I refuse to believe that 70% of “Republicans” believe the election was stolen. It just doesn’t match what I hear from my Republican friends and clients. None of them believe that and just hope the Party continues the conservative agenda as they have always wanted. They definitely don’t think Trump will do that. I think it’s what you have been speaking about, ear-candy, sensational news that will catch 10 minutes of attention and be repeated. I refuse to repeat it! I also think the Democrats have the numbers if many Independents and rational Republicans vote to end this chaos. I’m betting they will. Biden has been an extraordinary statesman and model for responsible governance. I am so proud to be a Democrat at this time in history.
I hope you are right, I think that most Republicans will still vote for their team at the polls though. I live in GA, and the way I see the "Moderate" Republicans still supporting Walker is insane.
The Palmer Report does a great job of using aggregated poll data to work smart, as by identifying the top 8 competitive Senate races:
"If you don't have the money, donate your time.
If you don't have the time, donate your money.
If you don't have time or money, start posting the above links, so your followers who have time and money will see it and contribute.
Volunteering can be in person or done remotely, and can be anything from going door to door, to phone banking, to working from home, to sending postcards to voters, to working at the polls on election day. Sign up with the candidates and they'll send you the volunteering details."
Working smart means investing our time and money in races where our efforts can make a difference, so not in safe races, and not in races with a candidate down by 10 points, no matter how much we love that candidate. Resources for finding a way to help save democracy:
Robert, I offer a clarification to when you say "....it is a stark reminder that Trump was willing to risk the lives of Americans to benefit his partisan interests." With Trump, "partisan" doesn't mean a lot -----> it's all personal. Will doing this or that benefit him and his friends and family financially (?) is almost always the core underlying question to be answered when he swerves one way or the other. Even a demonstrable victory like the Abraham Accords redounds to Trump family fortune - see Jared Kushner; - see Thomas Barrack; - see Eric Trump; - see Steve Mnuchin.
"with Trump, "partisan" doesn't mean a lot -----> it's all personal."
To Swbv. Thank you for this. Yes, everything with Trump is about one individual only. I'm going to take one step further and suggest that Donald Trump's self-absorption is not much more than the most poisonous and twisted version of one of America's founding myths--the Rugged Individual.
Thank you Robert!! FYI all, PostcardsToVoters.org just launched postcards for Rep. Pat Ryan who is in a toss up race in upstate NY after winning his special election in August. Pat is fantastic. We are so lucky to have him in Congress. PTV volunteers wrote 100,195 postcards for him in August and he won 66,000 to 63,000. We need to get all the Democrats in his district out again! Every postcard could be a vote. The group that hosted the 24-hours-of-Action event in September is hosting an Open House Postcarding Zoom on Thursday evening if anyone wants to join us. Join us for ten minutes, a half hour, an hour or five! Come in and out any time from 7pm-midnight. If you need help getting started, we know how to help! If you need supplies, come on and we can help with that. It's all fun! And will help save our Democracy! Register to immediately receive the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpd-utrD4jH9FBaDI5EaR0C8k0ZwFV9V6V
I am so grateful to this community for connections I did not have before! I've been writing post cards alone and with the Open House Postcarding Zoom - it's rewarding and fun....and most of all, I know that no matter what happens on Nov 8, I'm now part of a much bigger community that's here for the long haul to preserve and grow our democracy for our children, grandchildren and all future generations. See you Thursday night!!
New idea with goal of not leaving even one vote behind…As I do canvassing for a candidate or the party, we’re to stick to houses the campaign has given us, so I do. BUT…when I see a house with a yard sign that suggests they are D voters (e.g., “Hate has no home here,” I am mailing a handwritten note, neighbor to neighbor, complimenting them on their sign, suggesting we might share voting opinions, urging them to vote and pointing them to vote411.org.
Regarding TFG’s corrupting CDC, a reminder. More than 1 million Americans have lost their lives from Covid, with estimates that mismanagement/miscommunication may have been responsible for as many as 500,000 excess deaths. 500,000. Excess. Deaths! This wasn’t just political shenanigans. It was malpractice on an unprecedented scale. Where is the outrage?
“The House Oversight Committee has discovered that Trump charged the Secret Service a daily room rate of $1,148 on forty occasions—a rate that is neither “free” nor “at cost.“
Was there a House Oversight Committee while the amoral trump was IN office?? Where were the alleged right wing fiscal watch dogs when he was treating the Secret Service budget as a Personal Slush fund? During his first year it was reported by a media outlet that he had spent the entire budgeted Secret Service line item by 6 months in office!! No bark from the faux right wing watch dogs!
