Note for the day:
The first Playing to Win went up just over a week ago. Are you guys finding it inspiring to see what everyone is doing? These threads are for you guys, so please speak up about what you want and what works for you.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Let’s try late mornings on Wednesday and Friday mornings and Sunday afternoons.
You asked for easy ways to find these threads:
· there’s a link in the sidebar under Calling All Jackals (on computers & tablets in landscape mode)
· there’s a link in the hamburger menu bar (on mobile)
· click on the Playing to Win category that shows up just under the byline at the top of the post
· if you’re super lazy worn out from all your work canvassing and calling and texting, click here
The resource page – with suggestions and resources from previous threads – can be found here and at Playing to Win. Additional links will be added as you provide them in ongoing threads.
*****
A couple of our jackals requested a regular political “action” thread, which we are calling Playing to Win. We’ll keep this up for as long as there is interest.
The goal is a poll-free, spin-free, prognostication-free, media-free, what’s-wrong-with-the-other-candidate-free-zone – a political thread where the focus is on ACTION: What can be done to help our candidates, and what are we doing to help them, every day?
The hope is that this will help provide inspiration, and encourage action, as an alternative to anger, frustration and despair.
Everyone is free to chime in about what they are doing for their their preferred candidate. What actions are we taking at Balloon Juice, individually or collectively, to help candidates we believe in?
What might you like to do, if you weren’t stuck on not quite knowing how to go from thinking about doing something to actually doing something?
· Make calls
· Canvass
· Write postcards
· Text for your candidate
· Donate
· Register people to vote
· Give people rides to the polls to vote
· Bring food and drinks to campaign offices in your area
· Be an election judge
· Be a poll watcher
· Put together a bullet list of what you like about YOUR preferred candidate
· Go to a battleground state to work on a campaign.
· Use your frequent flyer miles to send a volunteer to a battleground state
· If you live in a battleground state, host a volunteer who could stay at your house
· Share a great informational article about YOUR preferred candidate
· If you have campaign connections, connect interested jackals with that campaign
· Organize a postcard-writing campaign and help other BJ peeps get started
What else are you doing?
Tell us what actions you’ve taken today, whether it’s calling or donating or canvassing or writing postcards or talking to someone about your candidate, or anything else that’s on that list. Or even something that isn’t!
Forget the other candidates. Tell us what you LIKE about your candidate.
Share your worries or concerns about canvassing or other activities. What’s holding you back?
If Playing to Win appeals to you, what else would you want to see in this space?
WaterGirl
If you are interested in these threads, let me know what you think about the proposed schedule of late morning on Wednesday and Friday and afternoon on Sunday.
These threads were really quiet on Wednesday and Friday, but I think I posted too early in the day (9 am Eastern, and 7 am on the west coast). Or perhaps interest is waning, but I think it may be too early to draw conclusions.
Omnes Omnibus
Vote for the person you think will the best president in the primary. Vote for the Democratic nominee in the general. If you are very lucky, it will be the same person both times. If not, then suck it up and vote anyway.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: But, but, I want it to be complicated!!1
Thanks for doing this, WG. I don’t have anything substantive to add.
I’ve been surprised that we (in NoVA) haven’t been bombarded with flyers and canvassers. There was one DSA canvasser for Bernie last week. It’s like one would never know there’s an election on Tuesday. Or maybe they know that they’re wasting their time here. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
ruemara
I have to design & write some postcards for GOTV. I’m hoping to man some tables registering voters and donating to voting rights groups. Really not planning to donate to campaigns. Let PACs do that. The on the ground voting groups need us more.
JoeyJoeJoe
Door to door for Warren for me. Candidates have had rallies here – Bernie yesterday, Buttigieg last week, Warren two weeks ago, and I have received a dozen or so Bloomberg mailings and also heard about paid Bloomberg staffers going around nova. I’ve talked to people and heard support for Warren, Bernie, and I think one for Bloomberg. Lots of undecided even yesterday. I told them that they should vote for the candidate they like best on Tuesday
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: I think three threads might be too much; two seems about right.
It’s good to have them, because this election is a marathon (albeit with way too much drama this year).
zhena gogolia
I think you should maintain it, even if there aren’t a lot of comments every time.
