While you and Jill are in North Carolina, I’m in Gettysburg tomorrow and Sunday. David Plouffe said Pennsylvania could come down to a handful of votes per precinct so I’m bound and determined to account for a couple votes here each day this weekend. As you always say, this race is within the margin of effort…winnable but not won yet. Trump is closing his campaign with events reminiscent of 1930’s Germany, including a threat of assassinating Liz Cheney. It is unthinkable that this traitor could ever occupy the White House again. Let’s leave it all on the field to ensure that doesn’t happen. Happy door knocking everybody!
I'm spending the weekend and Monday with three of my kids in Rhode Island making GOTV calls to Meklenburg county N. Carolina. These calls have been incredibly uplifting, filled with local voters who already voted, are definitely voting early and fully understand the importance of winning in N. Carolina to winning the presidency!!
Go Harris/Walz and Go grassroots in Mecklenburg.👍👍
I just keep thinking about Tom Suozzi's special election race back in February: Up by one in the polling going into election day, and came out an eight-point winner.
Breathtaking Photo. Helps to keep perspective. Thank you Robert. Tomorrow I will travel to PA to knock on doors. Have never done this before but cannot stop working. 💙🇺🇸
Robert! And Jill! Thanks to you both! From CA to NC - you are an inspiration! And Robert, I will forever be indebted to you and your indefatigable spirit, your optimism as a form of activism, and your sheer determination to see democracy prevail. You have generously and dependably offered your insights and disseminated the news we need to make our own contributions. Crucially, you buoy morale as we all struggle to repel the menace to our great country. I will be phone banking for the next three days hoping to persuade voters up to the last minute, and making a plan to get through Tuesday (and the following days...). Lock arms and stick together!
From Sea to Shining Sea is correct, Colleen. Yesterday afternoon, I met an extremely nice young man from California knocking on doors in my little neighborhood some distance outside Atlanta, Georgia. He came all this way to help us ensure Georgia goes solid blue this election. I could not thank him enough! Please keep an eye on Gwinnett County, Georgia. We have been working very, very hard to ensure a Harris/Walz win!
When this election is over & the dust has settled I’d like to have a big fiesta for all the independent journalists who’ve been instrumental in keeping me sane all these months. Thank you Robert … you are at the top of the VIP list!
We are headed to Arizona on Sunday. The bad news is that the AZ Dems lost my form offering to be a poll observer, and they only gave John one 1/2 day shift. The good news is I think the bad news is a result of AZ being inundated with volunteers eager to help Harris and the downticket Dems win the state. In the end, we will canvass on Monday--which is where still seems to be a need for more volunteers--and poll watch a 1/2 day on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.
I’’m a Poll worker in Maricopa County, first early voting assignment is today through Monday, then the big day! Thank you for your efforts here in AZ. Please report on your canvassing adventure if you can.
Janie, I have a friend/local AZ Democratic organizer who is looking to put people to work! His name is Tyler. Call him at 480-550-1041. He works night and day to flip Arizona. He lives in Colorado, but moved down here to be our local organizer. You got a car? You need a car in Arizona.
Thank you Christina. I think we are now set. We will be canvassing on Monday and poll watching Tuesday morning. If we still have energy after poll watching, we can do more canvassing all the way up til 6 pm. And, yes, we have a car. We are revving up the Prius (what else would Californians drive to GOTV?) and putt-putting to AZ tomorrow morning. I will keep Tyler's number handy if we end up with nothing to do.
Robert, you and Jill are close to the area where I was born and raised. I have cousins in Charlotte and hope they’re Dems. Thank you for traveling there to help spread the word. I sure hope NC, once again, becomes a Democratic state as it was when I was growing up.
Will look at Jill’s page and also, the Rosette is lovely.
I was canvassing at section 8 housing in Durham NC yesterday and came upon one man sitting in his car who had just gotten home from work. We chatted, asked if he had voted. He hadn’t. After talking for a bit, he said he’d like to vote now. I used the app to see there was no wait at
Durham Tech, used my phone to give him driving directions and he drove off on his own.
