I’m choosing to ignore it. It’s one poll. We’re all political obsessives to some degree here, but there is a point where each new poll is just too much. I’m choosing to focus on the numerous stories about Republican officials in my swing state of WI coming out to say they’re voting for Harris for the sake of democracy and the rule of law.
Thanks Tom, and welcome! I'm disappointed about the WaPo refusing to endorse VP Harris (I mean, at least they're not endorsing the Orange Menace). Regardless, we do indeed got this! 💙🥥
I am pulling this post down and issuing a clear warning - anyone who purposefully tries to instill anxiety or panic into this community from here on out will be permanently banned.
If this was my post, I was asking legitimately for an explanation of the PA numbers, not trying to "instill" anything. Surely, there is a difference between (a) trying to instill panic; (b) learning the truth; and (c) mindless optimism. I thought I was coming to this site for actual good news, but if it is instead just a cocoon to falsely feel good then I guess I was mistaken.
Here’s what we all need to know about PA (and keeping in mind the *only* early voting is by mailing the paper ballot you receive, and these took some weeks to reach folks in many counties; putting it in a drop box; or else going to the courthouse or satellite office, requesting a mail ballot and casting it there):
When are Pa.'s mail ballots prepared for counting? Much later than in 43 other states.
FWIW I think PA is fine - the GOP has better margins there than in 20 early vote, but they are mostly converted their own votes from Election Day and I think a lot of DEMs will go back to Election Day bc of the drama over mail ballots last time. That said, DEMs still have a big lead in ballots and return rate so not sure what there is to feel bad about there. The DEM lead isn’t growing by as much daily as it was early on, but it’s still growing
Tom Bonier had a tweet about a week ago indicating that 40% of EV R’s in PA voted on ED in 2020 while only 11% of EV D’s did so. That definitely makes that EV wall stronger.
I get confused. Plus, I am not caught up on today's news/counts, etc. Am I understanding correctly that, so far, Dems still have a good lead in return rate in PA?
It is up to We the People to vote like never before. Please watch & share my band, The Wyld Olde Souls’ new GOTV video short, Power to the People: https://youtu.be/qVzI05FWmVg
2. Please repeatedly post "not suckers or losers" comments in social media. According to Facebook, there are 4 million veterans and active duty members on Facebook, as well as 12.5 million family members and 242 million friends with veterans or active duty members. Military sites, veterans; organizations, historical sites.
Vote vets has already flipped many 2016 and 2020 Trump voters.
Incredibly smart campaigning by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz! Some have questioned why Harris is going to Texas for a big rally, portraying it as a rather questionable choice. Jeez, I presume this event is being broadcast or streamed to interested viewers in other states as well! And bringing in stellar musical talent such as Beyoncé is likely to generate media and online interest far beyond the normal political sphere.
Go, Kamala & Tim – and all who are fighting for democracy!
Also, Allred beating Cruz would, in my opinion, guarantee we keep the Senate from flipping to the Republicans. This is especially true if you think Osborne wins in NE.
Not really. Running competitive races matters too. It gives courage to people who become willing to run in races that dems don't even bother to run in in places like Missouri. Long game.
I just read that mmconnell is sensing $3M into Osborne’s race because he is a real threat and had a small marginal lead - this caused the TV as but oroces to sky rocket and now Osborne’s campaign needs money to compete (you can read Jessica craven’s chop wood carry water for more info) so I’d you can - send a little $love to Osborne - and $goes waaay further there!! OH AND 1M people registered for today’s Houston rally!!!!
Trump has some campaign event in Austin today. I think Harris owned him again with her event in Houston, when he can’t have the $/time to spare from the battlegrounds.
Honestly, my favorite quote of the day. And for those who have no idea how important it is to appear on stage with Queen B at that point in the campaign, just watch how this will be covered by the media. Watch and learn.
According to news reports last night, people were already in line as the tickets are general admission. It’s at Shell Energy Stadium, capacity 20,000. Not much interest in the World Series here with the Astros out of it.
Yes, hopefully lots of young voters. Reports on my Facebook page with liberal ladies say Willie Nelson will be performing too. He’s a big draw too. It’s hot here, in the low 90s, so it’s a big deal for people to be in line 24 hours early.
I'm from Florida, so I understand that you don't do an outdoor event until well after sundown. According to the Google Machine, it should be around 80 degrees when they take the stage. Of course, the Stable Genius holds events at noon when it's 100, so I could be wrong here...
Seeing how close the Senate races in Florida and Texas are, I think those 2 states could be sleeper swing states and might pull off a victory for Harris!