The amoral trump usually travelled to one of his properties to stay overnight, thus putting federal $$$ in his pocket for the housing and feeding of the Secret Service and his entourage!!
Again not surprised at this revelation! why did it take so long?
First, I understand the numbers commonly used for party affiliation are estimated as follows: 39% are registered Democrat, 29% are registered Republican, leaving 28.5% as independent (not affiliated)., and 3.5% no answer. These numbers have been cited by Dr. Richardson and her Letters from an American, and on ballotpedia.org (Based on October 2022 surveys)
If these percentages hold true, that gives the Democrats / Independents the vast majority for the vote. We can make the difference here.
By continuing to repeat the Republican message that we are a 50–50 electorate, we concede a significant amount of our power to them. Robert, please share your thoughts about these numbers.
Second, the nature of national polling is outmoded and can deliver skewed results. As I understand it, the polling is traditionally conducted via land telephone lines. A small percentage of Americans still have land lines, and many of those likely are in more conservative parts of the country. Before we take any poll results at at face value, we should better understand the polling methodology and numbers interpretations. Robert, do you have any different information at hand regarding the conducting of national polls?
Don’t believe the myth about polling being outdated. It has become very sophisticated with data collected from cell phones, the web and in person. It’s all about turnout and the phrasing of the questions.
Whoopi Goldberg made a comment Tuesday on The View about the danger of relying on polls. Joy Behar quoted a New York Times poll that said 71% of voters agree that democracy is under threat., but only 7% of voters rank democracy as a major issue this election cycle. Joy found that very sad and depressing.
Whoopi said "That's why I don't like polls." She added that she thinks we have to have a little more faith in people. She thinks people have been listening and they made up their minds for a reason because they have been looking at what's going on. She said often times the polls have been wrong.
She said even though voters were quoted as saying they were going to vote for Roy Moore and the polls indicated that he would win, the next day when the results came in Moore "lost by a mile" because people don't tell you who they're going to vote for. She added that people say what they feel like saying at that moment when questioned, but we shouldn't discount that people may have been listening and absorbing what they're hearing from different sources.
Robert—I haven’t commented for a while, but I read the newsletter closely and daily from my too-close-for-comfort perch in Canada. Thank you again for your reporting and especially your optimism. It matters to us that the US is a stable democracy, and you’re making an important contribution. Cheers!
I tell everyone I meet when the conversation goes political, with your vote hold Trump accountable for his crimes against the American people. And now I'll add, as you put it, hold that "deadly legacy against Trump and his enablers in 2022." At this point in the struggle, our votes are our only weapon against the radical evil that the GOP of Trump embodies and will be remembered as the deciding factor in the battle to preserve democracy and the autonomy and liberty of individual Americans. The fate of the Republic is in our hands.
In 2016, Michael Moore (along with yours truly) predicted that Trump would win the election. In 2020, he predicted Biden would win. This year, Michael sees a "Blue Tsunami". I also see this as a more than distinct possibility-but the voters have to get to the polls, despite any contrived obstacles put in their way. If 2018 and 2020 are any indication, they will.
Thank you! I love the message, and I signed up for the briefings.
I just reread the message, and I'm wondering - is it assumed that the right to choose abortion is covered by Choose our Own Future and Access Health Care? I'm wondering why it's not mentioned specifically.
And now I just started looking at the toolkit - awesome!
I refuse to believe that 70% of “Republicans” believe the election was stolen. It just doesn’t match what I hear from my Republican friends and clients. None of them believe that and just hope the Party continues the conservative agenda as they have always wanted. They definitely don’t think Trump will do that. I think it’s what you have been speaking about, ear-candy, sensational news that will catch 10 minutes of attention and be repeated. I refuse to repeat it! I also think the Democrats have the numbers if many Independents and rational Republicans vote to end this chaos. I’m betting they will. Biden has been an extraordinary statesman and model for responsible governance. I am so proud to be a Democrat at this time in history.
I hope you are right, I think that most Republicans will still vote for their team at the polls though. I live in GA, and the way I see the "Moderate" Republicans still supporting Walker is insane.
We may win, we may lose, but shame on us if we leave anything on the field of battle!
Hear! Hear!
The Palmer Report does a great job of using aggregated poll data to work smart, as by identifying the top 8 competitive Senate races:
"If you don't have the money, donate your time.
If you don't have the time, donate your money.
If you don't have time or money, start posting the above links, so your followers who have time and money will see it and contribute.
