Indivisible is organizing a GOTV campaign for Doug Jones in Alabama. They’ve set up infrastructure that let’s you participate from anywhere in the country. Let’s do it.
Volunteers can use an online system to contact Alabama voters by text. You don’t need to use your own phone.
We can start by signing up at this link: http://www.indivisible.org/gotv-alabama/.
There are training sessions this evening on using their web interface, but it looks pretty straightforward. You volunteer for time blocks over the next week or so.
I can tell you from experience that this kind of low-dollar, high-touch GOTV effort was key to John McCain’s comeback in the 2008 Republican primaries. It works. I did it.
As new posts show up on the blog this one will roll down the page, out of sight and out of mind. I’d like for us to track our efforts. It helps everyone remain focused. So, I’m going to cross-post this in the Off Topic forum, where we can ask questions and post progress. If you have any trouble accessing the forum, just post a comment here or email me and I’ll address it.
If you’ve been feeling helpless and frustrated, here’s a chance to channel those negative emotions into action that can make a difference.
I’ve Never Loved My Country More. Why must we wait until we risk losing something important to react?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ive-never-loved-my-country-more/2017/12/22/bde30cca-e748-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?
Had to search for a good spot for this analysis, but here it is. From Larry Sabato, the U of VA Center for Politics. Gerrymandering is a serious impediment to voting rights. With the 5/4 majority on the S.C. , the WI case test on this issue is critically important and not assured of impartiality. Rachel Maddow’s program last night provided clear, indisputable evidence of how powerful gerrymandering is. Despite the impressive win by Jones, if this were a national election, out of 5 Congressional AL districts, Democrats would have taken only 1 seat. That has played out in so many states. It’s wrong and it must change. It’s not that a massive wave couldn’t top the 8% needed to take the House – despite gerrymandering – but that is going to be very, very difficult.
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/partisan-gerrymandering-and-the-outlook-for-the-2018-u-s-house-elections/
This is discouraging, though I am not surprised.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/12/08/daily-202-democrats-struggling-to-activate-black-voters-in-the-alabama-senate-race/5a29ffd330fb0469e883fabf/?
It’s going to be difficult to move people off dead center when economic gains continue….which I am grateful for while recognizing fully that there are disproportional economic benefits…wages are still pretty flat considering the cash big businesses are sitting on and not sharing with their workforce sufficiently if at all. Despite T’s low polling numbers, the economy is a powerful force for the status quo.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/08/economy-created-228-000-jobs-in-november-2017-287140
This serious article fits right in with the theme of the post. Lots to think about here….As one of my Democratic buddies told me: we are fired up and ready to go but we don’t have many (if any) Democrats to vote for! That is changing as women are filing and others, but where is the Sanders revolution that was supposed to put his Bernistas into play in running for office?
Of all the initiatives I’ve seen, the ones that have the longest legs are the Indivisibile movement and the wild shot, EMERGE. Both are heavily female-dominated.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/re-engineering-politicians-how-activist-groups-choose-our-politicians-long-before-we-vote/?
OT, but I just sent an email to Al Franken asking him not to resign. Human behavior is complicated, and our response to it has to be more nuanced than just choosing between denial and resignation.
Dahlia Lithwick: “This isn’t a call to become tolerant of awful behavior. It is a call for understanding that Democrats honored the blue slip, and Republicans didn’t. Democrats had hearings over the Affordable Care Act; Republicans had none over the tax bill. Democrats decry predators in the media; Republicans give them their own networks. And what do Democrats have to show for it? There is something almost eerily self-regarding in the notion that the only thing that matters is what Democrats do, without considering what the systemic consequences are for everyone.” http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/12/the_republicans_have_built_an_uneven_playing_field_of_morality.html
I have always felt that Democrats as a whole are nicer, kinder people than Republicans. Take that as you will.
I sign in to. Same message. I am one of the those rare birds that actually volunteers to help in campaigns and contributes money. So my email box and mailbox is full of solicitations. But right now the biggest thing we need is to get people to vote. This organization is on the right track. We actually are the majority but you have to vote to have that reflected in our politics.
Thank you for this, Chris. I just tried to sign up for that particular campaign and the message indicated that they already had enough out-of-state support (good work!). But I did complete the registration form so Indivisible can send me info by text about local campaigns. Thanks again for posting this!
That’s great, isn’t it? In all my years on Republican campaigns I never saw something like that happen. We were always so desperately short-staffed. Although the training presentation was a bit of a cluster-f, I was very impressed with what they’ve assembled.
A little “birdy” has been whispering in your ear about Indivisible for a long time, Chris.
Watch the women. They are the force. And they are getting organized – and running for office – and working to elect women and men who support women’s rights.
I’ll go out on a limb right now and predict that womens’ votes in 2018 will be a major factor in mid-term election winners.
Yeah, it was kind of nice they said “additional”. When I registered and mistakenly skimmed it I first read it as needing “any”. The fact that Chris got registered clearly means though they took on at least some. I wonder how many volunteers out of state they actually took on.
I truly hoped that they were overwhelmed, in a good way. It is never a bad thing when you have too many people wanting to help.