Protest? Push On?
Should I protest or should I push on, seeking change through the ballot box in November? We can do both. Protesting draws attention to the problems faced by people of color, and working to win elections leads to change. President Obama, in a recent speech, pointed out that 19,000 municipalities need policing reforms, and elected officials (mayors, county executives, district attorneys) make the decisions in those communities. The political work we do now puts allied decision makers in power and defeats those who divide us, those cowards who stoke fear based on skin color to retain control.
Yes, encourage reform through protests, speaking out, and supporting racial justice groups such as Color of Change and Black Lives Matter. And make change happen with us through our essential and ongoing work of stockpiling get-out-the-vote letters, making phone calls and sending texts motivated now, more than ever, by the urgent need to transform our government. This newsletter presents the most effective political actions you can take now to bring about meaningful change up and down the ballot in November.
Your help is critical. Read on for details…
- GOTV Letters: Join the BIG PRINT for a BIGGER SEND!
- Swing State Phone (and Text) Banks
- Swing Left Podcast with guest Cornell Belcher
- Partner Organization Activities
THE BIG SEND
Ten Million GOTV Letters to Underrepresented Groups
We’ve been writing about the importance and efficacy of Vote Forward’s GOTV letters since January. We realize that your eyes may glaze over more and more with each newsletter. But there’s one fact we haven’t highlighted in a few months: these letters will go mainly to people of color and young people (under 35), the very voices we need to hear at the ballot box this November if we are going to vote out the Divider-in-Chief and his Senate enablers. People of color and youth are leading some of our country’s most progressive movements and cries for change, from Black Lives Matter to climate action to gun reform and beyond. They need to believe that their lives matter AND their votes matter. Only if we consistently prepare letters for the next five months, will we meet our goal of mailing 10 MILLION GOTV letters in October to these infrequent Democratic voters in the 12 Super States.
Join the BIG PRINT for a BIGGER SEND!
Swing Left Peninsula has committed to printing 100,000 letters this summer. And we need your help getting them into people’s hands! Become a letter team captain! It’s easy:
- Reach out to your networks to tally how many of your friends and relatives can each write 100 letters this summer.
- Send us the total number of letters you need for your group, and we’ll get them to you. Please aim for a minimum of 1000 letters for your group. (That’s just 10 of you writing 100 letters each, over the next few months.)
- See details and a sample outreach email here. Contact us with questions: lettercaptains@swingleftpeninsula.org.
More Ways For More Letters:
Here are several other ways to increase the number of letters our Peninsula community can complete:
- Pick up or get letters delivered: Click here for our pick up and delivery options in several Peninsula cities.
- Offer letter-delivery services near you and/or letter pick-ups from your porch: Contact us: letterwritingparties@swingleftpeninsula.org
- Write letters on your own at home: Why not set a time each week to complete 20 letters? It takes about and hour. Click here to learn how to get started with downloading and printing letters. Right now, we’re prioritizing Florida letters. With its 29 electoral votes in the toss-up column, we need your help to prepare the remaining 425,000 Florida GOTV letters before October!
- Join or host a local zoom letter party to chat, vent, and write: Sue and Melissa are hosting parties every Saturday, 2:00 – 4:00pm. Click here to rsvp for one or more Saturdays. You can also host your own zoom letter party, using Swing Left’s many resources here.
A Note on the Post Office and the Timing of Stamp Purchases:
We truly believe there will be postal service in October; much of Trump’s base relies heavily on it. But even though we’re not mailing these letters until October, we strongly recommend you get the postage for all of your letters now or as soon as possible. Online stamp purchasing now takes 2-3 weeks for delivery, and this lag time may get worse. We should avoid an October “run” on stamps at local post offices, when supplies could get low. So please, get your stamps now!
Swing State Phone (and Text) Banks
Arizona: Encourage VOTE BY MAIL
Every day, several times a day: RSVP here
Join Mission for Arizona, the Arizona Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign to elect Mark Kelly and down-ballot Democrats. The campaigns for the likely-to-flip Senate seat and the likely-to-flip state legislature are working together to maximize efficacy and efficiency. We need your help talking up our candidates and getting voters signed up for the Permanent Early Voter List (AKA vote by mail)! RSVP here for any day (several time slots available).
