I am re-posting a thread from Friday because we have updated information.
Everything new is in Color Below.
Please join us for a Q & A with Four Directions this Monday at 7:30 pm Eastern. Tonight!
Among other things, OJ can tell us about his conversation with Raphael Warnock last week where they talked about the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision and his upcoming race.
⭐️
You would have to be living in a cave not to know that we desperately need to keep the Senate in 2022.
We need to not lose any of our current seats, and we need to gain at least two more so we don’t have to waste all this time trying to pull Manchin and Sinema along as we try to accomplish even basic things like allowing the people to vote, and then having their votes count!
At the same time, we are trying to put our 2021 fundraising efforts into organizing, as opposed to funding particular candidates.
As for the senate, first things first. Let’s try not to lose our two newly elected senators who come up for reelection right away in 2022. We know we can win those, because we have done it once already, but we don’t know that we will win those. But that is a great place to start.
No, we’re not putting up thermometers for Raphael Warnock and Mark Kelly. Not yet!
But over the next 3-4 weeks, we have an opportunity to make a real difference in one of those races. And soon after that, we will have an opportunity to make a real difference in the other one. So for now, it’s Georgia!
Our friends at Four Directions are joining forces with Fair Fight Action to pass two crucial pieces of legislation:
- For the People Act
- John Lewis Voting Rights Act
Fair Fight and Four Directions are teaming up to get those two bills passed with a nation-wide joint lobbying effort, including tribal leaders and elders nationwide, in conjunction with civid-minded organizations. Sorely needed, but lobbying doesn’t require funding.
So here’s where the need for funding comes in: Over the next 6 weeks, Four Directions and Fair Fight will be laying the groundwork for the boots on the ground organizing to begin in Georgia by mid-to-late September.
That gives them a couple of weeks to raise the money, and another month to recruit and train field organizers and people to direct the work of the people on the ground.
With their new partnership, each organization will provide equal funding for this effort, and that will surely be a bigger lift for Four Directions than for Fair Fight Action!
That’s where we come in. The two groups are hammering out the details of strategy and costs, and we should know more in a few days, but the best guess right now from Four Directions is that it’s likely to be at least $100,000 total. Raising $50,000 in just a few weeks is way outside the norm for Four Directions.
The word just a few minutes ago is that the guess was very close to the actual number, so no big surprises there.
Goal date is August 15. That’s two weeks. It’s a big ask, but it’s also an opportunity for us to make a big impact.
If we commit to try to raise $25,000 in the next few weeks, Four Directions can go to other donors and let them know that we could match up to $25,000, which should make it easier to for them to raise the rest of the funds.
If you want to learn more about this, there are 3 ways you can do that:
Please join us for a Q & A with Four Directions this Monday at 7:30 pm Eastern. Tonight!
Join us for a zoom with Four Directions this Tuesday at 7:30 pm Eastern. (RSVP with an email to me)
Read the attached press releases from Fair Fight Action and Four Directions.
WaterGirl
No thermometers yet, because I think we’ll want a new Four Directions thermometer so that what we raise for this is separate from other funds we raise for them.
JPL
How are you feeling?
H.E.Wolf
Thank you, WaterGirl and Four Directions (and Fair Fight Action), for giving us the great gift of something we can do to make a difference for the better in our political landscape.
It’s much appreciated!
WaterGirl
@JPL: I’m okay. What I have now is mild, whatever it is. It’s disconcerting because covid can start mild and then not be. I have not tested yet because I think if you test early Covid often doesn’t show up anyway.
Hoping it’s not covid, of course! Will decide about testing this weekend. If I hadn’t been exposed to Covid, I would not be worried at this point.
JPL
@WaterGirl: Just be careful and take care of yourself.
Nicole
@WaterGirl:
Please keep us posted, if you can. Sending all good thoughts that what you feel now is as far as it goes.
SuzieC
I’m in. Thanks to President Biden our investments keep accelerating and I know what I want to spend it on. Just let us know when and where to donate.
