Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Let there be snark.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In my day, never was longer.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Infrastructure week. at last.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

This fight is for everything.

You are here: Home / Elections / 2022 Elections / Open Thread: Get Out the Vote – Here’s How!

Open Thread: Get Out the Vote – Here’s How!

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Been meaning to share this, and now seems like a good time. Of course, we know all about this already (or do we?), but the full illustrated thread is a fun & useful read, if you want to pass it along…


4/ Debate club tactics are for convincing an audience—save them for your dirtbag leftist online nemesis. To convince a person who disagrees with you, you need to first validate where they are coming from

5/ A good example of this is “both parties are the same”! Validate that shit, even if you might add some nuance normally. “No, it’s frustrating, both parties are way too similar on tax policy.” The trick here is that you both have to believe this

6/ Another common argument is, “My vote doesn’t matter.” Validate that! “I’ve definitely voted in elections where it wasn’t close. It doesn’t always feel like its worth it.” That’s probably been true for every person reading this

7/ The psychology here is that by giving up something, you create a debt. They will feel like they need to acknowledge a strength on your side. (This only stretches so far, of course, but it’s a powerful rhetorical technique)

8/ To cash in on the debt, take some ground back. If they are worried both parties are the same, after validating them on an issue, put forward one they care about that you believe is different. Abortion, unions, SSM—anything you know they *want* to make a difference on

9/ For the vote doesn’t matter argument, there are so many examples of close elections, but I’ve been talking about the Georgia runoffs lately!

10/ Whatever reason they have, step 1: validate; step 2: take back ground. (If you really cannot validate the argument, the are not someone you’re liable to convince. Sorry, that’s the psychology we have!)

12/ There is a fine line between nagging and following up; you know your friends and just massage them as necessary. Don’t turn them off here, but there is a deadline

13/ Now, they might have brought up practical concerns about the logistics of voting back in the convincing stage, but either way, they need a concrete plan to vote

14/ The Dems have oodles of GOTV resources, but it comes down to a) do they know where to go and b) can they get there? If you can’t help, usually the party has people who will drive them

15/ Voting is not the most fun social activity you can do, but being a vote buddy is an underrated way to get people to turn out. It feels more social, it gives you something to do in line, if you do early voting precinct matters less, and they feel accountable to showing up

16/ I get really obnoxious about this this time of year. I have been known to try and get people I’m chatting with on Grindr to rethink their non-vote because I know I have an in with them: one of the parties really hates gay hookups. I’ve even succeeded!

17/17 Brace yourself for a lot of failures. Voting is a hassle, there’s a lot of steps, some people simply don’t wanna. But one success with a person who is somewhat aligned with your voting preferences doubles your electoral impact! DOUBLES!

Go get ’em

Reader Interactions

66Comments

  3. 3.

    SpaceUnit

    Another thing you can do when someone doesn’t vote is go upside their head with a wiffle ball bat.

  4. 4.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    Crazy-ass map has everything backwards. How can Northwest Territory SR be east of Midwest SR? With that logic, Virginia is Nearwest. Can we just finally get rid of the notion that anything in the middle of the continent is part of the West? Also everybody knows that Reno NV and Las Vegas NV are actually extensions of California and there is hardly anybody else in all of Nevada. Besides, all of Lake Tahoe is vacation land for California so it should be entirely in California. Also Alaska really needs to just go ahead and give Canada back all that coastline.

    And finally, California and Oregon ought to give the State of Jefferson a nod and let them have their own SR along with the active volcanoes, pot growers and red necks. They can call it Far West Virginia. But California gets to keep ALL the Redwoods.

  6. 6.

    lowtechcyclist

    I’m not sure I know any nonvoters anymore. My friends and family are college-educated, in our 50s and up, very politically aware, and it would surprise me if any of them didn’t vote in November (and yes, they’ll all vote D).

    My wife’s family is largely a totally different story, living in up until recently small-town central Florida, embedded in evangelical culture, didn’t get vaccinated because it was a liberal plot, etc. The more of them that don’t vote, the better, but by and large they’ll show up and if they do, I can guarantee they’ll vote for DeSantis, Rubio, etc.

    So maybe I’ll write postcards or something.

  7. 7.