Chris Bouzy was quite bullish on FL two days ago, although, personally, I seriously doubt it'll go blue. However, he gives a pretty reasonable mathematical argument as to why, based on early vote numbers. Basically, if 8% of R's vote for Harris, 4% of Dems vote for Trump, and 58% of NPA's vote for Harris, and everyone else sticks to their party affiliation, then she wins Florida.
First and foremost, I think it’s a projection of power: Playing on your opponent’s half of the field in the fourth quarter is a good thing. It also helps Allred and - if all the stars align perfectly - could tip TX to us on a really good night (remember IN in 2008?). I think it’s also a good sign that she’s in GA and TX and Walz is in PA. That says to me they’re feeling good about the blue wall.
Correction on my earlier post. Capacity of the stadium for a concert is 28,000 and they are expecting to turn people away. The greater Houston area (Harris County) is so important if we are ever able to turn Texas blue. If the campaign has good internal polling, being here might be for 2 reasons - pushing Allred into the win column and building some advanced momentum for 2028. As Allred says, Texas isn’t necessarily a red state, it’s a non-voting state. Turning out the vote is key. Fingers crossed this works and Allred wins.
SO grateful, as always, for this news. And just a small bit of self reporting here. I've gone from letters and money and postcards and rubber banding literature and texting and packing boxes and rousing every person I know to vote (I might have lost a friend or two given my insistence and persistence) to what is so essential and rewarding to me in this moment — helping cure the ballots here in PA. Every time a fix is registered (I'm working on spreadsheets, checking on ballot status), I feel joyful. It's a really good way to spend nervous time.
2024 PA VICTORY is organizing ballot curing phone bank events from 1 - 3 every day from Monday, October 28 through Friday, November 8. You can sign up at
HI Beth! How wonderful to hear all youv'e been up to! I'm intrigued by your mention of "spread sheets" as part of the work for ballot curing and wonder if you could say more or if there's a specific link.
I see that Cait signed up below but I've looked at all the links from the comments on this page for ballot curing and all are about canvassing. I'd be interested in something more introverty from home now that postcarding / and banding and boxing postcards is done. Can you point me in a more specific direction?
If you believe this is going to be a turnout election, which I do, then the polls likely voter models have no way to capture the final electorate accurately.
This will underweight voters with the enthusiasm advantage, which is us.
Let’s maintain that advantage and capitalize on it. We will do everything we can to help get out those Harris-Walz voters.
I contend that the non-partisan weights essentially assume at worst a 2020 turnout for Trump, which, I think, makes these polls something akin to a worst-case scenario for us (we’re still winning). The red-wavers just decided to suppose a 2020+ turnout for Trump which, ironically, still only pushes the polls to him in a statistically meaningless way but which gets the media all frenzied as they intended.
No matter what any poll, social media troll or MSM „expert“ says in the coming days. In my heart of hearts i truly believe that there is a silent majority of democrats, independents and never trump reps. who are just so over Trumps hate, his scheming and all the pain he has caused countless families. And all these everyday folks - who don’t watch CNN, don’t check the polls and not read twitter - will show up in big big numbers on Nov 5th and they will make their voices heard loud and clear. DMWL, we got this.
One of the objectives of fascist movements is to get you to mistrust what you see with your own eyes. Every tangible and intangible observation says we’re winning, so if the red wavers can convince the media and us that Trump must somehow still be winning, it disorients us and plays on our fears.
Craig, I just wanted to say that your comment was the most encouraging thing I've read this week. Very important to remind people that the most essential requirement of fascism is for people to reject the truth.
I have fallen victim to that this week. Of course, it could still go their way, and I remain extremely nervous about this election. But your comment has given me pause, and now I feel ready to go knock on doors all weekend.
That Atlanta rally was excellent and I was especially impressed by Tyler Perry's strong speech (I didn't even know who he was before last night). ALSO: BEYONCE is scheduled at the Houston Rally, which is notable.
Doing more and worrying less here in Maine! Just finishing up some postcards today and canvassing in Bangor Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Go Kamala and Tim!
I am so disheartened that the Campaign keeps sending emails saying we are losing. I'm working hard and giving every week - it's very discouraging to receive an onslaught of negative emails. MAGA says they are winning and will use that to claim the election was rigged. Dem's need to claim victory now. How can we get them to stop the doom and gloom? I'm in Philadelphia.
The SAME day Carville wrote his essay in the Times expressing his certainty Harris will win, I got a fundraising email from him with the subject like "I'm freaking terrified" full of fear mongering. I personally don't think it's a good tactic but it's obviously not going to change this cycle, we just need to keep the positivity flowing in our spheres of influence.
SImon has commented on this strategy by democrats to try and gain donations by freaking us out. It is a form of gaslighting. And it works, but not on me.. When I get gaslighting emails, more often from 3rd party fundraisers than directly from the campaigns, I write them back to scold them before marking them as spam. And if I mark spam on a legitimate vendor, it just automatically marks me as unsubscribed so I don't do damage to real campaigns.
