BUILD THE BLUE WAVE
Election organizing actions to take now
The polls for Biden are encouraging but we can’t afford to be complacent. Our best defense against voter suppression, dirty tricks and election theft is to organize record-breaking numbers of voters, producing Democratic landslides in as many states as possible. The more people volunteer to contact voters, the greater the chances of our success.
Basic premises about the election of 2020
1. The Trump administration and the Republican party will do whatever they can to win. It’s now shameless and in the open.
2. If the Republicans win, they will impose fascism. Besides punishment for political opponents, domestic repression, and looting for cronies, climate change response will go into reverse. They will let the pandemic run out of control on purpose in an insane gamble on herd immunity.
3. If statewide results are close, it’s easier for them to steal. The best way we can prevent Republican theft is to get as many Democrats to vote as possible – massive voter turnout. And then protect the results.
4. Please volunteer in election work like it’s an emergency. like to ask everyone to volunteer as much as they can for election projects. Voting has already started. Absentee ballots are out. If you can afford to donate, do that too.
Join the massive organizing effort already underway to identify and catalyze Democratic voters.
Write. Call. Text. Find what’s right for you.* It's easier than ever to volunteer safely from your own home, on your own schedule. Campaigns identify supporters, send targeted information, and get them to act. They have the strategy. You just need to do some of the work. Help us build the list with other campaigns you recommend.
*For highlights on how the different types of campaign work, see below.
Biden/Harris campaign
https://www.mobilize.us/2020victory/
Work directly for swing state Senate candidates
Mark Kelley, Arizona, vs. Martha McSally
Jaime Harrison, South Carolina, vs. Lindsay Graham
Teresa Greenfield, Iowa, vs. Joni Ernst
Cal Cunningham, South Carolina, vs. Tom Tillis
Jon Osoff, Georgia, vs. David Purdue
Raphael Warnock, Georgia, vs. Kelly Loeffler.
MJ Hegar, Texas, vs. John Cornyn
Paula Jean Swearengin, West Virginia, vs. Shelley Moore Capito
Amy McGrath, Kentucky, vs. Mitch McConnell (R)
Amy’s too far behind. Don’t waste your money on this race.
https://markkelly.com/get-involved/
https://jaimeharrison.com/
https://greenfieldforiowa.com/
https://www.calfornc.com/
https://electjon.com/
https://warnockforgeorgia.com/
https://mjfortexas.com/
https://paulajean.com/
Progressive groups working on voter turnout
Lots of donations to big campaigns go to consultants, big TV ad buys and salaries. You donation – and your volunteer time and energy – might go further if you plug in to progressive groups.
sc.org/gotv2020
https://front.moveon.org/volunteer-with-moveon/
https://www.standupamerica.com/our-fight/mobilize-for-2020/
https://resistancelabs.com/text/
https://www.water4grassroots.org/
https://peoplesaction.org/
https://swingleft.org/
https://www.openprogress.com/text-troop
https://2020.indivisible.org/
https://nextgenamerica.org/volunteer/
sc.org/gotv2020
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/reclaim-our-vote-signup/
Road trips to Pennsylvania
UWS MoveOn/Indivisible will be sending volunteers out to PA to do literature drops, and be poll observers and early voting monitors from early October through Election Day, and doing literature drops.
https://www.mobilize.us/swingleft/event/320504/
https://www.facebook.com/UWSMOVEONINDIVISIBLE/
Protecting our win
A wide coalition of groups are collectively preparing to protect the results immediately if Trump loses the election but refuses to leave. Pledge to take action if Trump refuses to accept the results. We will demand that every vote be counted, even if it takes days or weeks to get an accurate count from critical states. We will organize to ensure that the loser concedes, and that Congress, the Electoral College, and state officials honor the accurate, final vote count. https://protecttheresults.com/
Preparing for defense against a coup
What if Trump cheats, or clearly loses and refuses to leave? Researchers have prepared manuals with what they learned from recent defenses against coups around the world. Build alliances in advance, prepare for massive direct action, refuse to recognize illegitimate authority. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2020/08/plan-prevent-trump-election-coup-research/
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR TYPE OF CAMPAIGN
Texting or phoning voters in swing states
Both calling and texting require volunteers to sign onto a software platform, follow a script, and record voter data. When you sign up, you’ll be guided to an easy online training. With both, you will be given selected scripts replies.
How to choose? If you enjoy talking to people, give phoning a try. If you dread calling people you don't know, stick with texting. With texting, volunteers sign onto a website, send large numbers of texts quickly, and respond to those who text back. Texting reaches more people (and you can take time for your response). Calling is more personal.
Letter and Postcard Writing
Write letters and postcards to Democratic or likely Democratic registered voters who are infrequent voters in swing states. The letters are stockpiled and then mailed in October. This has been demonstrated to increase actual voting by a meaningful margin. Since many elections are likely to be close, even a small increase in the margin of Democrats voting can be important.
More on why we can't go back to pre-Trump "normal" with insights from system analysts, climate activists and political scientists.
= = = = = =