Author: Andrew J. Lazarus

Notes from the February 9 meeting

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Record attendance! The Resistance grows. Welcome new members.

Some other local Indivisible chapters: Indivisible Marin claims 10,000 members. Zoom meetings and action items. Indivisible East Bay has monthly meetings, sometimes in person, large scale action items. Indivisible Elmwood has in-person meetings bi-weekly, returning politics to a socially-engaged experience. We also do action items: postcarding, joining phone banks, fundraising, and sidewalk presence. (Our meetings alternate between two members’ houses. We realize that yesterday’s meeting was crowded. We may set up an RSVP system.)

Anyone who wants to post to this blog: email me, and I will authorize you. If there is interest, I will also explain how to post.

February 9 agenda

  1. Courage is contagious: How to be brave and mentally stable
  2. Support vital media  [copy of the handout will appear here after beautification]
  3. Recruitment of activists: Goal 3.5% of the population
  4. Daily political flossing: Many, many actions to choose from
  5. Future meetings: learning about social media, BlueSky, vital readings, action items

Yesterday’s handouts are available in the post right below this one.

We also wrote nearly 400 postcards for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford.

We have postcards and addresses for WI Supreme Court

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Our candidate is Susan Crawford.

This is one of the most consequential elections of the year, to retain our 4–3 majority. Among other accomplishments, the Court nuked one of the two most extreme state legislative gerrymanders in the country, where one year Republicans attained a veto-proof supermajority with fewer total votes than the Democrats. (North Carolina also has an extreme gerrymander, where the State Supreme Court may award the 2024 Supreme Court judicial election to the loser on some-or-another pretext. Best guess is that the most moderate Republican on that court will follow the law instead of his party; the other three are definite weasels.)

Minutes of January 26 meeting

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The vote for DNC Chair is February 1st. We support Ben Wikler, currently Chair of the Wisconsin State Democrats. He has done a fantastic job there, with grassroots organizing and fundraising. (His principal opponent appears to be Ken Martin, who holds the corresponding post in Minnesota and is currently a Vice Chair of the DNC. In Minnesota, we are at best standing still.)

We distributed a list of California DNC voting delegates. VotePro has a Google doc of the delegates’ contact info. The list of current DNC officers and their phone numbers is here. Please contact the officers, or any of the California delegates, especially if you know them.

Our DC representatives need us to help stiffen their spines. Well, maybe not Lateefah Simon, but I’ll include her number for convenience.

The first significant 2025 election (other than DNC) is for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, April 1st. Wikler helped flip this court, with immediate benefits on gerrymandering and reproductive rights. Our candidate is Susan Crawford. Our postcards and addresses for her have not arrived yet, but we will write them when they come. You can donate at that link via ActBlue.

We also have the entire Virginia House of Delegates and the statewide offices up in November 2025. Our gubernatorial candidate will be Abigail Spanberger, formerly a Member of Congress. The current Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor, both MAGA nuts, will fight it out in the Republican primary. In 2023 Naomi and I (and our son in Brooklyn) knocked on doors for Delegate Michael Feggans who flipped HD-97 (Virginia Beach). We’ll help him again.

Minutes of the Jan 12 meeting

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Meeting called by Janice Weingrod. Many new persons in attendance.
Meeting opened with Naomi Janowitz reviewing what activities Indivisible Elmwood (IE) has been doing in the past few years.

What to do next:

Support Susan Crawford running for Wisconsin Supreme Court
March Jan. 18 in Alameda and in San Francisco
What to do on Jan. 20—turn on t.v. to any station other than one covering the inauguration

Other items of discussion:

  • The rust belt’s economy is NOT good
  • Courier News via Focus for Democracy—online news site.  Try to get “regular folks” to watch as an alternative to Fox News.  Owned by the people who run it.  Organizes all over, but may be more popular from mid-west to the east.  Started in swing states.
  • Barbara Lee running for Mayor,  maybe work for her.  Some concerns she would be like Ron Dellums.
  • Immigration—help folks know their rights,  Telegraphic response network
  • Alameda March on Saturday Jan. 18,  9:30 – 12:00. Meet at 2263 Santa Clara (High Street bridge)
  • George Lakoff—Frame Lab   He works with language and communications
  • Get folks to go to march on Saturday in SF, contact Janice Weingrod
  • Sign up to postcard for Susan Crawford
  • For folks who are generally interested in rapid response but are not already a part of existing or developing rapid response networks, this ‘Know Your Rights and Advocate Training‘ on Jan. 16, 1–2PM, is a better choice.

Further notes from Jody Lerner

Democratic Party

Inauguration Day activities

MLK Day of Service Activities in Oakland (probably some good things in Berkeley too.)

Postcard ‘Depots’ (porch pickup)

Sarah’s porch, 4150 39th Ave., Oakland
Jody’s porch, 3062 Arizona St., Oakland
Jan’s porch, 785 Peralta, Berkeley
Billy’s porch, 938 Shattuck, Berkeley

Next meeting is January 26, 4:00 pm, Naomi and Andy’s house