Note for the day:
The first Playing to Win went up yesterday. For now, I’m thinking maybe we’ll try a M-W-F schedule for these posts. But perhaps a weekend post would be better for some of you? If you are interested in these posts, feel free to share your thoughts on frequency and times. I found it inspiring yesterday to see what everyone is doing. But this is for you guys, so please speak up about what you want and what works for you.
*****
A couple of our jackals requested a daily political “action” thread, so how about if we try it for a bit and see how that goes? If you guys think it’s useful, we can keep it up, and if it ends up being more “seemed like a good idea at the time,” then we can let it go.
The goal is a poll-free, spin-free, prognostication-free, media-free, what’s-wrong-with-the-other-candidate-free-zone – a political thread where the focus is on ACTION: What can be done to help our candidates, and what are we doing to help them, every day?
The hope is that this will help provide inspiration, and encourage action, as an alternative to anger, frustration and despair.
Everyone is free to chime in about what they are doing for their their preferred candidate. What actions are we taking at Balloon Juice, individually or collectively, to help candidates we believe in?
What might you like to do, if you weren’t stuck on not quite knowing how to go from thinking about doing something to actually doing something?
· Making calls?
· Canvassing?
· Writing postcards?
· Texting for your candidate?
· Donating?
· Registering people to vote?
· Can you bring food and drinks to campaign offices in your area?
· Are you an election judge?
· A poll watcher?
· Can you put together a bullet list of what you like about YOUR preferred candidate?
· Are you available to go to a battleground state to work on a campaign, but can’t afford transportation?
· Do you have frequent flyer miles that could buy that person a ticket to a battleground state?
· If you live in a battleground state, could you host a volunteer who could stay at your house?
· Do you have a great informational article about YOUR preferred candidate? Share it!
· If you have campaign connections, can you connect interested jackals with that campaign?
· Are you an organizer of a postcard-writing campaign who could help other BJ peeps get started?
What else are you doing?
Tell us what actions you’ve taken today, whether it’s calling or donating or canvassing or writing postcards or talking to someone about your candidate, or anything else that’s on that list. Or even something that isn’t!
Forget the other candidates. Tell us what you LIKE about your candidate.
Share your worries or concerns about canvassing or other activities. What’s holding you back?
If Playing to Win appeals to you, what else would you want to see in this space?
Redshift
If any Jackals in Northern Virginia want to go canvassing for Warren with me at noon tomorrow in Falls Church, let me know. It’s more fun with two! If you haven’t done it before, I can take the lead and get you started.
Omnes Omnibus
I hate to start this out on a negative note, so I’ll phrase my concerns as a question. Is there evidence that the postcard writing campaigns are effective? I know a lot of people are doing them, and I commend the effort. But I ask because communications (phone calls, emails, letters, postcards, etc.) from people I don’t know don’t move me at all. It is very possible that I am an outlier here, so I don’t wish to rain on anyone’s parade. Is there any data on it?
FWIW my handwriting is terrible, so I would be crap at doing it.
joel hanes
@Omnes Omnibus:
Here’s a report of a study of what works to motivate voters:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/07/15/how-to-mobilize-reluctant-voters/
Here’s another study :
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/todd_rogers/files/social_pressure.pdf
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: I think someone posted a link about that in yesterday’s thread — I did not click, though.
Personally, I think canvassing and phoning are the way to go — you make a human connection (when they’re home — and that is where postcards have the edge!) — can take a reading of the voter’s commitment and do Q&A or share stories/concerns more readily.
It’s active, not passive.
That said, a lot of people are not comfortable with the face to face aspect.
Elizabelle
I like the MWF idea; it is never hard to scroll back and find the earlier post.
You go, all Juicers and readers who are working to elect Democrats. Among the most important work out there.
