Ronald Brownstein has a good article about concerns that I am beginning to have, although I look at things a bit differently.
Anxiety is growing among a broad range of civil-rights, democracy-reform, and liberal groups over whether Democrats are responding with enough urgency to the accelerating Republican efforts to both suppress voting and potentially overturn future Democratic election victories.
The Republican efforts are concentrated in a number of states: Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, and several others. Here in New Mexico, we are happily moving into a future somewhat like what most jackals would want. I can’t yell at my legislators, because they are doing things mostly right.
So I will yell at the jackals in those red states: What are y’all doing to stop the descent into one-party rule? What is anyone doing? From the news, it looks like we are obedient sheep marching into the Gaetz-ification of the United States. But the news doesn’t present the full story. I know there are lawsuits in progress, for example.
Brownstein focuses on President Joe Biden and Congress, which is fair enough, but action should be going on in those red states. Are voters being registered? Are there protests outside the unconstitutional doings in state legislatures? Letters to the editor? We’ve got to go public with the news that the Republicans are destroying democracy. And keep saying it over and over again.
What are you seeing in your state? What are you doing? Can you use some help from out of state, because it’s driving me kind of frantic I can’t do something about it. Let’s focus on that, not on our favorite Democratic punching bags, unless you’re in their state and doing something about them.
Spanky
An ancillary question is, what can those of us in blue states (MD here) do about it?
Invading PA at this point seems premature
Eta: Hogan is term-limited out, so yes, we should be guaranteeing a viable Dem candidate. For a change.
Spanky
“Republican destruction of democracy” would have sounded so shrill just 5 years ago, yet here we are.
Ejoiner
So, here in South Carolina:
Good news – I’m seeing a lot of noise from the liberal/progressive/democratic locals on twitter and Joe Cunningham is up to challenge McMaster next year I believe
Bad news – this state was decimated in the 2020 election cycle; Democrats who had been in for years were wiped out and our big ticket names (Harrison!) lost by significantly bad numbers. And our legislature is all red meat, all the time now.
Pretty disheartening to be honest.
Spanky
Has everyone else been raptured?
FlyingToaster
Up heah in functionally one-party (D) Massachusetts, I’m supporting the Groundwork Project, which partners with local groups working on voter registration, voter outreach, voting rights, etc. Started by Joe Kennedy after he lost to Ed Markey (and feel free to read up on the Markeyverse), they’re being very selective in who they partner with. And they tell you (email every damn day) who they’re focussing on today.
RaflW
Texas is an absolute nightmare. I hope it’s some wild over reach, and that the demographic changes there combine with absurd policy ‘wins’ by Abbot & Co. drive new voter behavior.
And by demographics, I mean at least in part that Texas’s cities are educated, dynamic, growing places that elect Dem mayors. The suburbs of those cities need to be some of the key battlegrounds. College degree Texans shouldn’t be out of reach by Dems. I don’t have fabulous ideas, but as a TCU grad I did support the Tarrant County Dems last cycle, and will again.
In terms of the other big demographic shift in TX, I support Jolt Initiative & Jolt Action (they have both a c3 and a c4 so they can do a variety of work). I’d be very interested in other Texas opportunities.
I maintain family ties in TX, but I fled when Dubya passed concealed-carry. As a gay person in a state that then still had a sodomy law, it was the final tiny nudge I needed to GTFO. Summers were also hot as f*ck and lasted into October, and the Austin job market was always a PITA if you weren’t a techbro transferring from the then-more-expensive West.
UncleEbeneezer
@Spanky: Exactly. I live in the Blue Socialist Republic of CA and I have no idea what I or the countless organizers/activists can do to get a WV (and/or AZ) Senator to budge. I’m not sure that Biden has some magical Green Lantern power to get Manchin in line or how we would get him to use it if he did. In the meantime, we have our own struggles to try and take back CA-25 (Katie Hill’s district) and others to try to keep the House in 2022. Some local groups like Field Team 6 (a great group for anyone of my fellow SoCal residents who want to get involved) are already phone banking to voters there to lay the groundwork for 2022. Everything I understand is that pressure on elected officials needs to come from their local constituents. I’m not sure what group exists in WV. Are there any good ones that we should be supporting/signal boosting? Do they actually have influence with Manchin? I’ve looked into AZ for Sinema but haven’t really found many good leads. I’m also not sure that Manchin/Sinema etc. are reachable that way. Perhaps this could be a good avenue to explore for the BJ activism threads (especially given the blog founder being a WV resident).
Omnes Omnibus
Wisconsin has a good field coming out against Ron Johnson. It’s too early for me to pick one of them, but there are some really good people on the list. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is a charisma fireball and Tom Nelson (Outagamie County executive) is bit of a Sherrod Brown type – a solid old fashioned liberal who has been able to win in a red area without compromising. Sarah Godlewski (Treasurer) is filling my email with news and requests for money, so she is at least aggressive.
SteveinPHX
Insanity continues in AZ (headline from the Arizona Republic) this morning:
Another election audit coming? Arizona Senate considers using new technology for digital recount
If you don’t like the 11/6/20 election results, you keep recounting until you get your preconcieived results.
Frank Wilhoit
The time for urgency was in 1980.
Omnes Omnibus
@Frank Wilhoit: 1. Even if true, unbelievably unhelpful. 2. Kindly go fuck yourself.
Gin & Tonic
@Frank Wilhoit: So let’s give up. We’re all going to die anyway.
Josie
@RaflW: Texas is, indeed, a nightmare due to voter suppression measures and horrid gerrymandering. Beto O’Rourke’s group Powered by People is doing the hard work of reaching out to voters in all parts of the state, making calls, knocking on doors, and registering people. Personal contact is the best way to overcome the odds. They could use donations to further their work.
ETA: https://poweredxpeople.org/
UncleEbeneezer
Wait Cheryl weren’t you the one saying that Manchin’s Voting Rights proposal gave you hope that things are close to budging (either him or moderate GOP Sens) just the other day? ??
To be clear, just teasing. I too go back and forth between small rays of optimism and outright panic on this issue, depending on the day.
