How Democrats Are Running GOTV In The Age of COVID
They're doing the hard work
Welcome to the big Sunday edition of Progressives Everywhere!
Today we’ve got an exclusive look at how some of the biggest progressive Democratic GOTV organizations are getting out the vote in this COVID-altered world. Then, we’ll look at big news about California’s record-setting anti-worker ballot initiative, voting rights cases, and some of our favorite candidates.
Down in the Trenches, Making Democracy Happen
We now have just over two weeks until Election Day, but given the unprecedented number of absentee ballots and early votes cast, the reality is that every day is election day. Already, over 8 million votes have been registered, and with more states opening up early voting in the next few days, that number will soon jump even higher.
With that in mind, the traditional weekend-before-the-election GOTV just won’t cut it this year. We need to be taking action now. Here at Progressives Everywhere, we’ve raised over $40,000 for GOTV groups this year, most of it over the last few months. Now, we want to go all-in on raising needed cash to help these organizations maximize their voter contacts over the next few weeks. It requires cash to run their advanced digital systems, pay field employees, and advertise online, so let’s help them as best we can.
Below, I spoke with leaders of two of the major grassroots organizations doing the hard work to put Democrats over the top when all the votes are counted. I can’t think of any better investment right now, so please help them finish off Donald Trump and the GOP with whatever kind of investment you can offer.
Community Change Action
Established in 1968, Community Change has been around since the tail end of the last civil rights era. This year, the organization is working to usher in a new era of civil rights advocacy and advancement by massively expanding its operations and connecting with voters beyond the typical checklist phone call or text message.
With a focus on working people and people of color, Community Change stands as a crucial link to underserved but enormously crucial voting blocs who often wind up disenfranchised at the ballot box and in policymaking.
“We believe that by engaging people who have been historically disengaged, we not only change the ultimate outcome of the election, but we also are building their long-term infrastructure and organizing capacity that we need to achieve progressive political agenda,” Grecia Lima, the national political director at Community Change, tells Progressives Everywhere. “We want for them to find a political home inside of their state that they can continue to be connected to, even after the election.”
Community Change Action, the organization’s political action arm, is now operating in eight states and 28 congressional districts. It’s running its own grassroots outreach campaigns in Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, and Colorado, while it has teamed with three other progressive groups — Planned Parenthood, SEIU, and Color of Change — for huge voter contact campaigns in Florida, Nevada, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Thus far, Community Change has engaged 6.1 million voters with 11 million phone calls and 2.3 million text messages. The numbers date back to January, but most of them have come in the last few weeks. The group has been busy, to say the least.
Then there is the organization’s relational voter contact program, which asks members to send messages to and communicate with people they know, including friends, family members, and neighbors. With 5281 relational leaders throughout its coveted territory, Community Change’s relations voter program has made another 3.8 million actions, which include calls, text messages, and messages on other platforms like Facebook Messenger.
The group hasn’t directly encouraged door-knocking by its volunteers and activists, though it’ll help partner organizations if they decide to do so. But in this unprecedentedly awful year of mass casualties, illness, unemployment, mourning, and isolation, Lima says people have been unusually welcoming and even solicitous of meaningful conversation over both phone and text. The conversations have taught them a lot about how to more effectively communicate with voters and people who feel overwhelmed by politics.
“People are hesitant about policies, but they're very certain about their feelings,” Lima says. “When we experienced the passing of George Floyd, we sent out two different sets of text messages. One that said, ‘What do you think are the policies that we should create moving forward?’ And the other one said ‘What do you feel the policies moving forward should be?’ And just that very minor change created a way different response.”
As you speak with people about the election over the next few weeks, that’s something to keep in mind — emotions have never been higher and conversations have never been at more of a premium. Feelings are going to get people to the ballot box.
Progressive Turnout Project
One of the premier national GOTV groups this cycle, the Progressive Turnout Project has expanded its focus even further, with a whopping 20 states that it hopes to either help keep in the Democratic column or flip from red to blue.
PTP’s target list includes all the states that Community Change is working on as well as a few more swing states and a handful of steeper climbs. Its additional states include Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
“What we really want to do is talk to folks about the issues that are most important to them and connect them to what's on the ballot and to who's on the ballot,” Will Mantell, the group’s press secretary, tells Progressives Everywhere. “We’re also really focused on talking to folks about the voting options that are available to them, especially in the face of the misinformation that is coming from the President and members of his party.”
