It’s mid July and it’s getting hot out there! Time to make Good Trouble and help save Democracy. Join us at the Friday Power Lunch tomorrow for some inspiration and great ideas.
Part of our being ALL IN to Win Virginia is to celebrate and support our rural communities. Rural Democrats are working hard again this summer, and let’s stand with them. Below you will find lots of important (and fun) ways to join the movement!
One of my best viewings of the week was And the Empire Crumbled with Finale Norton and Mary Rarick of You Can’t Beat Blues. Enjoy and share.
ALL IN,
Stair
Calling All Troublemakers – Democracy Needs YOU
Friday, July 15, Noon ET
Calling all troublemakers and troublemakers-n-training. Between the one, two punch from the Supreme Court and Republican state legislatures stripping our rights, the unthinkable has happened. So, what is our choice? We can hide in despair or start making good trouble.
Our guests on this week’s Friday Power Lunch will share how to activate and energize your inner troublemaker. Why? Because Democracy needs YOU.
Roanoke activist Catherine Koebel will tell us about how she turned her personal experience with the horrors of gun violence into action and helped launch a local “Groceries Not Guns” program.
Red Wine & Blue is a sisterhood working to change the world one suburb at a time. With attitude, and a glass of wine, they are all about helping women get active and empowered while having fun doing it. We’ll hear from Drew Amstutz, Executive Operations Manager, about their “Great Troublemaker Turnout Project.”
We’ll end the show with Lee Gimpel, Founder of Better Meetings. Lee is an expert on the dynamics of meetings and conferences. As activists, we need to know how to run good meetings because we need to be uber-effective with the stakes of what we’re doing are so high. Lee will share tips, tricks, and “hacks” for making Zooms and in-person meetings more effective and actionable, generating better ideas, and improving collaboration.
REGISTER HERE
Shout out here: Tweet & Instagram
**Calls To Action**
Please pause to take action & share! * indicates new this week.
- Advocate for Campaign Finance Reform in Virginia*
- Volunteer with Rideshare2Vote – Rideshare2Vote is again offering free rides to the polls for Democrats in Virginia. They try to service any voter from any area of the state, yet primary focus is in Northern Virginia (Loudoun, Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria etc. on down to Fredericksburg), the Charlottesville area, Richmond and surrounding counties, and the Hampton Roads area (City of Hampton, City of Norfolk, and City of Virginia Beach primarily). They had many more ride requests than drivers in these critical areas in 2021 and want to be fully prepared to drive every voter in November 2022! Training is available to drivers on their smartphone app that connects drivers and voters and directs the drivers to the correct pickup and voting locations – trainings are held online throughout the summer. We will drive for at least 1 week of early voting plus election day, November 8. Please help us make sure no Democratic voter gets left behind! Register to volunteer as a driver, phone banker, or dispatch operator HERE. Contact: Tracy Scott – 713.922.0955. Tracy.Scott@RideShare2Vote.com
- Stop Environmental Injustice and Inequity on African American Communities
- Become an Election Official or Poll Observer TODAY/EVERYWHERE! Bannon is working to place far right election officials in election offices to help overturn elections so we must sign up to be election officials. Info on How to Become an Election Official.
Join and Support Rural Democrats
Rural Democrats Summer Solidarity Bash
Sunday, July 24, 6-9:30PM
Join the Rural GroundGame to build community and boost our collective morale for an evening of fun on the farm with food, live music and special guests to support our 4 Democratic challenger nominees:
- Herb Jones (VA-01)
- Josh Throneburg (VA-05)
- Jennifer Lewis (VA-06)
- Taysha DeVaughan (VA-09)
RSVP HERE
The Rural GroundGame has rebooted their 30 min Working Wednesdays to share info about candidate resources, texting and canvassing opportunities, new projects you can participate in and make time to hear your questions and feedback. Please join.
Help Purchase Billboards in VA’s 2nd CD
Rural Democrats are an essential part of our Party, serving their local communities as good neighbors and advocating for our shared values in challenging areas.
These billboards are just one piece of a larger, layered effort to support rural Democrats in communicating to their neighbors about the values and policies that make our communities stronger.
The Rural GroundGame‘s mission is to develop and execute programs for the support, training, and development of rural Democratic candidates, campaigns, and committees, securing a deeper level of investment in and by Democrats in every zip code in order to get Democrats elected and uphold our shared values.
Volunteer to Host a Billboard Fundraiser
Read: Political Billboards Work
August 12 (6 pm – 9 pm)
Friday Night Social
This evening of networking, organizing, and activist energizing will take place at Basic City Beer Company located in Waynesboro, VA is housed in a former industrial complex with high ceilings, saw-tooth windows and reclaimed pipe and wood tap room tables. A natural spring pumps a million gallons of artesian water for use in the brewery’s beers!
August 13, 2022 (11 am – 4 pm)
Rural Valley Summit
This will be a Summit like no other. We will be at the Bold Rock Nellysford Barrel Barn located at Bold Rock Cidery, a beautifully rustic timber-framed barn brewery overlooking the Rockfish River in the Shenandoah Valley near the town of Waynesboro, Virginia.
Be a BADASS, Power Map Yourself