Even in the Bay Area, Sports Radio isn’t an intrinsically left-wing institution. There was a time when the SF Giants’ long-time radio station (KNBR 680) described itself as “Your Sports and Limbaugh Leader”. They have long since flushed Rush.

The Giants have likewise dropped former key player Aubrey Huff from their various team reunion plans. (Huff laid down one of the best sacrifice bunts of all time in a 2010 World Series games, the only one of his entire career.) Huff cut a sympathetic figure back then, once going on the disabled list for anxiety and depression. He squandered the good will by coming out as a bigoted, misogynistic Trumpkin.

Yesterday, another Sports Radio station decided to interview him after he complained of the Giants’ political bias. It didn’t go well.

Co-host Joe Fortenbaugh decided he had enough of speaking to Huff after the former Giant stated that he doesn’t want to coach women’s sports because “women are tough enough to deal with anyway.”

“Aubrey, do you really think right now is the time to make that joke?” Fortenbaugh asked.

“Hey man, you guys have me on, this is how I joke. You don’t like it, you don’t have to interview me,” Huff said.…

“Absolutely, it’s extraordinarily offensive listening to you,” Fortenbaugh responded. “I can completely understand why the Giants would want nothing to do with you. It’s a shame because we came on today wanting to see your point of view. I came on today thinking, ‘You know what, maybe this guy, just because it’s the Bay Area, they’re going too hard on him. That maybe they lean a little too left here and and he’s getting a bad deal.’ And now I’m regretting bringing you on because I’m thinking to myself, ‘You know what, he’s exactly the turd he makes himself out to be on social media.'”

SF Chronicle

If you’ve lost 95.7…

I like citing Max Boot, because he is the only Never Trump Conservative I know (I don’t claim to have a complete list) who went back to analyze Trumpist racism and nativism, and admitted its close relationship to the Conservative movement he once backed. I’ve been reading Boot since he was the Daily Cal’s token conservative columnist, when he was writing typical teenager Ronald Reagan fanfic. He knows better now.

Trumpism, like all populist movements, is based on the pernicious conceit that only the strongman speaks for the “real” people and that anyone who opposes him must be an outsider or elitist who isn’t in touch with the common folk. The corollary is that the supreme leader is justified in doing just about anything in the people’s name — even abusing his authority to punish those who don’t support him….  In today’s America, Republicans represent more land area, but Democrats represent more people — having exceeded the Republican tally by 2.8 million votes in the 2016 presidential election and by more than 8.6 million votes in the 2018 House races.

WaPo

I’m going to paste in the entire East Bay Activist Alliance newsletter, but you can subscribe (the leadership emails are all at the bottom), so this is a one-off. Note the many events scheduled.

Fired up! Ready to go!

