MY GAME PLAN – POSTCARD PROJECTS FOR 2024:
For postcard distributors like me, a practical Game Plan for 2024 is essential! In this election year, we have a very specific job to do and only months to do it in – to make sure we (1) keep a Democrat in the White House, (2) hold onto the Senate, and (3) flip the House. If we are unsuccessful with these objectives, it is unlikely that our other goals will be achieved in the coming years. We must make all our actions count.
Planning for this critical year must take into account that political priorities do change by year and election cycle. To quote the popular 1965 Byrds song: ”To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose.” So projects that might be very helpful in one year might not have the same impact in the next. And some types of projects are more critical at some points in the election year: for example, voter registration is more effective earlier in the year than later.
My top goal is to find postcard projects that have both high impact and high effectiveness. Studies show that grassroots activism can have the greatest impact in Toss-up races. So no “Hail Marys” from me, I’m afraid; I’ll be looking for those close races where we are likely to make a real difference with our postcards.
Here are types of projects I will give high priority to in 2024:
- VOTING: Voter registration, Vote By Mail (primarily used by Democrats), Get Out the Vote (GOTV), and any other voting information (voting locations, hours, details). This is a top priority issue – a good number of your postcards will translate directly into votes!
- ABORTION AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: Although there are lots of important issues that Democrats are associated with, the one that truly defines us in 2024 is abortion and reproductive freedom. The overwhelming majority of Americans support us on this issue. It will bring us a great many votes, even among voters who do not describe themselves as Democrats. In Florida now, reproductive rights is on the November ballot. It is looking like a similar initiative may be on the ballot in Arizona. Other states are following suit. There is tremendous power here, and the issue is likely to buoy our candidates
- CONGRESSIONAL RACES:
- For the Senate, We have to protect our majority, so this means protecting Democratic incumbents and flipping Republican seats. Every single Senate seat is important, so I would focus on Toss-up races unless there were other factors, such as abortion, directly influencing the race in certain states.
- House – Democrats have a strong chance to flip the Republican’s razor-thin control over the House, but we have to be strategic. Here are two ways to get the most “bang for the buck”:
- Employing a “nesting strategy” in states where key House and Senate seats are both in play: increasing turnout for the Senate seat also benefits House and Presidential races in that state. Arizona works well with our nesting strategy, but several other states work as well, including NV and PA.
- Focusing on states like NY and CA, where we lost seats that we should have kept in 2022. That year, many Republicans won by very small margins in districts that Biden had carried in 2020. We have begun to reverse these losses (eg Tom Suozzi, NY-03) in 2024, demonstrating the effectiveness of grassroots efforts.