Like Community Change, the Progressive Turnout Project is focused on calls and texts. And just as Community Change prizes meaningful conversations between volunteers and voters, PTP values on-the-ground organizing and a command of local issues and concerns. For that reason, the group has 1000 paid staff spread out across 17 of the 20 states to go with 37,000 volunteer callers and letter-writers.
This manifests itself in more intimate, informed interactions and contacts with voters who are likely overwhelmed with the number of people trying to get their vote. For example, in Kalamazoo, MI, the local letter-writers are including details about environmental issues impacting the region and insurance rates they all have to pay. If people feel like someone understands their problems, they’re much more likely to listen to the rest of their message, especially if it offers some kind of solution.
With so many states in its crosshairs, PTP has put up some astounding voter contact numbers. By November 3rd, their employees and volunteers will have made 55 million calls and sent 500,000 hand-written letters to voters. And considering how confusing voting has gotten — the absentee ballot laws tend to change daily due to court battles — the contact is essential for basically everyone.
“A lot of the folks we talked to are inconsistent Democratic voters, so they may not be following every update on Twitter or following every update in Politico,” Mantell says. “So I think folks appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation to be able to ask questions and to be able to make a plan and understand the rules for voting in their state. We do have a lot of conversations where we're walking folks through what the regulations are, how to vote by mail, and encouraging them to that ballot back in as early as possible.”
Can You Help Us?
Together, we’ve raised nearly $3 million now for progressive candidates and causes, plus over $1.5 million for bail funds and civil rights groups. That’s over $4.5 million raised!
To make this sustainable, I need your help. I don’t get paid by any politician for this work. In fact, it costs me money to do this. To make this sustainable, I’m offering very low-cost premium subscriptions that offer a lot of goodies. If you become a member of Progressives Everywhere, you’ll get:
Nightly election season emails with deep dives into elections and the crucial political stories not getting enough attention. You’ll read the news before anyone else you know.
Exclusive updates from candidates and interviews with other progressive leaders.
A new best friend (me).
It’s just $5 a month and one of the best investments you can make this election season. Why? For your $5, you help:
Raise money for great candidates being ignored by national donors.
Power campaigns across the country.
Finance new projects like AbsenteeBallots.info, which is helping to inform and register voters nationwide, and COVIDSuperSpreaders.com, which is ensuring that people remember who caused this national disaster.
We’ve got one shot at saving this country. Let’s work together to make it happen. I’m excited for you to join our team.
You can also make a one-time donation to Progressives Everywhere’s GoFundMe campaign — doing so will earn you a shout-out in an upcoming edition of the big newsletter!
Important News You Need to Know
California: It hasn’t gotten as much attention, but outside of the presidential election, the most important race this fall may well be a ballot initiative in California. And there’s some troubling news to report about it today.
I dove deep into the issue last month, but briefly: Corporate interests (especially Uber and Lyft) are dropping unprecedented sums of money ($180 million!!) to pass Proposition 22, which would irrevocably strip gig workers of their rights and fair pay.
If passed, the law could be expanded to almost all workers and taken up in other states — if they can get done in dark-blue California, it can happen anywhere.
It’s obviously a regressive initiative, so a majority of the money that Uber and Lyft are pouring into the campaign has gone towards deceiving voters.
Today, the San Francisco Gate published a blockbuster story that revealed that the companies are engaging in the worst kind of dirty astroturf campaigning.
Democratic voters across the state have been receiving voting guides in the mail that urge them to vote yes on Prop 22. While they’re from Lyft and Uber, the companies are not putting their own names on the mail — instead, the guides purport to be from progressive-sounding groups like “Feel the Bern” and “Council of Concerned Women.”
There’s one big problem: Those groups don’t actually exist. Instead, they’re fake fronts for the gig economy companies, who have put a whole lot of money into the effort. Look at this:
Ironically, it has a union-printed slug at the bottom. If Prop 22 passes, unions could be seriously eviscerated. Just gross.
National: Speaking of astroturfing, the constellation of right-wing organizations that powered the Tea Party and Republican politics up until 2018 has gone all-in on Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. This is their ultimate end-game and they are not sparing a cent.
Already, they’ve spent over $157 million on ads, pressure campaigns, and other public lobbying!
Last week alone, Americans for Prosperity, the Kochs’ dark money group, sent over 200,000 letters to senators in support of her confirmation. Who actually wrote them is unclear. I guess people dohave a lot of time on their hands.
Read all the breathtaking numbers over at Sludge, then breathe deep and pray that all the Republicans’ COVID is impossible to hide and they can’t do these hearings.
You’re allowed to scream in the face (from six feet away) of anyone who starts throwing a fit about Democrats and court-packing. We are hearing way too much about theoretical Democratic court-packing when Republicans are actually right now trying to force a cult member who would erase all civil rights onto the Supreme Court.