On February 1, over 90 people gathered at our first Big Tent Annual Meeting. With a whopping 150% of RSVPs, we may have run out of coffee but there was no shortage of enthusiasm and great ideas for how to help a mighty blue wave sweep over our country, flip statehouses blue, and save our democracy from the Devil’s Spawn in the White House.
When we went to Michigan two years ago, we promised we would return to support them again. But we know we can do more this year, so our researchers identified additional states that fit our criteria of possible state house flip + important senate race + significant electoral votes + Presidential swing state. After spirited discussion, Big Tent attendees voted. North Carolina and Arizona won by a landslide. So that’s where we will focus our 2020 energies: MI, NC, and AZ. After the primaries, we will seek out winnable statehouse seats in the above states with important up-ballot races and support them to the best of our ability, sometimes with partner organizations.
We also continue our fight against voter suppression. Reclaim Our Vote is one of our nation’s most competent and engaged voting rights organizations, which boasts a modern and effective plan of action. Andrea Miller, founder of ROV, recently held a Berkeley audience in thrall as she enumerated the extent of voter disenfranchisement in this country, particularly among communities of color. That fundraiser on February 4 raised over $32,000, and EBAA is pleased to have served as one of the lead organizers. We will continue to raise funds and do work for this worthy organization, as well as other groups that ensure and re-establish enfranchisement, particularly for people of color whose votes have been targeted (often purged) by the GOP.
You can help the Blue Wave wash over the land. 
Fundraisers
Every. Single. Dollar. Matters. PERIOD. Early money allows candidates to hire staff and create a strong foundation for a winning campaign. Fundraising events also help to build our activist community. Besides, they’re FUN and often delicious.
Make the Resistance Delicious! On Sunday March 8 3-5PM come to a Chocolate Tasting with Alice Medrich, one of the country’s foremost experts on chocolate. Since 1976, when she opened her renowned shop Cocolat, Alice’s innovative ideas and recipes have influenced a generation of confectioners, pastry chefs, and home cooks. Come taste, learn and enjoy! All proceeds go to support Michigan House Dems. Private home near the Claremont. Donate and RSVP here https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cacao and find more information here. 
Make the Resistance Delicious! On Sunday March 15, 3-5PM, come to an Artisan Cheese and Honey Pairing. What a sweet way to Flip Michigan! Join acclaimed cheese educator Lynne Devereux and local beekeeper Danielle Woermann for an afternoon of pairing some of California’s great handcrafted cheeses with a selection of honeys that express their local terroir. Private home in the Lakeshore District, Oakland. RSVP and donate here: . More information here.
Make the Resistance Delicious! Whiskey Tasting on Sunday, April 5, 3-5PM. Stay tuned for details.
On Friday, April 17, from 6-10PM come rock out at the Blue Wave Boogie, Humanist Hall, Uptown Oakland. $45-$60 sliding scale donation goes to Flip Michigan Blue with live music from the Beat Riders, hearty snacks, and sweets. No-host bar benefits Reclaim Our Vote. Save the date and watch for details here. 
Phonebanks
Our phonebanks are on fire! We’re calling voters of color who have been purged from voting rolls in Texas, NC, and possibly other states, (and leaving messages!) Stripping people in the South of their vote is rampant, and this work is vital as we help citizens reclaim their voting power. We’ll also be calling the newly re-enfranchised voters to GOTV for the upcoming primaries. Turnout among these voters is very high - as much as 65% - so these phonebanks are highly rewarding.
We’re also helping build the Blue Wave in Wisconsin to help flip this critical battleground state. At one phonebank, out of 569 calls made, 100 people answered and of those, 40 said they would volunteer. So far in 2020 we have identified 101 WisDem volunteers and we’re pumped. The April ballot includes candidates for the WI State Supreme Court, which will be deciding voting districts and voting rights in the future. Join us!
Berkeley/Oakland/Albany /El Cerrito
Feb. 12, 1:30-4PM in Oakland/Redwood Heights with EBAA Redwood Heights. RSVP.
Feb 12, 5pm-8pm in Oakland/Grand Ave. with EBAA & Winning Wednesdays. RSVP. 
Feb.15, 1-4PM in South Berkeley with Indivisible Berkeley and EBAA. RSVP. 
Feb 16, 3-5PM in Albany with EBAA & TWW Albany Berkeley. RSVP. 
Feb. 19, 5-8PM in Oakland/Grand Ave with EBAA & Winning Wednesdays. RSVP. 
Feb. 26, 5-8PM in Oakland/Grand Ave with EBAA & Winning Wednesdays. RSVP. 
Feb. 27, 3-5PM in Albany with Together We Will Albany/Berkeley & EBAA. RSVP.
Feb. 29, 2-4:30PM in West Berkeley with EBAA. RSVP.
March 8, 1:30-4PM in Berkeley/Cragmont with EBAA. RSVP.    
March 11, 1:30-4PM in Oakland/Redwood Heights with EBAA Redwood Heights. RSVP.
March 14, 2-4PM in West Berkeley with EBAA. RSVP. 
March 15, 3-5PM in Albany with EBAA and TWW Albany Berkeley. RSVP.  
March 21, 1-4PM in South Berkeley with Indivisible Berkeley and EBAA. RSVP.
West Contra Costa County
Feb. 18, 2-4PM in El Sobrante with West County Organizing. RSVP
Feb. 25, 2-4PM in El Sobrante with West County Organizing. RSVP.
March 3, 2-4PM in El Sobrante with West County Organizing. RSVP.  
March 10, 2-4PM in El Sobrante with West County Organizing. RSVP.
March 17, 2-4PM in El Sobrante with West County Organizing. RSVP.
Dublin/Pleasanton
Feb. 29, 10AM–1PM in Pleasanton with Swing Left Tri-Valley & EBAA. RSVP.
March 14, 10AM-1PM in Pleasanton with Swing Left Tri-Valley & EBAA. RSVP.  
Postcarding…a curiously fun way to fight the good fight.
ROV and other groups are using postcard strategies to reach people whose voter registration was purged. This despicable practice surprises many on Election Day. Help us reach them in time to re-register and vote in both their state primary and in November. Bring your own supplies or donate for postage and cards. Get started with a group and find out how to write on your own at home.
Postcard Parties:
Feb. 16 10:30AM-12:30PM in Oakland with Flip the West. RSVP
Feb. 18 6-8PM in North Berkeley with EBAA and Sharon’s Team. RSVP. 
Feb. 23 1-4PM in North Berkeley with EBAA and Sharon’s Team. RSVP. 
March 6, 10-11:30AM in Berkeley with Postcards for America: California & EBAA. RSVP
March 15 10:30AM-12:30PM in Oakland with Flip the West. RSVP
March 22 12-2PM in Berkeley with Postcards for America-CA & EBAA. RSVP.


