We have lived in South Atlanta since the early 1940's and watched Georgia go from Southern Democrats to GOP Republicans because of the Civil Rights Legislation. Our family became active in the Fayette County Democratic Party in 2004 and have had two members as Chairperson of the FCDC, also, one as member of the School Board for 10 years, pushed back against the Federalist Society's control of our County Commissioners and won.
Our State now has Two Democratic Senators and our House represenative is also a Democrat.
My wife and I strongly urge everyone to be active in local politics. It will make a difference for you, family and society.
We live in north Atlanta. Lucy McBaths old district. I have watched my neighborhood go from Blue to Red via gerrymandering. I raise my voice at every level and still remain hopeful. I stay in each elected officials face by constantly showing up at public forums and righting to them on all issues. They won’t silence us.
Hi Daniel, keep making people aware of Field Team 6.
I think too many people are fixated on the difficulty of trying to get MAGA voters to dump Trump and forget about the pool of unregistered and low propensity voters, who if activated would more than likely vote Blue! I don't think this race is nearly as close as polls seem to indicate, but Trump would have even less of a chance if we work hard at broadening the voter base!
I'n in NC and have been writing postcards with Field Team 6 for two NC campaigns:
- Women in NC-01 about preserving reproductive rights
- NC residents 30 - 50 yo who care about climate change
I think there is at least one campaign in each of the swing states and FT6 uses all forms of communication to reach potential voters - in person, by phone or text, and over social media. Now is the perfect time to register new voters!!
I live in Arizona and attended an online meeting where I found out that 17% of our voters are Latino. Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,000 votes. If we community-organize and outreach to this 17% bloc of voters (who like reproductive freedom, immigrants, and economic success), we can increase the edge Biden (and Ruben Gallego to replace the evil Sen. Sinema) will have in Arizona in November. I don't speak Spanish, but I'm giving Somos Votantes $100 a month, thanks to the introduction by Robert Hubbell.
I donate to them and write postcards. They have on the ground Native organizers and the postcards connect the voters to their local organizer and different community events.
Cheryl, I am a NC Dem and more than willing to write postcards. Not up to the other outreach efforts. Do I google Field Team 6 to get involved? You know we lost my district's House rep Kathy Manning. Thanks!
Just click on the "Get Started Button" and it will walk you through it. You have to set up an account and then verify your email (they send you an email with a button to click, etc.). There is also a brief training video. It is pretty simple.
Once you are set up, you just log in, click on the postcard link, go to "My Addresses" and choose your campaign from a drop down box. There is a brief description that includes the Target audience e.g., "Women in NC-01" or "NC people between 30 -50 years old". Then an instruction like "mail as you write" and the progress to date in that campaign.
After selecting a campaign, you fill in the number of addresses you want, and it takes you to a page where you can download and print instructions and download and print the names and addresses. When you complete that batch go back into the system and acknowledge completion, at which point you can get more addresses from the same campaign or choose a different one.
Since it is fully-automated and "on demand", I usually request the number of addresses I think I will complete within a week, even though the instructions do not require that.
Thanks Cheryl, for this detailed, helpful information. I will check it out and get started. Kathy's old seat is unopposed. Losing her, Jeff, and Wiley is a big deal for NC Dems. Supporting Jeff, of course!
This point from today's edition is so true and bears repeating:
"As Jess explains, her run for office was equal parts offense and defense. Her chances of success were long, but the fact that she put up a fight may have helped a Democrat in another district win. The importance of that fact cannot be overstated."
There are so many good resources for Dems, and one of them is the group, RFS, Run for Something.
I feel that donating to them helps support them in their goal to keep Rethugs from running unopposed and forces the Rethugs to divert money to the smaller races. Well, probably not their main goal, but it underscores Robert's comment above.
I agree - they are a great group and I think they go a long way towards getting diverse candidates elected who don't often have a network of wealthy donors like GOP candidates!
After an earlier column, we signed up to support Idaho Dems and sent our first-ever contribution in this deep red state where we have a second home. Got a call the next day from the Executive Director, who is a state legislator. She said they have gone from almost no contested races anywhere to about 70% of races with candidates. And every new outrageous law from the state legislature strengthens their case and cause. They are very inspiring.
Here in NC, Kate Compton Barr is running in a new, heavily gerrymandered state senate district with the slogan “clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t win”. And wears campaign shirts that say “loser”. She’s doing a great job of drawing attention to gerrymandering and giving Dem voters in her district an opportunity to turn out—and add to statewide totals to flip NC blue! https://www.katebarrcantwin.com/ And the NC Dems are running candidates in almost every district throughout the state, places where Dems have never run before.