Hopefully we can organize to leverage against these tactics in a post election, Harris-led nation that imposes consequences for Trump's traitorous behaviors and witnesses Maga dwindle into the dustbin of history.
I don’t know what it says that Democrats are always afraid that they’ll lose while republicans assume that they’re winning and that we cheated if they don’t. I wish we could borrow this one small part of their psyche.
I feel exactly the same. However, I received an email from Sherrod Brown about an event he is having with the cast of West Wing. It's Friday night (today) so I gave a little more $ so I can watch it early this evening.
Ignore them. If you have the money, donate thru Act Blue on Hopium. I know my Social Security has run out for this month between the purchase of stamps, postcards and Harris/NC etc. Think of all the value we are adding to the campaign and be proud of your participation. We should all be proud of the work - patriotism in its truest form!
If TV ads and the political doom and gloom get to be to much either come here to read the comments and if that isn't enough and you need a break, do what I do, I turn on a Hallmark movie or do something that gives you pleasure for a few hours, then come back to work.
Don't forget laughing as an antidote---I watch the SNL cold opens, and they're SO funny! Maya Rudolph totally nails Kamala Harris, and Dana Carvey as Biden is laugh-out-loud hilarious~! The entire cast is fantastic.
They will ALWAYS say that. Their research must show that they get more money from fear than joy. Maybe Simon can comment on that. I saw an email several weeks ago from Gallego saying he was three points down to Lake and needed more money. Sorry, dude, you’re not losing to Lake on any planet.
EARLY VOTE – KEY STATES (No analysis, just the numbers!)
(UPDATE 1pm: MI, WI, PA updated) More than 34.3 million people have already voted. Over 15.9 million Mail Ballots have been returned, while more than 18.4 million people have voted Early In-Person. Some states are adding votes at a very rapid pace, with Georgia soon approaching 50% of its 2020 turnout!
Here are the vote totals so far, plus the 2024 Early Vote as a percentage of the Total 2020 Vote, for eight swing states:
GA 47.2% 2,368,812
NC 41.4% 2,296,511*
AZ 30.2% 1,032,284
MI 25.5% 1,424,592<
FL 29.9% 3,332,925*
NV 29% 408,835
WI 21.6% 715,395<
PA 18.4% 1,281,847<
(Vote totals and percentages are from Prof. Michael McDonald’s Election Project, which in turn are based on official reports from the various Secretaries of State. When I update, I’ll change my time-stamp.)
I was encouraged to see a large account on Instagram (nearly 450K followers) that has focused heavily on free Palestine messages the past year post an "I voted" photo from NC and promoted endorsements from a justice organization there (Carolina Federation). They endorsed Kamala and all Democrats. They label their endorsements as "defensive" or "offensive" which seems like framing to help some younger and further left folks get there for her. I feel like if people who are where this person is on the ideological spectrum (and associated organizations) are going out and voting for Kamala, that's encouraging and also evidence that the young unaffiliated vote is going to break hard for her.
I am one such voter who was introduced to this substack from a friend. I'm enjoying reading it. I encourage everyone to resist blaming and shaming those who may be considering sitting this one out. People are complex and most of us want the same things but it's hard to know what to do in this broken world. Yesterday I saw a lot of hate for Michael Moore on here and that can turn off a lot of people who may be trying to be open to Kamala but have reservations or different ideas of how she could win. I've been volunteering and vocal about supporting Kamala despite my reservations and many friends have come around to voting for her too.
Agreed 100%. I got someone on the phone during my phone bank earlier who said "I just don't know about voting," and it pained me to have to say "I respect your choice" before I gave my reasons why voting are so important.
She was open to hearing about reasons why this election is crucial, and how a Democratic administration will make her life better. Apparently, she's "never voted before, doesn't pay attention to politics, and keeps to herself." Who knows what she'll do? These were mostly follow-up calls with folks we weren't able to reach during canvassing.
My point is that you're not going to shift many voters minds with telling them something they're considering doing is unacceptable. It's just not how most people are motivated to change their behaviors. They'll tune you out.
I just wonder how not voting and not engaging in the political process, as flawed as it may be and as much as you don't "like" the candidates, fixes a "broken world."
Not to mention that women suffragettes marched, went on hunger strikes, and were jailed for the right to vote---my great aunt was one of those women. Not voting is an abdication of responsibility for maintaining our precious democracy.
I think it’s important to remember the spike in anti Muslim hate crimes under Trump and the fact that he issued the “Muslim Ban” executive orders in 2017.