Also, Vote Forward is writing letters to every D in Virginia. VA is often an early bellwether for midterms.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Glad to hear it’s mild so far.
Betsy
@WaterGirl: I just read the thread down below and was hoping to hear news of you or from you. Stay well, awesome woman. Crossing fingers
WaterGirl
@Nicole: That’s what I am hoping, also!
MazeDancer
@WaterGirl: New thermometer, definitely.
Your set-up was so great, was ready to click immediately. But where’s the thermometer??
Never promote without a call to action, as they say in the trade. Hope you get a new thermometer while your promo is up.
Though, no doubt, you can rev up the troops again.
MomSense
This is so exciting!
WaterGirl
@MazeDancer: I wrote to DougJ, maker of all BJ thermometers, but he may not have seen the message yet.
WaterGirl
Speaking of ACTION, did you guys see the call to action for Ohio peeps in the sidebar? Also for people who know Ohio peeps – share the information with them and ask them to call.
Will that little Alert icon work to let you guys know when there is a specific, time-limited thing you can do?
WaterGirl
@MazeDancer: As soon as we have the new thermometer, I’ll put it at the top of the sidebar, like we did with Voces.
MazeDancer
@WaterGirl: And an amazing job you did with Voces.
sab
@WaterGirl: Thanks. I already called
ETA : Is there anything else we should be doing? Letters to newspapers, etc
ETA Will call my SIL who’s active in Indivisible, although I am sure they are onto this already.
H.E.Wolf
PS: Wishing you good news on the health front!
MomSense
I mentioned this to Watergirl and thought I’d run it by this group. I’m thrilled that we have decided to pick small organizations that not only being votes to Democratic candidates in key races, but also build support and education networks that will do so much for these communities. As mighty as we are, we are also a fairly small community. Would we ever consider reaching out to some like-minded, similarly sized blogs to see if they would like to join us in supporting Four Directions and Voces?
I feel like we have a much bigger impact when we support smaller organizations.
H.E.Wolf
Good idea. I like the thought of finding others to join forces with us. There’s power in [a] union! :)
https://workerjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/20130626-big-fish-little-fish.jpg
WaterGirl
@MomSense: When we talked a week or two ago, DougJ asked me to text him every time I put up a fundraising post so he can link to that from his twitter feed. He will obviously do that when he puts up fundraising posts, too.
He has 40k followers, so that should make a difference!
frosty
@WaterGirl: I noticed the Alert, so it worked even though it’s not a flashing light with a siren.
WaterGirl
@frosty: I was going for easy to spot, without being obnoxious.
Mowgli
I live in GA and consider Abrams the savior of the known universe, so I’m in for few hundred when it’s time to part with the greenbacks.
CaseyL
@WaterGirl: Thanks for putting up a post and letting us know you’re doing OK. BJ is full of indispensable people, but you’re even more so.
I probably won’t attend the zooms, but will kick in as I can to any fundraising.
Ksmiami
@SuzieC: me too- keep me posted dahlings…
WaterGirl
@Mowgli: That’s great to hear!
We had great success with a couple of people on BJ offering to match other donations. If you’re up for that, send me an email and we can work out the details.
SuzieC
@Mowgli: same.
Madeleine
Yes, the alert (for Ohio right now) works. And, though not an Ohioan, I appreciated the info.
i’m glad you’re feeling better, but I remain concerned.
WaterGirl
Still waiting for the new thermometer, so if you want to donate to this joint effort, please think about waiting for a day or so until the new thermometer is set up. thank you!
WaterGirl
@Madeleine: Happy to say that my Covid test came back negative!
WaterGirl
New comments from today start here!
sab
@WaterGirl: Ohio Alert. Is one call enough, or should we be annoyingly persistent?
Also too, I am trying to stay local mostly, but for these guys I make an exception.
WaterGirl
@sab: I just addedthis info to the Ohio alert:
Madeleine
Great news!
