I see that postcard writing is starting for Ohio – and possibly for Virginia?
Here’s what I am aware of so far:
Postcards to Voters (H.E. Wolf and Mousebumples seem to be tuned into what’s going on there)
Vote Forward (SusieC mentions a letter-writing campaign)
Postcard Patriots (MazeDancer, is Postcard Patriots handing out addresses and/or doing postcard designs?)
Any other groups writing postcards or letters that we should be aware of?
How much interest is there in regular postcard / letter writing parties? Tuesday evenings? Saturdays? Some other time?
Also, if you are thinking about what actual postcards to write on, don’t forget that we have our BJ Pet Postcards!
Are there other ways to support Ohio?
Chime in below about postcards or letters – or anything else!
Totally open thread!
Alison Rose
I might be interested in doing some postcards this go-round. My mail access, incoming and outgoing, is limited to one day a week when my mom comes by, but that should work, right? If I get the blank cards one Saturday and then mail them out via Mom the following Saturday? And I happen to have a couple sheets of postcard stamps, because I used to be a stamp nerd and would order sheets of any new ones that looked cute, whatever amount they were.
narya
I’m planning on doing Postcards to Voters for Ohio–but I don’t know where to find the approved text for the campaign (I’ve rummaged on their website to no avail). I am happy to reach out to them, but if anyone here knows, that’ll save me a round of emailing them. Mousebumples, is there anything in WI we should be supporting?
Kristine
What are the need dates? I’m otherwise occupied for the next week or so.
WaterGirl
@Kristine:
I think we’ll want to know that for all the postcard / letter writing campaigns from the various outlets.
NotMax
@Alison Rose
Once weekly? Doing better than the denizens of this business park in North Carolina.
Alison Rose
@NotMax: Yikes :P I technically get mail delivery daily (except Sundays I suppose) but have to wait till Saturday for Mom to bring it up to me. Really wish I knew one single person in this building who I could ask to do it, but that would involve, you know…talking to people. Ew.
MazeDancer
PostCard Patriots will be supporting VA legislative races in October
jackmac
The cards are awesome.
Is there any way I can get cards with an image of my guys (from the 2023 calendar)? Thanks!
raven
Aw, the Bohdi!
Roger Moore
Where are the Tikka and Champ post cards? How about Steve? Why is Tunch not represented? I demand a recount!
Barbara
@MazeDancer: I am in for that.
MomSense
That Oliver the grumpy Santa postcard cracks me up.
WaterGirl
@jackmac: I’ll have to talk to beth to know for sure, but I am thinking the answer is likely a YES.
Send me an email message and a photo?
WaterGirl
@raven: The Bhodi looks so thoughtful. Perfect for a postcard asking people to think about what’s important. :-)
raven
@WaterGirl: I orded a set. Artie was bad at the dog park this morning and we were just talking about how good Bhodi was.
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore: Remember the “Christmas Dogs & Cats” series I ran after the calendar was a no go?
The photos people submitted for that tended to be much higher resolution than the calendar pics people sent in. [shrug emoji]
I will talk to beth, but I imagine we can do any pets where there’s interest a high resolution photo.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: I have a big crush on Oliver, too. Sadly, if I am remembering correctly, I think we lost Oliver sometime in 2023. But I could be wrong, hopefully the person Oliver owns will chime in.
WaterGirl
@raven: Artie is an angel when you consider what she has been through.
jackmac
@WaterGirl: Thanks. I’ll message both.
Alison Rose
Whoever belongs to the doggo named Jazzy, that looks like the kind of floof you really want to smush your face into.
MomSense
@Alison Rose:
Such a cute name, too. All of those photos are fab.
Yarrow
Is there going to be a Pets of Balloon Juice calendar this year? It’s already September. I know last year it didn’t work (at least I think that was last year?) but maybe there are new or other options?
sab
@raven: Ponyo isn’t even allowed to go to the dog park (our rule, not to park’s) but she gets smacked in the face daily by the new cat and does nothing about that.
Omnes Omnibus
@Alison Rose: I recommend a robot butler. What could go wrong?*
*At worst, we get the storyline for a sci-fi horror story. At best, you get your mail everyday.
Alison Rose
@Omnes Omnibus: Knowing this building, someone would steal the robot on its first errand.
Speaking of robots, I thought about getting a Roomba because even in my tiny apartment, pushing the vacuum around can be difficult for me. Plus, I thought it would be hilarious to see how Briery (my cat) would react. But it looks like even the cheapest ones are close to $300, so fuck that.