Some voters really need to be reminded that it was Donald Trump who imposed the Muslim Ban – with exceptions, strikingly, for those countries in which he has business interests! Also, recently Trump has basically been encouraging PM Netanyahu to be even more violent. The idea that Trump would be better for Palestinians and American Muslims is seriously deluded!
Trump is also is responsible for the terrible rise in anti-Semitism, defending the white nationalists at Charlottesville by saying there were "good people on both sides," and recently that if he loses, the Jews will be to blame. He's hosted a slew of anti-Semites like Kanye West, Marjorie Taylor Greene, etc; and on and on.....
Well I did take a look at the NYT crosstabs, and while they show the mix of democrats to republicans are "balanced;" some other areas dispute that. Farther down the list is this list of the liberal, moderate, and conservative lean of the respondents. They breakdown to 24% liberal, 30% moderate, and 38% conservative. Oh, and they are, in my opinion, they are under sampling voters aged 18-28 (415 out of 2,516 respondents); against the maga base voters 45-64 (818 out of 2,516 respondents).
There is little about the NYT/Siena polls to instill confidence this cycle. Their cross tabs have been, at times, laughable, suggesting that they’re not doing an adequate job of reaching anything close to a representative sample. I’m a statistician, and the first thing I do when I look at a poll is check the cross tabs of lower propensity and underrepresented groups, eg, 18-29 and Black or Latino voters. If those are way off, eg, Harris winning 18-29 by four points or Trump winning 25% of Black voters or outright winning Latinos or women - I’ve seen all of these and more this cycle from this and other pollsters - I toss the poll.
Pollsters are only able to reach about 1-2% of people they contact now, while in the 1990s, they were able to reach about one in three. This is having a MAJOR impact on the value of all public polling.
And this same polls had her down by 1 in September. And up 4 in PA. Maybe not the last one. But one in September. So they have been hit/miss all election cycle.
Woo hoo! So excited to see that the Harris campaign hasn’t forgotten Marquette, MI. That’s the reliably blue city/county in the UP (steel workers, nurses & educators) that Hillary almost lost it in 2016. And Dems throughout the UP will see it & be energized.
I hope the local Dems make sure Mrs. Walz tries a good pasty.
I’m choosing to ignore it. It’s one poll. We’re all political obsessives to some degree here, but there is a point where each new poll is just too much. I’m choosing to focus on the numerous stories about Republican officials in my swing state of WI coming out to say they’re voting for Harris for the sake of democracy and the rule of law.
Worth noting there were also polls showing Trump ahead in 2020 from
around this time.
Dan Pfieffer has a good substack on it, if you want a detailed analysis.
Summary:
1. Don't worry.
2. It's not new information. Just tells us the race is close, which we already knew.
3. Polls can change based on weighting. No evidence to suggest there has been a large shift toward Trump.
One poll. A race with Harris even further ahead would, statistically, have polls showing her tied or down. The trend is still that it's a steady race.
Thanks Tom, and welcome! I'm disappointed about the WaPo refusing to endorse VP Harris (I mean, at least they're not endorsing the Orange Menace). Regardless, we do indeed got this! 💙🥥
Thank you so much for your support. I find the sentiments sent our way from around the world to be very uplifting.
Remember: 2020 was in the middle of the pandemic. The numbers are not comparable.
I am pulling this post down and issuing a clear warning - anyone who purposefully tries to instill anxiety or panic into this community from here on out will be permanently banned.
If this was my post, I was asking legitimately for an explanation of the PA numbers, not trying to "instill" anything. Surely, there is a difference between (a) trying to instill panic; (b) learning the truth; and (c) mindless optimism. I thought I was coming to this site for actual good news, but if it is instead just a cocoon to falsely feel good then I guess I was mistaken.
Missouri, see my explanation: Covid. (Nothing to do with a "feel-good cocoon".)
Pennsylvania: Democrats have a Ballot Edge ("Firewall") of 372,194 votes – and they’re increasing it every day! Here are the numbers:
https://nitter.poast.org/blockedfreq/status/1849811490049593417#m
Here’s what we all need to know about PA (and keeping in mind the *only* early voting is by mailing the paper ballot you receive, and these took some weeks to reach folks in many counties; putting it in a drop box; or else going to the courthouse or satellite office, requesting a mail ballot and casting it there):
When are Pa.'s mail ballots prepared for counting? Much later than in 43 other states.
Kate Huangpu Spotlight PA
https://www.goerie.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/23/pa-election-mail-ballot-counting-rules/75788179007/
FWIW I think PA is fine - the GOP has better margins there than in 20 early vote, but they are mostly converted their own votes from Election Day and I think a lot of DEMs will go back to Election Day bc of the drama over mail ballots last time. That said, DEMs still have a big lead in ballots and return rate so not sure what there is to feel bad about there. The DEM lead isn’t growing by as much daily as it was early on, but it’s still growing
Tom Bonier had a tweet about a week ago indicating that 40% of EV R’s in PA voted on ED in 2020 while only 11% of EV D’s did so. That definitely makes that EV wall stronger.