Lyrebird
@Omnes Omnibus: Hello esteemed Omnes! I was just gonna ask a related question – two years ago, there was Postcard Patriots and there was another one. I used the other one, just due to minor differences in how easy it was to sign up. It had some success stats listed somewhere… Does someone remember the other site?
To your specific question, iirc different campaigns had different length & content requirements, like the Heitkamp campaign had a *very* specific script, under as much pressure as they were, but for Delgado’s campaign I could pretty much say, “hey, please do vote! From your neighbor…”
I liked it much better than phone banking.
zhena gogolia
I am on monthly donation via ActBlue to Sara Gideon (who is challenging S. Collins), Ditch Mitch, Amy McGrath (challenging McConnell), Hickenlooper (challenging Cory Gardner, and no, don’t tell me to support a purity pony instead, I’m with Hick), and Biden. I have also sent one-time donations to Schiff, Manchin, and Doug Jones (impeachment day was a big outlay for me). I have no idea whether it does any good, but it makes me happy.
WaterGirl
My contribution so far today is indirect, but I will share this anyway.
I added a link to these posts under Featuring for easy reference (details for various devices below).
I added Political Action under Featuring in the sidebar on a computer (or a tablet in landscape mode).
On mobile, you can find Political Action – Playin to Win in the hamburger (and something similar can be found under Featuring and Calling all Jackals at the bottom of every thread, after the comments.)
* We can call the links anything we want. Suggestions welcome.
zhena gogolia
For the midterms I did postcards for the ACLU. It was very easy — they sent the blank cards and I sent them back for them to address them. You couldn’t make a partisan statement, or endorse a candidate, but you urged people to vote and explained why you thought it was important. I really enjoyed it and will do it again if they offer the opportunity.
You don’t have to be able to make a partisan statement — if you just endorse human rights, it’s clear you’re supporting the Dems.
Elizabelle
Also want to say: I personally do not like phone banking. But finding someone home who will talk to me and supports my candidate really inspires me to go on.
With the demise of landlines, it seems slightly easier to find a voter who picks up. They have their cell phones with them.
Also: you can set up a local phone number via Google voice. I have a California cell number, which I’ve had for years, and it does nothing for getting calls through on the East Coast. Much better response rate when I dialed via Google voice.
I think the deal there is you get one free “local” number and then have to pay (maybe $10 — don’t quote me) for other ones. But the nominal cost would be worth it, for trying to reach voters in the Carolinas, for example.
I had a law student tell me last week that he would make phone calls for us, even though it’s not his preference. He mentioned being introverted — if I remember the exact phrase will share it. I thought “you and the majority of Juicers, I think.
joel hanes
If you’re writing postcards, this study tells you the kinds of things you can say that will actually change people’s behavior.
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/todd_rogers/files/motivating.pdf
So your postcard might work better if it says
“You can be a true American hero by voting.”
than if it says
“Voting is a good thing to do.”
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I added links to these posts under Featuring and Calling All Jackals for easy access. The most recent post will always be on top.
Omnes Omnibus
@joel hanes: Thanks. I might not respond to these things because I am already a motivated voter, so anything exhorting me to get out and vote is coal to Newcastle.
@Elizabelle: I can’t do face to face or phone banking this cycle. Too much anger. I would not be good at persuading people; yelling at them for being stupid won’t be helpful. I’ll be limiting myself to behind the scenes stuff. Phone bankers need pizza and caffeine.
Cheryl Rofer
Many thanks to WaterGirl, who got me back into Balloon Juice this morning after an update to Windows 10 messed up ALL my passwords and tabs.
Beware the latest update to Windows 10!
Redshift
@Omnes Omnibus: I have certainly seen research that suggests that nothing has much effect, and that personal contact is the best of almost-nothing. However, as a counterpoint, I’m listening to Chris Hayes interview with John Favreau (Obama speechwriter and now podcaster), making the point that yes, 90+% of people have fixed opinions and you’re not going to persuade them, but elections are won and lost in that <10%. It also seems like political scientists mostly study persuasion (and find no effect on that), but campaign strategy is almost all about turnout.
joel hanes
@Lyrebird:
Does someone remember the other site?