Great Howard Dean said it, my new NCDem Party leaders say it, even JessPiper in Missouri says it, let’s say it, let’s run in every race!) (Remembering ole Cole Porter tune …”let’s do it, let’s fall in love”)
Robert, I am so delighted that you featured Jess Piper's substack this morning. She is such an amazing and inspiring person. People who go back into her archives will also see her terrific piece on the "Fundie Baby Voice" used by Katie Britt in her response to the State of the Union.
David Pepper (of Blue Ohio) also wrote about Missouri yesterday. I am cross-posting a comment I made there here.
I joined Blue Missouri this month, and I am so excited that my money will support these people. I left Missouri for bluer pastures 2 years ago, but I still follow the news there. Here are some snippets from today's Missouri Independent:
"The Senate, dominated by a Republican supermajority, is beset by GOP factional warfare that has disrupted both this year’s session and those of the past three years. A group that called itself the conservative caucus in 2021 and 2022 before rebranding as the Freedom Caucus, has repeatedly disrupted normal functioning of the Senate.
"Filibusters held up approval of a new congressional district map and forced a special session on provider taxes vital to funding Medicaid. This year, the infighting became so bad several Freedom Caucus members lost committee chairmanships....
"With most seats considered safe for one party or the other and only half of the chamber on the ballot, there is little chance Republicans will lose their majority. Three open seats are considered toss-ups, however, and could end the GOP supermajority if Democrats have a good year."
and " Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, fending off an ethics investigation into allegations of misconduct, announced Tuesday he will drop out of the lieutenant governor’s race and instead seek the GOP nomination for secretary of state."
And of course, yesterday featured Erin Hawley, wife of the execrable Senator up for re-election, arguing before the Supreme Court to keep all American women from accessing medication abortion.
Missouri's state house is a mirror of what is happening with Republicans the US House of Representatives--so dysfunctional they can't get anything done, and riddled with ethics problems. We mustn't give up on these states. There WILL come a time when the voters have had enough."
One other point I would like to make--Missouri was a swing state until recently. This isn't a place where no one can even remember voting for a Democrat. I do believe there could be people who could go back to pulling the lever for the D.
We have been so happy in our new home in Minnesota, but courageous people like Jess Piper sometimes make me feel a bit sad and ashamed to have abandoned the fight in Missouri.
Missouri hasn't yet given up on being a swing state, and Mr. and Mrs. Hawley are helping in that direction. Part of the delay in approving the new district map was redrawing MO-2 so the incompetent incumbent would be safe from a challenger who had a better than fair chance of beating her. The first map didn't do it, so a second was drawn that moved the district away from where he lived. The last 3 Attorneys General that we've had have been bad enough that they are also at some risk with a decent opponent in Elad Gross. We'll see and we always hope.
On the topic of donations, I tend toward giving to less well funded campaigns on the idea that my $25 or $50 is going to help pay someone's credit card bill or lunch rather than contribute to a 6 or 7 figure consultant's fee. Consultants rank with lobbyists on my social scale and the whole political world would be improved by their absence. Their guidance is one reason why the focus is on "battleground states" instead of building effective organizations everywhere.
Dave, even though it's no longer my state, I have hopes of a return from the neo-Confederacy for Missouri, too. I am doing a bit to support Stephen Webber and Lucas Kunce.
Here's how Blue Missouri uses its funds to support candidates: "Blue Missouri uses a “bathtub” method of funding, where the community funds are used to lift the nominees from the bottom up. After the primary, we’ll look to the Democratic primary winners’ most recent campaign finance filings, and distribute community funds until the nominees all have at least $1,000. Then we’ll raise the “water level” to $2,000 … then $3,000 and so on and so on until the Blue Missouri community funds are exhausted. Only nominees (the Democratic primary winners) are eligible for funding. We do not fund candidates in the primary or make endorsements – this is a project to make sure Democrats have support to fight fiercely in the general election."
Beau of the Fifth Co was refered to in Joyce's comments a while ago and I hit the link. He made a very good point about why Huntsville was so receptive to Marilyn and that the The Space Command had not long ago been moved there and there was a new, large population of well educated and community focussed voters there that were not there when she lost, last time around. He offered that as a warning to not get too,fired up and loose sight of the real dangers in other rural areas that have not had such an influx of pofessional, well educated voters.
Thanks, Ransom, for that good point, which underscores fundamental aspects of American life: mobility and change.
I'm afraid a lot of my generation (b. 1948) are shell shocked by what has happened to American politics. We thought we were immune to the forces of autocracy rampant throughout the world in the 20th century and that we had gone beyond the racism, crude hatred, anti-science, and sexism of our America past. We elected Obama, didn't we? We coasted into the election of 2016, sure that a crude, ignorant, clownish Donald Trump would never be elected, but then he was, and laughed and shook our heads at how stupid people are. But the COVID came and we suffered one million deaths many of which could have been prevented with just attention, science, and leadership. So we cheered the salvation of Biden-Harris. But just as we were getting drowsy, the assault on our elections, the insurrection of 2021, the overturning of Roe, and the implications of science denial and thinking denial in our leaders who are convinced the earth is just about 6,000 years old (Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House), that there is no such thing as human caused climate change, and the rich need to get much richer, and ultimately there is no need to think about anything with any depth, humility, or discovery. We are in the Age of the Big Lie and the Big Con.