Omnes Omnibus
@UncleEbeneezer: Action on one front does not preclude action on others.
Chetan Murthy
Cheryl, your post is apposite: I received an email from an org in TX that I have donated heavily to in the last few cycles: they wanted to talk about 2022. Sigh. I wrote ’em back basically saying “I’m not even sure campaigns are a good place to send my money, as opposed to GOTV orgs”. Hegar was a disappointment, and so were Greenfield and Gideon (spit, keeping $m after the campaign was over? really?)
I know I’m going to be paying my “insurance premium for a barely-functional democracy” for 2022: it’s cheaper than exile. But I sure want to find the right places to send $$, to have maximum impact.
Concretely: In 2020 I sent probably 10x to Texas, what I sent to Georgia. Hmm …. maybe I should have made it a bit more even?
And then, I remember reading that there was so much money sloshing around in so many campaigns, that they really didn’t need so much. Makes me wonder where the real funding gaps are. Or makes me wonder where the money can do some good.
I remember reading about how postcards have some modest hit-rate, and then wonder if maybe I should use my techie skills to hook up one of those mechanical drawing systems to make postcards. But then I remember that I’ve literally never read such a postcard when I get one.
Hard to know what to do for maximum effect. Or even for “just better than last time, dammit” effect.
Chetan Murthy
@Josie: And will it do any good? I look at the stats from last cycle and despair: if people of color in Texas are so godforsaken stupid as to not understand that it’s their *necks* on the block along with the rest of us, then what’s the *use*?
Cheryl Rofer
@UncleEbeneezer: I still stand behind the earlier post, which was about Biden’s actions. But I think we need action at many levels. Grassroots action will help reinforce any public messages Biden may send, as Brownstein recommends, and Biden will help that along.
I’m seeing some very good suggestions. Keep ’em coming!
WaterGirl
@Frank Wilhoit:
The best time to plant an oak tree was 50 years ago. The second best time is today.
Josie
@Chetan Murthy: I believe personal outreach will be effective. Beto is the only Democrat who has even come close in a statewide race, due to his dedication to personal contact. The fault in Texas, as I stated, is not due to people not wanting to vote, but to the structural impediments the Republicans have erected over the last 20 years. People have to be encouraged and helped to struggle through the maze to get their vote counted.
hells littlest angel
Those of us in solidly blue states can throw some money to Fair Fight.
TerryTime
@Spanky: Bush v. Gore, 2000
UncleEbeneezer
@Omnes Omnibus: I never suggested otherwise. We always have to juggle multiple concerns. Though there are only so many hours in the day so to some extent you can’t do everything, and as I understand it from long term organizers, the ones who get the best results and biggest victories are usually the ones who pick one lane/goal/issue and focus predominantly on that, for years.
That said, the question is still: what can those of us who don’t live in WV (and/or AZ) ACTUALLY DO to try to get movement on filibuster reform->ForThePeopleAct? With GA it was: support Stacy Abrams org, write postcards etc. What is the remote-support task for this?
Kosh III
Tennessee is super-red. We have 5 D Senators out of 33 and a sooperdooper majority in the House plus a Theocratic R governor who loves executions while claiming to be pro-life.
All elected by people who buy their propaganda completely.
And our Senators? Have you seen Marsha Blackburn sigh…..
A few years back a congresscritter (desJarlas) who ran on anti-abortion platform was found to have impregnated his girlfriend (not his wife) and he coerced the girlfriend to get an abortion. Still he got re-elected.
I’m 70 and just hoping that I’m dead and buried before the ship really hits the fan like the oncoming Climate Catastrophes or we descend totally into warmongering Fascism.
Kelly
I live in deep red rural Oregon. R’s win local races 60/40 or more. D’s win statewide races 60/40 or more. December I made my first contribution to out of state races, the Georgia Senate runoffs. Our wins there were absolutely crucial. I will keep watch for similar races to contribute to. Easy enough since races like the Georgia Senate runoffs generate a lot of national press. Since my local Oregon Legislative races are hopeless I’m going to find close races elsewhere in Oregon to contribute to. Info on Oregon Leg races is a bit sparse. Like US Senate Dems, Oregon Dems have been reluctant to use their majority to respond firmly to R obstruction via pushing rules and traditions. Need fierce Dems like Jeff Merkley in the Leg.
Almost Retired
Even those of us in bluer-than-blue states still have some red, inflamed spots that need to be addressed with healing balm. Here in the Los Angeles area, there are three Congressional seats that the Republicans (barely) swiped back from single-term Dems last year – two in Orange County and one in the Siberia of Los Angeles County (Antelope Valley – Katie Hill’s district). I am definitely working with local campaigns and GOTV efforts next year in these nearby districts. And shaking my fist in the general direction of Arizona (and donating more to Four Directions).
Benw
@WaterGirl: speaking of trees, last month we planted a peach, cherry and apple (graft) tree on our back hill and it seemed like they were really taking. This morning I found the cherry tree broken in half and the other two stripped bare. Probably deer got after them. I’m really bummed out.
UncleEbeneezer
@Chetan Murthy: The problem with Hegar and other high profile races that we ultimately lost, was that the $ came in very late and the polling was bad (underestimating Republican turnout). Getting campaigns $ EARLY is crucial (I believe FPer Doug has written about this). PodSaveAmerica also talked about this recently. Late donations can only really be used for traditional tv ads, which is the big DCCC post-mortem released recently noted, aren’t as effective as digital ads (which need to start early).
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: In the late ’70s, my dad and I transplanted three pine trees from my grandparents’ yard to the yard in the house we had just moved into. My parents moved out of that house to their current one in 1996 (the only people I know who upsized after their kids left). But that house is on the direct route between my parents’ place and my brother’s house. The one tree that survive is a big beautiful pine that is over 40 feet tall. I see it every time I drive by.*
*I hate the color the new people painted it. The timbers on a half-timbered house should be dark not tan.
Jinchi
It’s great that they’re learning this lesson, now.
But, really? They hadn’t figured this out before 2020?