Postcards to voters ?
https://postcardstovoters.org/
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Good point.
Once the campaigns really gear up, filled with offices and organizers: sign up to cook some delicious food for them. Or even buy it.
You can do vegan, vegetarian, meat and potatoes, salad, dessert. Whatever you would like to provide. The organizers don’t get to eat much, otherwise, and volunteers can give us extra time if they are not cooking and cleaning after.
Be sure to put your name and cell number in tape or a message under your crockpot/serving dish, etc.
A campaign runs on its stomach. And cell phone battery.
WaterGirl
@joel hanes: If you guys keep adding resources, I can add organize and compile them in some useful format and attach them to these posts for easy access.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus:
I left that one off the list of ideas. Added now, thanks!
joel hanes
@Omnes Omnibus:
One thing that can be done is to find and help fund grassroots GOTV efforts that have been effective in past cycles. For example, in Texas :
https://juanitajean.com/texas-my-texas/
laura
Face to face is effective – especially when you can turn the conversation to ask what the voters issues are. Except for hostile encounters, my experience has been that people want to be acknowledged and engaged, not talked to in a way that feels talked down to.
I’ve done decades of campaign work from candidate events, phone banking to GOTV and knock and drop (knock and drop is the least effective IMHO) and poll watching. All my family and many of my friends call me as they fill out their vote by mail ballots because I am diligent about propositions and judges, as well as candidates and I can share the why as well as the who. It’s not a super power, but it helps for those who don’t have the time or inclination to obsess over politics. I grew up in a family that considers politics and citizenship in all its forms as a bedrock principle of decency.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: All I have to offer is a data point of one: I ignore all slick campaign literature, and I don’t pick up the phone for campaign calls.
But I will read a hand-written postcard, so they are definitely effective with me.
Duane
Make sure the people you know are registered to vote and they go to the polls.
Redshift
@Elizabelle:
I remember hearing a year or two about text banking instead of phone banking, because of that problem. Apparently younger voters aren’t bothered by getting random campaign texts. But I haven’t heard anything about that in recent campaigns. I wonder if they decided it wasn’t effective, or what.
JGabriel
I think a twice a week schedule would be best: Sun./Thurs. or Mon. / Fri. – one post at the beginning of the week to let people know what’s coming up / going on that week, and one post towards the end of the week to summarize what happened during the week and let people know what’s coming up / going on for the weekend.
Plus, you won’t burn out as quickly from twice a week posts as you would from three times a week.
WaterGirl
If any of you have a quote that inspires you to get up off the couch and get out there and fight, I would love it if you would share them here in the comments. Or you could send them to me by email.
Jinchi
The change in outcomes is in voter turnout, not getting people to switch parties. John McCain won almost all of George W.’s 2004 voters. Obama gained 10 million more votes than John Kerry. Inspire a non-voter to get to the polls. That’s the Democratic path to victory.
JGabriel
I seem to recall from previous election cycles that there is evidence, at least of the anecdotal variety, to show that postcard writing campaigns are effective for the general election.
I don’t recall anything, either way, on their usefulness or success during the primaries though.
joel hanes
@WaterGirl:
I’ve been what we used to call “radicalized” for a long time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEFsBF1X1ow
I feel like I owe it to someone. — Neil Young
H.E.Wolf
http://PostcardsToVoters.org has data on the measurable – significantly so – increase in voter participation re: FL Vote By Mail. It’s in their Facebook posts, and it’s also in the material they send out to writers.
It will take me a while to find the Facebook posts; if I can’t find it in a quick search right now, I’ll include it in comments in the next “Action” post.
Re: terrible handwriting: One of the reasons I’m a slow postcard writer is that I print, and then I white out the unreadable words/characters (sigh) and re-do them. Then my hand cramps up and I take a break after 2 postcards.
