Attack Ads and Fighting Back!

So, Bruce Poliquin, the GOP incumbent in ME02 has two attack ads running against Jared Golden now. One is a generic "scare elderly people by saying a Democrat wants to take away Medicare," (as if). The other is a poorly produced spot about tax policy, saying Golden wants to raise taxes on the middle class (again, a mischaracterization). It's funded by....wait for it....the superPAC funded by Sheldon Adelson. Adelson and his wife are the largest donors to the Congressional Leadership Fund. They have each given 15 MILLION dollars.

Luckily, I also saw the first *positive* ad from the Golden campaign today! It aired during Dr. Oz! Nice!

Please consider donating to fight back against Sheldon Adelson and his cronies!!

Donating is great, too!

My blog is very focused on field work, but yes, donating to democratic candidates is important, too! In Maine's 2nd district, the unfortunate reality is that the incumbent, Bruce Poliquin, is on the financial services committee. That means the wealthiest people and organizations in the country are donating to him. But your dollars to the Golden campaign will go far, because ultimately, house races can be won with less money than senate races, and also, the media buy in northern Maine is cheaper than other parts of the country.

SO, if you are a US citizen or permanent resident, DONATE here to the Golden campaign! I wouldn't steer you wrong.

If you want to diversify your donation in a strategic way, you should check out the Swing Left Immediate Impact Fund. This fund is distributed to several candidates where the media buy is relatively cheap but the cash disadvantage relative to the incumbent is great. So your dollars are needed and will go far for this slate of candidates.

Tuesday phone banking and training at my house!

Well, my first Tuesday phone bank on 8/21 at our house in Malden is almost full!

But I am going to be hosting this every Tuesday when I am not up in the district, so 8/28 is now also open for sign ups!

Calling voters is easy! Sure, the occasional person might hang up on you, but you shake it off and move on to the next.

Several weeks ago I was making calls to voters, I reached a woman who had not heard of Jared Golden and had not been following the race for congress. I started into the reasons why she should support Jared. When I got to the part about protecting Medicare and Social Security, she said, "Oh, well that's important to me." She went on to tell me that her family relies on food stamps and she relies on disability from the government. I said, "Well, I think this guy is on your side," and gave her the campaign's website. She stopped washing dishes and dried her hands to write it down, and repeated the url back to me. She shared with me that she usually does not vote because she does not feel up to speed on the candidates. I think a lot of people have challenges in their lives that preclude them from being engaged with campaigns. But now she is going to hopefully do her research and vote in November for someone who will have her back.

So, I guess what I am saying is it is worth many many "I'm not interested" and hang ups to reach one person like that. And that is why you should phone bank. Also I will get really good snacks!

Swing Left Brewer Potluck

Part of what we are doing with Swing Left is to engage and recruit volunteers through social events because hey, do we not all need a little emotional support and good times during 2018? But also, meeting other people who are working to fix the country is just...comforting, inspiring and wonderful.

Jenna Howard, one of our Swing Left Portland organizers, worked with Indivisible Bangor for months to pull together a truly beautiful potluck in Brewer on Saturday. We celebrated our volunteer efforts (over 500 doors knocked for the Jared Golden campaign Saturday), ate great food, and listened to live 60s protest music from Larry and Leslie Latour.

We raised some $$ for the Golden campaign, but more importantly, forged connections and broadened the group of people who will be inspired to knock doors and make phone calls this fall. This is how we win!

Also, I have to say, big potlucks are just really fun!

Canvassing in Maine, Day 2, Glenburn

Today was day two of canvassing in Glenburn on and around the Pushaw Road. Know this : canvassing is not boring! I encountered geese, chickens, model trains, and a Trump supporter who showed me pictures of pike he has caught (at least we both like fish?).

Walking down the rd in Glenburn...where is the next house?

Pushaw Lake!

Getting steps in!

This is a driveway. There's a house down there somewhere!

As you can see, the houses are far apart, so to knock 17 doors today, I walked about 3 miles. Most turfs won't be quite this rural, but hey, country roads have voters, too! Why not burn calories and save democracy?