- For a full list of Mission for Arizona opportunities for out-of-state activists, including TEXT banking, see this link.
- You can also join a training for out-of-state phone bankers (every Wednesday, 2:00 – 3:00pm): RSVP here
Michigan: Encourage VOTE BY MAIL and more
Mondays @ 11:00am: RSVP here
We’re calling with the Michigan Dems’ coordinated campaign, the ONE Campaign, to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. Michigan’s 16 Electoral College votes are critical to winning the White House. Plus, Michigan Dems could flip the state’s House of Representatives for the first time since 2010. We’re calling likely Democrats, checking in during the COVID-19 pandemic, asking what issues are important to them, and seeing if they would like to be added to the Permanent Absentee Voter List. These Monday phone banks focus on the Detroit area.
Maine: Vote Out Susan Collins
Wednesdays @ 4:00pm and Saturdays @ 12:00pm: RSVP here.
Join the Maine Dems to learn how to make calls to voters across the state! We will go over our plan to win Maine in 2020, our current voter contact script, and how to use our virtual phonebanking tools. We welcome volunteers from anywhere who are interested in helping us defeat Susan Collins and fight against the Trump agenda
Listen from Home
How We Win – Swing Left’s Podcast
We are not just witnesses to history, we are the ones writing it. And we have a responsibility to stand up to injustice everywhere we see it. Joining us today is political strategist, MSNBC contributor and author of “A Black Man in the White House”, Cornell Belcher. We talk about this extraordinary time and the extraordinarily terrible response from the president. We have a conversation about how we support this movement, where we go from here, and what you can do at this moment. From “How We Win” Website
Partner Organization Events
Local Event Calendar and Texting Help!
Our local DVC (Democratic Volunteer Center) maintains a fantastic calendar of events with phone banks, trainings, town halls, and more. Also, learn how to start TEXTING with the DVC’s Getting Started Guide, or get texting help and sign up for a weekly summary of current texting campaigns on several platforms at texting@demvolctr.org.
@Home Political Salon Series:
State of the Vote 2020 Panel Discussion
Wed, Jun 10th, 5:00 – 6:15pm
Join Charlotte Hill, political researcher, voting expert and board member of Fair Vote and RepresentUs in conversation with Scott Forman of Vote Forward (The Big Send), Ben Tyson of Vote From Home 2020, and Marissa McBride, board member and former Executive Director of the Voter Participation Center. Learn how you can help assure that every eligible citizen can register and vote in this unprecedented November election. To rsvp, email Michelle.
Phone Banks: Flip the West and Commit to Flip Blue
Let’s Flip the Senate Blue!
Every Mon – Thurs, 4:00 – 6:00pm; every Sat, 10:00am – Noon
Currently calling Arizona, encouraging low-turnout registered Democrats to vote by mail-in ballot. Training and technical support is provided. Click here to RSVP for the times above.
Can’t make the times above? Click here to receive everything you need to start making calls on your own time!
East Bay for TJ Cox: Write Postcards for TJ Cox
East Bay for TJ has 9,000 postcards to write to infrequent Democratic voters in CA21. They need encouragement to assure that they vote in this very important November election. We will mail the cards in the district in the fall but want as many written now while people have more time. For the script and addresses, email Mary Boergers.
Phone Banks for TJ and Josh:
- TJ Cox in CA-21 (Tuesdays or Thursdays, 5:00 – 8:00pm): TJ Cox’s race is too close for comfort. RSVP here.
- Josh Harder in CA-10 (Mondays to Thursdays at 6:00 pm): Trainings four nights a week. RSVP here.
Finally…
Follow us on Twitter (@SwingLeftPen) or join our Facebook group for updates on our latest events, actions and swing district news.
As always, thanks for your support!
Barb Berry, Judith Bolker, Linda Brummer, Scott Carlson, Michelle Chang, Carole Flores, Anne Frahn, Mary Gill, Colin Gottlieb, Laura Gottsman, Barbara Kyser, Bruce Knoth, Victoria Maxson, Kirstin Sego, Karen Spiro, Deb Strichartz and Mary Takahashi.