I had an email this morning from the MI Indivisible I joined recently about action against the anti-voter legislation.
WaterGirl
I’m excited about this Q&A and the zoom tomorrow night.
Among other things, OJ will tell us about his conversation with Raphael Warnock last week where they talked about the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision and Rev. Warnock’s upcoming race.
If we can raise this money, that would be boots on the ground in Georgia more than a year before the Nov election. Exactly what we want. Need. Hope for. Work for.
Jay K.
Disengages cloaking device, donates $10 in addition to normal monthly donation, recloaks.
sab
@WaterGirl: Yay!
ETA: With sensible redistricting DeWine could still have a Republican legislature (this being Ohio) without it being batshit insane. I presume he has figured that out for himself.
Old School
@WaterGirl: I’m glad to see that the previous comments were old. I thought you were exposed to COVID again!
WaterGirl
@Old School: oh, no, not that!
VeniceRiley
In for another fiddy. let’s GO!
Ksmiami
Donated to Fair fight last night thru Act Blue. Fuck Joe Manchin
Madeleine
@Madeleine: When I said “Great news!” I meant the news about Ohio. As they say, “to be clear.”
Geminid
@sab: When I researched legislation that would eliminate existing requirements for concealed carry of weapons in Ohio, I saw that a sponsor asserted that this state legislative session could be the last chance for passing his awful bill. He might have been trying to bullrush the bill through. Or he could have been candid about the prospective effect of Ohio’s new redistricting process.
If this bill is passed, I wonder if Dewine will sign it or veto it.
sab
@Geminid: Dunno.
Ohio has always been Republican, but this batshit craziness is new.
Driving your car into a group of protesters exercising their 1st amendment rights is okay. Open carry everywhere, even bars and colleges campuses is okay. Freedom is fine, but if you have an ectopic pregancy you must reimplant. Schools may not teach CRT which they never did teach because it is a postgrad area. Masks are intrusive and dangerous, although my hand surgeon and my cardiologist had no problem wearing one. Also too my husband’s neurosurgeons, one of whom operated on his head and the other on his back. Masked, both times
ETA If it weren’t for the fact that there are a lot of very decent people living in rural Ohio I would say fine, close all your fucking rural hospitals. You don’t believe in modern medicine anyway.
OJ Semans Sr
Hau, (Hello) am I in the right place:)
Lewis Cohen at Four Directions
@WaterGirl: Good evening. I’m on!
Lewis Cohen at Four Directions
Good evening, folks. It’s great to be back with Balloon Juice. We so appreciate what you did for us back in May.
Lewis Cohen at Four Directions
@MomSense: Smaller organizations like ours benefit tremendously from support from communities like this one. We are working on turning out the vote on a macro basis – not simply a specific candidate, all or nothing type of deal.
Lewis Cohen at Four Directions
@H.E.Wolf: There is definte power in union – one of the reason Fair Fight Action and Four Directions are partnering to help turn out the vote in Gerogia as well as lobby for support of necessary federal legislation.
Lewis Cohen at Four Directions
@Mowgli: Stacey Abrams is amazing. We are thrilled to join forces with her in Georgia. This will be a case of 1 + 1 = 3.
Lewis Cohen at Four Directions
@Mowgli: And we certainly appreciate your contribution!
Lewis Cohen at Four Directions
@CaseyL: Thank you in advance, CaseyL – greatly appreciated!
Lewis Cohen at Four Directions
@WaterGirl: I can guarantee you all one thing – we will do OUR part, and then some!
Mo Salad
Done. Thanks for giving us worthy targets in difference-making settings. Now that my money is my own since the divorce, I’ve managed $100 each to Warnock, Ossoff, and Fair Fight back in December and another Benjamin here today. Three winners so far. I hope this one is #4.
Now I just have to get my life together enough to also be able to add personal manpower efforts. The “Three Witches” up here in Michigan will need bodies, not just money. We CPAs have basically been under a perpetual busy season since December 2019 due to PPP and the Employee Retention Tax Credit.