies about our candidates. They are going to lie about trump’s record. They are going to bring out every racist, homophobic, xenophobic, antisemitic, and just plain awful trope they can to frighten people so they can hold onto power. Trump and his minions are going to do every crooked thing they can to try to win, including messing with our very government.
They have to. They have no other path to victory. We are the majority, so to win they have to cheat.
Maya Angelou said “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.” These people have shown us who they are again and again and again. Believe them. Please.
Stop being surprised and distressed and depressed by every awful thing they do. Don’t give them that power over you. We know who they are.
But we also know who we are. in 2017 we took to the streets. We answered their hate with love and unity. In 2018 we took the House. Despite the worst gerrymandering in history, we came together and donated and GOTV and went door to door and won over 40 seats for a historic blue wave. In 2019 we won the governors races in Kentucky and Louisiana and in Virginia voters gave full control of state government to the party’s legislative candidates.
We are amazing and they are terrified of us.
Look, the next 9 months are going to full-on suck. They are going to be stressful and awful and disheartening and scary. We are going to see worse and worse behavior from Trump and the bottomless pit of atrocity that surrounds him.
But please stop being surprised by any of this. When you see their behavior, remind yourself that they are doing this because it is their only chance at winning. Remind yourself that they wouldn’t bother with any of this if they didn’t have to. And then keep your head down and keep doing the hard work to make sure we win in November.
I have a list of actions you can take at the bottom of this article. DO THEM. IF YOU TAKE ACTION WE WILL WIN. Our outcome is literally in your hands. Do what you can and encourage action in your friends. When someone expresses distress, ask them what they are DOING. Then share this (or another) article with them that gives them ideas for action.
In addition, remember that taking the Senate is another important way to protect our democracy. If we win the presidency, the Senate will give us the ability to enact real change. If we lose, it will protect us from real damage.
Let’s grab that gavel from Moscow Mitch (and maybe even take his seat). Any money you're able to donate now will get held in escrow for the Democratic primary winner in our nine top chance states for flipping and for Alabama incumbent Doug Jones.
Click Here to Donate to Flipping the Senate.
No really, take a break from reading this and
Click Here to Donate to Flipping the Senate.
Good News
One of the ONLY things keeping trump looking as strong as he is (not that strong) is the stock market. Odds are that this crazy growth is NOT going to continue through November. This is not bad news because corrections are necessary in a market that is above where it should be. It is GOOD news because it will take a key argument from trump:
Goldman Sachs warns of stock market correction
Stocks keep reaching record highs. Goldman Sachs is worried that leaves investors vulnerable to surprises.
The investment bank told clients this week that a near-term correction, in which the market slides at least 10% from a recent peak, "is looking much more probable."
The ninth Democratic debate of this election cycle, which saw candidates tear into former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg in his first appearance, was the most-watched ever, drawing just under 20 million total viewers.
I am guessing, based on comments, that few readers here are in favor of Bloomberg as their candidate (although if you are that is great — we don’t do pie fights here). But Bloomberg’s trolling of Trump is something amazing:
Healthcare played a key role in our winning in 18 and it looks like it can help us this year too
We still have great allies → Roger Stone Judge Amy Berman Jackson: Look Out, America, ABJ Is the New RBG
“The truth still exists; the truth still matters,” Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Thursday at the sentencing of the president’s favorite dirty trickster, Roger Stone. It may have seemed like an obvious statement, but as Trumpworld continues its assault on the rule of law, things like the truth mattering seem slightly obscured by the current political climate of relentless lying.
along comes Judge Amy Berman Jackson, emerging like a phoenix from the ashes of the Mueller investigation.
and just in case it was stressing you out → That Wisconsin poll was pretty skewed
in the WI sample, they have more Republicans than Democrats, by around 6%. That doesn’t make sense as the state is pretty evenly divided. I won’t go as far as “unskew” the polls, but I wouldn’t freak out about it.
The state is more split and the Quinnipiac sample appears more right leaning than it should be and has a lot less indie voters than it should have.
And this from Wisconsin:
Lessons From DC
I just got back from a work trip to Washington DC, so I have a little less good news to share than I usually do. However, I did take some pictures of things that inspired me that I wanted to share with you.
I was moved by the idea that, right from the start, our founders realized that we would become more accepting and more progressive and more inclusive and that we should WELCOME those changes:
And this:
I was very moved by images of people protesting. People whose life circumstances were much tougher than most of ours...
People who put their very lives at risk to sit at this lunch counter and insist that they were humans and that unjust laws shouldn’t be followed.
People who refused to stop fighting for an America that includes all people
And quite by accident (we were going to pickup our tour tickets) we ran into an actual protest as it was happening — dozens of young people gathering in the Capital Building to protest climate inaction
This video was posted by someone else, but shows what we saw that morning:
So inspiring.