But people are moving all over America and a younger generation is growing up, but we cannot be complacent, that just because people are young they believe in freedom, equality, and justice, or even science. (Kyle Rittenhouse is on a speaking tour of American colleges sponsored by Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA). I've been in colleges all my life, and just because you are college educated does not mean you can't be a racist, autocrat, and science denier. My point is that we need to work to help youth and mobility and change move us to democracy. Trump must be defeated....but as we know, the game is not over then. Rural people are smart, and common sense is more common than we think. Let's help Blue States get to those forgotten districts. I will sound like Yogi Berra or Gracie Allen, look her up young readers, when I say, "When you are running unopposed, it's easy to win," but its true. I tell myself, "Instead of bemoaning the changes in America, make the change you want." Praise to all of you who are having conversations with neighbors and friends, helping them come to some light. And let's have more conversations with people who agree with us but are doing nothing.
?? I thought the Space Command never moved to Huntsville? Biden reversed the decision and kept it in Colorado?
I understand the need to temper expectations from Marilyn Lands' win, but only two years ago, a Republican won by 7%. As 32-point swing in two years is nearly unheard of. Republicans are saying, "It was a special election, low turnout" etc--which is why the GOP scheduled it for March, hoping the low turnout would favor Republicans! So there is a lot of after-the-fact rationalization going on to explain way Lands' win. As I wrote, let's hope the GOP keeps telling itself that her win was an anomoly and contains no lessions for the GOP.
I had only just read his talk and do not know for sure about the move. If that is not the case, then his usually pertinent comments need scrutiny. I was just passing it along for consideration. The 32 point swing is huge, in any case. Your points, Robert, are always on the mark.
That's what I thought and heard nothing of headquarters being moved. Beau is usually not trying to missrepresent anything. I haven't keptb up with him in a while. No time for FB, where he usally goes by on the feed.
Jess Piper’s message resonates with me in NC. There are 100 counties in NC and in the last election 44 counties did not have a candidate running. This year thanks to a change in the DNC of NC there will be a Democratic candidate in 96 counties. The message in NC is many staunch Republicans in rural parts of the state are fed up with the Republican candidates and whose ads tout their loyalty to Trump and will vote Democratic as a way of voicing their disapproval of Republican politics. This is a scenario that has not gotten a lot of attention. Investing in these candidates has value and as Trump siphons off money for legal expenses. ( over $100M ) there is less money down stream. Every little bit helps.
Giving money helps candidates, and is a way to be a Daily Dem. But I would encourage all of us to help candidates with the physical stuff as well as the monetary stuff. Give money to Field Team 6 - and participate in their postcard writing work of registering likely Democratic voters. Give money to a candidate, and volunteer to be a driver as they go door to door. Give money to your local Democratic committee, and sign up for a canvassing shift. Money helps, but our physical presence is what will move the needle.
The NC GOP just elected another strong Trump supporter to replace Michael Whatley as the chair of the state party. You have to wonder how much this will starve down-ballot GOP candidates - especially since some of them will have a Democratic opponent for the very first time!
I am living In Mecklenburg County the epicenter of the GOTV effort to get NC Democrats activated to vote. The county has been organized into maybe two dozen "neighborhood" Democratic groups - some more active than others. My local group has been meeting since last summer for fun social events which include candidate forums. This past Sunday afternoon, I attended a volunteer fair at the Library where there were stations with volunteers explaining the various opportunities - in-person voter registration, canvassing, postcards, phone banking, working at the polls (either as a paid poll worker or a volunteer basis as an observer or a poll greeter, and miscellaneous stuff such as delivering candidate signs to the polling places, driving voters to the polls, and a lot of other stuff that needs to be done.
I am a whole lot more involved with my local party than I was a year ago!
A thousand times, yes! I am a member of a local Indivisible chapter where some of us have been aging out. We are recruiting volunteers to join us in actually making our chapter work, not just write post cards, and it is a hard struggle.
It is a hard struggle, but certainly a worthy one, as we all know. Lately what helps me in this struggle is holding onto Mother Teresa's words: "We are not called upon to be successful; we are called upon to be faithful." If I focus on "success," on how many volunteers showed up, for example, then I'm bound for disappointment because this is out of my control and tied to my ego. But if I focus on being faithful to the task, then I can carry on no matter what. Let's be faithful to the task of showing up for whatever needs to be done. This is something we can control, and can keep burnout at bay, and can keep our eyes on the job and our hearts steady.
