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You are here: Home / Archives for Politics / Political Action

Political Action

The PA Supreme Court Retention Election Matters!

by WaterGirl|  May 22, 202510:30 am| 38 Comments

This post is in: Political Action, Targeted Political Fundraising 2025-26

We took a  little  long break in the middle of our Civics Center fundraiser to accommodate my work and home remodeling schedules, but let’s jump back into this very worthy effort.  Can we do that?  I worry that we have left our partners at The Civics Center hanging after they found us a double-match for $15,000 of the $25,000 we are trying to raise.

Since it’s been so long, let’s dust off the cobwebs!

Exciting New Effort, With An Eye Toward the PA Supreme Court Retention Election In November

We are supporting the Civics Center in their effort to educate, motivate and register graduating (and mostly BIPOC) Seniors in urban Pittsburgh High Schools – one part of their nationwide effort to register the yutes in swing states.  PENNSYLVANIA IS A CRITICAL SWING STATE IN 2026 and 2028.  And more immediately, control of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is at stake:

“State judicial elections typically garner little attention, but Pennsylvania’s 2025 state Supreme Court races are shaping up to be the next major political battleground. Three justices — Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht — are seeking to retain their seats on the state’s highest court, but Republican activists are looking to nix them from the court.

If two of the Democrats were to be unseated, Republicans would then gain a majority on the state’s highest court. Scott Presler, a Republican voter registration activist known for his grassroots efforts during the 2024 presidential election, is campaigning to get voters who have galvanized behind President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement to vote against retaining the three Democratic justices, citing their past rulings on pandemic “lockdowns” and voting laws.”

Pa. GOP seeks to gain control of state’s highest court, where final decisions are made on voting and abortion

Although some (mostly white) youths were Trump-curious in 2024, it looks like the kids are alright.

Recent polls show that Gen Z voters (age 18-29) are souring on the Trump Administration:

“Once seen as a wild card with surprising appeal among disillusioned young voters, President Donald Trump is now facing a sharp decline in support from Generation Z, according to new polling.

Newsweek analyzed the latest results from major pollsters since early March that included age-specific approval ratings and found that Trump’s standing among the youngest voters is currently at 37 percent approving, while 58 percent disapprove of his job performance.

That signals that Trump’s support among Generation Z voters has tailed off since the 2024 election, when 47 percent of voters aged 18-29 cast a ballot for him, up from 36 percent in 2020.”

THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY!  The Civic Center is smack in the middle of their on-campus High School voter education, registration and motivation drive – “Cap, Gown & Ballot” on several metropolitan area campuses in mostly swing states.  We’re helping them register and inspire students in nine urban Pittsburgh High Schools this month in advance of the Fall Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention race and next year’s midterms.

I can think of no more cost-effective way to register and engage our voters than reaching them on campus.  No canvassing, no door-knocking, no texts, no postcards – just direct access to potential voters.  Possibly our best bang for the voter registration buck.

Remember, the Civics Center has a double match for us

  • so every donation on BJ is a 4x match.
  • if there’s a Balloon Juice Angel, it becomes a 6x match.

Out-raise them.  Out-organize them.  Out-strategize them.



Donate

THEN we can OUT-VOTE them.

Update:  And we have an angel match from Wapiti!   $1,000 – up to $100 per person.

To be Angel-matched, please tell us about your donation in the comments or by email to me.

Thank you so much to our BJ Angel.

The PA Supreme Court Retention Election Matters!Post + Comments (38)

PA Supreme Court On the Line in November

by WaterGirl|  May 3, 20252:55 pm| 175 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Political Action, Targeted Political Fundraising 2025-26

WE’RE THE KIDS IN AMERICA

The kids are fed up, and they’ve had it up to here!

The Civics Center is targeting the youth vote where they are easiest to reach:  AT SCHOOL

Recent polls show that Gen Z voters (age 18-29) are souring on the Trump Administration.

Once seen as a wild card with surprising appeal among disillusioned young voters, President Donald Trump is now facing a sharp decline in support from Generation Z, according to new polling.

Newsweek analyzed the latest results from major pollsters since early March that included age-specific approval ratings and found that Trump’s standing among the youngest voters is currently at 37 percent approving, while 58 percent disapprove of his job performance.

This signals that Trump’s support among Generation Z voters has tailed off since the 2024 election, when 47 percent of voters aged 18-29 cast a ballot for him, up from 36 percent in 2020.

Trump is particularly losing support among young Gen Z men, who were some of the least engaged and lowest information voters – perhaps the very epitome of the “vibes” voter. 