I get confused. Plus, I am not caught up on today's news/counts, etc. Am I understanding correctly that, so far, Dems still have a good lead in return rate in PA?
TYSM
It is up to We the People to vote like never before. Please watch & share my band, The Wyld Olde Souls’ new GOTV video short, Power to the People: https://youtu.be/qVzI05FWmVg
1. Uncle Sam needs you! https://www.mobilize.us/ (And me.)
2. Please repeatedly post "not suckers or losers" comments in social media. According to Facebook, there are 4 million veterans and active duty members on Facebook, as well as 12.5 million family members and 242 million friends with veterans or active duty members. Military sites, veterans; organizations, historical sites.
Vote vets has already flipped many 2016 and 2020 Trump voters.
Incredibly smart campaigning by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz! Some have questioned why Harris is going to Texas for a big rally, portraying it as a rather questionable choice. Jeez, I presume this event is being broadcast or streamed to interested viewers in other states as well! And bringing in stellar musical talent such as Beyoncé is likely to generate media and online interest far beyond the normal political sphere.
Go, Kamala & Tim – and all who are fighting for democracy!
Also, Allred beating Cruz would, in my opinion, guarantee we keep the Senate from flipping to the Republicans. This is especially true if you think Osborne wins in NE.
Even giving Cruz a good and fairly unexpected fight would be great.
Only winning matters.
Not really. Running competitive races matters too. It gives courage to people who become willing to run in races that dems don't even bother to run in in places like Missouri. Long game.
Let’s send Ted Cruz permanently packing back to Cancun. But this time we need to make sure Ted doesn’t abandon his dog, Snowflake.
Yes, rescue the canine Snowflake! 🐾🐕 🐾 🐕🦺
Joe has absolute immunity per SCOTUS. I say, send SEAL Team 6 to rescue Snowflake. Also, as long as he's immune, deport the Dancing Dipshit.
What is it with these MAGAts? Abandoning their dogs, shooting their dogs, or talking about eating the dogs.
I just read that mmconnell is sensing $3M into Osborne’s race because he is a real threat and had a small marginal lead - this caused the TV as but oroces to sky rocket and now Osborne’s campaign needs money to compete (you can read Jessica craven’s chop wood carry water for more info) so I’d you can - send a little $love to Osborne - and $goes waaay further there!! OH AND 1M people registered for today’s Houston rally!!!!
I sent some money to Osborn this morning. I’ll send more the first of the week also. I saw him on msnbc last nite and was very impressed.
Did you say 1 million people registered for the Harris rally in Houston. I know the Beyoncé factor but wow!
You can support Osborne by giving the NE Dem Party through Hopium. That money will also help other Dems too.
Ahhh better option! The crew from Blue Wave Postcards are in NE canvassing now. Our founder leads by example!
Trump has some campaign event in Austin today. I think Harris owned him again with her event in Houston, when he can’t have the $/time to spare from the battlegrounds.
Is he sharing the stage with his own so-called "musical talent" – Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Jason Aldean?
Never bring a Ted Nugent to a Beyonce fight.
Honestly, my favorite quote of the day. And for those who have no idea how important it is to appear on stage with Queen B at that point in the campaign, just watch how this will be covered by the media. Watch and learn.
Not to mention The Boss in Atlanta.
“Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally. No, I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.”
Well Austin is extremely blue, so good luck with that, pal.
Guess they know what they are doing, but seems strange that the rally is 9:30 pm and up against the first game of the World Series.
#clownshow #dancingdipshit
According to news reports last night, people were already in line as the tickets are general admission. It’s at Shell Energy Stadium, capacity 20,000. Not much interest in the World Series here with the Astros out of it.
Good point. Hopefully it will attract a lot of younguns.
Yes, hopefully lots of young voters. Reports on my Facebook page with liberal ladies say Willie Nelson will be performing too. He’s a big draw too. It’s hot here, in the low 90s, so it’s a big deal for people to be in line 24 hours early.
I'm from Florida, so I understand that you don't do an outdoor event until well after sundown. According to the Google Machine, it should be around 80 degrees when they take the stage. Of course, the Stable Genius holds events at noon when it's 100, so I could be wrong here...
Seeing how close the Senate races in Florida and Texas are, I think those 2 states could be sleeper swing states and might pull off a victory for Harris!
