Login HereI found this video on Jim Gilliam's blog this morning and I knew you all would get a kick out of it. The folks at Do More Than Vote have put together some fantastic stuff for everyone in terms of resources for action that you can take -- right now -- to help progressive candidates win in the upcoming election.
There are just 15 days until the election. FIFTEEN!
You say to yourself, what can I possibly do to help in 15 short days? The answer is: plenty.
-- When was the last time you wrote a letter to the editor to your local paper? Now would be a good time. Potential topics: the importance of voting; accountability; rubber stamp Republicans; corruption; the mess in Iraq, Afghanistan, and lots of other places. General dissatisfaction with the direction of the nation and the need for better checks and balances in government. Just sit down and write a letter and send it in -- lots of folks read those in the little local papers all over the nation, and your letter could get someone off their butt and out to vote.
-- Are you canvassing for a local candidate? If so, the AFL-CIO has put together some great voter information sheets for their membership, and they are very useful for non-union folks who live in working districts as well. (Which is pretty much everywhere, frankly.)
-- Moveon.org is still running their Get Out the Vote phone bank. You can make calls from anywhere -- and help get people to the polls.
-- Make a deal with friends, family or co-workers -- go together to the polls to vote. If everyone who reads a blog took a couple of people with them to vote...just imagine the power of numbers across the blogosphere. Offer to give rides to folks at work to the polls, or to folks in your neighborhood. Or volunteer to provide rides to the polls through your local Democratic organization. Getting people up off the couch and to the polls is a big part of the battle, so anything you can do to help with this is great.
Do More Than Vote has even more ideas. Something there will work for you -- just take a few minutes to look and see how you can do more.
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Ned
Jane
Redd
Fitz
!!!!!!
take the Senate too!!!
Get out the vote…NOW!!
Party like it’s 2006!
Great video Christy! Thanks for putting up. It almost seems strange that election day is about here. It seems like this has been going on forever. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel and for Republicans it will be a freight train!
Yeah, the team who put this video together really edited it down and sharpened it nicely. Love the Belushi clip.
If anyone else has some suggestions or links or ideas on how to do more to get out the vote, I am all ears this morning. We cannot sit by and hope someone else is doing the work for us. Our readers have been fantastic about doing the work — but in some areas,. it can be really tough to find any organization to work with to be involved. Really red states have very dispirited and not-so-active Democratic organizations sometimes…so I’ve been trying to find ways for even folks stuck in the middle of the reddest of states to be able to do. :)
Pach at 6 — I thought the edit was quite good — and they updated the last bit of information for October. Really well done in the final version. (And the Belushi snippets were a huge added bonus, as was the short Marx Brothers clip…)
AZ Matt at 5 — I certainly hope so. It is past time for some accountability.
Tommy at 4 — it’s so good to see you. How are you guys doing? How is Esten feeling these days? Have been thinking about you often, and sending some good thoughts your way. Hugs to you and yours.
Kevin Tillman’s comments from Truthdig have been found by the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00937.html
btw, I tried to find some information on African-American voter outreach efforts nationwide and latino voter initiatives by the Democratic party and other groups — but I didn’t turn up much. I also looked for some information on various Asian group reach-outs, and came up completely emptyhanded. Which worries me, because these are all constitutencies we should be trying to grow, not take for granted. Hoping that perhaps this is being done more on a community level than some sort of overarching national plan — but we need to pull in more involvement, not less. Am wondering if I’ve missed a few things and if anyone knows of good links to groups who are doing great work on this? I’d appreciate thoughts and resources on this if anyone has them. Thanks in advance, gang!
Last night I went to the special caucus in my state district. We needed to get behind one write in candidate to replace the great rep that we had who died suddenly a week and a half ago. Imperfect as the process was, we did it. Each candidate had to fill in a questionnaire and then there was a forum where they were asked more questions, made their statements and we voted. It took 3 ballots to get to 50% 1 and declare a winner. All of the others pledged to get behind her. Now the other work begins . . . getting the word out and organizing the sticker campaign. Good small “d” democratic process. More here.
My guess is that the repigs made a few phone calls and just picked their guy who has been a gnat in our face for a while.
Whoever gets the most write in votes wins.
I hope the candidate chosen can live up to the expectations of those who loved the rep we lost. It will be hard for her to do.
Some politics really is local.
RevDeb at 13 — that’s a lot of work, to organize a write-in like that — but it sounds like you guys did a great job with it. Kudos. And yeah, the closer we get to the wire on this election, the more I am reminded that this all comes down to local work…and local sentiments…in the end. Which makes me push getting out our vote even harder — every bit of work we do puts us that much closer to a victory in a few days. And man does this nation need one.
