June 10, 2023 Now is the time to prepare for next year’s election and that means voter education and registration. The Democratic Party has been notoriously poor at outreach and development. To counteract that weakness, TurnPurple2Blue seeks out strong ally and grassroot groups who really connect and do the work on the ground. We can help by funding them, especially in the “off” years (a misnomer if there ever was one.)

That’s why I was so excited to watch the Environmental Voter’s Program (EVP) webinar on the the Rise of AAPI Youth Voters. I highly recommend watching this video! EVP has done great work identifying registered people who care about the environment, but then don’t vote. Their experienced analysis reveals a large new up and coming group of voters that really care about the environment as a public health issue. It’s Asian American Pacific Islander Youth! You will see that they also heavily influence first generation immigrants – who often need language support as well as encouragement to vote. Please donate if you can. Donations to AIPA are even tax deductible! Early money to these groups will have a huge impact!

The 2022 midterms showed an impressive turnout of Gen Z and Millennial voters- for our purposes, any voter under age 40.  Pundits call this the “youth” vote, which annoys the heck out of them.  So our first order of business is to call them by their names: Gen Z and Millennials!

They are Democratic voters.  They care about abortion rights, climate change, and healthcare.  They need daycare, housing, and student loan relief.  MAGA has noticed and is targeting them with voter suppression laws as fast as they can.  Raise the Voting Age to 25?  Sure.  Prohibit Student IDs?  Yes.  Even in Massachusetts, our entrenched legislature refuses to pass same day registration.

Republicans are attacking on all fronts because this is America’s demographic future. Roger Reich says “A new progressive era in America is likely in about 20 years — unless Republicans destroy democracy in the meantime”  But we don’t have to wait 20 years.  Let’s support Gen Z and Millennials to WIN 2024.

How? Support Gen Z and Millennial Groups, Candidates and Elected Officials!

Backed by extensive research on Gen Z, we’re taking the issues Gen Z cares about most into the rooms where decisions get made. Through extensive advocacy, on-the-ground and online organizing, and a nationwide network of Gen Z organizers and activists, we’re making sure that as the most diverse generation, we are represented and spoken for.

Do you know someone on a college campus?  Ask them to join or start a chapter!  You can use their policy platform to excite Gen Z voters!

After those elections, Sunrise set their sights on the Green New Deal to combat the climate crisis and ensure a just transition to clean energy, creating millions of good jobs in the process.

Does your Millennial care deeply about climate change?  Encourage them to join an Action Circle.

When is a phone call more than a phone call?   When it is tallied by your US House Rep as evidence for support!

You may have heard cable news talking about the MAGA Default Crisis.  You may think, as I often do, thank goodness I live in a Blue State and have Blue US Reps!  But here’s the thing, the other side is noisy and abusive.  They call all the time.  Those calls are tallied.

Notice I called it the MAGA Default Crisis instead of the debt crisis like the media?  That’s because the debt isn’t the crisis; the crisis is the threat of MAGA to default on debt already incurred.

What we need to do is call to say thank you and STAY STRONG.  As Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, says, we need to support them and STIFFEN THEIR SPINES.  Leave a message, including your first and last name and the town that you live in.  The Indivisible Toolkit below will give you ideas for your message.

I’ve called, now what?  Here are some ideas:

• Call and leave a message for your US Rep
• Send an email to your US Rep
• Send a snail-mail letter to your US Rep
• Talk to your friends and family!  They trust your opinion. Talk about the MAGA debt crisis as it relates to your own personal story.  
• Take it to social media.  Again, share a personal worry or story.
• Stay tuned for actions happening May 19-26.  We’ll update TurnPurple2Blue as we find more actions.

Indivisible National’s Toolkit for the MAGA Default Crisis.

If you have a Blue MoC  

President Biden has been standing strong, refusing to engage with bad-faith MAGA extremists. He’s also made it clear that Democrats will fight against any cuts to Social Security and Medicare. But Republicans will try and peel off some Democrats, duping them in with promises of “bipartisanship” or “commissions” to find a solution. We’ve seen this before; we know their real agenda and that Republican MoCs aren’t to be trusted.

We’ve heard from some of our closest allies in Congress that a massive grassroots movement can create exactly the type of urgency needed. While many Dem MoCs have been supporting President Biden’s position, they are sure to face significant pressure to cave to the MAGA demands – so we need to be there to have their backs and prove fighting for our communities is popular. 

And if there are Democrats who start to waver and signal their openness to negotiations with the hostage-takers, we have to forcefully remind them who they’re supposed to be representing – us. So no matter who your Dem MoC is, you have a role to play by either celebrating them for protecting us from the MAGA plot, or by stiffening the spines of any MoCs who think surrendering to extreme demands is the easy way out. 

Democratic MoCs

• Democrats must protect families and communities from the MAGA plan to cause a default crisis and stick regular people with the bill. While Kevin McCarthy might have to show off for the Freedom Caucus, there’s no need for Democrats to cave into these reckless tactics.
• Under no circumstances should Democrats agree to any demands to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. Millions of families rely on these programs to make ends meet and care for themselves and their loved ones. Cutting these programs is wildly unpopular and would devastate the financial security of millions of people. 
• Democrats passed legislation to lower costs for families, and they can’t let MAGA extremists wipe out that progress. Republicans want to repeal laws enacted by Democrats that have made prescription drugs more affordable, created clean energy jobs, and asked the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes. Democrats can’t let us go backward.
• Democrats need to stand with President Biden and refuse to let Republicans get out of paying their bills. The GOP offer to “negotiate” is simply a trap – we know their agenda is devastating cuts to critical programs our communities and families rely on. 