Chris Bouzy was quite bullish on FL two days ago, although, personally, I seriously doubt it'll go blue. However, he gives a pretty reasonable mathematical argument as to why, based on early vote numbers. Basically, if 8% of R's vote for Harris, 4% of Dems vote for Trump, and 58% of NPA's vote for Harris, and everyone else sticks to their party affiliation, then she wins Florida.
Haley got 13% in the primary. We think we can flip a few veterans, military, military dependents, etc.
IMHO the big issue is the GenZ/FT6/Swifie turnout. So far seniors comprise most of the early vote.
2020 Exits:
Democrats - 94% Biden, 4% Trump
Republicans - 7% Biden, 93% Trump
Other - Biden 54% Biden, 43% Trump
We could destroy MAGA by making either TX or FL blue! Making both BLUE WOULD BE OUTSTANDING!!!
First and foremost, I think it’s a projection of power: Playing on your opponent’s half of the field in the fourth quarter is a good thing. It also helps Allred and - if all the stars align perfectly - could tip TX to us on a really good night (remember IN in 2008?). I think it’s also a good sign that she’s in GA and TX and Walz is in PA. That says to me they’re feeling good about the blue wall.
Correction on my earlier post. Capacity of the stadium for a concert is 28,000 and they are expecting to turn people away. The greater Houston area (Harris County) is so important if we are ever able to turn Texas blue. If the campaign has good internal polling, being here might be for 2 reasons - pushing Allred into the win column and building some advanced momentum for 2028. As Allred says, Texas isn’t necessarily a red state, it’s a non-voting state. Turning out the vote is key. Fingers crossed this works and Allred wins.
And for beating Cruz!!!
One other point to consider, Harris would not be going if her internal polls looked bad.
Yes! And I agree with Craig’s astute observation that this is a potent power play.
SO grateful, as always, for this news. And just a small bit of self reporting here. I've gone from letters and money and postcards and rubber banding literature and texting and packing boxes and rousing every person I know to vote (I might have lost a friend or two given my insistence and persistence) to what is so essential and rewarding to me in this moment — helping cure the ballots here in PA. Every time a fix is registered (I'm working on spreadsheets, checking on ballot status), I feel joyful. It's a really good way to spend nervous time.
I just signed up for the training. Thanks for the suggestion!
I can attest that the PA ballot curing is time well spent and very enjoyable.
I hope to squeeze that in, also making ballot chase calls here in NJ and in WI. Keep going!
Can I get the link to sign up for that?
I am doing this through a friend. I will look for a link.
2024 PA VICTORY is organizing ballot curing phone bank events from 1 - 3 every day from Monday, October 28 through Friday, November 8. You can sign up at
https://www.mobilize.us/2024pavictory/
event/689608
Thank you!
HI Beth! How wonderful to hear all youv'e been up to! I'm intrigued by your mention of "spread sheets" as part of the work for ballot curing and wonder if you could say more or if there's a specific link.
I see that Cait signed up below but I've looked at all the links from the comments on this page for ballot curing and all are about canvassing. I'd be interested in something more introverty from home now that postcarding / and banding and boxing postcards is done. Can you point me in a more specific direction?
If you believe this is going to be a turnout election, which I do, then the polls likely voter models have no way to capture the final electorate accurately.
This will underweight voters with the enthusiasm advantage, which is us.
Let’s maintain that advantage and capitalize on it. We will do everything we can to help get out those Harris-Walz voters.
I contend that the non-partisan weights essentially assume at worst a 2020 turnout for Trump, which, I think, makes these polls something akin to a worst-case scenario for us (we’re still winning). The red-wavers just decided to suppose a 2020+ turnout for Trump which, ironically, still only pushes the polls to him in a statistically meaningless way but which gets the media all frenzied as they intended.
Still want to know the effect, or lack thereof, of the FT 6 registrations in all swing states.
Me too. I have long hoped those numbers would soon be forthcoming.
No matter what any poll, social media troll or MSM „expert“ says in the coming days. In my heart of hearts i truly believe that there is a silent majority of democrats, independents and never trump reps. who are just so over Trumps hate, his scheming and all the pain he has caused countless families. And all these everyday folks - who don’t watch CNN, don’t check the polls and not read twitter - will show up in big big numbers on Nov 5th and they will make their voices heard loud and clear. DMWL, we got this.
One of the objectives of fascist movements is to get you to mistrust what you see with your own eyes. Every tangible and intangible observation says we’re winning, so if the red wavers can convince the media and us that Trump must somehow still be winning, it disorients us and plays on our fears.
Craig, I just wanted to say that your comment was the most encouraging thing I've read this week. Very important to remind people that the most essential requirement of fascism is for people to reject the truth.