Then there was a young man and woman sitting on a stoop and I spoke with them for a while. It turns out the young woman had tried to vote for the first time and didn’t have a photo ID and they turned her away rather than giving her an exception form. So we drove she and her mother over to the board of elections, to allow her to get a photo ID and vote. Then it turned out, her name was wrong on her registration but thankfully they were able to fix that, get her correct photo ID and she and her mother voted for the first time. We were all crying and laughing at the same time.
Then there was another woman who was in line at the BOE was trying to vote and didn’t know that you needed a photo ID. She was upset, but we sent her over to the part of the board of elections doing photo ID, which was closing in 15 minutes and she got her photo ID and came back out and said to us, with verve and sass, ‘This Puerto Rican is voting to get rid of Mr. T.”
Finally, as I was standing outside at the BOE with the two Dem volunteers handing out blue cards, a woman came out and said, “I’m not waiting any longer; I’m just not feeling well.”
As she was walking to her car, I walked after her and suggested she could do curbside voting and tell them she wasn’t feeling well enough to stand in line. So she did.
None of those folks were on my list. And all 5 of them voted yesterday!
And finally, a story from poll greeting in Mebane (a more rural area) the other day. I’ve been twice and it has been incredibly fruitful, with many first time voters and under informed voters.
White couple comes walking up…I was sure they were GOP. (I admit to political profiling) Blonde woman. Guy with beard and tattoos. But they wanted my Dem slate/sample ballot. The woman said she still hadn’t “done her research,” as so many people say. I asked her what was important to her. Conversation ensued: they had kids so we talked about crazy Michelle Morrow, etc, bodily autonomy, freedom, etc. They took the Dem slate. Then her husband said, sort of confidentially on the down low, leaning in to me, “We are usually pretty conservative. But we are not voting for crazy.”
Thanks for coming to NC. We are going to go BLUE this year, with your help!
Your empathy & ability to assess these situations were so impactful. Your knowledge of voting rules & resources added to your value. Thanks for sharing your skills with voters in NC.
Sandycreek, thanks for detailing your actions. You remind us all that willingness to work is necessary, courage and caring important, but knowledge and preparatioe vital to provide the help meet people's needs. You are a hero. The man who said, "We are not voting for crazy," should be on every one's mind.
Such great inspiring stories! I had one similar experience with someone who was not on my list but whom I spoke to just because I ran into him in the parking lot. He was recently registered but had not voted yet. After some conversation on the issues, I was able to direct him to his closest early voting location and the best times to go. And this was in a bright red NC county.
Hopefully will send Mr T to his own island of garbage until he winds up in a prison cell somewhere, which is where he belongs. It's been 9 years of torture hearing his voice and seeing his face 40 minutes of every hour even on msnbc! Why do they show his grotesque mug so much? I switched over to podcast to avoid it. The remarks about Liz Cheney were horrifying. It's only getting worse. Winning the election is the first step and then the next wave of battles will begin to have Harris become actually inaugurated. It's going to be a marathon not a sprint! I am so moved by all of you amazing people and all that you are doing. You are all heroes! Much love!
Wow. Thank you. I keep telling people I mentor that just starting the conversation can result in finding out what someone needs to vote, and you just gave some of the best examples. I had a nasty fall last week and kind of had to pull back, but still spend some online mentoring people who are not sure they can make a difference. What I tell them to do is pretty much the kind of thing you are showing works. Out of all the people I talked to about what's important to them, all but one clicked- and that one said she'd think about it. Well, when people think, they tend to think themselves right into voting for that important thing, and then follow it down the ballot. I also asked each person to talk to just one other person the same way- asking what is important to them, and who on the ballot is going there. I figure if they are going to talk to one person, they are probably going to talk to two.
Right now I am nervous and wish I could be out canvassing like the old days just to keep my nerves in check. But truth is I'm in Vermont, and have been focusing on some of those close congressional and state races that can help rebuild a functional congress and help state legislatures become more responsive to the people they serve. But I have to step back and let my body heal, and it seems that my mind needs me to do that too, I have to trust that you , and all the other folks out there are getting the job done.
Thank you for doing that, and Robert, thank you for creating this space for us to share and buck each other up. Despite the atttempts by the so-called GOP and their supporters to undermine the importance of what we all are doing, and the laxk-a-daisical coverage by some of the media, I am holding onto my optimism. We need a world with a healthy American government , and a nation where all our rights are protected and we can feel safe.
For those of you who were inspired or intrigued by Robert & Jessica Craven's interview w/ Drew Kromer, chair of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, here's Drew and the MeckDems on Morning Joe on MSNBC on Thursday, 10/31.
Thanks for coming to my state. I'd be in Meck except for some cataract and driving issues. But I'll be curing NC ballots on Monday. Best of luck with all your Meck activities. You and Jill and Jessica will be invaluable help in turning NC Blue.
I wish you had time to drive to Chapel Hill, 2 hours northeast of Charlote, where the first planetarium in the Southeast is located (Morehead Planetarium and Science Center), which is also the first planetarium on a US university campus, and which trained 68 of the 69 Gemini and Apollo astronauts. Click on "Astronaut Training" in this link: https://moreheadplanetarium.org/learn-more/history/
Your amazing photographs got me asking why do I never go there--it's just downtown? So I did.
I took 2 different sets of my visitors to Chapel HIll to Morehead in the last month. I don't think I'd been there since college and that was decades ago! I even became a member. It's a great place, In case you're interested or you might want to make a detour.
A huge welcome from Buncombe County to Robert and Jill. Thank you for coming to our state to work with Meck Dems to get out the vote. I wish I could be there to feel the energy and excitement. Go blue!!
While you and Jill are in North Carolina, I’m in Gettysburg tomorrow and Sunday. David Plouffe said Pennsylvania could come down to a handful of votes per precinct so I’m bound and determined to account for a couple votes here each day this weekend. As you always say, this race is within the margin of effort…winnable but not won yet. Trump is closing his campaign with events reminiscent of 1930’s Germany, including a threat of assassinating Liz Cheney. It is unthinkable that this traitor could ever occupy the White House again. Let’s leave it all on the field to ensure that doesn’t happen. Happy door knocking everybody!
Thank you, Brent! You are leaving it all on the field!
I'm spending the weekend and Monday with three of my kids in Rhode Island making GOTV calls to Meklenburg county N. Carolina. These calls have been incredibly uplifting, filled with local voters who already voted, are definitely voting early and fully understand the importance of winning in N. Carolina to winning the presidency!!
Go Harris/Walz and Go grassroots in Mecklenburg.👍👍
I just keep thinking about Tom Suozzi's special election race back in February: Up by one in the polling going into election day, and came out an eight-point winner.
Blue North Carolina here we come!!!
I sure hope so!
Breathtaking Photo. Helps to keep perspective. Thank you Robert. Tomorrow I will travel to PA to knock on doors. Have never done this before but cannot stop working. 💙🇺🇸
Robert! And Jill! Thanks to you both! From CA to NC - you are an inspiration! And Robert, I will forever be indebted to you and your indefatigable spirit, your optimism as a form of activism, and your sheer determination to see democracy prevail. You have generously and dependably offered your insights and disseminated the news we need to make our own contributions. Crucially, you buoy morale as we all struggle to repel the menace to our great country. I will be phone banking for the next three days hoping to persuade voters up to the last minute, and making a plan to get through Tuesday (and the following days...). Lock arms and stick together!
From Sea to Shining Sea, Robert and Jill. 💙
From Sea to Shining Sea is correct, Colleen. Yesterday afternoon, I met an extremely nice young man from California knocking on doors in my little neighborhood some distance outside Atlanta, Georgia. He came all this way to help us ensure Georgia goes solid blue this election. I could not thank him enough! Please keep an eye on Gwinnett County, Georgia. We have been working very, very hard to ensure a Harris/Walz win!
When this election is over & the dust has settled I’d like to have a big fiesta for all the independent journalists who’ve been instrumental in keeping me sane all these months. Thank you Robert … you are at the top of the VIP list!
Good luck out there, Robert . . . it will interesting to hear your stories from the trenches. I'll be making calls from behind the lines.
We are headed to Arizona on Sunday. The bad news is that the AZ Dems lost my form offering to be a poll observer, and they only gave John one 1/2 day shift. The good news is I think the bad news is a result of AZ being inundated with volunteers eager to help Harris and the downticket Dems win the state. In the end, we will canvass on Monday--which is where still seems to be a need for more volunteers--and poll watch a 1/2 day on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.
I’’m a Poll worker in Maricopa County, first early voting assignment is today through Monday, then the big day! Thank you for your efforts here in AZ. Please report on your canvassing adventure if you can.
Will do. And thank you for cooling off the weather in Phoenix before our arrival. I appreciate it.
It’s been fun dusting off the sweatshirts and jackets!
Janie, I have a friend/local AZ Democratic organizer who is looking to put people to work! His name is Tyler. Call him at 480-550-1041. He works night and day to flip Arizona. He lives in Colorado, but moved down here to be our local organizer. You got a car? You need a car in Arizona.
Thank you Christina. I think we are now set. We will be canvassing on Monday and poll watching Tuesday morning. If we still have energy after poll watching, we can do more canvassing all the way up til 6 pm. And, yes, we have a car. We are revving up the Prius (what else would Californians drive to GOTV?) and putt-putting to AZ tomorrow morning. I will keep Tyler's number handy if we end up with nothing to do.
Robert, you and Jill are close to the area where I was born and raised. I have cousins in Charlotte and hope they’re Dems. Thank you for traveling there to help spread the word. I sure hope NC, once again, becomes a Democratic state as it was when I was growing up.
Will look at Jill’s page and also, the Rosette is lovely.
Could you please call your cousins, Marlene, to encourage them to vote for Kamala?
Marlene, do something! Call them.
Thank you Robert for keeping us all sane and hopeful. Enjoy the weekend.
I actually lie down and listen to you Robert, as it calms my anxiety. PS. I am knocking on doors tomorrow in Florence, Oregon!
I was canvassing at section 8 housing in Durham NC yesterday and came upon one man sitting in his car who had just gotten home from work. We chatted, asked if he had voted. He hadn’t. After talking for a bit, he said he’d like to vote now. I used the app to see there was no wait at
Durham Tech, used my phone to give him driving directions and he drove off on his own.
Then there was a young man and woman sitting on a stoop and I spoke with them for a while. It turns out the young woman had tried to vote for the first time and didn’t have a photo ID and they turned her away rather than giving her an exception form. So we drove she and her mother over to the board of elections, to allow her to get a photo ID and vote. Then it turned out, her name was wrong on her registration but thankfully they were able to fix that, get her correct photo ID and she and her mother voted for the first time. We were all crying and laughing at the same time.
Then there was another woman who was in line at the BOE was trying to vote and didn’t know that you needed a photo ID. She was upset, but we sent her over to the part of the board of elections doing photo ID, which was closing in 15 minutes and she got her photo ID and came back out and said to us, with verve and sass, ‘This Puerto Rican is voting to get rid of Mr. T.”
Finally, as I was standing outside at the BOE with the two Dem volunteers handing out blue cards, a woman came out and said, “I’m not waiting any longer; I’m just not feeling well.”
As she was walking to her car, I walked after her and suggested she could do curbside voting and tell them she wasn’t feeling well enough to stand in line. So she did.
None of those folks were on my list. And all 5 of them voted yesterday!
And finally, a story from poll greeting in Mebane (a more rural area) the other day. I’ve been twice and it has been incredibly fruitful, with many first time voters and under informed voters.
White couple comes walking up…I was sure they were GOP. (I admit to political profiling) Blonde woman. Guy with beard and tattoos. But they wanted my Dem slate/sample ballot. The woman said she still hadn’t “done her research,” as so many people say. I asked her what was important to her. Conversation ensued: they had kids so we talked about crazy Michelle Morrow, etc, bodily autonomy, freedom, etc. They took the Dem slate. Then her husband said, sort of confidentially on the down low, leaning in to me, “We are usually pretty conservative. But we are not voting for crazy.”
Thanks for coming to NC. We are going to go BLUE this year, with your help!
Your courage, spirit, knowing-what-to-do-next-and-doing-it determination is beautiful and a guiding example. Thank you from Durham Precinct 3! ⭐️🧢✨
Your empathy & ability to assess these situations were so impactful. Your knowledge of voting rules & resources added to your value. Thanks for sharing your skills with voters in NC.
Sandycreek, thanks for detailing your actions. You remind us all that willingness to work is necessary, courage and caring important, but knowledge and preparatioe vital to provide the help meet people's needs. You are a hero. The man who said, "We are not voting for crazy," should be on every one's mind.
Such great inspiring stories! I had one similar experience with someone who was not on my list but whom I spoke to just because I ran into him in the parking lot. He was recently registered but had not voted yet. After some conversation on the issues, I was able to direct him to his closest early voting location and the best times to go. And this was in a bright red NC county.
Way to go, Sandycreek! You are an inspiration - thanks for working for ALL of us!
Wow - good work Sandycreek! Keep it up!
Hopefully will send Mr T to his own island of garbage until he winds up in a prison cell somewhere, which is where he belongs. It's been 9 years of torture hearing his voice and seeing his face 40 minutes of every hour even on msnbc! Why do they show his grotesque mug so much? I switched over to podcast to avoid it. The remarks about Liz Cheney were horrifying. It's only getting worse. Winning the election is the first step and then the next wave of battles will begin to have Harris become actually inaugurated. It's going to be a marathon not a sprint! I am so moved by all of you amazing people and all that you are doing. You are all heroes! Much love!
Let's send Mr T to his own island--Alcatraz.
You'll have to find a different island. Alcatraz is a National Park now, no longer a prison.
How absolutely inspiring! Thank you from Connecticut!
Holy mackerel, Sandycreek! You may be a one-person reason Harris wins in Durham! Awesome work.
Wow. Thank you. I keep telling people I mentor that just starting the conversation can result in finding out what someone needs to vote, and you just gave some of the best examples. I had a nasty fall last week and kind of had to pull back, but still spend some online mentoring people who are not sure they can make a difference. What I tell them to do is pretty much the kind of thing you are showing works. Out of all the people I talked to about what's important to them, all but one clicked- and that one said she'd think about it. Well, when people think, they tend to think themselves right into voting for that important thing, and then follow it down the ballot. I also asked each person to talk to just one other person the same way- asking what is important to them, and who on the ballot is going there. I figure if they are going to talk to one person, they are probably going to talk to two.
Right now I am nervous and wish I could be out canvassing like the old days just to keep my nerves in check. But truth is I'm in Vermont, and have been focusing on some of those close congressional and state races that can help rebuild a functional congress and help state legislatures become more responsive to the people they serve. But I have to step back and let my body heal, and it seems that my mind needs me to do that too, I have to trust that you , and all the other folks out there are getting the job done.
Thank you for doing that, and Robert, thank you for creating this space for us to share and buck each other up. Despite the atttempts by the so-called GOP and their supporters to undermine the importance of what we all are doing, and the laxk-a-daisical coverage by some of the media, I am holding onto my optimism. We need a world with a healthy American government , and a nation where all our rights are protected and we can feel safe.
Whoo hoo!!!
For those of you who were inspired or intrigued by Robert & Jessica Craven's interview w/ Drew Kromer, chair of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, here's Drew and the MeckDems on Morning Joe on MSNBC on Thursday, 10/31.
https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/inside-the-push-to-boost-democratic-turnout-in-a-key-north-carolina-county-223228485877
It was great to finally meet you and Jill after all these years, Robert. Thanks for joining us for the big push to the finish.
⭐️ Thank you from Durham ⭐️💙✨🧢💫🎉
Unbelievable!
Thanks for coming to my state. I'd be in Meck except for some cataract and driving issues. But I'll be curing NC ballots on Monday. Best of luck with all your Meck activities. You and Jill and Jessica will be invaluable help in turning NC Blue.
I wish you had time to drive to Chapel Hill, 2 hours northeast of Charlote, where the first planetarium in the Southeast is located (Morehead Planetarium and Science Center), which is also the first planetarium on a US university campus, and which trained 68 of the 69 Gemini and Apollo astronauts. Click on "Astronaut Training" in this link: https://moreheadplanetarium.org/learn-more/history/
Your amazing photographs got me asking why do I never go there--it's just downtown? So I did.
I took 2 different sets of my visitors to Chapel HIll to Morehead in the last month. I don't think I'd been there since college and that was decades ago! I even became a member. It's a great place, In case you're interested or you might want to make a detour.
Rosette Nebula is truly beautiful -- one of my favorites also.
Welcome to North Carolina! (Again)
Let's Win This!
A huge welcome from Buncombe County to Robert and Jill. Thank you for coming to our state to work with Meck Dems to get out the vote. I wish I could be there to feel the energy and excitement. Go blue!!