SiubhanDuinne
@Alison Rose:
@MomSense:
Isn’t that JoyceH’s floofy puppers? I love the name Jazzy!
wjca
I have to wonder about the unintended consequences of a bunch of postcards about Ohio elections and issues . . . with a California postmark.
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
We need to get rid of Bill DeJoy.
ETA: We need to give up on the idea the Post Office should be 100% self-funded. It is an important public service, and it deserves government money to cover that public service.
raven
@sab: This was totally my fault. My wife cannot go because Artie is extremely protective of her. She was meeting a potential volunteer for the dog parade and arranged to meet her at the park. I had Artie leashed because she doesn’t do well with a dog that was there. My wife got out out her car and I stupidly let the pup off the leash to go greet her. Well, the other dog smelled the treats and ran up and it was game on. I tried my best to separate them (actually there was no actual bites but it took some doing. The dude was rightfully pissed and I tried to apologize but he kept yelling at me. Again, no one actually threw hands but it got close. I was stupid.
Alison Rose
@SiubhanDuinne: At my old job, we sold this little belled wristband called Jazzy Jingles, so now I want that dog to have a bell collar so they can also be called Jazzy Jingles.
(We sold Montessori school supplies, and this fell under the “music and movement” category. My coworker bought one for her son and then hid it soon after because the noise was driving her nuts.)
SuzieC
Watergirl, if you still have the contact info for Indivisible Central Ohio, there is supposed to be an announcement next week about the Vote Forward letters. I expect we’ll be doing postcards too.
SiubhanDuinne
@Alison Rose:
I didn’t attend a Montessori school ever, but I vividly recall in kindergarten the elastic bracelets with little sleighbells affixed to them. Those and the tambourines, I think, were the most popular instruments :-)
SuzieC
@wjca: True, but the letters and postcards will go to targeted lists of names pre-screened to be probable Dem voters. In this case, with both abortion and marijuana on the ballot in Ohio this November, probably targeting young and new voters also.
WaterGirl
@SuzieC: Oh yikes. I’m sure I have it somewhere, but I have no idea.
edit: FOUND IT! They are going to get back to me with details of how we could help in OH.
Mousebumples
No Wisconsin elections until next year. Ohio seems like a good target now and then Virginia, as well, once we get closer to election day.
So far as deadlines, I think both Ohio and Virginia have November elections, so probably early November deadlines. Postcards to Voters has a mail within 3 days of requesting addresses policy, I believe.
I could do Tuesday nights and some Saturdays. I’m up for adding music, as well, if that interests anyone.
Mousebumples
@SuzieC: Postcards to Voters doesn’t include voter names and instead addresses them to Valued Voter, etc. No idea on state laws and regs, though.
Eta – and i may have misunderstood your point. Time to stop multitasking and get back to my day job…
Alison Rose
@SiubhanDuinne: Yeah, a lot of the music and art stuff is probably prevalent in public schools, too. I never went to Montessori but I really liked learning more about it while I worked there.
karen marie
@NotMax:
Why the fuck does Rep. Deborah Ross, “a Democrat from Raleigh,” think it is the post office’s job to “keep up” with changes to an area over which it has no jurisdiction?
Is this situation unfortunate? Absolutely. But it is definitely not the fault of the USPS. People who have businesses that require mail be received at a street address should have paid attention to the lease agreement they signed. If there is nothing in there about “no USPS mail delivery here,” then it sucks to be them for not reading their lease.
I find it hard to believe that this zone is free-floating, with no state or local government responsible for oversight. If it is, well, it sucks to be them. If it’s not, that government should be tasked with changing the arrangement with USPS.
Shitting on the US Postal Service because you joined a glibertarian collective doesn’t fly with me.
WaterGirl
@SuzieC: I found contact info for Mia and Susan, I am thinking they may both have been from Ohio, but I am not certain. I dashed off a quick email.
featheredsprite
@wjca: I write letters for Vote Forward. There are about 7000 of us nationwide. We have had good results from focusing on an area for special elections. The decision-makers say that a national effort makes a positive difference.
karen marie
@raven: I’m going to guess you didn’t just drop the leash to let the dog run because you use a retractable leash.
One more reason to not use a retractable leash.
I avoid people and their dogs when they’re using one, having already been badly cut on more than one occasion when the leash got wrapped around my leg and yanked.