(This is why I appreciate Postcards To Voters’ minimum of 5 cards, with 3 days in which to do them. And also why I found the cheapest postcards possible, so I can rip one up and start over without trashing my bank account.)
FelonyGovt
@Omnes Omnibus: Anecdata, but I received a handwritten postcard a couple years ago for a City Council candidate I wasn’t familiar with. I kept the card, found out more about her, and wound up voting for her.
I hope they work. I’m spending a lot of time writing them. ?
Redshift
@Jinchi: I hear this a lot, but Favreau makes a pretty convincing argument that this is not enough. Both he and Rachel Bitecofer at CNU (studying the Virginia midterms and off-year elections) note that there are surges in Republican turnout, too. (Part of how Trump won.) Favreau, in particular, points out that there are a lot more non-college white people than the type of people we’re trying to turn out. That isn’t to say we shouldn’t focus on that (we should), but we shouldn’t assume that it’s all we need to do to win.
(Interview here.)
Redshift
@WaterGirl: It’s not exactly inspirational, but one of the quotes I always have in mind that keeps me doing campaign work (now more than ever) is Howard Dean’s “It’s not enough to beat the margin of error, we have to beat the margin of cheating.” (I’d love to have the exact quote if anyone can find it; Google is failing me.)
JoeyJoeJoe
@Redshift: I’ll be canvassing for her at 3pm, from the Alexandria location.
Elizabelle
@Redshift: Good question. I will ask my organizer and get back to you all on that one.
Come to think of it, I am getting a lot of texts from EWarren and Bernie.
None from Bloomberg so far.
Redshift
@H.E.Wolf:
Yeah, I remember one time the Dean campaign was having us write actual letters to voters. I discovered that I hardly hand write anything any more, and trying to write an entire page of text made my hand cramp.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
This is my “pep aria,” La mamma morta (go to 2:53 to get to the good stuff)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5FfGb5qtDU
Omnes Omnibus
Thank you to everyone for the info about postcards. I don’t think I will head down that road, but I am glad that there is evidence to support that all the effort people are putting in has a positive result.
Cheryl Rofer
From Albert Camus, of all people:
FelonyGovt
“I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty is always a great, kick-ass go-get-‘em song for me.
Redshift
@Elizabelle: I’ve gotten fundraising texts and volunteer recruitment texts from Warren and Sanders, but not individual persuasion/voter ID contact similar to phone banking. (I’m pretty sure they’re automated mass texts, too.)
I think I got one from Bloomberg, but I can’t remember what it was.
H.E.Wolf
For folks anywhere in Washington State: if you would like to volunteer for the WA Democrats, their website is here: https://www.wa-democrats.org/
Volunteer page is here: https://www.wa-democrats.org/volunteer/
There is no ticky box for “Tasks for introverts, please” – but you can ask for those tasks when you hear from the field organizer.
If you’re in the Seattle area and want tasks for introverts, call (206) 583-0664 and ask for the Operations Manager.
Scout211
@Omnes Omnibus:
I think it’s good to have different ways to contact different voters. I personally would be more inclined to read a postcard or mailer than the (in my opinion) obnoxious text messages and attempts to reach me by phone. So it’s good to include different types of contacts, I think.
Redshift
@JoeyJoeJoe:
Cool!
katdip
I live in solid blue northern CA so I’m trying to figure out how best to help in swing states for both President and the Senate. I’m donating to Dem candidates or Act Blue’s “anyone challenging the Republican” funds, and I’ve done some postcard writing. Any thoughts on how best to help out beyond that? I may be in a position to go canvass closer to the general election, but right now I have more money than time. Would it be helpful at this point in the cycle to support the GOTV and voting rights organizations that are trying to get people registered or back on the rolls (especially in states where they are purging)? Which organization do folks recommend? I’ve donated to Stacy Abrams’ group in GA – recommendations for others in TX, WI, OH, or elsewhere?