H.E.Wolf
Blue-state resident here. There are lots of things we can do, and they can be small things that add up when many people do them. For me, taking a small, concrete action helps me to stave off despair.
Embedding a link isn’t working for me today, so here is the URL for the postcard group (there are also many others) with which I’ve been volunteering:
Postcards To Voters
They write for liberal Democratic candidates, and provide (via the candidate or the GOTV org.) three sentences per campaign, to be written on every card, plus an array of optional items.
Writers can request as few as 4 cards per batch, and each batch has a 3-day window in which to write them.
The organizers note that they write not just for candidates who are sure winners, but also to seed the ground for future victories by letting Democrats in red states know that they aren’t forgotten.
Sign-up process is detailed on their website. If you can print legibly and use white-out on your typos, you can participate. (I meet those two criteria, especially the white-out part.)
If I could figure out how to do a postcard show-and-tell on Zoom, I would. :)
Mai Naem mobile
Nothing good coming in AZ. Our Koch Ho Governor Douchey(yes, I am being childish) along with the GOP ALEC legislature is trying to pass a flat tax budget because apparently Kansas wasn’t a good enough example. Oh, and our schools aren’t as well funded as the ones in Kansas were pre-Brownback so we still have an opportunity to go from #48 to #50 in schools. One GOP legislator admitted that they’re doing it now because they may not be in the majority next time AZ SOS Katie Hobbs(D) may run for governor but OMG she flew a gay pride flag on her building so the legislature wants to curtail her SOS powers. And,oh, yeah we will be spending $6M on new voting machines in Maricopa County ruined by the Cyber Ninja audit. Cherry on top is Kyrsten Sinema who has decided reelecting Mark Kelly isn’t important in 2022(2020 was a special election) and is not backing filibuster reform even for the John Lewis voting rights bill that she’s a cosponsor of. You can’t make this shit up.
H.E.Wolf
Four Directions (featured in several BJ posts in the past couple of weeks) gets credit for flipping AZ blue in 2020: they turned out the Native American vote in numbers larger than the margin of victory in the Presidential race.
They also turned out the Native American population in the Jan. 2021 special election in GA, helping to bring 2 crucial Democrats to the US Senate.
For 2021-2022, Four Directions is focusing on voter-registration and GOTV among Native populations in AZ, GA, NV, and WI. By their reckoning, these states have a significant pool of Native American potential voters.
If they get enough funds to expand to more states, the next 4 they’d target are CO, MI, MN, and PA.
Website: https://www.fourdirectionsvote.com/
WaterGirl
@Benw: Oh, I am even bummed out. I could literally feel my face fall when I went from reading that new trees are doing well (!) to broken and stripped bare. I love trees. That’s so disappointing.
rikyrah
Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) tweeted at 5:17 AM on Fri, May 28, 2021:
Dr. A.C. Jackson, called “most able Negro surgeon in America,” was shot to death while emerging from his home during Tulsa Race Massacre of a century ago: https://t.co/JPGFPS7NCp
(https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1398221987118469122?s=02)
Old School
@Omnes Omnibus:
My mom did that. She lives in a bigger house now by herself then she did as part of a family of five.
UncleEbeneezer
@Almost Retired: SwingLeft will surely do canvassing for those districts if you have any interest. I think I may, even though it’s not that appealing to me, but it’s supposedly the most effective tactic and was a huge part of the Blue Wave in 2018.
HinTN
@Omnes Omnibus: There’s that damn tan suit again
ETA: I don’t disagree about the “timbers should be dark” gestalt.
Don K
Here in MI, our Rep legislature is offset by a Dem governor with a veto pen, so hunky-dory, right? WELL, the initiative is in the state constitution, and one of its provisions is that, once the signatures are certified, the proposal goes to the legislature for an up-or-down vote, and if the legislature approves, the proposal becomes law without ever landing on the governor’s desk. So using this procedure the fascists could enact any voter-suppression law they wanted, regardless of Whitmer’s opinion. This procedure was used a few years ago (I forget the details).
Reps in MI know all of the tools available to them. A few years ago when signatures were being gathered to increase the minimum wage, Reps repealed the old minimum wage law and enacted a new one with a new chapter number, so the petitions were for amending a non-existent chapter and were therefore worthless. A provision of the referendum process says no law containing an appropriation can be subjected to a referendum, so Reps add a small appropriation to every law that they think will be controversial enough to draw a referendum.
BTW, thank FSM we got our election reforms (making voting easier as well as a redistricting commission) into the constitution in 2018, before these things became partisan issues.
UncleEbeneezer
@H.E.Wolf: Thanks. I will perhaps reach out to them about coordinating a local fundraiser for them with my Indivisible group.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: That is a big part of why we are trying to raise money for groups that are targeting people who have traditionally been under-represented, and why we are starting now.
For instance, the money we are raising right now for Four Directions will allow them to have a big presence in 8 states rather than just the four initial states they had identified. Early money affects decisions. It impacts strategy and tactics.
For the two groups I have made contact with so far, I have made it very clear that we are not interested in our money going for advertising or buying equipment for offices. We are talking about organizing, and I have been asking the groups to tell us what will help them the most.
DougJ is doing the same thing with the groups he is/will be approaching now that school is out.
Benw
@WaterGirl: sorry to bum you, too. Misery and company, etc. :)
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I teared up while reading your story, I was holding my breath hoping that at least one of them had survived. That’s so great.
I don’t have a tree, but I do have some of my mom’s flowers. She called them buttercups and some people call them sundrops. They have bright yellow, happy flowers.
My mom has been gone for 35 years, and my sundrops are still going. I keep them planted in 3 different spots in my yard just in case something goes wrong in one of the spots.
When out-of-town, out-of-state family comes to visit, they always want some to take home and plant in their yards. My sister keeps killing hers, but she has crappy clay soil, so maybe that’s it.
Cameron
Will be doing the postcard thing here in FL. Republicans are strong, but there are a couple ways they could self-immolate: (a) Mattie Gaetz’ Daddy’s Little Girl problem and (b) Gov. DeCovid’s “we don’t need no stinkin’ passports’ to the cruise lines. Surely juicy scandal and economic destruction should be worth a few votes.