    Ken

    @lowtechcyclist: If you wrote postcards to the Florida crowd telling them to write in TFG for governor and senator, claiming that if he was in either office he’d be immune from “Democrat witch hunts”, is there any chance it would work?

  8. 8.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Ken:  They’re crazy but they’re not stupid, they can’t wait to vote for DeSantis for President, and they know his winning this year is a prerequisite.  IOW, no.

  9. 9.

    geg6

    I was happy to see a flyer and digital signage on campus today promoting a voter registration drive co-sponsored by our student government and and the Black Student Union.  Our first students (fall athletes) moved in today, tomorrow is first-years who didn’t attend an in-person orientation (so, usually out-of-state or internationals) and Thursday is all other first-years living on campus. Friday is Welcome Day for first-years, including commuters plus returners move in.  SGA and BSU are the two most visible and active clubs.  They’ll get all the newbies registered.

  10. 10.

    Will

    This technique is one of the most effective methods but man is it excruciating. I know I turned a couple of the construction guys I have to work with time to time with it. We always meet in a South Side bar during the day on their lunch for business. I had to come up with something, I gave them that Trump was right that the Europeans weren’t paying enough for self defense in NATO. That was my give on the give part of this technique. Now I use something along the lines of “I agree that parents should have say in their children’s education.” It’s not a lie, I really do believe it and thus it comes off to them convincing. I usually then start to try and jujitsu it to how Republican governor of Utah vetoed the anti-trans sports bill because he pointed out this involved like three kids, the communities supported them, and it hurt exactly no one. I’ve actually seen one of them repeat this on Facebook about how when it boiled down to it, it is just a few kids, and doesn’t hurt anyone so they weren’t for pushing a ban anymore.

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    This guy is willing to go to prison for trump, it’s long-standing cult

    Mueller, She Wrote @MuellerSheWrote 2h

    BREAKING: apparently @ManhattanDA is going to let Weisselberg off with a five-month prison plea deal with no cooperation required. WTF is wrong with Alvin Bragg?

  13. 13.

    zhena gogolia

    I’d be no good at this because I’d never validate any of those stupid arguments.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    That is insane. Apart from TFG himself — and including Jarvanka, Uday, and Qusay — Weisselberg is probably more knowledgeable about and more responsible for the crimes of TTO than anyone else on the planet. Five months is nothing. I am sickened by this (assuming it’s true).

  18. 18.

    bbleh

    @Baud: I would say that’s entirely up to you

    (But if you do, please put at least a little effort into the pix …)

  19. 19.

    Baud

    Also too, if you’re not a strong willed person, the validation tactic can work the other way, with you getting sucked into their mindset.

  32. 32.

    Raven

    What a fucking nightmare! My bride was walking Artie at 8:30 am, a branch fell from a tree and spooked the pup. She bolted and knocked my wife down and she borked her ankle. We went to the “urgent care” around the corner and she sat for an hour before they told her she couldn’t be seen on insurance without a referral. Never mind that the BCBS website lists the facility as “in network “. The ankle kept bothering her so we found another urgent care that had walk-in or appointments. We took the 6:11 option and she’s been in there ever since. The PA saw her and told her she thought it was just a sprain and to wrap it up but my wife insisted on an X-ray! TBC!

  33. 33.

    Anyway

    OT: Can I get a Fuck ALS to add to the Fuck Cancer from earlier in the day? A dear friend passed away today — he was diagnosed with ALS last March and deteriorated rapidly over the last three months. It’s a horrible disease.

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Raven:

    I hope it is just a sprain, although they can be very painful. That is utterly ridiculous that the clinic that’s supposed to be in network say they aren’t. Picturing you on looooooooong holds with BCBS tomorrow as you try to get it sorted. Anyhow, best wishes to your bride for quick healing. And give Artie a scritch and make sure she knows it wasn’t her fault.

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Anyway:

    You got it. What a truly horrid, horrid disease. I’m so sorry about your friend.

    FUCK ALS!! FUCK CANCER!! FUCK ALL THAT BAD SHIT!!

  37. 37.

    eversor

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That whole thing was just amazingly bad.   “Wengers” you don’t even know what fucking store you are in?  Next up on stupid shit from the Land of Oz, Charcuterie Board!  Watch me dump spam in mayo just like you little people do!  You’d also think any of these idiots would have learned from arugala, dijon mustard, or swiss cheese on cheese steaks*, maybe the always classic “check out counter, how does it work?” moment.