According to the Newsweek article:

He was physically ‘tough’ as evidenced by his response to the Butler, PA, assassination attempt, he’s not ‘politically correct’ and speaks his mind, he’s a businessman who supposedly knows how to manage the economy, and so forth. This is all part of the Trumpian narrative,” Katz said.

But polls now show that Trump’s image as the “men’s” candidate may be beginning to unravel.

According to data provided by YouGov Blue, net approval for Trump declined by 29 points among young male registered voters between January and March, a significantly bigger shift than any other demographic.

We Have An Opportunity Here!

The Civic Center is smack in the middle of their on-campus High School voter education, registration and motivation drive – “Cap, Gown & Ballot” on several metropolitan area campuses in mostly swing states.  We’re helping them register and inspire students in nine urban Pittsburgh High Schools this month in advance of the Fall Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention race and next year’s midterms.

I can think of no more cost-effective way to register and engage our voters than reaching them at school.  No canvassing, no door-knocking, no texts, no postcards – just direct access to potential voters.  

This is consistent with National Ground Game on college campuses, where we will support counter-programming right wing campus rallies with our own “influencers” this is possibly our best bang for the voter registration buck.

That collapse in support for Trump among Gen Z males?

Fighting Them Where They Are

Flashback to the original post about the PA Supreme Court effort

The first post for The Civics Center effort went up a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve all slept since then, so here is the original post in case you want to go back to it.

Exciting New Effort, With An Eye Toward the PA Supreme Court Retention Election In November

Remember, the Civics Center has a double match for us

  • so every donation on BJ is a 4x match.
  • if there’s a Balloon Juice Angel, it becomes a 6x match.

Out-raise them.  Out-organize them.  Out-strategize them.


Donate

THEN we can OUT-VOTE them.

.

PA Supreme Court On the Line in NovemberPost + Comments (175)

Is It the 60s Again? Cory Booker and Hakeem Jeffries Sit-In at the Capital

by WaterGirl|  April 28, 202510:45 am| 63 Comments

This post is in: Democratic Response to Trump 2.0, Open Threads, Political Action, Politics

Mousebumples sent me an email about the sit-in yesterday,  but of course I didn’t see it until today!

Did any of you from Virginia or DC area go to this?  I would love to hear from you if you did!

Rolling Stone article, if you are interested.

More and more, I am trying to link to the AP and other news organizations rather than the more classic sources that have shown themselves to slant toward promotion of the maladministration’s agenda.

It doesn’t seem like this has gotten a lot of press, but over 250,000 people have watched the live feed from yesterday.

Open thread.

Is It the 60s Again? Cory Booker and Hakeem Jeffries Sit-In at the CapitalPost + Comments (63)

The Civics Center / PA Supreme Court Effort – 6x Matching!

by WaterGirl|  April 26, 202510:00 am| 36 Comments

This post is in: Political Action, Politics, Targeted Political Fundraising 2025-26

Update:  Ask and we shall receive.  Wowser, big thanks to the person who fixed this!

h/t BlueGuitarist for the video which had this organize image on a protest sign!

I did the best capture I could, t’s a bit crooked, so if any of you geniuses out there could fix that, I would appreciate it!

Sorry I kind of fell off the map for couple of days; big project for one of my clients this week.

Happy to say that we have a DOUBLE external match for the next $12,500 in donations.  And right now we have the second half of PatrickG’s Angel Match.  And right after that we have one more $1k Angel match waiting in the wings.

So for the next $1,500 in donations up to $50 per person, it’s a 6x match.  PatrickG Angel match is complete.

So for the next $1,000 in donations up to $50 per person, it’s a 6x match.

I’ll do the math so you don’t have to!

$50 donation ($50) + Angel match ($50) = $100.   Add external match #1 ($100) + external match #2 ($100) = $300!

Step right up!

Remember, the fine print.  Angel matches reset each time there’s a new Angel match, so for those who can afford it, if you give $50 to the PatrickG Angel match and another $50 to the upcoming Anonymous Angel match, your $100 turns into $600!  Pretty hard to beat that, if you have the disposable income, which not all of us do! :-)

Read more about the effort in the original post earlier this week:

Exciting New Effort, With An Eye Toward the PA Supreme Court Retention Election In November

 



Donate

The Civics Center / PA Supreme Court Effort – 6x Matching!Post + Comments (36)

The World Is Burning, What Can We Do?

by WaterGirl|  April 22, 202510:45 am| 79 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Political Action, Targeted Political Fundraising 2025-26

To recap some of the morning headlines …

  • The market is discovering that Trump might be crazy.
  • Where is the Tuft’s student who was unlawfully grabbed off the streets of Massachusetts by masked strangers and flown to Louisiana where she has been held ever since.
  • The financial world is emerging as a powerful and perhaps unexpected player in our opposition movement.
  • The Dow is headed for the worst April since 1932.
  • Stopping Trump’s Sabotage
  • $3 billion yanked from schools to help pay for Trump’s tax cuts

A breath of fresh air …

My favorite line in the clip: I haven’t seen anybody with a rap sheet that looks like the President’s.

