Remember, encourage your friends to come.

Time: Jun 7, 2020 04:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87943519788?pwd=Zm9IRW5kaUVaeHM3RHhybVJSQ2k0Zz09

Agenda:
1. Political report—what a fortnight it was. Polling included.
2. Judy on Kamala Harris phone call. Indivisible East Bay has 2020 Summer Palooza.
3. Diverse other reports.

Forgiveness of Never Trump conservatives should probably be slow, especially for ones like Charlie Sykes who had so much to do with getting us into this mess. (Sykes, a former right-wing radio host, almost single-handedly gave Wisconsin to Scott Walker.) That said, no group is doing as much to discuss the amorality of Trump and his Party, perhaps because the rest of us took it for granted.

Sykes, Bill Kristol, and other refugees from The Weekly Standard, which folded when its Sugar Daddy threw in with Trump, have founded The Bulwark (online only). Here is a sample of articles.

It’s a Set Up [Things have been poised to explode and the black community has been set up for the fall. Again.]

What did They Think Would Happen? The folly of Trump-following mainstream GOP.

Dear Reader, from Lois Lowry, author of the YA classic The Giver.

I admit, these Zoom meetings with our Senate candidates aren’t as much fun without the free food and liquor. But—tomorrow at 5:00 PDT is such a meeting with Amy McGrath (KY), Cal Cunningham (NC), Dr. Al Gross (AK), and Dr. Barbara Bollier (KS). Invitation. Minimum contribution is $100.

I would rank these races, in likelihood of victory, as Cunningham, Gross, Bollier (if Kobach is the Republican nominee, perhaps even ahead of Gross), McGrath. Cunningham is, of course, one of the Big Four in the plan to flip the Senate.

Find a Swing-Left action for this weekend

Everything you need to know about GOTV nationally

Reclaim Our Vote Educational Summit this weekend

Yesterday, I listened to a Flip the West webinar with Ben Tulchin, a pollster who was working for Bernie and who is now concentrating on Senate races. He not only discussed polls (not much new there: AZ, CO, ME, and NC as the Dems’ Big Four, anticipating a loss in AL, where Jones is 10 behind), but also who has enough money and who doesn’t.

Continue reading →

• The Sister District research project on different ways of reaching voters is here. We had some discussion about the difference between what is most effective, versus what’s more or less comfortable.
• Judy went through one recent phone session without a single valid response.
• The Vote Forward letters appear to be one effective technique. We can help with printing and envelopes. Since the letters are not going out until October, this is a slow but steady operation. The box on our porch has postcards in packets of 25.
• Bruce reported that the California Indivisible calls are informative, and the national calls less so. He’s been particularly impressed with the Movement Voter Project, which supports a number of organizations with different emphases, some technically non-partisan. We’ll be linking our ActBlue donation page to them.
• EBAA’s three races in Michigan all overlap Haley Stevens’s CD. EBAA is also going in on a North Carolina Assembly race that became more difficult as a result of redistricting.
• As my pick for Chart of the Fortnight, I chose the CDC on excess all-cause mortality. It’s the instant visual representation of the right-wing suggestion that we’ve just relabeled the flu.

• These two weeks we want to grow our membership. In the virus era, there is no reason to restrict ourselves to Elmwood and environs. I will make an announcement on my social media. Let me encourage you particularly to invite friends who are not in any group, who are most at risk for despondency.

During the May 20 state Indivisible call, Aram Fischer hosted a presentation on the MVP, a national group funneling investment into social justice work and grass-roots democracy. It hit home with us.

It’s frustrating to live in a deep blue corner of a deep blue state and have few outlets for activism. We’re tired of sky-is-falling emails from campaigns warning that all will be lost without a midnight cash infusion.   We know that money sent to a campaign can evaporate in TV ads or consultant fees.  We’d like to see donations to a political group actually reach the grass roots and have a lasting impact. And we think there’s an alternative approach worth considering—the Movement Voter Project or MVP at https://movement.vote/

 The Movement Voter Project “works to strengthen progressive power at all levels of government by helping donors – big and small – support the best and most promising local community-based organizations in key states, with a focus on youth and communities of color.”

 “Sometimes very simple ideas are the most brilliant ones,” writes Arlene Avakian.  “The idea behind MVP is to connect the dots between grassroots activism and electoral politics. MVP does what no other group does. It seeks out, vets and supports progressive community-based organizations around the country, particularly in communities that are most affected by economic and racial injustice. Based in their communities, these groups know their neighbors, know the issues people care about. They are successful in engaging people to make real change in their communities year round. At election time they turn out votes up and down the ticket.”

MVP-supported local groups helped elect Maggie Hassan to the Senate in 2016, helped mobilize the voters to elect Doug Jones in 2017, and helped Virginia Democrats win state elections across the board in 2019.  In 2018, MVP directed $14 million to 354 groups in 42 states for mobilization and engagement. 100% of donations to MVP go to the grass roots, an investment in the critical infrastructure of democracy. This could be the key to the November election and many more to come.

Zoom Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83328098130?pwd=OXlDOEtCaExhYnRZcDNQMFVPa1A3dz09

Action link 1: Join us for a texting lesson Saturday (tomorrow) at 3:00. Sign up here: https://www.openprogress.com/texting-schedule

Action link 2: Educate yourself with a Webinar by a prominent pollster

https://www.flipthewest.com/bentulchinwebinar

AGENDA:

1. Effective action: Naomi will report on Sister District’s recent summary of its study comparing various forms of political action.
2. Judy will update us on her texting adventures and lessons learned.
3. Bruce will update us on Indivisible national/state.
4. We have gathered materials to support a big push in Vote Forward letters. We’ll review how to get this moving.
5. We’ll launch our action thermometers and discuss our current fundraising campaign with a short report from Andy on wise use of your $$.

Next two campaigns are for Alaska. I’m convinced that Dr. Al Gross (yes, another M.D. running) is the sleeper Senate race of the cycle. Alaska has only one House seat: we also have Alyse Galvin, who is making her second try at ousting Dean of the House Don Young. With Young, anything can happen.

For those of you who would like a complete explainer for the Flynn faux-scandal, legal blogger Marcy Wheeler has it.