TX doesn’t sound too cool – brother and SIL are contemplating leaving, not just the state but the country as well. Particularly striking since she’s a multi-generation TXan and all the kids/grandkids are there. Last straw was the new Free the Firearm legislation, which sounds like it was sponsored by a major drug cartel…but, no, just the usual suspects.
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf: If anyone wants to donate to Four Directions, just click the BJ thermometer that is in the sidebar on every page. (At the bottom of the page if you’re on a phone.)
Josie
@WaterGirl:
Thanks for organizing us in this way. It will make our contributions so much more effective. I appreciate your efforts.
Almost Retired
@UncleEbeneezer: Thanks for the tip regarding SwingLeft and canvassing. Am I a bad person for preferring to canvass in the coastal Orange County districts rather than the High Desert district? Yes…yes, I am.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: If you’re taking about Four Directions, I can give you their contact information.
WaterGirl
@Benw: Don’t worry about that. I like knowing that you planted your fruit trees, and I am perfectly willing to share the loss with you. We tree people have to stick together.
Ksmiami
National strike. On Sinema, as an out of state supporter, I’m writing to her campaign that she won’t get a penny without ending the filibuster
Nicole
@WaterGirl:
Oh my god, I love this. New mantra
ETA: Also, thanks for the Four Directions reminder; I just donated.
As for what else we can do, are their organizations targeting Spanish speaking voters? I read somewhere that the Right spent some $$ getting Spanish language ads out, much of it with wrong information, but repeat a lie long enough and people believe it. Especially if you’re doing it in their first language.
planetjanet
We are fighting. Fair Fight is calling and texting voters in key states almost daily working against state laws. Texas is the latest. You can help too.
piratedan
@Mai Naem mobile: I see all of those same things and I still get the sense that the GOP here has SERIOUSLY overstepped themselves. The tenor that I see on the local newscasts (and yes, I understand its only tone) is skewing away from “all of these questions” need to be answered to one presenting this as purely cynical partisanship that has no rational foundation. The State Lege stripping the SOS of her powers in order to try the legal submission route of subverting/auditing the last election isn’t playing well either.
While I fully agree with you on our elected Senator’s misguided devotion to maintaining the new normal filibuster, Biden has done enough with getting people vaccinated that THIS is what is sticking, not the lack of legislative wins.
My biggest fear is that someone, just before the election the GOP will come up with some wild-eyed excuse to simply not let Dems vote or count their votes. The squishes in the middle are coming down on the Dem side of the line from what I can see and continued works of folk registering Native American voters is having benefits.
I share your urgency concerns and continue to have doubt about the strength of our institutions to stand up to this continual abuse and attempts to subvert the process.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I thought you might want a happy tree story after Benw’s. Also, my brother has transplanted rhubarb from my grandparents in his garden.
WaterGirl
@Josie: My efforts are more visible at the moment, but you will absolutely be seeing more from DougJ again, too, now that school is out.
Revrick
I disagree Cheryl. While not quitting on the Red States, the battle will be won or lost in the Purple swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. They will, by and large, determine control of the Presidency and Senate. I’ve already made contributions to Tim Ryan in Ohio, Raphael Warnock in Georgia, and Mark Kelly in Arizona.
We need to think strategically about where we send our money and not chase after pipe dreams like ousting Rand Paul. When the Pennsylvania and Wisconsin nominees are chosen, I will offer support to them as well.
Benw
@Omnes Omnibus: I liked your tree story and fully agree with dark stained wood!
WaterGirl
@Nicole:
Yes! DougJ and I are looking at more than one organization like that. I am already in conversation with one of those groups in Wisconsin, and that will likely be the next group we feature.
I have spoken with them a couple of times already, and we have a phone call set up for Wednesday so they can talk about what they need the most. Then we’ll do a Q&A like we did with Four Directions, and a zoom after that, if people are interested.
And Doug has identified at least one more hispanic group, also. Stay tuned.
Zelma
I live in the red part of blue New Jersey. I will max out to whoever is running against the traitor VanDrew. I will also work for him/her as far as my old bones permit. Right now, I am already being asked for money by a candidate but I’m not sure a black candidate can win Jersey 2. I was not happy with Amy Kennedy last time. The Kennedy name ain’t what it used to be.
I am already giving monthly to Warnock and I’m supporting Tim Ryan in Ohio. I’m not sold on Fetterman in my old stomping ground of PA. I’m not sure he has the right kind of appeal. I like Conor Lamb who represents my old district, but I’m worried about his being able to get out the Philly vote. Kenyatta us an unlikely candidate: a gay black guy might be a step too far, especially in western PA. Of course, there is every probability that the PA rethugs will nominate a crazy, which would help.
I’m going to be very strategic in my giving next time. I spread my money far and wide in 2020 but in 2022, I’m going to give more to fewer.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Yes! And rhubarb from grandparents, that is wonderful!
Benw
@WaterGirl: thanks. Going to rally for a trip to Lowes and see if I can get some protection for the peach and apple trees.
Soprano2
In MO they didn’t manage to pass their voter ID law in the regular session, but I think they’re going to come back in a special session to try to pass it, plus some other measures that have to do with voting. Quite frankly there’s not that much that can be done, since we have Republican supermajorities in both chambers and a Republican governor. They’re also going to try to use a special session to alter the referendum process to make it almost impossible for any citizen referendum to get on the ballot. The fact that the residents of MO approved the Medicaid expansion made Republicans really, really, really, really angry. When it’s a statewide vote on something like that they lose, so they’re trying to make sure there’s never a statewide vote on anything they don’t like ever again. I’m not sure how the citizens will react if they actually manage to pass it.
Kent
Why is it the responsibility of people of color to fix Texas? The GOP is utterly fucking up the state for white folks too. Maybe save some blame for middle class and working class white Texans who are seeing their education system and health care system get dismantled by the GOP. Yet they still vote GOP because of God, Guns, Abortion, and latent racism.