Afterwards, we had an Impossible Burger (YES!) at The Grindhouse in Bangor, which is a great place. For no reason, took this photo of the building that used to house the Grasshopper Shop, which literally every person from Penobscot County knows was the best store ever and is so dearly missed (it closed 7 years ago and I will never get over it).

Grasshopper forever.

Canvassing in Pittsfield and Calls to Ohio!

It's so hot!

So hot.

But that did not stop us from canvassing for Bob Massie for Governor yesterday. We had a nice day in downtown Pittsfield overall, actually, starting with breakfast at Marketplace Cafe, and ending with...wait for it, an egg cream (does not include egg, people!) and milkshake at Freddie's Place Soda Shoppe (which you know is good because note the old timey spelling of the word "shoppe") and in between, knocking out a turf of 58 doors for the Massie campaign.

Here's a photo of us looking like big dorks and I'm doing something really flattering with my neck.

But I'm glad we took a little time to do this. To quote one guy we talked to, "Well, you did your job because the only name I had heard was Jay Gonzalez."

Today, still hot. But I cranked the AC and made some calls for Danny O'Connor, who is running in Ohio's 12th district, in the last special election of the year. Those of you who did postcards for Danny will recall that Danny will amplify the voters' voices so that Central Ohio can be heard in Washington (inside joke, but the cool kids who did postcards will get it!). This is GOTV time, so we can leave chipper voicemails reminding folks to vote tomorrow and it's really really easy so if you have time, say over lunch or something tomorrow to make some calls, here's a link where you can sign up to call voters to remind them to vote on Tuesday!!!

I would say GOTV (get out the vote) phone calls are really the easiest kind of phone banking. You are really just reminding people to vote. Even if you fall on your face and blubber thru a script, the main point is, tomorrow there's an election. Same goes with GOTV canvassing. You're really just saying, hey, election in like two days, don't forget, you know where you're voting and when you're voting, ok cool... In addition to being easy, GOTV voter contacts are the most effective. So keep that in mind when you are thinking about volunteering for The Last Weekend!

Yes, you can drink beer and fight Trump

Swing Left bar night, next Wed, August 8th! At Democracy Brewing, a worker owned microbrewery on Temple Street!!

We are asking attendees to consider donating 10 dollars or 2 hours to the Jared Golden campaign! Come meet all the fun people who will make you want to just jump in a car and go to Lewiston for a day trip.

I'll be there!

The beer is really reasonably priced! Think Bush v. Gore era prices. For reals. 

Weekend Away? Canvass Away!

Headed to the Berkshires, one of my favorite places, for about 36 hrs of R&R and 2 hrs of...canvassing!!!

That's right. I asked the Bob Massie for Governor campaign to hook me up with a turf in Pittsfield so I can cap my weekend with a bit of the good fight. Fun fact. Most, if not all campaigns will gladly hook you up with a clipboard and a turf if you just say the word. 

Getting Charlie Baker out of office is important to me. Is he a reasonable guy? Sure. Can we do MUCH better? Hells yes. How about a governor who will stand with our immigrant neighbors, will invest in the T, and will call a spade a spade when the orange one is being fucking ridiculous?

Bob Massie is running in the Democratic primary against former Patrick admin official Jay Gonzalez. The primary is September 4th, the day after Labor Day (sneaky sneaky, but more on that later). Bob earned my support when he stood with, and drew attention to the locked out National Grid workers in this video.

For those not following this, National Grid cruelly locked out their unionized workers (the people who make sure your house doesn't blow up) in the midst of negotiations. As of the beginning of July, they took their healthcare away.

So, I'm standing with the guy who stands with them. That's what will get me knocking doors Sunday.

The Last Weekend

Folks, if you can do one thing to help us take back the house and stop the ongoing slow motion nightmare that is the Trump regime, it is this (the link is over on the right side of this page!):

Why? Because canvassing, i.e. old school knocking on doors, is the most effective way to get people to vote. You won't have to talk to Trump supporters (I promise!). You'll be just reminding friendly democrats in a swing district near you to get their asses to the polls. Our country makes voting difficult! People have to go to work. Some states have onerous registration and ID requirements. So we need to use people power to remind people that it is worth it.