MazeDancer
Yes, Postcards motivate.
Many people offered links.
As BJ’s resident “PostCard Patriot” – with many decades in AdBiz – gonna take you through some stuff. Which, no doubt, will have to repeat over the coming months
Essentially, they are the 2nd most effective tool for GOTV. Canvassing is number 1. PostCards are highly effective for GOTV for midterms and special elections. They remind people it is time to vote.
Whether or not they can persuade for a specific candidate has yet to be measured. And almost impossible to measure. But a clever, well-designed PostCard can’t hurt.
Like all tools, they require proper timing. Close to voting as possible.
They also must be hand-written. Hand-colored even better. The more mass-produced they are, the more likely they are to get thrown away. Do not fall for cranking them out strategies.
People are so desperate to do something, they want to write PostCards now. This is a waste of time and effort.
Please know there are groups who will encourage you to write PostCards now. And hit you up for money later.
There are also groups whose main goal is to sell you ugly, mass-produced postcards. And hit you up for money later.
Please avoid wasting your precious time with these groups.
PostCard Patriots was started so people with any kind of issues – health, emotional, physical, whatever – who can’t canvas could make a meaningful contribution. This group highly overlaps with people who connect online, Like at BJ and Twitter.
Which is why there is so much interest.
Also, an easily exploitable “market”.
PostCards were so successful, that it is highly likely candidates and states will have their own programs. Virginia has a good one, already.
Many of those will fail because the postcards will look mass-produced.
There is much more to say, and, eventually, I will cover it. But let me say one important thing now:
Do not be an ableist.
Not everyone can canvas. To dismiss their vital contributions and proven ability to impact elections because you, from your healthy, able-bodied perspective threw away a mass-produced postcard once, think only canvassing counts is the worst kind of privileged thinking.
And let me repeat: If someone, exploiting your desire to contribute, hits you up for a monthly pledge – do not fall for it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Cheryl Rofer:
No problem here.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Redshift: Some lower end cell phone plans don’t have unlimited texting and incoming texts count against the limit.
Carol
One suggestion Water Girl…put a link to Playing to Win in a prominent place on the home page so that people like me who missed its introduction yesterday can catch up.
schrodingers_cat
Good for Warren
Another Scott
Kindness is good. And necessary.
(via Popehat)
Cheers,
Scott.
Humdog
I know there are big pushes happening right now to get people who’ve been purged from voter rolls re registered in and Wisconsin. Is anyone here involved with that?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WaterGirl:
This isn’t a quote but it’s still inspiring. It’s John Lewis’s 80th birthday today.
Billcoop4
@Elizabelle: Great idea for food. You’d probably have to count it as an in-kind donation. Might be subject to the contribution limit?
I’m not sure but something to be aware of.
Redshift
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Good point. I would hope that any such program would be targeted to the kind of people who use texting as their primary telecommunication mode, not just blanketing everyone.
And also have a good opt-out option. In my experience, campaigns have responded much better to “don’t contact me again” responses to texts (and to emails, for the most part) than to phone calls. Even the Bernie campaign never texted me again after I used the “no, thanks” option on their initial text.
Jinchi
@Redshift: Definitely there are surges on both sides. But non voters are often concentrated in groups who either don’t think their voice is valued or don’t think they are being represented. I had a good Latina friend who was very politically active but rarely got out to vote because she didn’t think her vote would make a difference
Sometimes just asking for someone’s vote is worth the effort.
bbleh
Donated! To Warren and Buttigieg. Covering my bases.
frosty
@WaterGirl: Here’s a second data point. I don’t read the slicks and I don’t answer calls. I read the postcards though.
UncleEbeneezer
@katdip: Find a SwingLeft group near you if you can. They will give you all kinds of chances to help Red/Purple states in various ways. That’s what we are doing here in Pasadena/Altadena. Sunday we will be letter-writing GOTV or voter registration for Swing States and/or states that are fighting voter suppression.