    Fetterman is going to crush him.

    *In fairness to all of that those were all moments that were false outrage.  It still speaks to being out of touch but it’s understandable.   Then there is dipshittery like Dr. Oz which is just so insane everyone stares at it and wonders what you are on.

  38. 38.

    Marmot

    It’s all well and good to try to convince people to register—i guess.

    What really works is to go somewhere that draws liberals or repels cons and start asking people if they’re registered, then hand them the form or the website on an iPad or whatever. And register them!

    *Screw* doubling your impact—multiply it 50-fold!

  40. 40.

    Cameron

    This whole thing walks right by me, since I only have a handful of friends here in FL and they’re all voters already.  And, frankly, approaching a perfect stranger and inquiring about that person’s voting status strikes me as ill-considered and intrusive as asking that person how often they get laid.

  41. 41.

    Marmot

    @Cameron:

    approaching a perfect stranger and inquiring about that person’s voting status strikes me as ill-considered and intrusive as asking that person how often they get laid.

    It’s really not! Not at all. Approach people with a smile and friendliness, and about 1/3 will openly thank you for trying to get voters registered.

  43. 43.

    Cameron

    @Omnes Omnibus: Christ.  Like bringing a gerbil to a dogfight.  Now that Fetterman’s back on the campaign trail, it’s going to get REALLY messy.  I wish I could afford a trip back to Pennsylvania just to watch the results on Election Eve.

  44. 44.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus: OMG I finally watched the Oz ad. It’s worse than you all described. (The veggies look pretty good, though.) What kind of crudité platter is that going to be? You dip the raw asparagus in the prefab guacamole and then pour some salsa on top?

  46. 46.

    eversor

    @zhena gogolia:

    The brocolli had damage on the top and the carrots weren’t the baby carrots and the bag looked like grabbing the soggy one from the front and not the good one from the back.

    Also where is your shopping cart or basket or bag?

  47. 47.

    eversor

    Also what’s with the tequila shout out thrown in?  Lord knows I love the stuff but that’s not what you drink it with.

  48. 48.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: We’re home and they didn’t have a radiologist to read the X-rays so we’ll see what they say tomorrow. Artie is fine, she spooks so easily and this was the dreaded “behind her” noise that really terrifies her. We’ve had her a year and she’s such a sweetie but I don’t know that she’ll ever get over what they did to her.

  51. 51.

    Geminid

    @Cameron: If you had a sheet of paper to offer with basic voter registration info- where, when- and an air of guileless sincerity that might help break the ice. Kind of like Forrest Gump, community organizer.

  57. 57.

    eversor

    @zhena gogolia:

    Now if he’d had gone with veggie platter, tossed in some ranch and swap that asparagus for celery, then grabbed some chips, and then asked “where the tequila at” it kind of would have worked (he is obviously not the type that could pull it off really) but he’s too fucking stupid for that.

    This manages to make both the grew up really well off and ate extremely fancy stuff part of me and the enlisted military eating stale pizza and crushing ramen into chips and pouring the flavoring part in want to kick his ass, which is sort of rare.

    I dunno where they find these people.

  58. 58.

    delphinium

    @zhena gogolia: I’m really not good at this either-don’t have a poker face so very hard to hide my feelings. Can also be extremely sarcastic which is not going to be useful either. Will be writing post cards instead.

  59. 59.

    eclare

    @Anyway:   Fuck ALS.  The husband of one of my mom’s best friends got the diagnosis, and he immediately decided to go on a hunger strike.  It did not take long.

    Fuck ALS.  So sorry for your loss.

  61. 61.

    eclare

    @raven:   A guy who I once worked with played football at UGA.  Said the only way he got through was ice.

    Various step instructors have told me 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off, then 15 minutes on.  Works wonders!  Good luck.

  66. 66.

    Geminid

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Reporting on the Weisselberg plea is interesting. It’s true that Weisselberg did not dish on trump to the Manhattan DA. But he may not be able to take the 5th now in other state and federal grand jury appearances. So Weisselberg still could hurt trump.

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