I have fallen victim to that this week. Of course, it could still go their way, and I remain extremely nervous about this election. But your comment has given me pause, and now I feel ready to go knock on doors all weekend.
That Atlanta rally was excellent and I was especially impressed by Tyler Perry's strong speech (I didn't even know who he was before last night). ALSO: BEYONCE is scheduled at the Houston Rally, which is notable.
Doing more and worrying less here in Maine! Just finishing up some postcards today and canvassing in Bangor Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Go Kamala and Tim!
I am so disheartened that the Campaign keeps sending emails saying we are losing. I'm working hard and giving every week - it's very discouraging to receive an onslaught of negative emails. MAGA says they are winning and will use that to claim the election was rigged. Dem's need to claim victory now. How can we get them to stop the doom and gloom? I'm in Philadelphia.
Don’t pay attention to fundraising emails. They are designed to elicit strong emotions, and thus action.
The tone of them is nonsensical. You can get a “We’re winning!” and “We’re losing” email in the same day from the same organization.
The SAME day Carville wrote his essay in the Times expressing his certainty Harris will win, I got a fundraising email from him with the subject like "I'm freaking terrified" full of fear mongering. I personally don't think it's a good tactic but it's obviously not going to change this cycle, we just need to keep the positivity flowing in our spheres of influence.
SImon has commented on this strategy by democrats to try and gain donations by freaking us out. It is a form of gaslighting. And it works, but not on me.. When I get gaslighting emails, more often from 3rd party fundraisers than directly from the campaigns, I write them back to scold them before marking them as spam. And if I mark spam on a legitimate vendor, it just automatically marks me as unsubscribed so I don't do damage to real campaigns.
Hopefully we can organize to leverage against these tactics in a post election, Harris-led nation that imposes consequences for Trump's traitorous behaviors and witnesses Maga dwindle into the dustbin of history.
I don’t know what it says that Democrats are always afraid that they’ll lose while republicans assume that they’re winning and that we cheated if they don’t. I wish we could borrow this one small part of their psyche.
I wish we'd adopt their tactic of not kneecapping and fretting over our own candidates.
Goodness, I hate those kinds of email/texts. I mean, yes I get the campaign needs to funds but I've got bills to pay.
I keep donating but I am quickly deleting all campaign emails. Simply not helpful at this point, IMO.
Unsubscribe and block. You can always undo it if you want
I feel exactly the same. However, I received an email from Sherrod Brown about an event he is having with the cast of West Wing. It's Friday night (today) so I gave a little more $ so I can watch it early this evening.
Discount those Marjorie, they're known tactics. Swipe & delete. We got this !
Ignore them. If you have the money, donate thru Act Blue on Hopium. I know my Social Security has run out for this month between the purchase of stamps, postcards and Harris/NC etc. Think of all the value we are adding to the campaign and be proud of your participation. We should all be proud of the work - patriotism in its truest form!
If TV ads and the political doom and gloom get to be to much either come here to read the comments and if that isn't enough and you need a break, do what I do, I turn on a Hallmark movie or do something that gives you pleasure for a few hours, then come back to work.
Don't forget laughing as an antidote---I watch the SNL cold opens, and they're SO funny! Maya Rudolph totally nails Kamala Harris, and Dana Carvey as Biden is laugh-out-loud hilarious~! The entire cast is fantastic.
I hear you and I ignore these too. But it is worth mentioning that we have raised like 3X the money that Rs are raising.
They will ALWAYS say that. Their research must show that they get more money from fear than joy. Maybe Simon can comment on that. I saw an email several weeks ago from Gallego saying he was three points down to Lake and needed more money. Sorry, dude, you’re not losing to Lake on any planet.
EARLY VOTE – KEY STATES (No analysis, just the numbers!)
(UPDATE 1pm: MI, WI, PA updated) More than 34.3 million people have already voted. Over 15.9 million Mail Ballots have been returned, while more than 18.4 million people have voted Early In-Person. Some states are adding votes at a very rapid pace, with Georgia soon approaching 50% of its 2020 turnout!
Here are the vote totals so far, plus the 2024 Early Vote as a percentage of the Total 2020 Vote, for eight swing states:
GA 47.2% 2,368,812
NC 41.4% 2,296,511*
AZ 30.2% 1,032,284
MI 25.5% 1,424,592<
FL 29.9% 3,332,925*
NV 29% 408,835
WI 21.6% 715,395<
PA 18.4% 1,281,847<
(Vote totals and percentages are from Prof. Michael McDonald’s Election Project, which in turn are based on official reports from the various Secretaries of State. When I update, I’ll change my time-stamp.)
https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2024-early-voting/
I am told Wisconsin has now passed 1,000,000 votes, but I’ll wait for official numbers.