Thank you! I will be hosting a conversation at our next public Indivisible chapter meeting on how people are feeling and how they are coping with the stress. I think I will ask participants beforehand to bring quotes and stories that sustain them.
Are you familiar with the organization Field Team 6? Their "postcard czar" is Sharon Lord Greenspan, and she does an excellent talk about ways to avoid burnout as an activist. She's doing her talk for our group via Zoom since she's on the west coast and we're in Maine.
Yes, TC. And Judge Roland's opinion was extremely fair...for those who value facts.
Seems it might have helped Eastman in the judge's eyes if he had shown some remorse. But that is not the MAGA way. Eastman and his lawyer are busy whining about how unfair these proceedings are while he practices the "Trump Grift" (which by now should have a song in its honor, if not a dance to go with it.)
Eastman is begging Christian nationalist groups to donate money to his legal defense fund. Reportedly he has gotten about $630,000 so far. I guess it's expensive to be a "Christian holy warrior who’d been 'cast in the forefront of this battle' against “tyranny.''
If you live in a reliabley blue area and you think Dems in red areas don't have anyone to vote for is hyperbole I can assure you it is not! When I requested a Dem ballot in the recent Alabama primary in my South Alabama precinct, I had 3 choices: Biden, reps to the Dem nominating convention and one state-wide referendum. There were NO Dems running for any other seats!!!!! Because I volunteered to report results for the local LWV, I know exactly how many Dems voted in my precinct: 8. Yes 8. Are there more Dem or Dem-leaning voters here? Yes, but they don't vote because they have noone to vote for!!!!! Is that frustrating? Yes! So what do I do? I work to get Dems elected in other districts or in other states (ex: Marilyn Lands, Doug Jones in Alabama), help register young people to vote, help previously incarcerated people regain their voting rights.... The possiblities to make a difference are almost limitless. That keeps me motivated in the presence of an almost completely disfunctional state Dem party!!! I can still help make change happen!!! I highly recommend it!!!
Jess Piper is such an inspiration! Thanks for the link!💙
Shunning plant-based, meat alternatives is the “anti-woke” stand du jour.
Florida legislature this year also banned lab-generated meat and windmills/wind energy. Priorities !
In ‘22 we volunteered for the campaign of the excellent Dem candidate running against our Freedom Caucus Rep. She was trounced but made gains 👍 with Independents in a MAGA red county. It was such a learning experience! I encourage all who are able to volunteer for a campaign.
It’s a great year to run Democrats in every race. The MAGA Republicans won’t know what hit them when they go to the RNC for campaign funds and find out the vault is empty because every dollar is paying Don’s legal bills or his campaign expenses.
Permit me, please, to brag on a former sixth-grade student of mine, Kate Compton Barr, who is running for NC Senate in District 37, knowing full well that she won’t win. “Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can’t Win.” So proud of her.
NC State Chair Anderson Clayton has followed Piper’s model, getting Dems to run in all but 2 races. A huge improvement from previous years. Maybe another NC friend has the exact numbers.
It is all but two legislative races - NC House and Senate. In a flip, there are 30+ legislative races that the GOP has left uncontested. And when you consider all the races in the state there are only a handful of other races without a Dem running.
Here is another clip on the race for district 37. Her opponent tried saying that the Dems are blame shifting when they talk about gerrymandering. GRRR! I hope Kate does very well in liberal Davidson even if she can't win the entire district.
We have lived in South Atlanta since the early 1940's and watched Georgia go from Southern Democrats to GOP Republicans because of the Civil Rights Legislation. Our family became active in the Fayette County Democratic Party in 2004 and have had two members as Chairperson of the FCDC, also, one as member of the School Board for 10 years, pushed back against the Federalist Society's control of our County Commissioners and won.
Our State now has Two Democratic Senators and our House represenative is also a Democrat.
My wife and I strongly urge everyone to be active in local politics. It will make a difference for you, family and society.
R&J
We live in north Atlanta. Lucy McBaths old district. I have watched my neighborhood go from Blue to Red via gerrymandering. I raise my voice at every level and still remain hopeful. I stay in each elected officials face by constantly showing up at public forums and righting to them on all issues. They won’t silence us.
I don't know if "righting" was intentional or just a typo, but I love it!
@Judith and Linda: Millions of unregistered women nationally trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats -- save Democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission
Please link to your Substacks.
Hi Daniel, keep making people aware of Field Team 6.
I think too many people are fixated on the difficulty of trying to get MAGA voters to dump Trump and forget about the pool of unregistered and low propensity voters, who if activated would more than likely vote Blue! I don't think this race is nearly as close as polls seem to indicate, but Trump would have even less of a chance if we work hard at broadening the voter base!
I'n in NC and have been writing postcards with Field Team 6 for two NC campaigns:
- Women in NC-01 about preserving reproductive rights
- NC residents 30 - 50 yo who care about climate change
I think there is at least one campaign in each of the swing states and FT6 uses all forms of communication to reach potential voters - in person, by phone or text, and over social media. Now is the perfect time to register new voters!!