The David Anderson threads also don’t have a lot of comments, but they’re very valuable. I think the response on these will wax and wane, but they’re so much better than fighting over candidates.
H.E.Wolf
I appreciate these posts very much! Thank you for putting them up, and thank you to everyone who’s been chiming in.
Now is an excellent time to start volunteering. Showing up a couple of times a month, a little in advance of the big rush of volunteers at the height of the campaign season, has meant that I’ve gotten my pick of tasks to do.
Bonus: When the canvassing/phone-banking starts, I’ll already be known as the volunteer who does all the *other* stuff. :)
Elizabelle
@ruemara: I think we could do a thread on plugging people into voter registration efforts, and which states really need the help.
Especially where some of it may be re-registering voters who got tossed off the roles in Republican-run states.
And getting people sufficient ID for voting. I would be up for that. It’s a real issue in some areas (thinking of the South here).
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: Perfectly stated!
JoJo
@Elizabelle: I would support this as well. We need help with precisely that in Wisconsin, and we have been having trouble drumming up volunteers. Both with registration and voter ID, especially in inner city Milwaukee.
surfk9
I have been active this cycle. Have done phone banking for the county coordinating committee, am active in the local democratic club. Yesterday went to a fundraiser for my congressman Jerry McNerney.
I think that these posts are very helpful for people to see how active others are and hopefully get inspired to do something positive to effect change.
WereBear
ANY anti-Republican efforts are worthwhile.
HRA
This is a great idea and I will go to it as it is scheduled. I do not have a favorite candidate for president yet. I am working on sending money to those running for Congress against vile Rs like Lindsey in SC and Joni Ernst in Iowa.
Nelle
I’m in Des Moines. We hosted a Harvard student for five nights while she campaigned for Warren just before and up through caucus night. It worked well for us. She was in and out, super responsible, and while we enjoyed her, we hardly saw her. (A neighbor wanted to know who this attractive young woman was who was being dropped off late at night and did I know???)
We’ve offered the same to our favorite candidate for senator (we really want to give Joni Ernst more time with her pigs) – he can use our extra room any time he wants or anyone coming temporarily.
Des Moines is getting more and more organized, with at least six subgroups for the city itself and suburbs meeting regularly. My husband has started going to these meetings (and it is a good way to meet people as we are regularly new here) and now that The Cough seems to be on the wane, I’m planning to go too. We have three levels we plan to work on – State Senate (we want to retire a fervid anti-abortionist), US Senate, and then president. Oh, and we’ll continue to try to return our freshman Congressional rep to Congress too. I guess I’m doing okay with getting to her town halls (and donating) as she recognized me in the airport recently.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: @JoJo:
We can certainly feature different efforts on various posts, but people who are “plugged in” will need to supply concrete information.
Does anyone have that? Or can people get that?
WaterGirl
@JoJo:
Back in 2007 & 2008 – on the Obama blog – people who had frequent flyer miles would buy plane tickets for other people who were available to travel somewhere to help out in a state. I would love to see us get something like that going on BJ.
WaterGirl
@Nelle: Des Moines is where I was housed, working for Obama, for the 10 days before the Iowa caucus on Jan 3, 2008.
Omnes Omnibus
@JoJo: VidaLoca mentioned these folks the other day and I brought them up in a previous Playong To Win thread. BLOC. Many of us would do no good volunteering for them, but they could use our cash.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
One fucking billion times this!
You never get just what you want but you might just get what you need.
I didn’t get to vote for the person I wanted, Harris. And maybe none of us really get to vote for the person we think will be best in whatever job they are asking you to vote for them to do, but then that’s life, it’s not perfect, most often not even close, but it’s the best there is. Take what you can get, and sometimes be surprised that what you get is better than you thought your best choice would be.