WaterGirl
@Benw: There must be something! If you strike out at Lowes, ask about it in the Garden Thread on Sunday.
dm
I have monthly donations set up through ActBlue for a couple of infrastructure projects:
Gotta help get more trustworthy umpires and stronger farm teams.
bnateAZ
Yeah I don’t know what to do here in AZ. The GQP is so tightly in control, the general public outside small cuts of Maricopa County where I live seem to be idiots who are willing letting the GQP fleece them.
I tried a petition via ResistBot but that of course went to GQP reps who don’t give a shit. The media keeps presenting the audit as ridiculous but something that needs to be done for some idea of “fairness”? I don’t know. It’s very very taxing on me.
Nicole
@WaterGirl: That’s awesome! Thank you to you and DougJ for working on that.
Another Scott
@Old School: A good friend’s parents did that too. They used it as part of their retirement savings (hoping it would appreciate in value far more than their savings). I think it worked out pretty well for them (they got out before the housing bubble burst).
It can work, but it helps if the GQP doesn’t blow up the economy when you need to get out…
Cheers,
Scott.
UncleEbeneezer
@WaterGirl: Yes! If you can email me the contacts that would be great. We’ve been talking about having a Reopening Summer Party for my Indivisible group. Four Directions might be a great guest.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@dm: those are great. People like to say we need to learn from the R’s about “toughness” and “fighting”. We need to learn from them about operating at all levels of government. What we’re seeing in the war on voting is the result of an almost 50 year campaign to make sure every dogcatcher and county agriculture officer is “pro-life”.
The on-line left, even the non-Rose variety, are far too invested in top-down, cult-of-the-presidency politics. “Chuck Schumer” was trending on twitter this morning, and a lot of it was of the “we need a wartime Majority Leader” variety. To which I would ask: “Who would do… what?”
WaterGirl
@Nicole: It may be pie in the sky, but I am going to try to get both Beto and Stacey Abrams to come talk to us.
You have to think big, right?
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: If you send me an email I will write back immediate with the contact information. :-)
Chetan Murthy
@Kent:
Kent, it might not be apparent from my name, but I’m of South Indian descent (born in Bangalore). I’m darker than most American Black people. The reason why I think it’s up to people of color, is that I sure don’t have any hopes for the shitbirds I grew up with in Weatherford (aka East Incest), TX.
Yes, I know, I know, I know, they’re voting against their own interests. I fully expect that fracking will destroy the groundwater in Parker County, rendering peaches inedible there, and hell, global heating will make peach farming impossible soon enough, too. And jesus, I wouldn’t want to be a woman in Texas. All that is true. But even still: I no longer expect white Texans to save their state.
So yeah, it’s pretty *depressing* to see people of color in Texas vote for their own oppression.
P.S. By the year 2000 (when I was 35) I’d already told my mom I wouldn’t be visiting Texas except for very, very special occasions, or emergencies. Since 2016, it’s only for emergencies. I didn’t feel safe in that state before, and I sure as hell don’t feel any better about it now.
cope
No More Mr. Nice Blog has an interesting piece referencing a WaPo article by Greg Sargent about the ways the Dems need to reframe their messaging. It echoes what I have been feeling for several election cycles. No More Mr. Nice indeed.
https://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2021/05/will-blind-squirrel-democrats-finally.html
Jeffro
@Omnes Omnibus:
@Gin & Tonic: you guys are mean…the ‘1980’ comment actually gave me a chuckle. =)
West of the Cascades
@WaterGirl: Thank you for the reminder! Pitched in for their good work.
Frank Wilhoit
@Omnes Omnibus: @Gin & Tonic: Stop that. I am being serious. At this point, the Republicans have adverse possession. If that legal term-of-art is not familiar, go look it up. It is infinitely more difficult to reverse adverse possession than it is to prevent it. If you do not understand that, then your situational awareness is not what it should be. The universe and I guarantee you that, if you do not grasp the nature of your situation, nothing that you try to do to alter it will have the intended effect. So stop slinging cheap and easy insults and look around you.
VidaLoca
@Kent:
Absolutely agree, and on the topic of white people fixing what we’ve broken I’d like to urge you all to consider funding “Showing Up For Racial Justice” https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/. They are white people active in the South, who are actively trying to take on white supremacist politics among white people. They’re acting in their communities as trusted messengers in the same way that activist organizations of color act in their own communities.
The intent of SURJ is to see the strategic importance of the South as the central base area of white supremacy and attack it at its root. They’re using electoral politics as a central tactic in doing that, but it’s a very different focus than the national-level what’s-going-on-today-in-Washington mindset that is being undercut in the states.
H.E.Wolf
Great idea – I salute you! You are a force to be reckoned with! :)
WaterGirl
@Frank Wilhoit: I am not familiar with the term adverse possession. You obviously think it’s really important, so I hope you will take a minute and explain what it is.
WaterGirl
@VidaLoca: Happy to say that Showing Up for Racial Justice is already on the list that DougJ and I started compiling earlier this year. Based on your recommendation when you and I spoke in February, no doubt!
taumaturgo
The GQP has already won the battle of ideas since conservative democrats have traditionally pretended to care for those at the bottom while ultimately taking care of those at the top. No facts to back up voter fraud, no problem. No facts to back up the great lie, no problem. More gun massacres, no problem, they’ll make it easier to own and carry guns. People in poverty cannot make ends meet, no problem, will kick them out of unemployment benefits and refused to offer health care access. $15 minimum wage, no problem, take a low wage or starve, either way, remember there are plenty of food lines. No broadband access, no problem. Broadband is not a necessity is a luxury, either way, we will oppose paying for it. Can’t afford childcare, your problem, not ours. Don’t expect us to pay for the rearing of your children. Crumbling infrastructure? we won’t ask the rich to contribute so that is that, but instead, we are willing to increase car fees and gasoline taxes. We will take care of LGBTQ can’t use public bathrooms, we will give you easier access to guns, tighten the snooze on women’s reproductive choices by eliminating the choices at the same time we say my body, my choice when it comes to wearing a mask. Blocking the radical Democrats socialist agenda, of course, it’s #1 on the to-do list.