I live in Arizona and attended an online meeting where I found out that 17% of our voters are Latino. Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,000 votes. If we community-organize and outreach to this 17% bloc of voters (who like reproductive freedom, immigrants, and economic success), we can increase the edge Biden (and Ruben Gallego to replace the evil Sen. Sinema) will have in Arizona in November. I don't speak Spanish, but I'm giving Somos Votantes $100 a month, thanks to the introduction by Robert Hubbell.
You might also be interested in Northeast Arizona Native Democrats:
https://neaznativedemocrats.org/
I donate to them and write postcards. They have on the ground Native organizers and the postcards connect the voters to their local organizer and different community events.
Cheryl, I am a NC Dem and more than willing to write postcards. Not up to the other outreach efforts. Do I google Field Team 6 to get involved? You know we lost my district's House rep Kathy Manning. Thanks!
Hi Jane,
I am in the same boat, although Jeff Jackson is running for AG.
Here is a link to the the Postcard Home: https://fieldteam6.herokuapp.com/
Just click on the "Get Started Button" and it will walk you through it. You have to set up an account and then verify your email (they send you an email with a button to click, etc.). There is also a brief training video. It is pretty simple.
Once you are set up, you just log in, click on the postcard link, go to "My Addresses" and choose your campaign from a drop down box. There is a brief description that includes the Target audience e.g., "Women in NC-01" or "NC people between 30 -50 years old". Then an instruction like "mail as you write" and the progress to date in that campaign.
After selecting a campaign, you fill in the number of addresses you want, and it takes you to a page where you can download and print instructions and download and print the names and addresses. When you complete that batch go back into the system and acknowledge completion, at which point you can get more addresses from the same campaign or choose a different one.
Since it is fully-automated and "on demand", I usually request the number of addresses I think I will complete within a week, even though the instructions do not require that.
Hope this helps you get started!
@Cheryl: Re North Carolina. During the Field Team Summit, 11,000+ new North Carolina Democrats were added to the rolls.
https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/event/400225/
Thanks Cheryl, for this detailed, helpful information. I will check it out and get started. Kathy's old seat is unopposed. Losing her, Jeff, and Wiley is a big deal for NC Dems. Supporting Jeff, of course!
For NC folks…check out this link by someone in my activism group https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://tinyurl.com/VotingRightsActions__;!!OToaGQ!vGAZeKETGSBftcgEM050_1qRwdUNzwYbezsnaZ-OwFfktk7sdqxzLfQZTs7iOVQDxQMYpfAhmie4B7-mAiEQyNuLAg$
Thanks!! Will do.
I love seeing the South go Blue...it will happen
Thank you for your dedication and service!
This point from today's edition is so true and bears repeating:
"As Jess explains, her run for office was equal parts offense and defense. Her chances of success were long, but the fact that she put up a fight may have helped a Democrat in another district win. The importance of that fact cannot be overstated."
There are so many good resources for Dems, and one of them is the group, RFS, Run for Something.
I feel that donating to them helps support them in their goal to keep Rethugs from running unopposed and forces the Rethugs to divert money to the smaller races. Well, probably not their main goal, but it underscores Robert's comment above.
https://runforsomething.net/help/
Thank you for the link, JR!
I agree - they are a great group and I think they go a long way towards getting diverse candidates elected who don't often have a network of wealthy donors like GOP candidates!
Robert, you are proof that there is good news everywhere, if only we look and then be it!
As for Jess Piper...she's a keeper!
After an earlier column, we signed up to support Idaho Dems and sent our first-ever contribution in this deep red state where we have a second home. Got a call the next day from the Executive Director, who is a state legislator. She said they have gone from almost no contested races anywhere to about 70% of races with candidates. And every new outrageous law from the state legislature strengthens their case and cause. They are very inspiring.
Hi, Thomas--thanks for taking action!
Here in NC, Kate Compton Barr is running in a new, heavily gerrymandered state senate district with the slogan “clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t win”. And wears campaign shirts that say “loser”. She’s doing a great job of drawing attention to gerrymandering and giving Dem voters in her district an opportunity to turn out—and add to statewide totals to flip NC blue! https://www.katebarrcantwin.com/ And the NC Dems are running candidates in almost every district throughout the state, places where Dems have never run before.
Great Howard Dean said it, my new NCDem Party leaders say it, even JessPiper in Missouri says it, let’s say it, let’s run in every race!) (Remembering ole Cole Porter tune …”let’s do it, let’s fall in love”)
Thanks for highlighting Kate’s bold step into the race.
Robert, I am so delighted that you featured Jess Piper's substack this morning. She is such an amazing and inspiring person. People who go back into her archives will also see her terrific piece on the "Fundie Baby Voice" used by Katie Britt in her response to the State of the Union.