I was encouraged to see a large account on Instagram (nearly 450K followers) that has focused heavily on free Palestine messages the past year post an "I voted" photo from NC and promoted endorsements from a justice organization there (Carolina Federation). They endorsed Kamala and all Democrats. They label their endorsements as "defensive" or "offensive" which seems like framing to help some younger and further left folks get there for her. I feel like if people who are where this person is on the ideological spectrum (and associated organizations) are going out and voting for Kamala, that's encouraging and also evidence that the young unaffiliated vote is going to break hard for her.
I am one such voter who was introduced to this substack from a friend. I'm enjoying reading it. I encourage everyone to resist blaming and shaming those who may be considering sitting this one out. People are complex and most of us want the same things but it's hard to know what to do in this broken world. Yesterday I saw a lot of hate for Michael Moore on here and that can turn off a lot of people who may be trying to be open to Kamala but have reservations or different ideas of how she could win. I've been volunteering and vocal about supporting Kamala despite my reservations and many friends have come around to voting for her too.
Respectfully, sitting out an election for any reason when the alternative is fascism is unacceptable.
Agreed 100%. I got someone on the phone during my phone bank earlier who said "I just don't know about voting," and it pained me to have to say "I respect your choice" before I gave my reasons why voting are so important.
Just curious did you get em' on board in the end ?
She was open to hearing about reasons why this election is crucial, and how a Democratic administration will make her life better. Apparently, she's "never voted before, doesn't pay attention to politics, and keeps to herself." Who knows what she'll do? These were mostly follow-up calls with folks we weren't able to reach during canvassing.
My point is that you're not going to shift many voters minds with telling them something they're considering doing is unacceptable. It's just not how most people are motivated to change their behaviors. They'll tune you out.
I just wonder how not voting and not engaging in the political process, as flawed as it may be and as much as you don't "like" the candidates, fixes a "broken world."
Not to mention that women suffragettes marched, went on hunger strikes, and were jailed for the right to vote---my great aunt was one of those women. Not voting is an abdication of responsibility for maintaining our precious democracy.
I think it’s important to remember the spike in anti Muslim hate crimes under Trump and the fact that he issued the “Muslim Ban” executive orders in 2017.
I am happy to take votes from people, regardless of their level of foolishness.
"They endorsed Kamala and all Democrats."
So glad to hear this!
Some voters really need to be reminded that it was Donald Trump who imposed the Muslim Ban – with exceptions, strikingly, for those countries in which he has business interests! Also, recently Trump has basically been encouraging PM Netanyahu to be even more violent. The idea that Trump would be better for Palestinians and American Muslims is seriously deluded!
He also called COVID the China flu, resulting in unspeakable, hateful violence against Chinese people.
Trump is also is responsible for the terrible rise in anti-Semitism, defending the white nationalists at Charlottesville by saying there were "good people on both sides," and recently that if he loses, the Jews will be to blame. He's hosted a slew of anti-Semites like Kanye West, Marjorie Taylor Greene, etc; and on and on.....
Well I did take a look at the NYT crosstabs, and while they show the mix of democrats to republicans are "balanced;" some other areas dispute that. Farther down the list is this list of the liberal, moderate, and conservative lean of the respondents. They breakdown to 24% liberal, 30% moderate, and 38% conservative. Oh, and they are, in my opinion, they are under sampling voters aged 18-28 (415 out of 2,516 respondents); against the maga base voters 45-64 (818 out of 2,516 respondents).
There is little about the NYT/Siena polls to instill confidence this cycle. Their cross tabs have been, at times, laughable, suggesting that they’re not doing an adequate job of reaching anything close to a representative sample. I’m a statistician, and the first thing I do when I look at a poll is check the cross tabs of lower propensity and underrepresented groups, eg, 18-29 and Black or Latino voters. If those are way off, eg, Harris winning 18-29 by four points or Trump winning 25% of Black voters or outright winning Latinos or women - I’ve seen all of these and more this cycle from this and other pollsters - I toss the poll.
Pollsters are only able to reach about 1-2% of people they contact now, while in the 1990s, they were able to reach about one in three. This is having a MAJOR impact on the value of all public polling.
I saw one of their polls that showed Harris losing 18-29 year old's by 12 points. These polls are just not credible anymore.
Absolutely!
And this same polls had her down by 1 in September. And up 4 in PA. Maybe not the last one. But one in September. So they have been hit/miss all election cycle.
Woo hoo! So excited to see that the Harris campaign hasn’t forgotten Marquette, MI. That’s the reliably blue city/county in the UP (steel workers, nurses & educators) that Hillary almost lost it in 2016. And Dems throughout the UP will see it & be energized.
I hope the local Dems make sure Mrs. Walz tries a good pasty.