Christy Hardin Smith @
10
He’s home, and bossing me around. A great sign! All blood/marrow lab results are great.
Tommorrow we both get a buzz cut.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 7
The more the up-ticket races are dominated by the Republicans, the more the local, down-ticket Dems need support. Get behind your city council candidates, progressive school board members (”Science is good!” makes a good slogan), state representative candidates, etc. They aren’t going to get coat-tails and help from the folks up the ticket, and it’s possible the down-ticket republicans will be taking their races a bit for granted.
But that line “the reddest of states” caught my eye . . . Aren’t most of the folks at FDL citizens (resident or otherwise) in the state of Redd?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 13
I can’t tell you how torn I am about staying home to do this or go to CT for Ned. It is coming down to the wire both for the races and for my decision making.
Christy @ 9 - Accountiblity is something most Americans can understand if not always agree with. Society teaches most of us that we have responsibilities to others and if we do something wrong we should apologize for it. Bush seems to think that it does not apply to him. Garry Trudeau was profiled in the WaPo yesterday had this comment about Bush:
Morning! Howard Stern was talking about the Kevin Tillman piece this morning.
Twisted at 19 — oh, that IS good news. I’m not a Stern fan (it’s just not my style of humor, frankly, but Mr. ReddHedd gets a kick out of some of his bits and I have several good friends who LUV Stern…), but he has a huge audience. Just getting people talking about the issues that Kevin Tillman wrote about is a huge step toward some personal questions on governmental accountability.
Unlurking from Western NC…
Went to the county Democratic HQ yesterday afternoon to make GOTV calls for Heath Shuler. My first real political involvement since 1964. The guy I was working with was my neighbor (we discovered) also in his 60’s, first time for him too. I talked to another 60’s neighbor this weekend. For the first time in her life she voted straight Democrat (early voting started last week.)
Thanks for inspiring me to get off my ass folks. Were going to win this one!!!
Stern’s humor is definitely not for everybody. But he has been down on the war for awhile now, and he even had a guy who is back from Iraq sit in the studio and talk about what a fucked up mess it is.
That Kevin Tillman breaks his silence now and speaks out against the lies is a major act of courage. But courage seems to run in that family.
Good Morning Firedogs -
my least favorite workday - no toobz, no bobblehead tv
along with all the suggestions linked above - we must talk to everyone we meet about voting
early voting - avail. in your state ? make sure you know days and times - eg, “Did you know you can vote on Saturday/Sunday ?, here’s where”
same with Absentee Ballots, ADA accomodations, etc.
and I never let parents/care givers off the hook, motioning towards the kids, - “You have to vote, because they can’t!”
Have An FDL Day !
Go Dogs Go !!
ew at 21 — that is such a great story! Thanks so much for doing the work on the ground — it really makes a huge difference for campaigns to have someone making calls like this or doing on-the-ground canvassing. And I hear Shuler is doing really well — can you give a little update, maybe, on the sentiment you were getting from most of the calls? Upbeat for Shuler or no?
I just read via Raw Story an ABC article on electronic voting and hackability. It was dated yesterday. Did it get much play? Early voting starts today in Texas. I have always felt better about voting early than on e-day and so have done it since it became available. I just stopped by to catch up - gotta take my mother into Austin this morning, so I will see how a dyed-in-the-wool former New England Republican is seeing things nowadays.
PLEASE do one more thing.
drop an email to:
commissionerToner@fec.gov
Tell him we need an immediate investigation into Joe Lieberman’s FEC report and the almost $400,000 of Petty Cash he listed.
A show of public outrage may get him to do this prior to 11-7th.
Gnome at 25 — I always vote early, too. Early voting here is still paper ballots and I prefer that, thank you very much.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 24
Suday afternoon we were calling only urban Asheville folks. Heath takes Sundays off and we didn’t want to risk offending our Baptist brethern. From the small sample I talked to there was lots of enthusiasm for a change.
I have to leave soon for a ministers’ retreat for 2 days. That’s 2 days that I could spend doing GOTV work. I need to talk with them about the timing of this annual retreat!
I will probably also not have any web access!!! REALLY bad timing to be out of touch!
Since Jane was kind enough to highlight my comment in the post about Iraq for Sale yesterday(holding screenings in libraries if they have facilities to do so),I thought I’d share another thing I’ve done to at least plant some seeds.