David Pepper (of Blue Ohio) also wrote about Missouri yesterday. I am cross-posting a comment I made there here.
I joined Blue Missouri this month, and I am so excited that my money will support these people. I left Missouri for bluer pastures 2 years ago, but I still follow the news there. Here are some snippets from today's Missouri Independent:
"The Senate, dominated by a Republican supermajority, is beset by GOP factional warfare that has disrupted both this year’s session and those of the past three years. A group that called itself the conservative caucus in 2021 and 2022 before rebranding as the Freedom Caucus, has repeatedly disrupted normal functioning of the Senate.
"Filibusters held up approval of a new congressional district map and forced a special session on provider taxes vital to funding Medicaid. This year, the infighting became so bad several Freedom Caucus members lost committee chairmanships....
"With most seats considered safe for one party or the other and only half of the chamber on the ballot, there is little chance Republicans will lose their majority. Three open seats are considered toss-ups, however, and could end the GOP supermajority if Democrats have a good year."
and " Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, fending off an ethics investigation into allegations of misconduct, announced Tuesday he will drop out of the lieutenant governor’s race and instead seek the GOP nomination for secretary of state."
And of course, yesterday featured Erin Hawley, wife of the execrable Senator up for re-election, arguing before the Supreme Court to keep all American women from accessing medication abortion.
Missouri's state house is a mirror of what is happening with Republicans the US House of Representatives--so dysfunctional they can't get anything done, and riddled with ethics problems. We mustn't give up on these states. There WILL come a time when the voters have had enough."
One other point I would like to make--Missouri was a swing state until recently. This isn't a place where no one can even remember voting for a Democrat. I do believe there could be people who could go back to pulling the lever for the D.
We have been so happy in our new home in Minnesota, but courageous people like Jess Piper sometimes make me feel a bit sad and ashamed to have abandoned the fight in Missouri.
Missouri hasn't yet given up on being a swing state, and Mr. and Mrs. Hawley are helping in that direction. Part of the delay in approving the new district map was redrawing MO-2 so the incompetent incumbent would be safe from a challenger who had a better than fair chance of beating her. The first map didn't do it, so a second was drawn that moved the district away from where he lived. The last 3 Attorneys General that we've had have been bad enough that they are also at some risk with a decent opponent in Elad Gross. We'll see and we always hope.
On the topic of donations, I tend toward giving to less well funded campaigns on the idea that my $25 or $50 is going to help pay someone's credit card bill or lunch rather than contribute to a 6 or 7 figure consultant's fee. Consultants rank with lobbyists on my social scale and the whole political world would be improved by their absence. Their guidance is one reason why the focus is on "battleground states" instead of building effective organizations everywhere.
Dave, even though it's no longer my state, I have hopes of a return from the neo-Confederacy for Missouri, too. I am doing a bit to support Stephen Webber and Lucas Kunce.
Here's how Blue Missouri uses its funds to support candidates: "Blue Missouri uses a “bathtub” method of funding, where the community funds are used to lift the nominees from the bottom up. After the primary, we’ll look to the Democratic primary winners’ most recent campaign finance filings, and distribute community funds until the nominees all have at least $1,000. Then we’ll raise the “water level” to $2,000 … then $3,000 and so on and so on until the Blue Missouri community funds are exhausted. Only nominees (the Democratic primary winners) are eligible for funding. We do not fund candidates in the primary or make endorsements – this is a project to make sure Democrats have support to fight fiercely in the general election."
"Consultants rank with lobbyists on my social scale"
Well said!
Thanks.
And a P.S.
Beau of the Fifth Co was refered to in Joyce's comments a while ago and I hit the link. He made a very good point about why Huntsville was so receptive to Marilyn and that the The Space Command had not long ago been moved there and there was a new, large population of well educated and community focussed voters there that were not there when she lost, last time around. He offered that as a warning to not get too,fired up and loose sight of the real dangers in other rural areas that have not had such an influx of pofessional, well educated voters.
Something to consider.
Thanks, Ransom, for that good point, which underscores fundamental aspects of American life: mobility and change.
I'm afraid a lot of my generation (b. 1948) are shell shocked by what has happened to American politics. We thought we were immune to the forces of autocracy rampant throughout the world in the 20th century and that we had gone beyond the racism, crude hatred, anti-science, and sexism of our America past. We elected Obama, didn't we? We coasted into the election of 2016, sure that a crude, ignorant, clownish Donald Trump would never be elected, but then he was, and laughed and shook our heads at how stupid people are. But the COVID came and we suffered one million deaths many of which could have been prevented with just attention, science, and leadership. So we cheered the salvation of Biden-Harris. But just as we were getting drowsy, the assault on our elections, the insurrection of 2021, the overturning of Roe, and the implications of science denial and thinking denial in our leaders who are convinced the earth is just about 6,000 years old (Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House), that there is no such thing as human caused climate change, and the rich need to get much richer, and ultimately there is no need to think about anything with any depth, humility, or discovery. We are in the Age of the Big Lie and the Big Con.