I’m glad SCOTUS stepped in & stopped that plane from taking off.

Deporting folks with no record & no due process isn’t justice—it’s cruelty.

Meanwhile, the Republicans follow a convicted felon like he’s the Second Coming.

You can’t scream “law & order” while breaking the law at every turn.

[image or embed]

— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@repjasmine.bsky.social) April 19, 2025 at 11:50 AM

What can we do?

  • Call your elected officials every damn day
  • Take care of ourselves and others
  • Fight for our future

Something you can do right now!

Read the details in yesterday’s post, and – if you can afford it – donate to this effort to help do for the PA Supreme Court what we did for the WI Supreme Court just last month.

Exciting New Effort, With An Eye Toward the PA Supreme Court Retention Election In November

We have an external match from The Civics Center and an Angel match from frosty!

frosty will match up to $50 per person, up to a total of $1,000.  To be matched, tell us about your donation in the comments or by email.

The Match Starts Now!


Donate

.

The World Is Burning, What Can We Do?Post + Comments (79)

Wag’s Photos from the Denver Protest

by WaterGirl|  April 21, 20256:51 pm| 43 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Political Action, Politics

Good evening!
The well attended protest in Denver this afternoon.  After the rally we marched from the state capitol through the heart of downtown, looping back to finish at the capitol again.  An excellent and engaged crowd!
Anyone else who went have any thoughts?
Open thread.

Wag’s Photos from the Denver ProtestPost + Comments (43)

Exciting New Effort, With An Eye Toward the PA Supreme Court Retention Election In November

by WaterGirl|  April 21, 202511:00 am| 36 Comments

This post is in: Organizing & Resistance, Political Action, Targeted Political Fundraising 2025-26

Although we haven’t had a Balloon Juice fundraiser for a few weeks, that doesn’t mean we’ve been standing by or standing down (so to speak).  We’ve been in regular contact with most of our partner organizations for updates on their activities and to identify opportunities to assist them in efforts that match our goals.

We have a fantastic new opportunity with The Civics Center.   The Civics Center, you will recall, is on a mission to register (or pre-register) High School students on the cusp of reaching voting age.  We helped them expand their Fall 2024 registration drive to several metropolitan area high schools in swing states.   Right now, the Civics Center is in the midst of their “Cap, Gown and Ballot” Spring voter registration drive.  For more on the organization watch the two really 1-minute YouTube videos below, or click here.

The Civics Center is implementing a pilot plan in Pittsburgh (city) High Schools (plural) to inspire and empower youth voters and encourage greater participation in the political process.

We want to help fund this registration and engagement drive in Pittsburgh for this cycle.

This is an investment in the future – both in youth registration in general but in particular with an eye sharply-trained on the November 2025 Pennsylvania Supreme Court judicial retention election.  Not to mention the 2026 midterms and 2028 general elections!

Like Wisconsin, PA is a critical swing state, and this PA Supreme Court judicial retention election is every bit as important as the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April 1.

What does this entail?

Part 1.

With the help of The Civics Center and its partners, the students are holding candidate forums in their schools for the Pittsburgh mayoral race.  These have been wildly successful, and have received local news coverage.  The students feel heard and engaged.

Candidate forum at Pittsburgh’s Obama Academy High School

Part 2.

This involves voter registration drives in those same schools, starting now and continuing into June (up to and including graduation week).  The timing is especially important.  Why?

There will be a retention election for THREE DEMOCRATIC justices on the seven-member Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

All of this sets the state for Part 3.

What The Civics Center is doing in this Pittsburgh and Allegheny County is a pilot program.  Then they’ll be “taking it on the road.”

In summary, they are:

  • Working in and helping to build a coalition of state and local groups
  • Training students and educators in how to hold voter registration drives
  • Providing data to illustrate the discrepancy, motivate stakeholders and track progress
  • Creating an internship program for high school student leaders
  • Deploying multiple opportunities for educators to get trained and involved in shaping their students’ civic futures.

Founder Laura Brill has already found $15,000 in external matches, and is hot on the trail of an additional donor to match our $25,000 goal.

The Civics Center is a 401 (c) 3  organization for those of you with potential employer matches. 

For more on The Civics Center and the Pittsburgh push, you can check out Laura’s substack.

Can we do this? Are you guys up for this?


Donate

.

Exciting New Effort, With An Eye Toward the PA Supreme Court Retention Election In NovemberPost + Comments (36)

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