Our country was founded by an amazing -albeit limited— idea of equality. It was found to be a government for and by the people. A grand experiment in freedom. And brave women and men (and children!) have worked tirelessly and often at great risk to themselves, to expand that credo to include more and more people in “we the people.” I was so moved by their stories.
In addition, I was super moved by the war memories including the Korea memorial...
… and the Vietnam Memorial
I am too young to remember Vietnam but old enough to remember news footage of the groundbreaking of the memorial. I remember the images of grown men weeping at the wall. And I wept as I walked past it myself. All of those young people who died. All of those people whose lives were given for a purpose that is still unclear; for decisions that were not well made.
It also humbled me because it reminded me that our country has seen awful times before. Times, that in many ways, were much worse than today. And we made it out — not without paying a horrible price, but we made it out. We were LED out by people like us. People who were willing to fight for a better America. People whose activism got us out of that war.
And to honor their sacrifice, we need to listen to Lincoln and dedicate ourselves to the great task remaining before us — that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
That is it for this week. Feeling despondent? I get it but also: Snap out of it. Our grandparents crawled though mud and death to fight fascism in war torn Europe. They risked their very lives to fight for the right to vote and to be treated as human. They literally gave their youth and lives for Democracy. All you have to do is donate money, drive people to the polls, march in the streets, go door to door, make phone calls, send postcards…. etc. So suck it up buttercup. America needs you!
Here are some ideas of ways to donate your time from the comfort of your own home (click on the links):
- Get involved with Postcards to voters. Postcards to Voters are friendly, handwritten reminders from volunteers to targeted voters giving Democrats a winning edge in close, key races coast to coast.
- register voters in key battleground states. Vote Forward has active campaigns going in 8 key states to encourage under-represented (potential) voters to register. In 6 of them, the packet you send to each potential voter will include the actual voter registration forms and instructions with pre-paid postage for that state. The folks at Vote Forward have collected data on this technique and determined that it does, indeed, appear to increase voter registration.
- Text voters in key Senate races Payback Project has a comprehensive, four-pronged approach to make sure Republicans Senators are held accountable for their actions, their votes, and their enabling of Donald Trump.
- Contact the campaign of your favorite presidential candidate(s) and find out how to make phone calls to other states. You dial an 800 number once, and the computer will connect you to Democratic voters. No arguments necessary. And it is free (options 1 and 2 aren’t expensive, but do require that you pay for postage)
Here are some ways to get involved outside your house:
- Find volunteer opportunities at Vote Save America Every election matters, even the ones that aren't as sexy as those Iowa caucuses. Rawr. (Too much? Maybe. But get out there and help right now!)
- Get involved with Stacey Abrams Fair Fight which is fighting voter suppression — and already helped us with two huge victories in the south!! Fair Fight is Fighting Back. Fair Fight built and engages a robust network of grassroots activists that works to strengthen democracy at all levels.
- Get involved with your local democratic party
- People who live in or near a state with strict voter ID requirements might wish to help by volunteering with Voteriders. They provide hands-on assistance with getting voter registration and ID, “including obtaining documents (such as birth certificates, change of name records) and arranging rides to and from ID-issuing offices.”
- Sign up to go door to door in your district It’s time we start talking with everybody about the progressive change our country needs. To do this effectively we’ll have to take the time to listen to voters who may not agree with us, but could be persuaded to our cause through civil conversations about what matters most in our lives. #KnockEveryDoor is a volunteer-led organization created in the wake of the disastrous 2016 election.
- Sign up to drive people to the polls Do you have a spare seat to help get somebody to the polls or voter I.D. office? Click the link to let Carpool Vote know when and where you'll be driving, and they will match you with riders!
Here are some ideas for donating:
- Donate to a fund for Democratic candidates that run in the 2020 Senate elections This fund is devoted to the Democratic candidates that run in the 2020 Senate elections against Susan Collins in Maine, Cory Gardner in Colorado, Martha McSally in Arizona, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, Pat Roberts in Kansas, and David Perdue in Georgia.
- Donate to the Unify or Die fund for WHOMEVER our nominee will be 100% of your donation to the Unify or Die Fund will go to the eventual Democratic nominee for President, exactly when they need it most: right after the convention in July 2020, as they enter the general election.
- Donate to Swing Left Swing Left connects you with the most effective actions you can take to help Democrats defeat Trump and the GOP in 2020. Enter your zip code and find out what you can do, right now.
- Donate to the ACLU Donate to the ACLU today to help protect the rights and liberties of people across the country. Right now, they're: Protecting free speech and the right to protest; Defending reproductive freedom; Fighting anti-LGBTQ discrimination; & Safeguarding the rights of refugees and immigrants.
I am so lucky and so proud to be in this with all of you ❤️ ✊ ❤️