Plan right now to volunteer the weekend of November 3rd and 4th and this thing will be in the bag. We can all wake up November 7th knowing that proper checks and balances are a thing again in our federal government!

Day 99 Recap

Sunday was Day 99. I made a quasi impromptu decision to sign up to canvass in Malden with Freedom for All MA, aka YES ON 3.

Because even here in true blue Massachusetts, the rights of our transgender neighbors are threatened by the religious right. Uggggggh.

In an unbelievably outrageous and retrograde move, a group called, "Keep MA Safe," (your move, George Orwell) is trying to repeal the law that the Commonwealth passed in 2016 to protect the rights of transgender people to use the bathroom that is appropriate for their identity.

So a vote of YES on 3 will keep our law the same, and protect transgender individuals.

A lot of people don't even know this is on the ballot, so please get the word out!

Day 99 also involved a bit of phone banking at Activist Afternoons with Indivisible Somerville for the Jared Golden campaign in Maine! I am hoping to make the Golden campaign the main focus of my next 98 days and will be talking a lot, with many people, about why he will make such a great congressman for my parents and grandparents and the rest of northern Maine.

All Boston area folks, please consider dropping by Activist Afternoons any Sunday at WeWork Central Sq from 4 - 6! This is a great way to get involved with Indivisible Somerville, Voter Choice MA, Justice Democrats, Cambridge Area Stronger Together, and other progressive groups. It is one stop shopping to do the work necessary to get our country back working for the people, not the powerful. Come by, meet some people, and jump in! Consider *this* to be your written invitation.

Day 100 recap

Day 100 I spent canvassing in disgusting humid heat for Ayanna Pressley's US Congress campaign to reprsent MA-07. Ayanna showed up to kick off the canvassing, delivering a passionate case for her campaign. She will be a powerful voice for marginalized communities in Boston. Do yourself a favor...find a video of her stump speech or seek her our in person. She is powerful.

My turf was up and down Shawmut Street in the South End. It was interesting to note that this street starts in the Villa Victoria housing development (populated by many people from Puerto Rico), then continues through one of the highest income parts of Boston (including our flagship dog bakery, yes, a bakery for dogs, when you are looking for the most radical expression of privilege possible and don't know where to go...and yes, of course I have shopped there), and then the apts again become more modest or even a bit run-down after you pass Coppa (a small plates restaurant with squid ink pasta, obviously) and head east. I felt like I saw one of MA-07's biggest problems, which is income inequality, on this one street.

100 days 'til the midterms

Yesterday was my last full-time day at my job in the Architecture / Interior design studio at Sasaki! I'll be staying on part time for two weeks to finish up a couple of projects.

I am, not of course, intending to run for any office any time soon, but have decided to dedicate as much time as I can over the next 100 days to working on electing democrats in the midterms.

Call it activism, call it radical self-care, call it penance for doing too little in 2016 because I thought everything would work out okay and our country wouldn't elect a serial sexual assailant, con artist, and white supremacist.

My wonderful, energetic, talented coworkers sent me on my way with this beautiful cake today and expressed a desire to keep up with what I'm doing. And I also want to hold myself accountable for being an active volunteer, organizer, and rabble rouser for the next 100 days. So this is where I'll do that!

What I'm doing TODAY:

Joining other Justice Democrats volunteers in Boston's South End to canvass for Ayanna Pressley, who is running for the US House of Representatives in MA-07, which is much of Boston, Somerville, parts of Cambridge, and Chelsea. Ayanna is challenging incumbent Democrat Mike Capuano in the primary on September 4th. Although this is a blue-on-blue race, not a swing district, I firmly believe it is worth my time. To build a lasting Democratic majority, we must have a party that aligns firmly with progressive values. Capuano's comments last year on "welcoming pro-life" politicians into the Democratic party were completely unacceptable to me. My bodily autonomy must be supported by my party. Full stop.

This is what will get me knocking on doors today.