Raise your hand if you want to see Ron Johnson elected for another term in the Senate.
Bueller? Bueller?
That’s what I thought!
We have two ways opportunites for you to help bring home wins in Wisconsin.
Participate in the Voces de la Frontera Relational Voter Program
Participate in a Balloon Juice phone bank through Voces de la Frontera
Voces de la Frontera Relational Voter Program
Voces de la Frontera Action would like to invite interested members of the Balloon Juice community to participate in our Relational Voter Program (RVP) for the fall election and beyond. The only requirement is that you have to have family, friends, or other folks in Wisconsin who you can contact and urge to register and vote for Tony Evers, Mandela Barnes, and Josh Kaul (for Attorney General). There’s no limit to the number of people you contact and you can do all of this in your free time, from home.
The RVP works through a phone app that helps you to reach out to your Wisconsin contacts by phone or text message, and record their responses to your appeal. Recording contact responses is important because looking at the recorded results allows us to track the progress of voter mobilization, and direct resources to the places where they are needed the most.
Jose Rivera, our RVP Volunteer Coordinator, will work with you to download the app to your phone, train you in its use, and provide you with coaching as necessary.
If you’re interested in participating, please join us on a Zoom call at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, September 28, where they will answer questions and provide additional details. (If you were part of the recent zoom with Voces, you have already metJosè, who is coordinating this program.)
If you are interested in participating, but you do not do zoom calls (I’m looking at you, Omnes!) the training can be done by phone or though a powerpoint presentation.
If you would like more information before you decide, or you just want to learn more about it, join us for a Q & A Balloon Juice post on Monday at 8pm.
Balloon Juice Phone Bank
For the phone bank, you don’t have to live in Wisconsin or even know anyone in Wisconsin.
If you are interested in learning more about the phone banking, that will be covered in the Q & A Balloon Juice post on Monday at 8pm.
Please send email to me (WaterGirl) if you would like to attend the zoom next Wednesday.
Winnable House Races in Purple Districts (WA-03 Added)
Almost Retired
Awesome! I have apolitical friends who just retired to Oconomowoc from California (don’t ask me why), and I shall be on them to register and vote! Mrs. Almost Retired has family in the Badgerine State (I forget which is the Badger and which is the Wolverine state, so I hedge my bets), and they require noodging as well.
Omnes Omnibus
@Almost Retired: WI is badger.
Omnes Omnibus
I want to know more about the app and the access it gives to one’s contacts.
RaflW
I definitely want to know more. I have a calendar conflict for the training zoom, though.
SiubhanDuinne
I wish all success in the world to those who volunteer and participate in phone-banking activities. I used to make hundreds of calls for candidates, but changes in technology and the way people handle incoming phone calls has made me question whether it’s the best use of my time.
However, I am definitely up for a bunch of postcard-writing, and I’d love to see a list of the best postcarding groups out there. Maybe this isn’t the best thread for it, but if someone can point me toward organizations you have been part of, with good solid voter lists and suggested p/c content, here or in another thread, I’d be grateful.
WaterGirl
@Almost Retired: I think if you’re willing to identify them as part of the Relational Voter Program (RVP) – and not just contact them personally – that helps Voces get other good contacts through your contacts.
So think about participating in the RVP program?
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: For example, I am not going to call or text my family members who I already know are voting and voting for Dems. I don’t mix politics and work, so I would not call my work contacts. I also have contacts who I do not want to call to urge to vote for obvious reasons. Finally, I absolutely hate spammed political texts, and I will not let my phone be used for them.
Sorry if I sound like a skeptical Luddite.
ETA: I love the organization, but I am iffy about being a part of this particular effort.
Almost Retired
@WaterGirl: Yes, absolutely. If I wasn’t clear, I intend to contact them through this process, even if that means dealing with in-laws.
WaterGirl
@RaflW: Okay, we can definitely work something out. Either another zoom for people who can’t make the first one, or one-on-one.
Are you talking about the Relational Voter Program (where you know people in WI) or the Balloon Juice virtual phone bank?
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Phone banking isn’t for everyone. But if they’re doing it, Voces must surely thinks it pays off.
WaterGirl
@Almost Retired: I would rat you out to your lovely wife for saying that, except that I’m sure she already knows. :-)
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Jose is about to jump in to answer your questions. Hope you can stick around for a few minutes.
Jose Rivera
@Omnes Omnibus: Hey Omnes! Thanks for showing interest in our program! You get to pick and choose the specific contacts that you sync with the app.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Yup. I’m not arguing with their decision. I’m just going a slightly different direction. We’re all after the same goal.