Now that the ball is on the democrat’s side, we won’t offer any policies or legislation to improve our districts, will just oppose everything, gerrymander at full blast, and wait for other Democrats to join Manchin and Sinema in opposing their own party.
Wait, is happening as I type. A dozen or so conservative Democratic congressmen came out opposing HR3. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/11/pelosi-drug-prices-democrats-487229
UncleEbeneezer
@WaterGirl: Will do.
Citizen Alan
@Chetan Murthy:
I’ve come to hate the phrase “voting against their own interests.” As if, to a certain class of people, preserving white supremacy today isn’t a vital interest that far outstrips concerns about environmental ruin a generation from now.
H.E.Wolf
My white-out dispenser and I will be keeping you company in that task!
Jeffro
Apparently not.
I saw this happen in my own district. The GQP candidate was running non-stop “Dems wanna defund the police and turn central VA into a crime-ridden hellscape” ads…the Dem was running on his sunny disposition and people who said he’d ‘reach across the aisle’. No one’s looking for that anymore, not even Dems.
Another Scott
Kinda related, Nick Carraway at JuanitaJean (a Texas politcal blog):
The GQP keeps throwing up these types of things because they work for them. A big part of Biden’s appeal is that he has found a way to bypass these culture-war battles and the GQP framing. We need candidates who can do the same.
I’ve said before that we need to find out the biology and brain structures of why these appeals to fear and othering are so effective and how to combat them. Imagine a vaccine against Murdochism. ;-)
Four Directions and Fair Fight and all the rest are doing great work, and I’m happy to be able to donate to them. I’ve been doing monthly donations to DCCC, DSCC, and DLCC because teams that can see national trends and quickly adjust are important too. I’ll be donating monthly to the DNC shortly because Jaime Harrison is doing a good job there as well.
I’m expecting my absentee ballot for the Democratic primary in VA shortly. It’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top for the 3 statewide races. We need to crush the GQP this fall!
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Citizen Alan
@WaterGirl:
Adverse possession is the legal doctrine that says if you own property but allow someone else to blatantly occupy that property in defiance of your property rights and you don’t do anything to stop them for long enough, that property is now theirs. Like how we went from a genuinely “liberal media” to “this town is wired for Republicans” in a single generation.
Cheryl Rofer
@Frank Wilhoit: So what do you propose we do, now that we are here without a time machine?
Nicole
@WaterGirl:
Worst case, they say no. And then we’re no worse off than we were before.
But why would they say no? We’re an ALMOST TOP 10,000 BLOG!
Anna
When I turned 50 recently, I decided it was time to get serious about developing a charitable giving strategy. The vast majority of my giving is going to be shifted to voting rights groups. Hopefully, those like Four Directions (smaller, effective and underfunded), along with organizations that take on the fight in court like LDF and NDRC.
Democracy is my number one priority for giving. Above candidates, climate change, women’s reproductive health. The way I see it, everything I care about is in danger unless we get democracy right. I’m really looking forward to learning about any voting rights groups!
I am unsure as to the most effective way to spend my giving budget. Big donations to a few groups or smaller gifts to more groups? It’s a conundrum.
H.E.Wolf
As a person in more than one privileged group, I believe in adding my small, concrete effort on tasks that will benefit people with less-privileged status.
The Four Directions founder closed his Balloon Juice Q&A post with the comment, “We are all related”. That’s a viewpoint I agree with.
LivinginExile
@Benw: I have the same problem with deer and.rabbits. I use a.product called Liquid Fence. Mix with water and spray a little around the base for rabbits and on the leaves for deer. I have had good luck with it.
StringOnAStick
As expected, the R’s refused to pass the creation of a commission to investigate 1/6 insurrection. Time to Benghazi the hell out of them.
UncleEbeneezer
@Jeffro: As PodSaveAmerica noted though, part of the reason Dems spent so much on TV is because with last minute donation floods, there isn’t much else you can do with that $. Digital and ground campaign (door knocking) needs $ early. Also Covid was still on a tear in November. I know lots of people who door-knocked in 2018 who wished they could have in 2020 but it was just still way too dangerous. Hopefully 2022 is going to be much more like 2018 with an added emphasis on digital ads.
Omnes Omnibus
@Frank Wilhoit: I was being serious as well. Telling me I should have done something when I was 16 does exactly fuck all when I am 56. Actually, fuck all is an overstatement. If you wanted to depress people and make them think everything is hopeless, you would had trouble doing better than you did. So again, fuck off with your weak-ass shit.
James E Powell
@StringOnAStick:
I agree and suggest that everyone call their nearest Democratic member of the house urging them to do so. For reasons that make sense to some of them – local politics, higher priorities, ossified thinking, etc – many members of congress do not see this as a priority
I wrote my Trumpster member demanding he vote for the commission. He never replied. He voted against it. We could use a credible opponent in this R+7 district, even if victory was a long way off.
WaterGirl
@Citizen Alan: Thank you! That’s a good concept to know.
Yes, we are digging ourselves out of the hole. It’s either that or sit in the hole until it swallows us up.
I am my own worst critic – except for one person whose name I won’t mention – and I keep this note up on my fridge.
It helps me to remember that. Going forward is all we’ve got, and I’m not giving up now.
WaterGirl
@Nicole: Ha!
I think we probably have a better shot with Stacey Abrams. If you add up our thermometers for Fair Fight, Jon Ossoff, Raphel Warnock, America Votes GA, etc, they add up to a pretty penny.
Hoping to get her attention that way. :-)
But I’m still gonna try with Beto, because I ?Beto and everything he is doing.
WaterGirl
@StringOnAStick:
Yes. Absolutely. (Picture the restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally.
Geminid
@Jeffro: I’m hoping that new redistricting commission might help Democrats in the VA 5th some. The western line runs mostly along the Blue Ridge, but it takes an easern jog that puts Lynchburg in the 6th district. Putting that majority Democratic town in the 5th would help some.
The Democrat lost by 5 points last November, so this district is very winnable. The Congressional vote tracked the Presidential vote pretty closely. Trump was an effective demagogue, and I think there definitely was a trump bump in Republican voting. There may be a post-trump slump, though. And the Democrats still seem very motivated.