If you love to write postcards, consider joining Women Who Write, a group of 65 resistance postcard writers. They have been writing for more than two years at over 20,000 postcards per year! No online links but weekly meetings happen three times per week at three different locations, and new writers are always welcome.
Tuesday morning 10:00-1:00 at Lynn Brown’s in the Berkeley hills, 510-548-7102.
Tuesday afternoon 2:30-4:30 at Marlene Lieberman’s in North Berkeley, 510-524-1156.
Wednesday morning 10:00-12:00 at Patty Kates in the Berkeley hills, 510-841-1322.
Texting
Come to our Saturday 2/22 Texting Party. This is the first of our monthly, fourth-Saturday texting parties, 10-noon in South Berkeley. This month, we’re partnering with Flip the West and the Environmental Voter Project to GOTV for the March primaries in AZ and CO. Experienced texters particularly encouraged; others always welcome. This month’s non-partisan effort cannot promote any specific candidates or parties; the goal is to build a strong voting habit for infrequent voters who prioritize environmental issues.
RSVP for Feb. 22
RSVP for March 28
For the experienced, here’s a text-at-home tactic. This month, the EBAA Texting Team recommends IndivisiText, the texting arm of Indivisible, which will be texting for many progressive candidates in February and beyond, including local favorite TJ Cox in CA-21. IndivisiText uses TextOut as their texting software. You can join their Slack here and you’ll get instructions on how to get texting.
In other news around town and farther afield:
We are all in with Reclaim Our Vote. Learn more about its actions and programs by attending one of these webinar introductions:
Feb. 13, 5:00 pm (PST)
Feb. 20, 5:00 pm (PST)
Suppressed: The Fight to Vote  This movie screens on Tuesday, February 18, 6:30pm - 8:00pm, Edith Stone Room, Albany Library. This new documentary by Robert Greenwald illustrates that the basic constitutional right to vote continues to be under siege in America. Polling place closures, voter purges, missing absentee ballots, extreme wait times and a host of voter ID issues in Georgia all disproportionately prevented Stacey Abrams from becoming the first Black female governor in the U.S. in 2018, and this same voter suppression poses a threat in 2020. Also available on YouTube. 
Nevada Dems are calling for help to run their first-in-the-West 2020 Nevada Democratic caucuses on February 22. They need volunteers to come to NV to help on or before Caucus Day. Until now they had been planning to use the same disastrous app that melted down in Iowa which is why the call for help seems rather late, but it’s not too late. After sign-up, vols will receive training and the timeline for helping at a caucus. Sign up here. Contact Norton Tooby for more information.

If you need us, here we are. Please contact us with your questions, ideas and concerns.
Campaign Liaison
Penni Takade
eastbayactivistalliance@gmail.com
Fundraising
Jody Lerner
EBAAevents@gmail.com
Internships 
Elissa Gershon
EBAAinterns@gmail.com
Canvassing
Paul Costello
EBAAcanvass@gmail.com
Phonebanking
Holly Scheider
EBAAphonebank@gmail.com
Postcarding
Jan Murota
EBAApostcards@gmail.com
Textbanking
Penni Takade
EBAAtexting@gmail.com
Newsletter
Peggy Scott
EBAAcommunications@gmail.com
Membership
Andrea MacRae
EBAAmembers@gmail.com
General Enquiries

info@eastbayactivistalliance.org

Get a little inspiration here and help us turn one of the worst (already!) political years in history into one of the best. We’re fired up and ready to go…actually, we’re already on the move. Hop aboard this crazy train and help us take back our democracy. 
Sometimes it’s even fun.
Best wishes from your Leadership Team
Unless otherwise stated, events and activities are organized by East Bay Activist Alliance. The East Bay Activist Alliance is comprised of volunteer activists and organizations in San Francisco's East Bay. We help flip and hold winnable districts red-to-blue by supporting high impact, strategic campaigns where state legislative seats, voting rights, and Congressional campaigns intersect.

The Republicans are trying to paint the pre-ordained Trump acquittal as a sign he (or, perhaps, for them, He) is invincible. Absolutely no external polling supports this. In today’s WaPo, political blogger Glen Sargent explains that this aura is intended to dismay us, keep us from organizing, for the less-committed even discourage us from casting a ballot.