Miss Bianca
@Alison Rose: She looks just like my Susi! And yes, it’s very smooshable fluff, but she’s shedding like crazy right now so if you tried it, you’d probably end up looking like Colonel Sanders. :)
RaflW
@featheredsprite: My partner and his mom are both Vote Forward writers. He has said that their data does seem to support that there’s efficacy.
H.E.Wolf
@wjca: I have to wonder about the unintended consequences of a bunch of postcards about Ohio elections and issues . . . with a California postmark.
I can’t speak to all GOTV postcard efforts, but in the case of PostcardsToVoters.org, these aren’t glossy mass-produced campaign literature. They’re fun, friendly, upbeat, hand-written cards from one individual voter to another.
Here are some BJ jackal examples from last fall (working with PTV and other groups), writing for US Senator Rafael Warnock’s successful re-election campaign: https://balloon-juice.com/2022/11/22/postcard-writing-party-and-music-thread-6/
Jay
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/us-man-arrested-river-1.6967001
H.E.Wolf
WaterGirl’s question: “How much interest is there in regular postcard / letter writing parties? Tuesday evenings? Saturdays? Some other time?”
I liked the postcard (and music) parties. I loved reading the comment threads , although I didn’t actually write *during* the parties – I’m typo-prone at the best of times.
Instead, it was a great motivator for me to get my assigned postcards written before and after, so that I could be a part of the Balloon Juice GOTV community.
RaflW
@NotMax: One of my best friends moved up to ski country in Colorado last year. Summit County does not have mail delivery either. It’s growing in population, so the post offices are extremely strained, and the only option for residents is a PO Box.
My buddy has some wild tales of terrible service. He has also figured out an address that he can use with ‘opaque’ sellers like Bezos’ evil empire (you don’t know who the shipper will be till after ordering. UPS and FedEx can’t deliver po boxes. USPS can’t deliver to street addresses in the county. Huh.)
Summit leaders, both elected and business, have been desperate enough to bring in their US House rep Joe Neguse as well as at least one US Senator, but the USPS is a nearly impenetrable fortress of NO.
H.E.Wolf
PostcardsToVoters (the only group I have first-hand knowledge of) has a 3-day window to write, and a minimum of 4 addresses. So if you requested your addresses* on a Wednesday, a pickup of finished cards on a Saturday – as long as they reached the post Office before the final Sat. collection – would work fine!
* I use PTV’s email bot, which has about a 1-minute turnaround time. Many people use the smartphone address bot, which is probably fast also.
For anyone who’s interested in signing up:
1. Text JOIN to Abby The Address Bot at 484-275-2229
OR
2. Email [email protected]
FAQ page is here: https://postcardstovoters.org/faq/
H.E.Wolf
@H.E.Wolf:
ETA: If you’re a fast writer, a Thursday address request to PTV (with a Saturday pickup) gives you a MONDAY deadline for finished cards to be dropped at a post office, since there’s no mail on Sundays. :-)
raven
@karen marie: Nope, we were in the park and I had her leashed because of her history with this dog. I just forgot and let her go.
karen marie
@raven: Glad to hear it – though sorry you ended up with a problem. I really hate those leashes.
Sure Lurkalot
Late to thread but I’m interested in doing postcards and any get togethers for making them fun. Will stay tuned for further posts.
sab
@raven: Face it. Some dogs aren’t good at dog parks. My late very much lamented GSD loved dog parks. Hoped to recruit dogs to leave their families and join ours. She really believed that, and recruited a few.
My newer dog is are wary . Sceptical. She thinks others are just toothy stupid assholes. I agree.
ETA She loves our new cat. aCat is adorable, had a good previous family, and dies not want to go outside efer.
Mike in Oly
@WaterGirl: Oliver was ours. And yes, we lost him but it was in 2019. November 30th to be exact. The day that photo was taken. They were the last shots I got of him. He slipped a disc in his back that night and was unable to walk. Because of his weight there was no hope of rehab or correction so we had to say goodbye. It broke our hearts. He was the sweetest, funniest, most vocal and loving boy we had ever had and we miss him dearly. I treasure those shots of him in that little lumberjack flap hat. He looked grumpy there but he was just a little confused. I had never put a hat on him before. He was a good sport about it. I love that he is immortalized in the BJ community with these postcards. I hope he brings a smile to everyone that sees him. He sure filled our lives with so many. Rest in peace sweet Ollie-bear.