Volunteering can be in person or done remotely, and can be anything from going door to door, to phone banking, to working from home, to sending postcards to voters, to working at the polls on election day. Sign up with the candidates and they'll send you the volunteering details."
https://twitter.com/PalmerReport/status/1581825003179253762?s=20&t=On3LRqWkTcfJN-xfHWiAWA
Working smart means investing our time and money in races where our efforts can make a difference, so not in safe races, and not in races with a candidate down by 10 points, no matter how much we love that candidate. Resources for finding a way to help save democracy:
Mobilize US
https://www.mobilize.us/
Jessica Craven's "Chop Wood, Carry Water" (Because HOPE is an action!)
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/
Robert, I offer a clarification to when you say "....it is a stark reminder that Trump was willing to risk the lives of Americans to benefit his partisan interests." With Trump, "partisan" doesn't mean a lot -----> it's all personal. Will doing this or that benefit him and his friends and family financially (?) is almost always the core underlying question to be answered when he swerves one way or the other. Even a demonstrable victory like the Abraham Accords redounds to Trump family fortune - see Jared Kushner; - see Thomas Barrack; - see Eric Trump; - see Steve Mnuchin.
"with Trump, "partisan" doesn't mean a lot -----> it's all personal."
To Swbv. Thank you for this. Yes, everything with Trump is about one individual only. I'm going to take one step further and suggest that Donald Trump's self-absorption is not much more than the most poisonous and twisted version of one of America's founding myths--the Rugged Individual.
Thank you Robert!! FYI all, PostcardsToVoters.org just launched postcards for Rep. Pat Ryan who is in a toss up race in upstate NY after winning his special election in August. Pat is fantastic. We are so lucky to have him in Congress. PTV volunteers wrote 100,195 postcards for him in August and he won 66,000 to 63,000. We need to get all the Democrats in his district out again! Every postcard could be a vote. The group that hosted the 24-hours-of-Action event in September is hosting an Open House Postcarding Zoom on Thursday evening if anyone wants to join us. Join us for ten minutes, a half hour, an hour or five! Come in and out any time from 7pm-midnight. If you need help getting started, we know how to help! If you need supplies, come on and we can help with that. It's all fun! And will help save our Democracy! Register to immediately receive the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpd-utrD4jH9FBaDI5EaR0C8k0ZwFV9V6V
I am so grateful to this community for connections I did not have before! I've been writing post cards alone and with the Open House Postcarding Zoom - it's rewarding and fun....and most of all, I know that no matter what happens on Nov 8, I'm now part of a much bigger community that's here for the long haul to preserve and grow our democracy for our children, grandchildren and all future generations. See you Thursday night!!
Yesterday, on the first day of early voting in Georgia, 100,000 people went to the polls, smashing off-year records. A straw in the wind? We’ll see.
New idea with goal of not leaving even one vote behind…As I do canvassing for a candidate or the party, we’re to stick to houses the campaign has given us, so I do. BUT…when I see a house with a yard sign that suggests they are D voters (e.g., “Hate has no home here,” I am mailing a handwritten note, neighbor to neighbor, complimenting them on their sign, suggesting we might share voting opinions, urging them to vote and pointing them to vote411.org.
Regarding TFG’s corrupting CDC, a reminder. More than 1 million Americans have lost their lives from Covid, with estimates that mismanagement/miscommunication may have been responsible for as many as 500,000 excess deaths. 500,000. Excess. Deaths! This wasn’t just political shenanigans. It was malpractice on an unprecedented scale. Where is the outrage?
“The House Oversight Committee has discovered that Trump charged the Secret Service a daily room rate of $1,148 on forty occasions—a rate that is neither “free” nor “at cost.“
Was there a House Oversight Committee while the amoral trump was IN office?? Where were the alleged right wing fiscal watch dogs when he was treating the Secret Service budget as a Personal Slush fund? During his first year it was reported by a media outlet that he had spent the entire budgeted Secret Service line item by 6 months in office!! No bark from the faux right wing watch dogs!
The amoral trump usually travelled to one of his properties to stay overnight, thus putting federal $$$ in his pocket for the housing and feeding of the Secret Service and his entourage!!
Again not surprised at this revelation! why did it take so long?
Don't forget-TFG wouldn't want oversight, so most likely that committee had little to do since the Republican majority wouldn't want it either.
