"This 1st day of early voting is a blowout. As of noon, we are at 122,049 voters so far today. The record 1st day was 2020, with 136,000 votes cast. We will be blowing past the previous First Day record."
"Ok 2:30, we have 204,793 votes cast. Still just blow out numbers and great work with counties checking in Georgians at 55 seconds a voter."
– Gabriel Sterling, COO for Georgia Secretary of State
This I do not know, but as soon as Georgia reports it, Michael McDonald will have the county numbers, as well as gender split, voting by age group, and vote counts by ethnicity. (NB Less than 13,000 votes had been received before Early In-Person voting opened in Georgia this morning.)
Georgia does not report party registration. However, I am very much looking forward to Tom Bonier’s "Modeled Party" analysis of this massive first day of the state’s Early Vote for The Buzzard State (Peach State, if you prefer).
Georgia is my home state-- grew up there. Always loved it (still do), but it went up a notch when GA went Biden-Harris in 2020, Ossoff and Warnock in 2020, and Warnock in 2022. Who knows what will happen this year (I think GA is a stretch), but if it goes Harris-Walz, I may fly the GA state flag outside my house.
When I checked this morning, it was the 4th politics item and the headline was a doozy, “Trump bobbed his head to music for 30 minutes after medical incidents interrupted a town hall.”
Corporate media is being pretty shortsighted with this election. Surprised how much they carry water for a man who wants to be a strongman dictator.
I was happily surprised at how little “sanewashing” they did in that article.
This was my favorite little piece of snark when Trump played YMCA: “The crowd cheered and danced to the Village People song from the 1970s, which celebrates gay cruising culture.”
Yes, WaPo let Trump do his thing, and didn't need to say much of anything, because it speaks for itself. The man is over the edge, and it keeps gettting worse. Even fox is not bothering to hide the truth.
But the journalistic side of WaPo has taken on the role of opposition to the editorial (and opinion) side. They even set up a unit whose job is to cover WaPo's coverage and non-coverage (including bias and failures) and publish it. I am still a subscriber, for two reasons: Jennifer Rubin on the opinion page, whose pieces are also good reporting, and because the reporting side are standing up for truth- on their own. There has been some very good coverage in recent weeks.
I follow Jamelle Bouie on socials and his takes are far better than what gets printed in his paper, NYT (he repeatedly reminds people that he doesn’t live in NY and has zero influence over the news division editorial decisions, but reading between the lines he agrees with us about their coverage). Most of the reporters I really liked at those two papers I now seek out through their newsletters, substack, or socials (Jennifer Rubin, Greg Sargent, Jamelle Bouie among others).
Just watched that ! Very inspiring. If anything, based on what that woman said, it sounds like there's possibly a "Shy Harris" vote out there ? Either way an inspiring clip!
A while back I heard Rick Wilson say Harris would win PA because of pissed off women in Bucks County. He did say there are a lot of trump bros in PA too.
Yes, yes we are. More motivated, that is. Somehow, bleeding to death or dying of sepsis doesn't make anybody's most wanted list. Who knew? (she types with deliberate snark!)
Seriously, I appreciate the support. I want every woman in the U.S. to be as safe medically as I am here in my blue corner of Minnesota. Let's do this!
I follow a doctor, Dr. Zeke, who has been doorknocking across PA for months now for Biden and then Harris. He films himself talking to voters and gives a recap after each canvass. He’s really encouraged by the conversations he’s having with voters there, and often has at least one person willing to go on camera to explain why they used to vote Republican but are now voting for Harris. It’s inspiring stuff!
I've had phone conversations with Trump voters in PA. There are people who probably will vote for him, or might vote for him, or will vote GOP down ballot but third party in the presidential, who think Trump is crazy and understand why there is concern.
They get it, and a lot of those voters won't support him. I think we can get a significant number to vote for Harris. Some of them are trying to get there.
The unease that a lot of Republicans have with Trump is an encouraging sign.
Doubled the number of votes this election from my Bucks county home as both my kids are of voting age now. All mailed in already. Hopefully I'm not the only one!
Thanks for sharing that. I reposted. Love the fact that it is a simple, straightforward story, no gimmicks or fanfare. This woman just opened up a window on a world I knew existed, but she really illuminated it. I am even more optimistic now.
Yay! While I LOVE Oregon’s vote by mail system, I do miss the thrill of going to the polls and voting, surrounded by other citizens excited to do the same. It’s not the same to drop off a ballot in a box.
I have always carried my mail-in ballot to the polling place on election day. I love the feeling of walking in and making my voice heard. They mail the "I voted" stickers with the ballots now. But I like to be given a sticker when I hand in my ballot.
I'm in Vermont. Our ballots are sent out from the town offices and are tracked by the Secretary of State using a code on the outer envelope. I got mine on Oct 3, filled it out, put it in the security envelopes, and walked 3 blocks to our town office to drop it in the secure ballot box. When I checked the Secretary of State's website next morning, it was already marked returned, Now, sans the return envelope, it will be placed in the vault with other returned ballots until counting day.
In my town early ballots will be counted but numbers not released until after all other ballots are returned, including any overseas ballots. I don't know if I was the first to drop my ballot, but I was last time (I dropped by the office to see when the ballots were going out, and the clerk reached into a bin and pulled it out and handed it to me. I filled it out at a little table in the corner and handed it back (in the inner envelopes).
I agree, Pete. Thank you very much to our host, Simon. I just discovered the site. It's such a relief and a joy to find a group of people like all of you. It too often seems like our country has become unrecognizable. All the hate, and cruelty, and intolerance makes me want to weep. Hopium is an oasis of decency, respect for others, sanity, and true patriotism. I feel recharged and hopeful when I read Simon's posts and your comments. Thank you.
Trump's performance last night was scary. Music is often used for Alzheimer's and dementia patients to help calm them - the music taps into a different part of the brain, something they can still remember. His anger, and inability to answer questions appropriately, reminds me of my dad, near the end of his life. He was angry, all the time. Anything could set him off. Trump is similar - he can't even make a halfway decent answer to a normal question - he'll be off about sharks, or windmills, or Hannibal Lector, or immigrants or whatever still lives in his rapidly shrinking brain. His vocabulary is gone. But put on his favorite tunes and he calms down. Didn't they used to play show tunes for him in the latter days at the White House? He has lost it.
He's regressed into a 79 year old fussy, colicky baby that has to packed into a car seat late at night and driven around until he's soothed and falls asleep. It's really pathetic that 46% of the electorate is fine with this behavior. That's why we keep doing the work.
Oh, please this brings back my two sons ( who were 20 years apart) I had to put them in the car, drive around till they fell asleep. They both would wake up as soon as I stopped the car!
I keep hoping that after every election, I won't have to listen to this crybaby any longer!!!
My Mom died of AZ. As did my Aunt. Music soothes those afflicted and Trump is well on his way. He has dementia, period. Short term memory goes first then long term memory. Music soothes the old infant brain, bypassing all those shrinking dying parts of the brain. This is medical truth. That's what we saw. This should be the end for him. Bizarre it won't be.
Apparently there were 2 incidents that had just happened that required medics. So he cut to the music. That being said, it still seems pretty strange overall.
Janet, that is not what happened. That is what Republicans today said what happened. There were two incidents. And then he went back to questions. Then he stopped the questions. Then he played music and just swayed there for over 30 minutes. It was as bat shit crazy as everyone says. There was an enormous effort on social media today by Trump allied sources to claim that somehow it was related to the two medical incidents. It wasn't. He just ran out of gas and went to his crazy place.
Yes…. I tweeted that multiple times today pushing back against sane-washing. Also, it leaves out that he handled the two medical incidents by making inappropriate jokes about losing weight, asking if anyone else wanted to faint, and making it all about him. We’ve had multiple incidents requiring medics at both Harris & Walz rallies, and being the professional candidates (and normal good humans) that they are, they always paused briefly and called attention to the area requiring help, used their amplified voice and stature as leaders to instruct the audience to clear a path for the EMTs to get through, and the AFTER all was well and confirmed by the medical personnel, they let the crowd know that things were okay, thanked them for looking out for one another and being good neighbors, and then fucking continued the task at hand. Nothing was preventing Trump from doing that other than his own lack of empathy or giving a shit, and of course he used those people’s misfortune to cover for his “Madness of King Don” moment.
Oh Simon, thank you for clarifying that! I appreciate your taking the time to comment. Yikes - can’t believe I fell for their sanewashing. His behavior is definitely off the rails.
I've donated directly on Act Blue Express Recurring for months. I hate to tell you this, but I've gotten postcard address lists for many of your House candidates from postcardstovoters.org. I've written the postcards for Tony Vargas, Amish Shah, Laura Gillen, and Will Rollins from his system. I want to write postcards for Christina Bohannan Iowa-1 and hope I can get many addresses today but the system is not letting me get the addresses. I have postcard parties with my friends 4 days a week when their husbands are either watching football, or in one instance phone banking and canvassing. Other information: Last night VP Harris had a rally in Erie PA. At the end of her usual stump speech she changed subjects to speak forcefully for 10 minutes on national security. I feel she must give a really strong national defense/security speech ASAP with Retired General Stanley McChrystal and others who have endorsed her. I do not know what the venue should be. I conveyed my thought to Adam Kinzinger from his Instagram page this morning. He's out campaigning for VP Harris now. He has his own plane. He will see my message.
Today he is going to further demonstrate his rapid decline into dementia at the Chicago Economics Club! He had to be escorted out when he was asked questions a few months ago at the National Association of Black Journalists convention here in Chicago. I'm hoping the same will happen today.
Something broke over me yesterday—a righteous anger that feels like hope. A "they can't and so they won't" feeling. This is ours now. In addition to everything else I'm doing, I've been spending this morning writing to my former students, some of whom are sitting the election out because of Gaza. I am sending them this link, from the Uncommitted movement. I am saying, watch this, share this, vote. Do not dare sit this one out. For those young voters, this video does, I think, make a difference. I share it in case you have undecided young voters in your life: https://x.com/uncommittedmvmt/status/1843642889823498488
I've been participating in GOTV phone banks, and one message I've found resonates with those who are wavering on whether or not to vote is this:
Each person has a limited number of opportunities to vote in their lifetime. If you vote in your first Presidential election when you're 18 and live to be 80, that's only 15 times you'll have the chance to cast a vote for President. If you miss one of those opportunities, it's gone forever. Republicans would be very happy if you passed on all 15, and they are trying every trick they can think of to put up road blocks and barriers between you and the voting booth. Are you going give in to Republicans trying to stop you from voting, or are you going to take advantage of every one of those opportunities to vote?
That's awesome! In my Vote Forward letters, I tell potential voters how I vote to honor my grandfather, who enlisted as a teen in the Navy to fight fascism and imperialism in WWII. It's one of many reasons that I vote, but I highlight this reason because I think it shows that defending democracy is an ongoing exercise, and voting is me doing my part.
I think the kids are ALRIGHT!!! Good work sir!
Recced for The Who reference! (But not just that, of course)
500 post cards to Georgia this morning, LFG!!!
GEORGIA ON MY MIND...
"This 1st day of early voting is a blowout. As of noon, we are at 122,049 voters so far today. The record 1st day was 2020, with 136,000 votes cast. We will be blowing past the previous First Day record."
"Ok 2:30, we have 204,793 votes cast. Still just blow out numbers and great work with counties checking in Georgians at 55 seconds a voter."
– Gabriel Sterling, COO for Georgia Secretary of State
https://nitter.poast.org/gabrielsterling
"As of 4pm we have crossed the quarter million mark with 251,899 votes cast."
– Gabriel Sterling
When will we have county or better yet the partisanship of votes cast today?
This I do not know, but as soon as Georgia reports it, Michael McDonald will have the county numbers, as well as gender split, voting by age group, and vote counts by ethnicity. (NB Less than 13,000 votes had been received before Early In-Person voting opened in Georgia this morning.)
https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2024-early-voting/2024-general-election-early-vote-georgia/
Georgia does not report party registration. However, I am very much looking forward to Tom Bonier’s "Modeled Party" analysis of this massive first day of the state’s Early Vote for The Buzzard State (Peach State, if you prefer).
https://targetearly.targetsmart.com/g2024?calc_type=voteShare&count_prefix=current_eav_voted_count_&demo_filters=%5B%7B%22key%22%3A%22modeledParty%22%2C%22value%22%3A%22All%22%7D%5D&state=GA&view_type=state
Just saw this on MSNBC. Awesome.
Great it's made the news! Just catching up right now. 💙💙💙
Wow! 🔥
Georgia is my home state-- grew up there. Always loved it (still do), but it went up a notch when GA went Biden-Harris in 2020, Ossoff and Warnock in 2020, and Warnock in 2022. Who knows what will happen this year (I think GA is a stretch), but if it goes Harris-Walz, I may fly the GA state flag outside my house.
I have Georgia on my mind.
UPDATE GEORGIA:
"Over 300,000 votes cast today! That’s 123% higher than the old record for the 1st day."
– Gabriel Sterling
Why wasn’t this the headline in the NY Times and/or Washington Post? They’re turning into rags.
When I checked this morning, it was the 4th politics item and the headline was a doozy, “Trump bobbed his head to music for 30 minutes after medical incidents interrupted a town hall.”
Corporate media is being pretty shortsighted with this election. Surprised how much they carry water for a man who wants to be a strongman dictator.
Exactly! Imagine if Biden or Harris had done that. I don't understand the utter and complete collapse of NYT and WaPo. It's outrageous.
WaPo’s headline was better – and quality-assured by a stopwatch:
. "Trump sways and bops to music for 39 minutes in bizarre town hall episode"
Pretty devastating, detailed description. Enjoy!
https://wapo.st/4dK01kt
I was happily surprised at how little “sanewashing” they did in that article.
This was my favorite little piece of snark when Trump played YMCA: “The crowd cheered and danced to the Village People song from the 1970s, which celebrates gay cruising culture.”
and this too: "How big a political problem is mental acuity for Trump?"
https://wapo.st/4f8nRaR
Nice find!
Yes, WaPo let Trump do his thing, and didn't need to say much of anything, because it speaks for itself. The man is over the edge, and it keeps gettting worse. Even fox is not bothering to hide the truth.
I get all my news on Substack. Don't bother with them. They're shallow and owned by billionaires. (Bezos in the case of WaPo.)
But the journalistic side of WaPo has taken on the role of opposition to the editorial (and opinion) side. They even set up a unit whose job is to cover WaPo's coverage and non-coverage (including bias and failures) and publish it. I am still a subscriber, for two reasons: Jennifer Rubin on the opinion page, whose pieces are also good reporting, and because the reporting side are standing up for truth- on their own. There has been some very good coverage in recent weeks.
Sane-washing. Absolutely pathetic coverage by corporate media.
turned and decades ago...
I follow Jamelle Bouie on socials and his takes are far better than what gets printed in his paper, NYT (he repeatedly reminds people that he doesn’t live in NY and has zero influence over the news division editorial decisions, but reading between the lines he agrees with us about their coverage). Most of the reporters I really liked at those two papers I now seek out through their newsletters, substack, or socials (Jennifer Rubin, Greg Sargent, Jamelle Bouie among others).
A nice report from Buck County, PA
"On The Ground in Bucks County Pennsylvania Tells A Story Different From The Polls"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsS9W4_ykuY
Just watched that ! Very inspiring. If anything, based on what that woman said, it sounds like there's possibly a "Shy Harris" vote out there ? Either way an inspiring clip!
A while back I heard Rick Wilson say Harris would win PA because of pissed off women in Bucks County. He did say there are a lot of trump bros in PA too.
Somehow I think the women might be SLIGHTLY (sarcasm) MORE MOTIVATED!
Yes, yes we are. More motivated, that is. Somehow, bleeding to death or dying of sepsis doesn't make anybody's most wanted list. Who knew? (she types with deliberate snark!)
Seriously, I appreciate the support. I want every woman in the U.S. to be as safe medically as I am here in my blue corner of Minnesota. Let's do this!
It should be important and motivating to everyone.
Thanks for sharing. I feel inspired!
Very encouraging. Thanks for sharing!
I just listened to this, it was inspiring and so hopeful! Thank you so much for posting it!
Professor Arlene! She’s good.
I follow a doctor, Dr. Zeke, who has been doorknocking across PA for months now for Biden and then Harris. He films himself talking to voters and gives a recap after each canvass. He’s really encouraged by the conversations he’s having with voters there, and often has at least one person willing to go on camera to explain why they used to vote Republican but are now voting for Harris. It’s inspiring stuff!
I've had phone conversations with Trump voters in PA. There are people who probably will vote for him, or might vote for him, or will vote GOP down ballot but third party in the presidential, who think Trump is crazy and understand why there is concern.
They get it, and a lot of those voters won't support him. I think we can get a significant number to vote for Harris. Some of them are trying to get there.
The unease that a lot of Republicans have with Trump is an encouraging sign.
This is very encouraging. Thank you for sharing.
Absolutely loved that video
Doubled the number of votes this election from my Bucks county home as both my kids are of voting age now. All mailed in already. Hopefully I'm not the only one!
Thanks for sharing that. I reposted. Love the fact that it is a simple, straightforward story, no gimmicks or fanfare. This woman just opened up a window on a world I knew existed, but she really illuminated it. I am even more optimistic now.
Wife and I are voting today after work, on Georgia's first day of early voting. Thank you Simon and everyone for this amazing community!
Yay! While I LOVE Oregon’s vote by mail system, I do miss the thrill of going to the polls and voting, surrounded by other citizens excited to do the same. It’s not the same to drop off a ballot in a box.
Waiting for mine !
I have always carried my mail-in ballot to the polling place on election day. I love the feeling of walking in and making my voice heard. They mail the "I voted" stickers with the ballots now. But I like to be given a sticker when I hand in my ballot.
YAY, thank you! Please get ALL your peeps to vote early, too, and tell them to tell their people to vote early, too, and so on, let's do this!!!
I've been spreading the word to friends and coworkers :)
NICE!
I'm in Vermont. Our ballots are sent out from the town offices and are tracked by the Secretary of State using a code on the outer envelope. I got mine on Oct 3, filled it out, put it in the security envelopes, and walked 3 blocks to our town office to drop it in the secure ballot box. When I checked the Secretary of State's website next morning, it was already marked returned, Now, sans the return envelope, it will be placed in the vault with other returned ballots until counting day.
In my town early ballots will be counted but numbers not released until after all other ballots are returned, including any overseas ballots. I don't know if I was the first to drop my ballot, but I was last time (I dropped by the office to see when the ballots were going out, and the clerk reached into a bin and pulled it out and handed it to me. I filled it out at a little table in the corner and handed it back (in the inner envelopes).
I agree, Pete. Thank you very much to our host, Simon. I just discovered the site. It's such a relief and a joy to find a group of people like all of you. It too often seems like our country has become unrecognizable. All the hate, and cruelty, and intolerance makes me want to weep. Hopium is an oasis of decency, respect for others, sanity, and true patriotism. I feel recharged and hopeful when I read Simon's posts and your comments. Thank you.
At least Trump started his “music” segment with “Time to Say Goodbye.” So there’s that.
😆😆
I like this version better:
https://youtu.be/xOs6S7DP97Q?si=fawS5XvlyEZJ4n02
It’s the fucking Catalina Wine Mixer
That was much better and fun.
🤣🤣🤣
That is good! Actually think Will Farrell has a decent voice. But this is the good one:
https://youtu.be/qjzJYa7tHLs?si=CB6Ownl_zPoQaw3Q
Truth: “dismissed by a still male dominated national media”
YES
Donations to Tester and Wisconsin Dems - going to recruit my mom to do some postcards from Hopium tonight! If we work - we win.
I must be a sucker for positive texts about doing work because I just donated to Harris, Tester, and Mary Petola.
Splurge on my budget and sent $100 to Tester and $100 to Brown. We have to take the Senate!!
Trump's performance last night was scary. Music is often used for Alzheimer's and dementia patients to help calm them - the music taps into a different part of the brain, something they can still remember. His anger, and inability to answer questions appropriately, reminds me of my dad, near the end of his life. He was angry, all the time. Anything could set him off. Trump is similar - he can't even make a halfway decent answer to a normal question - he'll be off about sharks, or windmills, or Hannibal Lector, or immigrants or whatever still lives in his rapidly shrinking brain. His vocabulary is gone. But put on his favorite tunes and he calms down. Didn't they used to play show tunes for him in the latter days at the White House? He has lost it.
He's regressed into a 79 year old fussy, colicky baby that has to packed into a car seat late at night and driven around until he's soothed and falls asleep. It's really pathetic that 46% of the electorate is fine with this behavior. That's why we keep doing the work.
Oh, please this brings back my two sons ( who were 20 years apart) I had to put them in the car, drive around till they fell asleep. They both would wake up as soon as I stopped the car!
I keep hoping that after every election, I won't have to listen to this crybaby any longer!!!
My 88 year old granma had some form of dementia but could sing Depression era songs from heart. You just had to tee up the music.
My Mom died of AZ. As did my Aunt. Music soothes those afflicted and Trump is well on his way. He has dementia, period. Short term memory goes first then long term memory. Music soothes the old infant brain, bypassing all those shrinking dying parts of the brain. This is medical truth. That's what we saw. This should be the end for him. Bizarre it won't be.
Apparently there were 2 incidents that had just happened that required medics. So he cut to the music. That being said, it still seems pretty strange overall.
Janet, that is not what happened. That is what Republicans today said what happened. There were two incidents. And then he went back to questions. Then he stopped the questions. Then he played music and just swayed there for over 30 minutes. It was as bat shit crazy as everyone says. There was an enormous effort on social media today by Trump allied sources to claim that somehow it was related to the two medical incidents. It wasn't. He just ran out of gas and went to his crazy place.
Yes…. I tweeted that multiple times today pushing back against sane-washing. Also, it leaves out that he handled the two medical incidents by making inappropriate jokes about losing weight, asking if anyone else wanted to faint, and making it all about him. We’ve had multiple incidents requiring medics at both Harris & Walz rallies, and being the professional candidates (and normal good humans) that they are, they always paused briefly and called attention to the area requiring help, used their amplified voice and stature as leaders to instruct the audience to clear a path for the EMTs to get through, and the AFTER all was well and confirmed by the medical personnel, they let the crowd know that things were okay, thanked them for looking out for one another and being good neighbors, and then fucking continued the task at hand. Nothing was preventing Trump from doing that other than his own lack of empathy or giving a shit, and of course he used those people’s misfortune to cover for his “Madness of King Don” moment.
Oh Simon, thank you for clarifying that! I appreciate your taking the time to comment. Yikes - can’t believe I fell for their sanewashing. His behavior is definitely off the rails.
200 postcards to NY04 this morning! Let's do this!
I've donated directly on Act Blue Express Recurring for months. I hate to tell you this, but I've gotten postcard address lists for many of your House candidates from postcardstovoters.org. I've written the postcards for Tony Vargas, Amish Shah, Laura Gillen, and Will Rollins from his system. I want to write postcards for Christina Bohannan Iowa-1 and hope I can get many addresses today but the system is not letting me get the addresses. I have postcard parties with my friends 4 days a week when their husbands are either watching football, or in one instance phone banking and canvassing. Other information: Last night VP Harris had a rally in Erie PA. At the end of her usual stump speech she changed subjects to speak forcefully for 10 minutes on national security. I feel she must give a really strong national defense/security speech ASAP with Retired General Stanley McChrystal and others who have endorsed her. I do not know what the venue should be. I conveyed my thought to Adam Kinzinger from his Instagram page this morning. He's out campaigning for VP Harris now. He has his own plane. He will see my message.
I guess those rally-goers didn’t have "Watch Trump dance and sway for 39 minutes" on their Bingo cards. Who woulda thunk!
Today he is going to further demonstrate his rapid decline into dementia at the Chicago Economics Club! He had to be escorted out when he was asked questions a few months ago at the National Association of Black Journalists convention here in Chicago. I'm hoping the same will happen today.
DNC Anytime Training signup link (call on your schedule!) Share the link with your own message in an email or text: https://events.democrats.org/event/551644/
To share on any platform, just click on the link and share from there!
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/reel/8700220780030813
BlueSky
https://bsky.app/profile/call-crew-dems.bsky.social/post/3l6i7ek7ar422
TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@call_crew_dems/video/7425650523291897134?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7424214167135847966
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBG_lriP8g0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Threads
https://www.threads.net/@call.crew.dems/post/DBG_rxuPmXf?xmt=AQGzH2vwgsu0KMyELxy40VA_BGr_rfvPhmMhy7wZvrz0aQ
YouTube
https://youtube.com/shorts/md3j9XPeOeA?feature=shared
Something broke over me yesterday—a righteous anger that feels like hope. A "they can't and so they won't" feeling. This is ours now. In addition to everything else I'm doing, I've been spending this morning writing to my former students, some of whom are sitting the election out because of Gaza. I am sending them this link, from the Uncommitted movement. I am saying, watch this, share this, vote. Do not dare sit this one out. For those young voters, this video does, I think, make a difference. I share it in case you have undecided young voters in your life: https://x.com/uncommittedmvmt/status/1843642889823498488
Thankfully, the uncommitted movement seems to have shifted in recent days. Thank you for your work !
I've been participating in GOTV phone banks, and one message I've found resonates with those who are wavering on whether or not to vote is this:
Each person has a limited number of opportunities to vote in their lifetime. If you vote in your first Presidential election when you're 18 and live to be 80, that's only 15 times you'll have the chance to cast a vote for President. If you miss one of those opportunities, it's gone forever. Republicans would be very happy if you passed on all 15, and they are trying every trick they can think of to put up road blocks and barriers between you and the voting booth. Are you going give in to Republicans trying to stop you from voting, or are you going to take advantage of every one of those opportunities to vote?
Thank you so much, Beth!
My 86 year old aunt just sent 200 post cards to Ohio. Like she put it “she’s been fighting fascism since 1938”
That's awesome! In my Vote Forward letters, I tell potential voters how I vote to honor my grandfather, who enlisted as a teen in the Navy to fight fascism and imperialism in WWII. It's one of many reasons that I vote, but I highlight this reason because I think it shows that defending democracy is an ongoing exercise, and voting is me doing my part.
These positive heartfelt stories are the most effective messages according to well designed Vote Forward experiments. Keep up the good work!
Wow, that's bad ass, thanks for sharing.
Wow. That brought me to tears. Thank her, please, for the fight and the inspiration.
Thank you Simon Rosenberg. Totally amazing what you are doing. Your outlook, authenticity, earnest effort, and organizing skills are inspiring.