I took the Freeway Blogger idea and shrunk it down. I have made bookmarks,index and business cards with simple messages on them and I leave them lying around. I’ve stuck interesting thoughts into conservative books at the library and bookstores,left them in public bathrooms,with tips at restaurants,at my son’s school,the grocery store,etc. I usually put the URL for a good link,like Media Matters,a relevant news article to go with the message,or the link for my state’s printable voter registration form or the link to voter info sites,or I recommend another book or resource,depending. It’s amazing what you can create with a computer,some paper and a printer these days,lol. It’s not expensive either. I buy card stock when I see it on clearance or super cheap which saves me even more money. I don’t know if it has an effect or not,but ya never know. I also keep some blanks and a good pen(not a fine point,you want bolder lines for this) in my purse,for more spontaneous ideas in certain places or situations. I’ve done a few small brochures too,but haven’t had the time to create any new ones lately. I need to do one on war profiteering to go with screenings of Iraq for Sale,should I find a venue. I try to keep the message non partisan,but still make it clear at who’s feet the lies,corruption and atrocities lie.
It ain’t much,but it’s something. I live in a VERY conservative,white,megachurch red state suburban area,being blatantly liberal here puts a target on you and your family(some folks jokingly call this area Colorado Springs Jr,which is pretty apt).You see more than a few confederate flags here,there’s an active white supremicist who’s a buddy to our mayor. I have a son in special education who is more vulnerable than most kids his age,so I have to operate under the radar. There just is no circle of people who share my values and beliefs here,so I don’t have safety in numbers working for me.
I think Iraq for Sale might be a chance for me to reach out to some people here because war profiteering is getting our troops hurt and killed. The yellow ribbon crowd can relate to it,it’s not a”liberal cause”,it’s an American cause.
I’m going to go talk to the head librarian after I pick up my son from school this afternoon,and I’ve already ordered my copy of Iraq for Sale. Wish me luck.
Hmm,perhaps I’ll see about contacting local veterans groups too,some of them might have a place to host the movie. I’m hoping to have at least a few screenings before the election,to at least get people to really look at who they vote for and to ask themselves if that person would allow such a thing to happen or is involved in any way with war profiteering.
86 American soldiers dead this month. 2799 dead since the war started. If this doesn’t make America emotionally and politically blue, God help us.
http://icasualties.org/oif/
ew at 28 — that is excellent news. Was hoping you were getting a lot of positive feedback. The last evening I was able to make calls here, I had a 94 year old woman give me an earful about how this bunch of Republicans was the most corrupt bunch of politicians she had ever seen, and she wanted me to know she’d seen a lot of them in her lifetime. LOL
RevDeb @ 29
But it will be good for you too, a time to recharge your batteries. The next two weeks will be intense but you will be ready.
Angry @ 30
If you have any Unitarian Universalist churches in the area they would probably be willing if not wanting to show it. We did at my church and got a bunch of townies who don’t come to the church attend the film!
I’m taking my copy to the ministers’ retreat for those who have not seen it.
AZ Matt @ 33
I wish that were true, but often the content of the gatherings is more counter productive than not. We shall see. In any case, I owe it to my colleagues to be there.
Meanwhile, I’m giving a workshop on Blogging on Sat at the District Fall Meeting. Trying to get more people involved!
Angry Old Broad at 30 — that is such a clever idea! Thanks so much for sharing it. And the library idea for the movie is a good one.
Early voting is not available in all areas, so I would suggest that ABC article on how easily Diebold can be hacked be sent to your SOS in every single state, with a message that they better make sure this does not happen in your state !
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/.....amp;page=1
cbl @ 23
You are so right. I talk about it every chance I get. Saturday, on the flight home (got stuck overnight) I was talking to a single woman in her twenties about how busy I was but was going to take the time to stop by and early vote on my way home from the airport because I am going to be out of town on election day. She was amazed I would take the time. Since I had her undivided attention *g*, I gently explained to her why it is so important, especially for women to let their voices be heard. Every little bit helps.
Heard the story about Joe’s expenses on NYC news radio this morning.
Hope it has legs.
Well, now here is an absolutely fabulous idea! ;-)
http://www.floridatoday.com/ap.....S/61023007
“The Florida Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Democratic Caucus will host a debate watch party featuring a Katherine Harris look-alike contest in Broward County. The contest is set for 9 p.m., right after the debate, and is open to both men and women.
The $10-per-person event is scheduled at Rosie’s, formerly Hamburger Mary’s, in Wilton Manors. Proceeds go to the Democratic Vote Center in Fort Lauderdale.”
Do more? The possibilities are endless.