But people are moving all over America and a younger generation is growing up, but we cannot be complacent, that just because people are young they believe in freedom, equality, and justice, or even science. (Kyle Rittenhouse is on a speaking tour of American colleges sponsored by Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA). I've been in colleges all my life, and just because you are college educated does not mean you can't be a racist, autocrat, and science denier. My point is that we need to work to help youth and mobility and change move us to democracy. Trump must be defeated....but as we know, the game is not over then. Rural people are smart, and common sense is more common than we think. Let's help Blue States get to those forgotten districts. I will sound like Yogi Berra or Gracie Allen, look her up young readers, when I say, "When you are running unopposed, it's easy to win," but its true. I tell myself, "Instead of bemoaning the changes in America, make the change you want." Praise to all of you who are having conversations with neighbors and friends, helping them come to some light. And let's have more conversations with people who agree with us but are doing nothing.
?? I thought the Space Command never moved to Huntsville? Biden reversed the decision and kept it in Colorado?
I understand the need to temper expectations from Marilyn Lands' win, but only two years ago, a Republican won by 7%. As 32-point swing in two years is nearly unheard of. Republicans are saying, "It was a special election, low turnout" etc--which is why the GOP scheduled it for March, hoping the low turnout would favor Republicans! So there is a lot of after-the-fact rationalization going on to explain way Lands' win. As I wrote, let's hope the GOP keeps telling itself that her win was an anomoly and contains no lessions for the GOP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l40mKM8uo8w
Aside from political influence, what excuse did SpaceCom give for spending $millions to move to Alabama?
I had only just read his talk and do not know for sure about the move. If that is not the case, then his usually pertinent comments need scrutiny. I was just passing it along for consideration. The 32 point swing is huge, in any case. Your points, Robert, are always on the mark.
I had thought the move was cancelled also.
My brother started working for SpaceCom earlier this year and it is definitely in Colorado
That's what I thought and heard nothing of headquarters being moved. Beau is usually not trying to missrepresent anything. I haven't keptb up with him in a while. No time for FB, where he usally goes by on the feed.
Beau of the Fifth Column on YT, @BeauoftheFifthColumn
"The discussions of a southern journalist who is tired of a lack of common sense."
He actually quite often makes some good points and so is one of the few that I sometimes listen to.
The link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l40mKM8uo8w
Jess Piper’s message resonates with me in NC. There are 100 counties in NC and in the last election 44 counties did not have a candidate running. This year thanks to a change in the DNC of NC there will be a Democratic candidate in 96 counties. The message in NC is many staunch Republicans in rural parts of the state are fed up with the Republican candidates and whose ads tout their loyalty to Trump and will vote Democratic as a way of voicing their disapproval of Republican politics. This is a scenario that has not gotten a lot of attention. Investing in these candidates has value and as Trump siphons off money for legal expenses. ( over $100M ) there is less money down stream. Every little bit helps.
Giving money helps candidates, and is a way to be a Daily Dem. But I would encourage all of us to help candidates with the physical stuff as well as the monetary stuff. Give money to Field Team 6 - and participate in their postcard writing work of registering likely Democratic voters. Give money to a candidate, and volunteer to be a driver as they go door to door. Give money to your local Democratic committee, and sign up for a canvassing shift. Money helps, but our physical presence is what will move the needle.
The NC GOP just elected another strong Trump supporter to replace Michael Whatley as the chair of the state party. You have to wonder how much this will starve down-ballot GOP candidates - especially since some of them will have a Democratic opponent for the very first time!
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/news/2024/03/27/n-c--gop-executive-director-elected-as-state-chairman-to-replace-whatley
I am living In Mecklenburg County the epicenter of the GOTV effort to get NC Democrats activated to vote. The county has been organized into maybe two dozen "neighborhood" Democratic groups - some more active than others. My local group has been meeting since last summer for fun social events which include candidate forums. This past Sunday afternoon, I attended a volunteer fair at the Library where there were stations with volunteers explaining the various opportunities - in-person voter registration, canvassing, postcards, phone banking, working at the polls (either as a paid poll worker or a volunteer basis as an observer or a poll greeter, and miscellaneous stuff such as delivering candidate signs to the polling places, driving voters to the polls, and a lot of other stuff that needs to be done.
I am a whole lot more involved with my local party than I was a year ago!
A thousand times, yes! I am a member of a local Indivisible chapter where some of us have been aging out. We are recruiting volunteers to join us in actually making our chapter work, not just write post cards, and it is a hard struggle.