WaterGirl
@JoJo: @Omnes Omnibus:
I added BLOC to the resource page that’s linked in the Note for the Day portion up top. I did that a few days ago when you brought it to my attention, I think,
Cameron
I just found out that the current head of the Florida senate (until the election) is Bill Galvano, from the district where I live. I don’t have much money or any people skills, but I thought I might drop by his office in Bradenton to see if I could bend somebody’s ear. There are a couple of things that might catch on here without being tainted with liberal cooties: land value taxation (I’ve been a Georgist for over 30 years), which is reasonably business-friendly and a hell of a lot less destructive than the sales tax we have now; a public bank (like they have in that hot-bed of radicalism, North Dakota); state-funded associate’s and technical degrees (like they have in that other hot-bed of radicalism, Tennessee); and maybe even a shot at health care (Medicaid expansion might not be such a bad idea with a pandemic lurking, and the Maryland Model might be worth a look to help keep costs down). Sure, it ain’t going anywhere, but it’ll be a nice bus ride to downtown Bradenton and I’ll get a chance to see if I can be polite to other people,
piratedan
@WaterGirl: i think having these about on a circulating basis is a good thing imho. Some of us go thru stages where work is not as demanding or free time opens up or you’re on vacation and simply forget. Having this as a resource to check upon for heavy lifts and light lifts is an awesome part of this blog and turns us from keyboard commandos to feet on street and hands on the wheel.
Humdog
Thanks for providing the BLOC info. I’d heard of them but couldn’t remember their name. $50 to them today.
Sab
Just got back from canvassing. Pant, pant. I got to finish up two packets. On one street every house on the south side had twenty-five to thirty steps up the hill to the front door! Ohio is supposed to be flat, but not all of it is. I’m getting to be too old for all that climbing. Cheaper than a gym membership.
8 man shell
Canvassed in Fresno today for a candidate who shall not be named.
Realizing I should probably learn Spanish if I am going to keep doing this. I was useless at about 1/2 the houses and I just ended up driving people around and taking people to bathroom breaks for the most part.
WaterGirl
@8 man shell: I just released your first comment from moderation. Welcome!
WaterGirl
@Sab: oh my gosh! definitely cheaper than a gym membership, and maybe the fact that you climbed all the way up for each house was inspirational.
I know from traipsing around in the big snow for Obama in Dec 2007 and early Jan 2008 – day after day after day for 10 days – made a difference. Especially since my partner and I weren’t young pups. I know that seeing us trudge through the snow day after day made a difference because people in our precinct would tell us so.
debbie
O/T, but good for a chuckle.
Elizabelle
@debbie: I wish.
Mary G
Reboot
Just got back from canvassing for Warren–ran across lots of people who said they were undecided, but they seemed open to thinking about voting for her, so fingers crossed.
WaterGirl
@Reboot: I am curious about the undecideds – what state are you canvassing in, and when does that state vote?
I am all for Warren, but I’m in Illinois and even though we normally vote on Super Tuesday, this year we don’t vote until March 17.
Even though I’m for Warren, I don’t know how I’ll vote because I have no idea who will still be in and who will be out on March 16.
susanna
Keep this going, WaterGirl. It’s useful for information and as an impetus to get involved.
I’m assuming the DNC has plans on voter registration, volunteers, etc. at college campuses, including those of 2-years.
I’m more skittish about voting machines and what mess they can make, so will be researching those soon. Also think there might be opportunities for decent surveillance this time around with tech involved, including drones, IF the Democrats are well organized at the top.
Reboot
@WaterGirl: Virginia. We vote this Tuesday. I feel that most of the undecideds I ran across don’t pay particularly close attention to politics and that strategies of voting don’t enter into their calculus.
DB11
@Omnes Omnibus: So much this.
DB11
@WaterGirl: Nice! (and I don’t think it’s hokey :)
germy
Rudy is playing to win. But he won’t.
WaterGirl
@DB11: Thanks.
VidaLoca
@WaterGirl: My thanks to you for putting BLOC in your resource page, and to Omnes for recommending it. In my experience they are the real deal, and about the only group able to move votes in the African-American community on the north side here.
If your readers would like another Milwaukee (and indeed Wisconsin) organization worthy of support, may I suggest Voces de la Frontera https://www.vdlf.org/
They are doing much the same sort of work in the Latino community on the south side as BLOC is doing on the north side.
(Your link didn’t come out right, so I edited for readability – WG)
JoJo
@Omnes Omnibus: Yes, BLOC does excellent work. Some of the most important work in the area, especially since they have their eyes on long-term organizing. There are some other local opportunities brewing to counteract the Republican attempt to purge the voter rolls as well. No definite dates yet, but some of the people I canvassed with today are planning registration events in the city.
WaterGirl
@VidaLoca: If you see this, please check out the resources page and see if my description seems correct. Please suggest changes if appropriate.