While canvassing in an unfamiliar part of town this weekend, I noticed more yard signs about yes or no to a proposed mall nearby than for political candidates. My suggestion is to “do more” with what you are ALREADY doing by making the focus of your message something that appeals to an emotional hot button that affects people’s every day lives. You know what that is in your town - that’s what can sway votes. What engages my “prospects” beyond that “I wish you’d get off my porch quicker” politeness:
(YMMV, that particular example may not be true for your candidate.)
UptownNYChick at 39 — Excellent! If it has hit news radio in NYC, then there will be further questions today. I cannot understand what in the hell they were thinking — the IRS and the FEC require meticulous records on that sort of thing so that you do not have violations of labor law requirements, and so that you don’t duck out of responsibilities for SS and disability and workers’ comp and all the other payments you are supposed to make for employees — and so you aren’t paying people “under the table.” You’d think that, for an election cmaping to the US Senate, they would have been familiar with all those requirements, for hell’s sakes. That’s just sloppy, financial irresponsibility — and it speaks to a piss poor sense of ethics at the Lieberman campaign that they thought they could do this and no one would notice. Criminy!
mc at 40 — OMG! I am laughing SO hard! That should have come with a spew alert… hehehehehehehehehehehehehe
Christy Hardin Smith @ 43
Oops, my bad!
The UU church is on my list Rev Deb,thank you.(a retreat?ahh,I could use one of those myself)
So far I’ve got the library,vet’s groups,independant living condo places for seniors,the UU church(which is small,but I think they have a big rec room in their basement),and the little college on the outskirts of town as places to approach for screenings. Any other ideas are welcome.
A teeny other obstacle exists here,Lockheed Martin has a plant in a close neighboring town that employs alot of people,as well as having a nice little PR deal in our schools.
And now I’m off to look up phone numbers and call people. I will get this movie seen,damnit.
OT:
‘A horse’s ass stays the course, of course, of course
And no one can talk them out of that course
That is, of course, unless the horse’s ass is the famous Junior Bush‘
;>)
op99 at 41 — how are things going with the Massa canvassing? Still good momentum going into the next 15 days, do you think? You guys still getting a good reception for the most part — and quite a bit of enthusiasm?
mc @ 40,that’s hysterical! What a clever idea. I love it.
(and now I really do have to step away from the keyboard and make those calls…)
mc at 44 — no need to be sorry — I was just picturing someone coming in the t-shirt and jeans western atire, astride a My Little Pony hobby horse. HAHAHAHAHA
Angry Old Broad at 45 — a Vets Group screening is a really good idea. I think I’ll try to set something up with our local vets group pre-election as well. To the phone…
Holy crap! It’s snowing outside!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 42
I hope so, but I think something new needs to come out today. The NYC media will be focused on the fact that Hillary’s opponent called her ugly.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 51
Proof positive that global warming is a myth!
[/snark]
:-)
NV-03: GOP Rep. Porter No Longer Sure Thing?
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.....ompetitive
Tessa is running some GREAT hard hitting ads! I think we might take this one ; )
Christy Hardin Smith @ 51
Clinton…. Well, you know
;>)
Christy Hardin Smith @ 51
Perfect college football weather….
Tommy @ 4 & 5 - that is such wonderful news!
ok - that was supposed to be 15 *g*
Raw Story headline:
Lamont to file FEC complaint on Lieberman ’slush fund:’ Soon…
New post from Charlie Grapski at HEP
How do we ensure the integrity of absentee/early voting?
But on a seroius note…my sister, who with her female partner of 15 years, lives in Ft. Lauderdale was visiting me in NoVa this weekend and had no idea who Katherine Harris (or Bill Nelson), were.
I guess I never realized how non-political she was until now. Some gentle brotherly pushing and prodding into the Florida political scene is in order.
Here’s a good idea from over at Kos — try Hot Calling 20-25 of your friends to remind them to vote! Not everyone is comfortable with cold calling voters, but we can all HOT call our friends! Even if they live in different states.
shoephone @ 56
Did you see the Texas-Nebraska game? Snowing like crazy, strong wind!
Sissy @ 62
I am texting everyone in my cell the night before and the day of.
Ahem
that’s “serious”
“Edit this comment” never seems to work for me.
UptownNYChick (52), it’s all in the eyes of the beholder. When I saw Spencer on TV, I thought, “This is one ugly dude.” If there’s a Mrs. John Spencer, she probably doesn’t agree with me.
