Moved later with the coming of Daylight Savings Time. We will be at College & Ashby, 5:00–6:00 pm. Bring signs and optimism. Eat chocolate.
Last pre-election meeting 10/25, 4:00–5:00, usual place
I am going to go over the electoral map, and tell you when you can either open the champagne or sit in sackcloth and ashes (unlikely but you never know). No postcards to do. I’ll try to have a list of phone banks if you want to take it home. And I hope we have some reports about other organizations from other attendees.
We also need to discuss the Friday protests. Note than Daylight Savings in ending on November 1st. The current time will not be suitable going forward. We do plan a protest-party for the Friday after the election at 4:00 (not 5:00), results warranting.
We had a better turnout
Reminder, no meeting 10/11
A photo to remember
Those of you who spend less time online may have missed this great shot.
That’s MAGA Senator Katie Britt (R–AL) at the moment she realizes her colleague Eric Schmitt (R–MO) has just accused Jack Smith of perjury because Schmitt confused the NBA Atlanta Hawks (playing in Atlanta on a certain date) with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, who were playing that day in Maryland. I learned a new word today: anagnorisis. It means going from ignorance to knowledge.
Meanwhile, this should be worth thousands of votes for the Iowa Democrats.
Minutes from the 9/27 meeting
We had Vote Forward letters and Abdul Abu-Sayed postcards. Tomorrow is mailing day.
Saturday, October 17 is No Kings Vote Early Day. Besides our usual Friday protest (get your friends to come, there is too much chocolate in the house), we will be doing a Saturday action at Bancroft & Piedmont. (That’s the corner with I-House.) Tentatively scheduled for 12 noon to 2:00 pm—but there is a home football game and we want to time it for maximum foot traffic. It is still possible to register to vote. (The deadline is 10/19.) Let’s have tablets/laptops set up to help students do last-minute registration. We can also point voters to their nearest drop box (Sproul Plaza in this case).
The map is growing. KS–Sen and NE–Sen are now competitive. The Democrat in Kansas is the Rev. Adam Hamilton. There is no Democrat running in Nebraska but independent Dan Osborn, a machinist, is aligned with Democrats on most issues. Osborn has been fundraising for a while, but Hamilton is only newly on the radar. Also looking bluer: NV–Gov. Aaron Ford. Not sure how the money race is there. And States Win keeps adding state legislative races.
Somehow despite all the good news elsewhere Randy Villegas (CA–22) is still listed as a Toss-up, if anyone wants to canvass.
Meeting Sunday, September 27, 4:00–5:00 pm, usual place
We have lots of postcards. Pedal to the metal.
Note: We cannot host the October 4 meeting. Volunteers and alternate location needed.
Minutes for 9/13 meeting
Actions: I let us run out of blank postcards (this will be fixed before the next meeting), but we had letters to write from Vote Forward to first-time Michigan voters. Technically non-partisan, but the intention is to help the Democratic ticket.
Issues: There’s a lot of concern about the possibility of the Trump regime interfering in the election. Since the meeting, even the Trump-besotted Supreme Court squashed their attempt to do so via the Postal Service. Indivisible and No Kings have called for a rally on October 17 to encourage everyone to Vote Early! At the time of the meeting, there were no locations listed in the Bay Area, but this has now changed: Oakland, Alameda and San Francisco Civic Center are now on the list. October 17 is the emphasis on the new flyer for the Friday protests.
Judy stated that there is now a Signal Group ready for nationwide action in the event of election tampering anywhere in the country. They suggest photographing your ballot before returning it, to deter manipulation. (With a county drop box two blocks from Indivisible Elmwood HQ, in front of the public library, this should not be an issue for us.) From Sally, the Indivisible What’s the Plan. Many links there, including this one to the Indivisible founders’ take on what is successful midterm messaging.
Donations: It’s late and many candidates have good war chests. Focus for Democracy always has good groups to support. And States Win has a growing list of downballot races, 55 last I looked. With one exception, I just donated en masse. The exception is Rockee Armstrong, AZ Assembly 13. We were paired with her months ago, so she got extra.
Also, if you have a choice between giving through ActBlue and OATH, OATH takes a smaller cut.
(And if I left something out here, let me know.)
Meeting Sunday September 13, 4:00–5:00, usual place
Not this Sunday!
Let’s discuss how to keep growing the Blue Wave. Many active campaigns!
An alternative Sunday meeting
We aren’t meeting this Sunday. But you can get your anti-Trump socializing in with Indivisible East Bay. They are meeting Sunday 7/26, Codornices Park (1201 Euclid, Berkeley), 1:00–3:00 pm.
Also, Mary Boergers has postcards for the Villegas campaign. See below.
For the General Election Amy Bank with RUTA will lead the postcard effort for Randy Villegas in CA22. Please help us reach out to voters and encourage them to join the effort to elect Randy and flip the district from Red to Blue.
Click here to request a list of voters!
We’re writing to a select group of voters, to build support starting now. We’re writing to voters in District 22 who said they would vote for Randy when they were canvassed in-person before the primary.
The idea is to thank them and welcome them into the Randy Victory Team, in the hopes they will scan the QR code and be interested in doing things this summer to help Randy win in the fall.
Because it is a longer script and contains a QR code, this campaign is using a text template for you to print out, to cut and then paste (with a gluestick) to the back of the card. All you have to do is write in the greeting, your signature, and the address… and then decorate a bit! (We’ll also send instructions for how to print the message directly onto your postcards.)
Click here to request!
Mail as you go (the sooner the better!) and by August 15th at the latest.
Thank you!
Mary Boergers
CD22 Focus Action Network
Meeting July 5, 4:00–5:00, usual place
Our Friday protest drew twice as many participants as walked out of (or, in a few cases, were ambulanced out of) Trump’s National Mall flop when it closed due to heat. At least, maybe now the Orange Turd will tackle climate change!