Jose Rivera
@Omnes Omnibus: For example if you were to give us the name of your mom cousin etc , the only person with access to that information would be you. And the only person that would be reaching out to these folks would also be you!
Jose Rivera
@RaflW: I’d be delighted to share some more information with you! Is there another time perhaps we could discuss your efforts moving forward?
WaterGirl
@Jose Rivera: Hi Josè!
Let’s say I add my cousin’s name and contact info into the app. If I am the only one who will contact him, what is the benefit of doing it through the app as opposed to my calling him?
Also, does the relational voter app include content? For instance, I could encourage my cousin to vote, and remind him to vote, but would your app have info about the SOS, the AG, and the other specific races?
Just trying to understand how this works. :-)
Jose Rivera
@Almost Retired: Very much appreciated! Any and all efforts really make a big difference in the end game.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jose Rivera: Okay, thanks. If I do sync contacts, where does that info go and what is done with it?
Omnes Omnibus
I will give it a think.
Jose Rivera
@WaterGirl: Hola!
Good question WaterGirl! As I also shared with Omnes folks YOU add/sync to the app will ONLY be contacted by the person syncing their contacts. The benefit of using our app allows mass media messaging to be very quick and also very insightful & direct. We sometimes attach a graphic to our to Call to Actions for a good visual aid. All content within our RVP program is VERY election focused (hence the name!) So yes there will future CTA’s that are race specific like for the AG Josh Kaul for example.
Jose Rivera
@Omnes Omnibus: All information shared within the software is confidential & is only stored within Impactives’ database which is something i do not have access to. Rest assured that this program is very clear with its goals and so are we.
WaterGirl
@Jose Rivera: Hey, you forgot your accent mark! :-)
I wonder if it would be possible for you or Alan to add anyone who might be interested as one of your RVP contacts so we could see what it will be like for folks on the other end.
Then you could remove us from your list, of course! :-)
Jose Rivera
@WaterGirl: Haha good catch!
I just sent you 1 of our call to actions, tell me what you think!
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: it won’t be able to see my internet history, right?
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: That too.
WaterGirl
@Jose Rivera: Thank you!
WaterGirl
@Steve in the ATL: What are you hiding?!?!!!? :-)
Jose Rivera
@Steve in the ATL: Correct, we wont be able to see that information! :)
Steve in the ATL
@WaterGirl: I’m totally not hiding a bunch of Baud/Omnes slash fic….
Steve in the ATL
@Jose Rivera: thanks for stopping by again—you guys are awesome!
WaterGirl
@Jose Rivera: Laughing. You haven’t met Steve in the ATL… he was just being funny.
WaterGirl
@Steve in the ATL: As long as I’m not in it, we’re good.
Mousebumples
Sounds interesting. I’m already talking to all of my Dem-leaning to Dem-curious contacts about Vote By Mail, early voting, etc. Not sure if I have the time/mental bandwidth to install and learn a new app, but like Omnes, I’ll be thinking on it.
@SiubhanDuinne: I endorse Postcards to Voters. https://postcardstovoters.org/
No idea what they have planned for Midterms but they were involved in postcarding for the Georgia Senate runoffs, among other things.
RaflW
@WaterGirl: We have connections in WI. A bit like Omnes, I’d like a better understanding of what the Relational campaign is and what getting on the app would authorize. But, for example, we’ve come to learn (though no real shock on one level) that the realtor who had the listing of the cabin our family bought last year in WI ‘trends republican’ (his words, to a mutual friend).
We’d like to find ways to try to talk with him that might help us climb down from our pissed-offedness. He knows quite a few LGBTQ people around the lake. If he’s really a republican, is he okay with us potentially loosing our right to marry (that’s Ron Johnson’s stance!).
The realtor does some good things for the local community. But at the end of the day, it sounds like he’s just thinking of number one: selfishly, taxes. (He may have had some odd ideas about the school district that ‘impacts home values’ that our mutual friend I hope disabused him some).
Anyway, a lot of words for late in a thread.
I generally loathe phonebanking. Would really only do it for GOTV, like “Do you know where the polling place is? Do you have a plan to vote this week?” I can just barely get past my introversion to make like 90 minutes of calls like that, once or twice per election. It’s draining for me to just call the boat-dock people I already know! (Brains are weird. Mine maybe a bit more than the median.)
WaterGirl
@RaflW: That’s all good to know! Come to the post on Monday evening and to the zoom on Wednesday, if you can.
You’re not committing to anything by participating in either one. We figured people would need to know details, hence the post and the zoom!