If anyone’s guilty of packing the court over the last decade, it’s Mitch McConnell.
Texas: In yet another annoying twist, a federal appeals court on Saturday put a stay on another court’s decision to overturn Gov. Greg Abbott’s egregious limitation on drop boxes.
Get all that? Basically, last week Gov. Abbott — under immense pressure from fellow Republicans — limited counties to just one drop box location. He did so under the guise of “election integrity,” though voters already have to show ID just to drop off their ballots.
Beyond being remarkably cynical and unnecessary, the order created massive disenfranchisement. For example, in Harris County (where Houston is located), 87% of voters would have had a drop box within 20 minutes of their homes, but under this order, it falls to just 29%.
On Friday, a federal judge overturned the order, noting that it put a real burden on many people and put them in danger due to COVID-19. Plus, it happened so close to the election, it was bound to confuse voters.
Unfortunately, indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton (who everyone hates and wants to resign) requested a stay on Saturday, which was granted. We should have a better idea of what will happen on Tuesday.
North Carolina: Unlike Texas, North Carolina has made voting by mail very easy. In early September, it became the first state to kick off general election voting. Things are going quite well — North Carolina is already experiencing an influx of votes that surpasses its entire 2016 absentee ballot total.
Of the nearly 1.3 million absentee ballots requested, nearly 500,000 have already been returned, with a 98% acceptance rate.
Thanks to recent court decisions, the other 2% of voters whose ballot had some kind of issue have to be given a chance to fix it by the state.
Democrats dominate the absentee ballot requests (as they do in every other state). And crucially, there has been a huge number of new voters (or voters who didn’t vote in 2016) voting by mail already.
Pennsylvania: A bit of good news here: The Trump campaign’s groundless lawsuit over Pennsylvania’s election laws has been tossed out of court.
In this suit, Republicans tried to get judges to require that counties staff their impenetrable drop boxes 24/7, be permitted to toss ballots that don’t have exact matching signatures, and allow non-certified poll watchers.
Basically, they wanted to intimidate voters, make it harder for them to vote, and then be able to toss out their ballots.
Instead, the judge in the case said that the Trump campaign hadn’t come close to proving that state law would lead to voter fraud:
“They haven’t met that burden. At most, they have pieced together a sequence of uncertain assumptions: (1) they assume potential fraudsters may attempt to commit election fraud through the use of drop boxes or forged ballots, or due to a potential shortage of poll watchers; (2) they assume the numerous election-security measures used by county election officials may not work; and (3) they assume their own security measures may have prevented that fraud.”
This is great news, but we still have no solution for the “naked ballots” problem.
Michigan: Unbowed by the right-wing lunatics in camo and drunk on Breitbart trying to kidnap her, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed a law that will make the state’s election results available a bit sooner.
Until last week, election boards in the state couldn’t touch absentee ballots in any significant way until the polls closed. Now, they can start processing — but not counting — absentee ballots the morning of Election Day, which will make it much easier to count them when the time comes.
Unfortunately, some other states’ GOP legislatures refuse to budge on this, which might keep us from finding out the election results on November 3rd… which Donald Trump hopes to harness in an effort to delegitimize any votes that are counted after Election Day.
National: President Obama has announced the rest of his legislative endorsements this campaign cycle and let’s just say it’s looking pretty good for Progressives Everywhere!
Not only has he endorsed a majority of the candidates we’ve fundraised for in each state, Obama endorsed 10 candidates that we featured with interviews in this newsletter. They include:
Kayser Enneking (FL-HD-21), Jim Bonfiglio (FL-HD-89), Christine Morse (MI-HD-61), Terri LeGrand (NC-HD-31), Brittney Rodas (PA-HD-105), Anton Andrew (PA-HD-160), Sharon Hirsch (TX-HD-66), Joanna Cattanach (TX-HD-108), and Akilah Bacy (TX-HD-138).
Biden has also released endorsements, but just piecemeal, without any single release on Twitter or through his press office. I’m looking into the names, but I know for sure that he’s endorsed both Morse and Bacy.
This endorsement of Morse is probably cooler than any of them:
Speaking of our candidates, here’s a really good interview with Jessica Harrington, the teacher running in a tight race in Florida.
Wait, before you go!
Figured I’d give it one more shot: Please subscribe and join the team!
You can also make a one-time donation to Progressives Everywhere’s GoFundMe campaign — doing so will earn you a shout-out in an upcoming edition of the big newsletter!