It is a hard struggle, but certainly a worthy one, as we all know. Lately what helps me in this struggle is holding onto Mother Teresa's words: "We are not called upon to be successful; we are called upon to be faithful." If I focus on "success," on how many volunteers showed up, for example, then I'm bound for disappointment because this is out of my control and tied to my ego. But if I focus on being faithful to the task, then I can carry on no matter what. Let's be faithful to the task of showing up for whatever needs to be done. This is something we can control, and can keep burnout at bay, and can keep our eyes on the job and our hearts steady.
Vicky, may I share this widely? It’s just what many of us need to hear.
Absolutely! Glad it's helpful to you, and glad we're together on this journey!
Thank you! I will be hosting a conversation at our next public Indivisible chapter meeting on how people are feeling and how they are coping with the stress. I think I will ask participants beforehand to bring quotes and stories that sustain them.
Are you familiar with the organization Field Team 6? Their "postcard czar" is Sharon Lord Greenspan, and she does an excellent talk about ways to avoid burnout as an activist. She's doing her talk for our group via Zoom since she's on the west coast and we're in Maine.
That decision on Eastman gives a whole new definition to the word "eviscerate."
Yes, TC. And Judge Roland's opinion was extremely fair...for those who value facts.
Seems it might have helped Eastman in the judge's eyes if he had shown some remorse. But that is not the MAGA way. Eastman and his lawyer are busy whining about how unfair these proceedings are while he practices the "Trump Grift" (which by now should have a song in its honor, if not a dance to go with it.)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/27/john-eastman-disbarred-00149468
Eastman is begging Christian nationalist groups to donate money to his legal defense fund. Reportedly he has gotten about $630,000 so far. I guess it's expensive to be a "Christian holy warrior who’d been 'cast in the forefront of this battle' against “tyranny.''
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/trump-lawyer-john-eastman-christian-crowdfunding-rcna144479
Millions of unregistered women nationally trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats -- save Democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission
If you live in a reliabley blue area and you think Dems in red areas don't have anyone to vote for is hyperbole I can assure you it is not! When I requested a Dem ballot in the recent Alabama primary in my South Alabama precinct, I had 3 choices: Biden, reps to the Dem nominating convention and one state-wide referendum. There were NO Dems running for any other seats!!!!! Because I volunteered to report results for the local LWV, I know exactly how many Dems voted in my precinct: 8. Yes 8. Are there more Dem or Dem-leaning voters here? Yes, but they don't vote because they have noone to vote for!!!!! Is that frustrating? Yes! So what do I do? I work to get Dems elected in other districts or in other states (ex: Marilyn Lands, Doug Jones in Alabama), help register young people to vote, help previously incarcerated people regain their voting rights.... The possiblities to make a difference are almost limitless. That keeps me motivated in the presence of an almost completely disfunctional state Dem party!!! I can still help make change happen!!! I highly recommend it!!!
Lisa, thanks for taking action against long odds!
Thank you for doing the work!
Jess Piper has a beautiful substack essay on that, too: https://jesspiper.substack.com/p/hunting-dogs-rural-progressives-and
Jess Piper is such an inspiration! Thanks for the link!💙
Shunning plant-based, meat alternatives is the “anti-woke” stand du jour.
Florida legislature this year also banned lab-generated meat and windmills/wind energy. Priorities !
In ‘22 we volunteered for the campaign of the excellent Dem candidate running against our Freedom Caucus Rep. She was trounced but made gains 👍 with Independents in a MAGA red county. It was such a learning experience! I encourage all who are able to volunteer for a campaign.
❤️🤍💙
Delighted to see that Alabama district flip decisively from red to blue. I’m calling the winner “Marilyn Landslide!”
It’s a great year to run Democrats in every race. The MAGA Republicans won’t know what hit them when they go to the RNC for campaign funds and find out the vault is empty because every dollar is paying Don’s legal bills or his campaign expenses.
LOL--great point! And the state GOPs are hurting in a lot of places, too.
Permit me, please, to brag on a former sixth-grade student of mine, Kate Compton Barr, who is running for NC Senate in District 37, knowing full well that she won’t win. “Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can’t Win.” So proud of her.
https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/clear-eyes-full-heart-cant-win-why-kate-barr-is-running-anyway/6OWDCKD7X5AONJPU7IHMD6WM5M/
NC State Chair Anderson Clayton has followed Piper’s model, getting Dems to run in all but 2 races. A huge improvement from previous years. Maybe another NC friend has the exact numbers.
It is all but two legislative races - NC House and Senate. In a flip, there are 30+ legislative races that the GOP has left uncontested. And when you consider all the races in the state there are only a handful of other races without a Dem running.
Here is another clip on the race for district 37. Her opponent tried saying that the Dems are blame shifting when they talk about gerrymandering. GRRR! I hope Kate does very well in liberal Davidson even if she can't win the entire district.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSfdFQJSdcU