I’ll be adding some Action opportunities below, but want to get this up in case you want to watch live.
h/t Yutsano for the Beto heads up
Powered by People Phone Bank Needs Your Help Every Night This Week
If you haven’t watched the Beto video yet, I would urge you to do it. What they are doing is so inspirational. And they are asking for our help in fighting for our democracy.
Join the phone banking – going on every night this week – and help people make a plan to vote and help get their questions answered. Beto asks us to piitch in and fight for our democracy.
Lawyers Needed
via Vote Save America
We are making a final push to recruit volunteer lawyers who can plug in with the Biden and Democratic voter protection efforts to count every vote and prepare for any possible recount effort.
Enter We The Action’s Election 2020 Task Force. They are focused on recruiting volunteer lawyers from around the country and connecting them directly to organizations working to protect the right to vote and the integrity of our election process in the areas of greatest need.
Can you volunteer to be one of those few, good lawyers? (Or forward this to a lawyer in your life?)We The Action will provide the information and links to specific projects through a digest of opportunities — from staffing remote voter hotlines, to serving as poll workers and observers, to curing mail-in ballots, and, if needed, supporting recount efforts. Fingers crossed we don’t get to that point, but if we do, we’ll be ready! Thanks to you. You can sign up directly with projects you select, and you’ll be notified about urgent needs via text or email, which can be filtered by location and languages you speak.
Here’s the truth we know you can handle (SORRY NOT SORRY): The stakes of this election could not be higher and the challenges facing voters mount every day. We The Action is committed to doing its part to quickly and efficiently mobilize thousands of lawyers to protect the integrity of our election and our right to vote. Please be one of them. It’s the biggest way to make a meaningful difference in this election. TBH, it’s this or join JAG.
Thanks for your help on the frontlines of the fight to count every vote.
oatler.
https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2020/10/25/trump-supporter-accused-of-stealing-bulldozer-to-dig-up-biden-signs
Richard Guhl
Democrats should be prepared to descend upon D.C. in a mighty flood, if SCOTUS, in any way, threatens to scuttle the vote count.
mali muso
Err, was it my network or was the site borked for a little bit just now?
Leto
@mali muso: was borked.
WaterGirl
It wasn’t just Balloon Juice issue, it was a data center issue. So there’s that, at least.
PsiFighter37
New NYT poll has TX at 47-43. If Beto and crew are bringing in swathes of new voters, this is eminently winnable. Time to break the fucking wheel, as an erstwhile TV character from an erstwhile good TV show once said.
japa21
@Leto: Need to come up with a new term. Borked is so outdated.
WaterGirl
@PsiFighter37:
What does that mean?
PsiFighter37
@WaterGirl: It’s a quote from Daenarys (Game of Thrones).
Splitting Image
@japa21:
Garlanded.
mali muso
Barretted?
Glad it wasn’t just me anyways. Listening to the interview now!
WaterGirl
@PsiFighter37: Well, I caught that it was from a show I don’t watch, but I am wondering about the meaning.
Yarrow
@PsiFighter37:
Voter turn out in the Rio Grande Valley is still low. El Paso has just issued a stay at home order. Doesn’t apply to voting but still could depress turnout.
El Paso has lagged other Texas metro areas in early voting numbers.
trollhattan
@WaterGirl:
I thought it was a wry reference to this.
Never read the books, so don’t know anything further.
Matt McIrvin
@PsiFighter37: The last few Texas polls have had Trump up a few points, after a few days in which he seemed to be losing–I doubt it’s a trend, though, it’s more random noise and which polls release on which days. All we can really say is that it’s damn close and a lot of people have voted there already. And if Texas is the big battleground… well… that’s not great news for Trump.
WaterGirl
@Matt McIrvin: Watch the interview linked at the top – Beto talks about the poll that came out yesterday that has Biden 47, Trump 45.
Benw
FYI you don’t need to be a lawyer to be a poll worker or observer
zhena gogolia
@oatler.:
I’ve been bringing my Biden sign in every night.
This morning I saw that the neighbor’s Black Lives Matter sign had been vandalized — the supports bent and twisted. This is in blue CT.
Betty Cracker
I’ll always love Beto for this response to a reporter who asked what Trump could do to help after the El Paso mass shooting:
WaterGirl
If you haven’t watched the Beto video yet, I would urge you to do it. What they are doing is so inspirational. And they are asking for our help in fighting for our democracy.
If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, then watch the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes.
Beto isn’t just fighting for Texas, he is fighting for all of us, for our democracy, and they still need help with calls to Texas. Not to sway voters, but to help with voting plans and answer questions.
mrmoshpotato
Hehehe
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: I love that, too, Betty.
Yarrow
@Betty Cracker: I’m expecting Beto to run for Governor in 2022. Also Julián Castro. Could be an interesting primary season. And if it’s Beto the midterm elections will be crazy in Texas.
mrmoshpotato
@japa21:
“Sorry. This website has temporarily busted the shit out of itself.”
dnfree
@Splitting Image: Trying to think of terms I know but none are probably current. Hosed? Bricked? In the 1990s I worked on one system we used to say had “kneed up” because that’s what the performance graph looked like.
Anoniminous
@PsiFighter37:
Voting in Texas is through the roof. Three suburban counties are reporting more early voting than the total 2016 vote. These counties tend to vote D but caution is indicated.
Basically this strong showing means predicting 2020 results using simple 2016/2018 participation Likely Voter screens are orthogonal to the voting population and, so, have diminished predictive power.
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: I live on a very quiet street with no political yard signs except for my Biden/Harris and one local race. I removed them yesterday to cut the grass, but then put them back.
PsiFighter37
@Yarrow: Might need to walk back some of his comments re: gun control right before he dropped out of the presidential primaries. Personally, I think he would be better-served by, say, running for mayor of El Paso (which is GOP-run ATM) before shooting for higher office. One more big miss and honestly he’s done for in Texas.
Yarrow
@PsiFighter37: Yeah, his gun comments weren’t good for a statewide race in Texas. Who knows what he might do. Cabinet position maybe?
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl: I think it means that “The Wheel of Time” – a notion that history has repeating cycles – should be broken, so that what has been true in the past does not determine what will be true in the future. I like the Terminator saga’s take: There is no future but what we make.
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: Ooh, I like that.
Betty
Beto clearly loves being a power broker. He may not want to run for office. Maybe head up the DNC?
Salty Sam
@Betty Cracker: yeah, that was a good response- what the rest of us think when we hear these kinds of brain-dead questions from reporters.
I was all in for Beto when he ran against Cruz, but backed off when he announced his presidential aspirations. “I was born for this” was especially cringe-worthy.
But I’m really enjoying seeing him doing all this behind-the-scenes work of fundraising and GOTV for TxDem party. This is the kind of work that he needed under his belt before running for higher office. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of him in the years to come.
catclub
texas, georgia, florida, ohio
Calouste
@catclub:
Georgia Texas Florida Ohio = Get The Fuck Out
caphilldcne
Thanks for the lawyers volunteer opportunity. I signed up!!
WaterGirl
@caphilldcne: That makes me so happy! thank you.
cain
@Calouste: Love it!
caphilldcne
@WaterGirl: I’ve been meaning to get signed up for months so thanks for the reminder!! I appreciate it!!
waratah
Beto hit the ground running here in Texas after he closed the presidential run and worked to influence his supporters to run for State seats. He has then run the largest get out the vote since. He is well known and popular with conservatives as well as Democrats.
Thank you for giving him some well deserved credit.
PJ
@Betty: DNC chair might be a good job for him for the next two years, and if he wants, he can run for Governor in 2022, or for a rematch against Cruz in 2024 – by that time, Texas might be blue enough that Beto getting elected Senator is not a problem.
One thing the next DNC chair absolutely must do is reform the primary process so that there are no more caucuses and the first states are no longer Iowa and New Hampshire. If a small state has to go first, it might as well be Delaware, which is 20% black.
Personally, I’d like to see groups of 10 or so states (accounting for DC and PR) hold their primaries on one day each month between February and June; which group goes first would rotate over the next five election cycles, after which point the groups would be shuffled again. Not once have I ever been able to vote in a primary where my vote would actually make a difference.
Dmbeaster
Thanks for the link. Volunteered for legal work. I am a business trial lawyer but in California. Hope to help if needed. Have not been able to put in as much $$$ this year, but can definitely do this.
WaterGirl
@Dmbeaster: So glad to hear this.
Avalie
I’m signed up to be a poll observer in Phoenix and Yuma during early voting (I’m in CA). First time doing this….
WaterGirl
@Avalie: Good for you! Good for all of us. :-)