Christy Hardin Smith @
51
Yeah. We had a few flakes earlier, but now it’s just cold rather than actually snowing. Poor Demetrius just headed out to try to diagnose and repair a brake problem that started suddenly on Saturday. He’s really wishing he’d done this Saturday, when the weather was actually nice.
slightly OT:
I was listening to two guys in the seats behind me discussing CA state candidates. One of them said he’s going to vote for Tom McClintock (GOP, ran for governor with his big point being that he ‘hadn’t voted for a budget since Deukmejian was Governor’) because the Democratic candidate (John Garamendi) is pro-environment and thus a wacko and ‘we have enough wackos’. I’d been trying to decide if that particular rider was a dork, a dweeb, or a prick, and he’s now classified as the last.
How do you get through to people who think like that? (I’ll admit, this guy is pretty hopeless: he told everyone within earshot about taking a Mensa exam: having decided they allowed too much time, he cut the time allowed in half, couldn’t answer all of the questions, and then complained to them when his score came back too low to get in.)
While you are at it watch the 12 minute trailer to “Sir No Sir”.
http://www.sirnosir.com/home_filmtrailers.html
Sally @ 66
Well, I agree with you, but MR. Spencer said it to a reporter — and insinuated she had plastic surgery.
Ironically, it will probably make her more sympathetic to female voters.
We have more than a “few flakes” in Georgia and it’s sunny outside!
Renee in Ohio @ 67
NYT has the Tillman story in its AP & Reuters section now with a link to Truthdig.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 47
Christy, it’s very hard for me to judge off my little sample, which right now is possibly a state secret, but it’s NOT Dems who vote. Most people do not reveal their leanings. (Neither do they pull a gun on me, so I guess that’s good.) Latest independent poll shows Eric leading 52 to 40, and the mood at campaign HQ is ebullient. Nobody is taking anything for granted, though. We are working harder than ever.
Cozumel @ 54
what about Carter?
fahrender @ 74
I’m not familiar with that one. I saw some local ads in Las Vegas last week and Tessa is the bomb ; )
op99 @ 73
There is a fundraiser for him here tonight with Nancy Pelosi. I am sitting with grandmother today (pneumonia) or I would go. It’s reasonable - $100 minimum donation.
Christy Hardin Smith @
51
The National Weather Service has posted a freeze warning for upstate South Carolina, some counties in western North Carolina, and three counties in Georgia on the Georgia-South Carolina border. For more details, please click on the map that will appear when you click on this link: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/gsp/
fahrender @ 74
TPM Cafe Election Central has a neat feature where you can get all the poll results for a specific race, e.g., NV-SEN.
UptownNYChick @ 76
Too bad you’ll miss him - he gives a rousing speech - he’s quite a leader. Out of the limelight, he surprised me with what an egghead he is. Quite a history buff - he has done a “stump the expert” schtick on local radio call-in shows.
Updating my 7:58 am comment:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._1023.html
op99 @ 79
I heard him speak back in May. I just stumbled onto him, actually. I was speaking at Fordham U and he was speaking in the same building. I caught most of his talk and was vry impressed. Got to meet him after and have been sending small donations when I can.
New thread, gang.
What blows me away is the stark contrast between Joey’s and Ned campaign re: petty cash. Ned used $500, Joey used $387K Are you kidding me? ANSWER THE QUESTION JOEY!
Any more ideas to help Blue America candidates?
We are soooooo close here in CA-11. If anyone wants to help GOTV for Jerry McNerney, you can sign up to phone bank from ANYWHERE in the country. Here is the link:
Phone Home For McNerney
Please consider helping us defeat Richard Pombo, one of the most corrupt members of congress. At this point, McNerney and Pombo are in a dead heat and GOTV will make the difference.
Thanks!
tommy yum @ 15
In order to look like Jon Tester?
Thanks SJValleyGal, I’ve been meaning to sign up and you just made it easy for me to do so. I’m in!
sjvalleygal @ 84
Thanks for posting this video. I’m part of the DMTV team — and through this project, we met Chris Thomas and the folks from Hammering The Issues (http://www.hammeringtheissues.org) who produced the short.
It was one of those great encounters where there was no ego, no competition, just a couple projects that realized they should be linked up — and thus we’re hosting the video and more info on how to support the work of independent filmmakers on our site: http://www.domorethanvote.org/video
Progressive politics is not a zero sum game. The more we collaborate, the more we all win.
Thanks for posting the video and thanks everyone for the positive comments. What we love about Do More Than Vote is that it’s a clearinghouse for local activity performed by lots of different groups. Let’s not look back as we all sprint to the finish line!