For those of you in a hurry, these images can be downloaded and shared with friends. The theory is you point your smartphone camera at the square, even just on the screen, and it opens the page in a browser: no need to type in tedious URLs. A visual hyperlink? (It worked on my phone. More tests welcome.)

Some articles this week you may have overlooked.

Religious Never Trump conservative Michael Gerson on the sacrilege of Trump’s Prayer Breakfast jeremiad. (WaPo)

Sixty-four percent of New Hampshire Democrats would rather have all life on Earth extinguished by a meteor than have Trump re-elected. Sounds about right. (Rolling Stone)

Rachel Bitecofer explains her theory that there aren’t enough swing voters to care about. (Politico) The best news is she thinks any of the major Democratic presidential candidates can pull off a big win.

Our new cards have a small typo and we will be reprinting them. The correct link to go straight to ActBlue is secure.actblue.com/donate/indiv_elmwood. Thanks to those who have chipped in for TJ Cox already. From this page, you can always click on the “DONATE” part of the menu.

First of Andy’s periodic updates evaluating the various postcard campaigns:

Two safe seats in the Kentucky State House where he wants to make sure we aren’t complacent, a no-hope campaign in Georgia, and closer to home a San Luis Obispo County Supervisor race that will be the swing vote. That looks to me like the one to pick. Voting is starting now as mail ballots go out. An additional advantage is that California postmarks won’t seem foreign.

NOTE: You can get addresses for the campaigns at : postcardstovoters.org. If you need help, email nhjanowitz@me.com

Ann Overton reported on the East Bay Activist Alliance meeting yesterday. EBAA is our local successor to Sister District, which has a narrower focus. Some EBAA contacts: Penni Takade [Campaign Liaison, Textbanking], Paul Costello [Canvassing], Jody Lerner [Fundraising], Jan Murota [Postcarding].

Bruce Jackson reported on Indivisible. Indivisible remains neutral in the Democratic Presidential primary; they did have a score card on Democracy Reform (voting rights, ballot access, gerrymandering, etc.) in which Elizabeth Warren finished first, Pete Buttigieg second, then Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar, with Joe Biden last.

Lanny Weingrod reported on his research into voter turnout. The more personal, the better. Reminder, Reclaim Our Vote is meeting this Tuesday, February 4, at the Berkeley City College Auditorium. Tickets here. Donate here.

Naomi talked about the changes coming in the California ballot. Some counties have switched to sending everyone a mail ballot, but Alameda County does not appear on the list. For the March 3 election, besides the primary, there is one State measure and several county/local measures, all either taxes or bonds as I recall.

We had an extensive discussion of Sister District targets and where Elmwood should focus. Michigan State Assembly is close to flipping. SD also thinks the Arizona statehouse may flip.

We discussed our five-point action plan

1. Postcards. It is time to start again. Time to buy stamps before they are all gone (Lanny said he would buy some in Mountain View). Ann offered new postcards from the EBAA meeting. Andy will rank Tony the Democrat’s postcard campaigns so that we can concentrate on the most competitive. He will also start posting summaries and links to articles that members may have missed. Ann O will pick one day a week to postcard at Roma while the live music is going in hopes of recruiting others to join. When she decides on the day, the info will be sent out.
2. Fundraising. We are beginning a program of rotating fundraising both via our familiar thermometer on our website and also via the cards Michael made with our website link printed on them. Our first two-week drive is $1,000 for TJ Cox (CA-21), whom we helped drag across the finish line in 2018. His 2020 race will be very competitive and his fundraising so far is anemic. At the next meeting we will decide what to fundraise for next, perhaps a Voter outreach program. We’ll see at the next meeting what people think about the Reclaim Our Vote program Tuesday and we also have the Voter Participation Center. We also mentioned Josh Harder (CA-10), who calls frequently. He is a top GOP target, as is Cox, but his fundraising skills are much better. See also last meeting’s discussion of top Senate races.
3. Interns. If anyone know of any 18-19-20 year olds who would like to be sent to work for a month on a campaign, please send the info to Naomi or bring it to our next meeting.
4. Texting. Meetings will now start with texting training from 4:00–4:30 for anyone interested in starting up or just having a refresher course.
5. Education. We’ll spend 10–15 minutes at each meeting educating ourselves about important articles that have appeared in the press, polls and race info that Andy wants to share with us and anything else anyone thinks is important.

I have to admit, not my style, but in case some of you have escaped the Postcards4VA mailing list, I am publishing your opportunity to buy their celebratory T-shirts!