Josie
@Frank Wilhoit: You are not telling us anything we don’t already know. Many of us do know what adverse possession is and how it happened in our political scene, but that knowledge doesn’t help accomplish the job in front of us. You should join the rest of us who are actually working to find solutions in this difficult situation instead of telling us that the fight is already lost. At least, with our way, we have a shot at righting the ship.
Cheryl Rofer
@WaterGirl: You might refer to this thread when you send your invitations. I think it’s an accurate picture of us, warts and all, but mostly positive and looking for what they have to say.
Cheryl Rofer
Betty Cracker
@UncleEbeneezer: Maybe it’s the content that needs to change, not the medium. “Extremist Republicans want to monitor every pregnancy, prevent you from voting, and cut Jeff Bezos’s taxes.”
James E Powell
@cope:
In the California 48th, Democratic incumbent Harley Rouda lost to Michelle Steel by 8K out of 351K votes. The only TV ad I saw from him – and I saw it over and over during sports events – talked of nothing else but his strong desire to work with Republicans. I hated it then and hate it even more now.
Democrats need to run on “Why you should vote for Democrats” and nothing else. Sometimes this means going after Republicans for their corruption, hypocrisy, and hateful bigotry. I see no reason to hold back.
Josie
@Betty Cracker: I like it.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I think that we should show what we have done overall too. We should give people an idea of the kind of fundraising we can do, so that they can see what could happen if we aim it their way.
Geminid
@UncleEbeneezer: I read that some local parties “went rogue” and resumed door to door work. They saw the Republicans press on, and felt like they were unilaterally disarming.
I think they were right to do this, on urgent public health grounds. The single most consequential thing we could do to fight Covid was to get trump out of the White House, and we almost did not pull it off.
Baud
@James E Powell:
“If elected, I promise that I will not try to overthrow our democracy.”
Gvg
@Frank Wilhoit: So what? Who cares if we should have done something more in 1980. We didn’t. We are here now. I was still in high school in 1980 and not old enough to vote. I didn’t like Reagan then and neither did my parents. Why are you arguing this point anyway? Why do you want us to give up or something?
Kent
Why you SHOULD vote for Democrats.
Why you should NOT vote for Republicans.
Unfortunately negative advertising works too. We would be unilaterally disarming if we didn’t use it.
Gravenstone
For WaterGirl – a possible site glitch. This is the second time in a couple of days that I’ve clicked on the comments link atop a post, only to have it act as a page up command. Scrolling back down and clicking it again causes it to function normally. Chrome with Win 10.
Baud
The time for urgency was in 1776.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Everything after the Winthrop Fleet was pointless and we should all give up.
Matt McIrvin
In Massachusetts, our Republican problem is our governor, who always seems to want to reopen the state 15% too soon but who many of us continue to like because the bar for Republicans is so damn low. But he’s not particularly into nullifying democracy.
sab
Jeez, people. Jim Crow was around for 100 years after slavery ended. These guys are like kudzu or poison ivy. We just have to keep plugging away at eradication. There really isn’t a preferable alternative.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: if the barons had had any balls at Runnymeade Joe Manchin would be for M4A!
Emma from Miami
Late to the party (aren’t I always) but it’s the states, stupid. Florida needs an infusion of good organizers, for example.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Brutus and his crew didn’t go far enough to restore the Roman Republic and thus Sinema is wishy-washy.
Geminid
@James E Powell: Political scientists including Rachel Bitecofer maintain that “conversion strategies”- trying to flip swing voters- are not a good uses of messaging bandwith, that a much better messaging strategy is base motivation. That seems to more accepted now by campaigns, and hopefully we will see more aggressive tactics next year (and in Virginia this year). Bitecofer also says that while a majority of voters will tell pollers that they are turned off by negative ads, they aren’t being honest with the pollers, or maybe even with themselves. Negative advertising works, especially if it is not countered.
Another Scott
TheHill:
Politics is slow, but things are continuing to move.
Forward!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
Yup.
When there are no bad consequences for doing nothing, then the opposition does nothing. The system in the Senate needs to change to make the opposition responsible for their votes.
Cheers,
Scott.
cain
@Revrick:
No, we cannot just focus on swing states – every state is important – there can be no succor for insurrectionists. It has to be an all 50 state on-rush.
Fascism can only be stopped by overwhelming participation by everyone in all states. If we just did the swing states then fascists will focus on those as well – but if we make them fight in every state we can dilute their power because they have to fight in their own supposedly safe strongholds.
taumaturgo
@Another Scott: The filibuster won the battle of the Jan 6 commission and it will continue to demolished any other bill sponsored by the democrats as long as they value the filibuster more than the well being of the American people as they so proudly proclaim. A proclamation is all it is. Notice how Democrats are against the filibuster, for a $15 minimum wage, against abortion restrictions, for gun control, for free college tuition, for lower drug prices, for police reform, for marijuana legalization, for expansion and access to health care, for eliminating student debt and on and on but are they truly for all of the above or they pretend to be? What is the excuse of the old leadership? It was Trump, now is the filibuster, and don’t forget those pesky liberals in their ranks. But the open question remains, is the old corporate democratic leadership truly effectively fighting for these issues or merely pretending? 2022 midterm will tell.
Geminid
@Emma from Miami: Politico had a good article last November 1, titled “Inside the Machin to Turn Out the Latino Vote- and Flip Arizona Blue.” It described a coalition of community groups and labor unions who were registering and motivating Arizona latino voters. They emphasized in person, door to door campaigning. I am hoping there are lessons from this effort that will be applied in other states.
When considering the question of door to doir campaigning during a pandemic, I was reminded that Georgia Democrats campaigned door to door during the Senate runoffs. I am not sure how they modified the typical approach. Maybe people rang doorbbells and stood back, or just dropped off literature. I need to ask my Atlanta friend about this. He canvassed in Nortwest Atlanta meighborhoods from a week after the November election until he tripped over a curb in December, and broke his wrist.