Jess
I’m an art history professor in an area that tends not to be politically engaged. Whenever I can do so gracefully, I talk about the importance of this sort of engagement in my lectures, how people have changed their world and their lives through action. I also distribute info on how to register to vote and set up absentee voting, and then when the elections come around, I give extra credit points on their midterms for voting. From the feedback I’ve gotten, I’ve increased the voters among my students by 10 – 20%. Overall, the percentage of voters among my students is well above the average at about 70 – 80%. Even better, we often have a fun chat sharing voting stories after the election, which I hope nurtures a culture of voting among the youngs. This year, MassPirg helped by putting together an info sheet on registration to distribute, which I did, and they reported that the numbers of students registering doubled! So progress is being made…
Marcopolo
@katdip:I’m aware that CA is a rather long state north to south but if you are anywhere near CA-1 (NE CA–like all of NE CA) Audrey Denny’s campaign would love to have help from you to flip this seat currently held by Doug LaMalfa. I gave her money in the 2018 cycle and have made a couple small donations for this year.
Her campaign website
AliceBlue
@UncleEbeneezer: Great suggestion! I’ve been involved with a Swing Left group for a couple of years now, working on races in Georgia and Alabama. I’m also a poll worker, and we really do appreciate folks bringing lunch to us on election day, since we can’t leave the polling place.
As a motivator, I can’t get enough of the old Fifth Dimension song “Save the Country”. “I’ve got fury in my soul/fury’s going to take me to the glory goal” gets me jumping up, fists in the air, screaming ‘YESSSS”!
realbtl
I like to supply food but I call or stop by to see what is needed. Sometimes it is not pizza and caffeine but water and a veggie tray.
Redshift
@MazeDancer:
Absolutely. I talk a lot about canvassing because it’s the thing I do. I’m somewhat an introvert, and I can do it, so I hope I can convince other people that it’s not as scary as they might think.
I am physically able to phone bank, but I hate it and I’m terrible at it. It’s great that there are ways that people of varying abilities are able to make a difference, and I would never discourage anyone from any of them (except, as you point out, the scammy ones.)
I will also say that above and beyond the effectiveness of any particular action, it is well worth getting involved because it can make you feel less discouraged and beaten down. That’s better for mental health, and it also helps you convey a hopeful attitude toward people you’re in contact with.
KithKanan
@?BillinGlendaleCA: This is still true, but not nearly as true as it was a decade ago. Even the majority of the cheap prepaid plans sold in corner stores have unlimited text at this point, and many have unlimited talk.
I haven’t gotten (or at least haven’t answered since if I don’t know the number I let it go to voicemail which they haven’t left) any campaign calls this season, but I have gotten personal texts from volunteers for Warren (x3, on the first one I admitted to being a Warren supporter so I’m clearly in the database as a potential – the others have tried to recruit me for specific things but I’ve been in a pit of despair for other reason so haven’t said yes yet plus I’m in the same boat as Omnes where I don’t think I could not yell at people), Bernie, and my local county Democratic party in an attempt to flip my County Supervisor district (officially nonpartisan, but the race is somewhat nationalized this year) from red to blue. Oddly that last is also the one postcard I remember getting so far, from someone in the midwest somewhere. Wasn’t expecting that one.
Marcopolo
For folks in and around St Louis, here are links for my local Indivisible group. We are writing postcards and doing street visibility protests:
Indivisible StL Twitter
Indivisible StL FB
I’m also working on several campaigns which include: Jill Schupp who is looking to flip MO-2 from red to blue (in 2018 we only fell about 15,000 votes short–about 4%) & state legislative races that fall within the boundaries of MO-2, including my favorite candidate Helena Webb, who is running to flip MOH-100 from red to blue.
The MO-2 congressional race is listed in 4th place nationally for flipping this cycle. Here’s a link for the campaign website.
