Reasons to believe

You know what’s at stake: women’s right to control their bodies; the future of Social Security and Medicare; an economy that works for everyone, not just the rich; compassionate and rational immigration policy; the integrity of the vote and the freedom to choose our government in fair and honest elections. The list goes on.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as we enter the final days of this midterm campaign:

• Early voting in general, and among black voters in particular, is huge in Georgia. And nationally, according to TargetEarly, Democrats lead Republicans in early voting 55-35 percent (with the rest “unaffiliated.“)

• Participation in our phone banks is booming, and our volunteers are pumped by the many encouraging and satisfying conversations they’re having with voters. One Wisconsin voter told us she’s seeing more Democratic yard signs than ever before. 

• Since the Dobbs decision, newly registered voters are overwhelmingly women. One expert has said “In my 28 years of analyzing elections, I had never seen anything like what’s happened in the past two months in American politics . . . .This is a moment to throw old political assumptions out the window and to consider that Democrats could buck historic trends this cycle.”

• The doom-for-Democrats narrative that dominates the news lately was started by a New York Times poll of 792 voters nationwide. More than 155 million people voted in 2020. Just sayin.

None of this tells us what’s going to happen November 8. Maybe we’ll get a shellacking as the echo-chamber predicts. Maybe the news will take another turn as President Biden hopes. Or maybe we’ll buck the historic trend and set a new course for women’s rights, economic equity, racial justice, election integrity . . . who knows?

One thing we do know: if we don’t fight, we can’t win.

We have 15 days to finish this. To see how and join us, see more than two dozen actions listed in Indivisible Chicago’s October 24 newsletter. Or jump right to our complete schedule of campaign events and find something that works for you. (Click here for a calendar view.) 

Don’t wake up on November 9 wishing you had joined the fight. Join it now. 

Visit us at bluebeginning.org. Email us at bluebeginning2017@gmail.com. Check in with our Facebook group for news, events, and action opportunities posted by our members.