WaterGirl
@Cheryl Rofer: Appreciate the suggestion. I just starred it in Leaf, my RSS reader. That means it will never leave my list. Now I just have to remember to look for it when we get to that point with a new organization. :-)
prostratedragon
For those who might have forgotten it, in 1980 a solid plurality at least of the commenters on this blog were somewhere between kindergarten and junior high school.
WaterGirl
@Cheryl Rofer: And 7% apparently don’t care about democracy one way or another. I just do not get people like that.
James E Powell
@Geminid:
With all due respect to Rachel Bitecofer, this was considered standard political campaign doctrine when I first got involved in the 1970s. Or as one old guy put it, find the people who will vote for you and make sure they do.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Good point. That’s what I have been doing with the 2 groups I have spoken with so far.
Because we did SO MUCH for Georgia, I got focused on sharing that when I make my pitch for/to Stacey Abrams. But you’re right, that’s short-sighted. We should show them Georgia, but also everything.
Another Scott
@taumaturgo:
TheHill:
It’s not over.
We’re not doomed.
Politics is slow.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Gravenstone: That’s very strange. I have not seen or heard of that one before. Definitely let me know if you see it again.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I ?Baud.
You make me laugh multiple times a day.
Ksmiami
Fuck Joe Manchin. We are witnessing the end of America
WaterGirl
@Geminid: I still have that article open in a tab because I want to use it as part of our efforts to find/figure out how to support turnout for those groups. I’m not sure if you are the person who has brought that up multiple times, but it’s a good one, so if that’s you, keep it up!
Soprano2
I see that my senator Roy Blunt was a portrait in cowardice, he missed the vote.
1980 was the first election I voted in – I voted for Jimmy Carter. I will always believe that the most important election of my lifetime happened in 2010 – it seems like Democrats have been fighting a rear guard action ever since that election. Even last year, when we knew what the stakes were, we still weren’t able to make any gains in state legislatures.
Sure Lurkalot
Thankfully I don’t live in gun nut Boebert’s district but I’m motivated to do work to keep her far away from any legislative body for the rest of time.
It seems like all postcard initiatives are very targeted but I wonder if generic versions would work. Like “Thank Joe by electing more Democrats.”
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I don’t want Chuck Schumer to bring the bill up again. I want Nancy Pelosi to move ahead with an investigation in the house.
I think that any bill that allows the Rs veto power over anyone we want to subpoena will just be the illusion of a real investigation.
taumaturgo
I will believe when is passed and remember stern letters have accomplished zero in the past. Sorry, but it won’t. The commission is gone the way of the public option, Medicare for all, police reform, Trump’s tax returns, $15 minimum wage, you know, all the policies that the overwhelming majority of Americans support. Is clear democrats are playing the game with an old outdated segregationist era playbook that they value more than the well-being of the people and is evident the conservatives in the party are willing to let their pretense show at this times. 2022 midterm will tell.
cain
@Another Scott:
Constituents in WV and AZ should be calling the senators up and getting them to appear for that vote. We really need to get the good folks from these states to start calling these two and sensitizing them. We -cannot- do it without their constituents calling it in.
taumaturgo
@Ksmiami: And the possible end of the corporate conservative democrats hold on the party.
UncleEbeneezer
@Betty Cracker: Totally. They also talked about that on PSAmerica. The GOP runs against AOC/Pelosi/Omar etc., in EVERY district. We need to find a good, simple and effective scare tactic for our side. I know that conventional wisdom is that we win voters with positivity, not negativity, but that may have to change as we are often fighting with one hand behind our backs. Republicans WILL lie and misrepresent every Dem as being a Defund/Socialist/whatever, no matter what we do. I think it’s time to find out the things and people that Independents and swing voters hate about the GOP and start hanging them around the neck of EVERY Republican, in EVERY election.
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: 1619
Geminid
@James E Powell: I am not saying Bitecofer discovered this. But she has observed campaigns that still pursue conversion strategies when they are not warranted, as several people on this thread have also commented.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: Sure will. Hope you have a nice holiday weekend, and thanks for all the good work you do!
Jeffro
Yes – he pulled every last GQP occasional voter out of the woodwork, that’s for sure.
From your lips to the FSM’s ears…
Geminid
@Jeffro: Hey Jeffro! Hope you and the rest of the Fros have a good weekend. Monday at least should be nice.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Almost Retired: Santa Clarita’s in CA-25.
dnfree
@Benw: so sorry to hear about your trees. We had this problem with a young tree where we used to live, and have had deer problems with other plants. It helps to put a plastic tube thing around the young tree trunk (not tight). On plants we have also had good luck with a spray called Deer-B-Gone. It does not have a bad smell— more like cloves. It has to be reapplied regularly, especially after heavy rain.
It is so sad to see a young tree lost this way.
Benw
@LivinginExile: @dnfree: thanks for the tips – I’ll definitely ask about those at the yard store!
topclimber
@WaterGirl: I think you will see both, in a coordinated way.
Chuck doesn’t want the GOP kill to be lost in a Friday news dump before a 3-day holiday. He will bring it up again in June as Pelosi starts to orchestrate House Hearings. Perhaps a few more GQP types will feel the heat.
WaterGirl
@topclimber: Maybe so. Yeah, the timing of the vote sucks.
km
I seem to always be late to posts, but going to post this anyway. Maybe someone will see it.
A couple things that I have been doing this year that are nationally focused and potentially useful and accessible to folks are:
1) helping recruit candidates for local races via text with Resistance Labs and Contest Every Race,
2) paying attention to the messaging advice and bi-weekly updates from a multi-group effort that is the follow-on to the effort described here: https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/ Not sure exactly how I got on the invite list, but it’s possible that signing up for Voting Rights Lab info helps. https://votingrightslab.org/
Plenty of donations of course too. Everyone is trying to duplicate the success in Georgia, so a lot of groups are trying to donate to local grassroots groups in wherever. One example is Sister District’s State Bridges program. https://sisterdistrict.com/state-bridges/
(And lots of work on stuff in my state! I’m spending a lot of time advocating for state legislation that is a priority for CA Indivisible groups. And money going to grassroots groups in the Central Valley.)