First, I understand the numbers commonly used for party affiliation are estimated as follows: 39% are registered Democrat, 29% are registered Republican, leaving 28.5% as independent (not affiliated)., and 3.5% no answer. These numbers have been cited by Dr. Richardson and her Letters from an American, and on ballotpedia.org (Based on October 2022 surveys)
If these percentages hold true, that gives the Democrats / Independents the vast majority for the vote. We can make the difference here.
By continuing to repeat the Republican message that we are a 50–50 electorate, we concede a significant amount of our power to them. Robert, please share your thoughts about these numbers.
Second, the nature of national polling is outmoded and can deliver skewed results. As I understand it, the polling is traditionally conducted via land telephone lines. A small percentage of Americans still have land lines, and many of those likely are in more conservative parts of the country. Before we take any poll results at at face value, we should better understand the polling methodology and numbers interpretations. Robert, do you have any different information at hand regarding the conducting of national polls?
Don’t believe the myth about polling being outdated. It has become very sophisticated with data collected from cell phones, the web and in person. It’s all about turnout and the phrasing of the questions.
I still think the question of who answers their phone is key in an era of constant spam on landlines and cellphones.
Totally agree. Thank you for your additional thoughts!
The phrasing of the questions is key to the results.
Whoopi Goldberg made a comment Tuesday on The View about the danger of relying on polls. Joy Behar quoted a New York Times poll that said 71% of voters agree that democracy is under threat., but only 7% of voters rank democracy as a major issue this election cycle. Joy found that very sad and depressing.
Whoopi said "That's why I don't like polls." She added that she thinks we have to have a little more faith in people. She thinks people have been listening and they made up their minds for a reason because they have been looking at what's going on. She said often times the polls have been wrong.
She said even though voters were quoted as saying they were going to vote for Roy Moore and the polls indicated that he would win, the next day when the results came in Moore "lost by a mile" because people don't tell you who they're going to vote for. She added that people say what they feel like saying at that moment when questioned, but we shouldn't discount that people may have been listening and absorbing what they're hearing from different sources.
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/12/13/256249/democrat-doug-jones-defeats-republican-roy-moore-in-alabama-senate-race/
Robert—I haven’t commented for a while, but I read the newsletter closely and daily from my too-close-for-comfort perch in Canada. Thank you again for your reporting and especially your optimism. It matters to us that the US is a stable democracy, and you’re making an important contribution. Cheers!
I tell everyone I meet when the conversation goes political, with your vote hold Trump accountable for his crimes against the American people. And now I'll add, as you put it, hold that "deadly legacy against Trump and his enablers in 2022." At this point in the struggle, our votes are our only weapon against the radical evil that the GOP of Trump embodies and will be remembered as the deciding factor in the battle to preserve democracy and the autonomy and liberty of individual Americans. The fate of the Republic is in our hands.
Really awesome article in The The Atlantic. Gives us hope.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/10/francis-fukuyama-still-end-history/671761/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20221017&utm_term=The%20Atlantic%20Daily
Thank you for the reminder. I'd bookmarked it yesterday and finally read it. Indeed, hopeful.
Thank you, Robert. Another super helpful letter with great talking points.
Thank you, Sarah and Tony for postcards to voters . Something helpful we all can still do.
In 2016, Michael Moore (along with yours truly) predicted that Trump would win the election. In 2020, he predicted Biden would win. This year, Michael sees a "Blue Tsunami". I also see this as a more than distinct possibility-but the voters have to get to the polls, despite any contrived obstacles put in their way. If 2018 and 2020 are any indication, they will.
Protect Our Freedoms -
- To Earn a Fair Wage
- To Choose Our Own Future
- To Breathe Clean Air
- To Thrive
- To Retire with Dignity
- To Love Who We Love
- To Access Health Care
- To Vote
One of the foremost experts on political messaging, Anat Shenkar-Osorio, is encouraging all of us to use this messaging here in the home stretch to the election. She and colleagues are holding Monday afternoon briefings on effective messaging. Here is the Protect Our Freedoms Social Media Toolkit: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jEwtfhx7qqNnE7z2-fLbbM1fmi897GcYEr3iAV3Q97k/edit#slide=id.g149dad68b38_26_14 And here is the way to sign up for the briefings: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z7B2IJ1MQqSW-H0MAjn-Yg
We, the People, All of Us This Time with All Our Freedoms!
Thank you! I love the message, and I signed up for the briefings.
I just reread the message, and I'm wondering - is it assumed that the right to choose abortion is covered by Choose our Own Future and Access Health Care? I'm wondering why it's not mentioned specifically.
And now I just started looking at the toolkit - awesome!