Everyone have a great weekend and for folks going door to door I wish you nice weather for canvassing!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@KithKanan: The plan we were on, until about 4 years ago, had unlimited talk, but a limit of 10 or 20 texts per month. After you used your text allotment(outgoing and incoming) it was a $1 per text.
Marcopolo
Actually one last post. Amanda Litman, the woman who founded Run For Something did this great tweet thread about the value of showering love and attention on down ballot state & local elections & groups that do work in that area even when we all agree that Trump is the giant existential threat.
Here it is (if you go to her Twitter she has it pinned at the top):
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Maybe 15 years ago, I got a postcard in the mail from MIT or someplace. It said something like:
No contact information, no return address, just some generic information about a study or something.
It was kinda creepy. But it is public information and it made me look at it and think about it for a while before I threw it in the recycling.
I think it might have been related to something here, but I don’t have time to check. I think they were hoping to find out if such “neighbor shaming” increased turn-out in subsequent elections.
My gut tells me that over-produced political ads get ignored and thrown in the recycling without even looking, except maybe less than a week before the election.
However, I think people will look at unique mail, especially if it’s handwritten.
Cheers,
Scott.
KithKanan
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I know plans like that exist but that sounds seriously insane to me. Admittedly I’ve only had a mobile phone since 2007 but I’ve never had a plan that charged me more to text than to talk (I’ve had pay-by-the-minute prepaid plans that charged me for both, and they charged more for MMS, but basic texts and a minute of voice were both $0.10 even then)
joel hanes
We can do this.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-enthusiasm-exclusive-idUSKBN20D1EG
J R in WV
@joel hanes:
I don’t subscribe to the WaPo, but I took a good look at the Todd Rogers et al paper.
In my viewpoint, they wasted their time and money researching a Black Swan election to recall Scott Walker in Wisconsin, because researching how voters reacted in an election that is unique in American history and cannot be replicated, ever is nearly as irrelevant as it is possible for political science to become.
The fact that political scientists didn’t notice the unique nature of that election and chose to investigate something that one would wish to have relevance in future elections, as opposed to working on something, anything, that might be relevant to other elections in the future is, well, not as amazing as I would have hoped.
Dumb, dumber, dumbest of all, which describes this research best? Why not all three?
Kent
We got a hand-written post card last election (2018) for our local Dem challenger to our GOP Congresswoman. It was actually kind of cool and came from out of state. It was obvious someone had hand-written it in a thoughtful way. Our votes weren’t in doubt. But was surprisingly nice to feel the connection with another voter and person somewhere else.
MazeDancer
@Redshift:
So important
Also, your point about being an introvert, yet, canvassing is what you can do is essential.
People who are scared to do it – which is pretty much everyone – usually find out by the second or third house, it’s a breeze. And can actually be fun. Especially in groups.
You can just keep others company. Hold the clipboard. Smile and nod. It is way easier, and much more effective, than phnebanking.
Kay Jay
Delurking because I didn’t see it mentioned: Jen Hoffmann’s site, Americans of Conscience is a good “go to” source for postcard writers. Get out the vote, thank yous, other campaigns. It’s a great resource!
Also, those scarves Momsense knitted for Tamara’s ducks are the cutest things ever!
Kent
Thought-provoking article in the Bilgramage blog today (liberal Christian-oriented blog).
http://bilgrimage.blogspot.com/2020/02/is-it-that-democrats-lost-white.html
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: @H.E.Wolf: Hmm…I make a fairly decent lasagna. I can easily make a vegetarian version that even meat eaters love. And in the end it’s really not that expensive to make. Ideas. I haz them.
JoeyJoeJoe
North Carolina is a good state to check out; competitive presidential race, also Senate, Governor, and all other statewide elected officials. Also, the Republican congressional map was thrown out, so two republican districts have been converted to districts so democratic that the Republican congresspeople decided not to even bother running for re-election
WaterGirl
@Carol: I added Playing to Win under Featuring in the sidebar (and in hamburger on mobile).
I also added Playing to Win – Just Do Something under Calling All Jackals.
Do you think that is prominent enough?
Mousebumples
Re postcards, I can see having a physical personalized card being a good mental reminder to forgetful voters. I’m a reliable voter but forgetful about other stuff and I have similar things on a cork board to remind me. Others could pin your postcard if needed.
Other thoughts for this theme post – guest posts with stories about gotv experiences, etc.
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples:
That could certainly be incorporated! I was also thinking that if people share quotes that inspire them, we could feature a quote, when we have them.
joel hanes
@J R in WV:
So what is your advice for what to write on a postcard that might motivate a voter who would otherwise be inclined not to vote?
joel hanes
For those of you with money to give :
Obama’s All On The Line GOTV organization :
https://allontheline.org/
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/communityorganizingfund
Stacey Abrams’s Fair Fight organization
https://fairfight.com/
Another Scott
@WaterGirl:
Snopes:
Voting matters, but who we vote for matters a lot, also too. We can’t have a sensible representative government unless we vote for sensible people (and keep nonsensible people out) . And that means always, always voting for the lesser evil if we can’t vote for our heroes.
Cheers,
Scott.
Lyrebird
@joel hanes:
Thanks so much!
And belated thanks to you for answering one of my other questions like a month ago or something. I got the response but the thread was long past.
UncleEbeneezer
VoteSaveAmerica is fundraising to pay 1,000 field organizers in crucial swing states in 2020. Goal is $500K and they are about half-way there.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: I did the math, and that comes to $500 per organizer, which gave me pause for a minute until I recalled that they were teaming up with some other organization, and the $500,000 was their goal to raise toward the joint effort.
But I don’t recall the name of the other organization.
H.E.Wolf
@joel hanes:
My fave, http://PostcardsToVoters.org, supplies 3 sentences of required text for each GOTV campaign (the 3 sentences are supplied/vetted by the candidate or state party for which one is writing), and a page of additional optional phrases, also supplied/vetted by the candidate or state party.
Some of them are hokey to my ears and delightfully to-the-point to others’.. and vice versa. That said, I like having the work of creative composition done by someone else. :)
[Edited to fix 2 typos (no, 3 typos!). About standard for my postcard typo rate, as well.]
debbie
I’m not sure if this is relevant to the thread, but I took the afternoon off and voted early. There was one other voter in a huge Costco-like building with at least 50 voting machines and even more pollworkers just hanging out. I was done in less than a nanosecond (easy since the Dem ballot listed only Dems, ha ha), but the best part was that they told me the early vote ballots will be the first ones to be counted on Election Day. I remember hearing a while back that some precincts hadn’t bothered to count provisional ballots, which made me more than a little concerned that early ballots might not be included. Between knowing this and the ease of voting early, I’m done with the Election Day ritual!
Wapiti
Just got my ballot in the mail (WA State). Have filled it out. If my wife completes hers, I’ll drop them both today, but mine is definitely going out this afternoon.
GC
@Kent: Thanks for the link. An interesting article.
BroD
I’ve put in a lot of shoe-leather mileage for candidates over the years but I’m going to have to limit that this round and participate via Visa for the the most part. I’m not that committed to any specific Presidential candiidate at this point and have found the contest to date pretty depressing. I’ve contributed to more than one of the candidates (all women, interestingly–but not because of gender.)
For the time being, I’m focusing on the House and Senate. I’ve given to the Democratic campaign committees but, a rule, I avoid making pre-primary contributions to specific out-of-state candidates. At this point, I’m scoping out which races are the best targets for contributions .
joel hanes
@Lyrebird:
You’re welcome twice.
I’m often very late on threads. It would be swell if BJ commenting had a “notify my via email of replies” function, but if one exists, I’m not aware of it.