The Consequences of a MAGA Default Crisis

If Republicans get their way and force a default crisis, they’ll do so knowing their wealthy campaign donors will be just fine, while the rest of us pay the price. Here’s just a sampling of the harm this would cause:

• Unemployment could spike to 7%, throwing millions out of work and reversing our historic job growth since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The typical worker close to retirement could lose $20,000 from their 401(k) savings.
• Medicare payments will be delayed for seniors who rely on it for life-sustaining health care.
• Prices for everything from groceries to gas would rise.
• Credit card rates would rise, sending millions of families into financial stress.
• Mortgages could become more than $100,000 more expensive over their 30-year term.
• Seniors could lose social security checks.

Glossary

DEBT CEILING

1. An arbitrary cap set by Congress that determines how much money the Federal Government can borrow to pay for the programs and projects that Congress approves.
2. A routine vote of Congress typically raises the limit, but the GOP has increasingly used brinkmanship and hostage-taking to attempt to extract concessions.

DEFAULT

1. Unprecedented economic chaos caused by the GOP refusing to pay their debts.
2. Disruptions, delays, and cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food assistance, education, clean water, and more.

The graphic above shows the extraordinary progress we have made in Pennsylvania from six years ago. Long considered a swing state up for grabs, the state currently sends 9 democrats and 8 republicans to the US House of Representatives. Historically, a Democratic governor has fought to hold the line against a Republican state legislature.  

Cut to 2022:  We flipped a US Senator (and now both PA senators are Democrats), and we took back the PA State House of Representatives.  A slim margin, but the culmination of 6 years of ground-level hard work.

Now we have two candidates for a May 16 special election- important to protect or even add to the slim majority of one.  We know what is at stake:  reproductive rights and voting rights.  We know Pennsylvania will continue to be hotly contested as a path to the presidency.

This election will determine which party controls the Pennsylvania State House.  On May 16, Republicans will need to win both of the special elections in order to gain control of the State House.  Democrats only need to win one of them to keep control. 

And that’s why we are turning to you.  Voting reminders are especially important for special elections, or really any election that doesn’t occur on the second Tuesday of November in a presidential year.  Also confusing – these two special elections are being held on the same day as primaries.  

If you haven’t tried phonebanking yet, this is an ideal time.  Just try it for 30 minutes!  You may be surprised how rewarding it is to talk to like-minded voters who just need a reminder!

More about our Candidate, Heather Boyd

From Pennsylvania Capital Star:  The 2010 election, when Democrats lost the U.S. House two years after President Barack Obama’s election, was a wake-up call for Boyd “that everything wasn’t peachy keen,” she said.

Since then, Boyd said, she has volunteered in every election since.

Boyd, a former school director and mother of two students in the Upper Darby School District, said she sees education funding as the most pressing issue for the state Legislature this session following the landmark court decision declaring Pennsylvania’s system of funding public schools unconstitutional.

In addition to Upper Darby, the district includes William Penn School District, where the legal challenge originated.  Boyd said that not acting swiftly to remedy the funding system would be a disservice to children across the state.

“I don’t want to lose a whole generation of kids,” Boyd said. “We have to fix that in a way that recognizes that it can’t take 20 years. It has to be now.”

Protecting women’s right to bodily autonomy is Boyd’s paramount reason for running.

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the right to abortion, the need to fight efforts to restrict reproductive health care in Pennsylvania is more dire than ever, Boyd said. 

Boyd said she would also work to protect labor rights and support immigrant communities, including by pursuing legislation to allow people to obtain driver’s licenses regardless of their immigration status.

Here’s a fresh take on the Democratic party by Simon Rosenberg, veteran political strategist, grassroots guru, and author of the substack Hopium Chronicles. Hopium is what detractors accused Simon of smoking before the midterms proved that his astute optimism about Democratic election wins was, in fact, warranted.

We defied history in 2022, challenging the myth of the Red wave and producing one of the best midterm elections of a party in power in all of American history. How did we do it? What can we do to make it happen again in 2024? 

In 2022, we flexed organizational muscle that our opponents lacked. We worked hard with our phone and text banks, postcard and letter writing, canvassing where possible, and anything else that spread our message. Our grassroots donations gave us a ~5:1 cash advantage and bought many more ads for our candidates and causes. The results made history in an election that was supposed to dishearten us and reveal our weaknesses.

A cautionary lesson, however – grassroots activism helped defeat the Red wave in the 2022 midterms, but only in battleground states where our message rang loud and clear. The take-home? When we can control the narrative, we can make gains. When we don’t, we fall back.

SO LET’S CLOSE THE LOUDNESS GAP IN 2024! There is a global information war being waged by oligarchs who are committed to replacing democracy with authoritarianism. MAGA negativity and noise pollution show which side they favor. And so far, MAGA has outdone us in negative messaging with false narratives and media bullying. If we fight the battle on their turf, we will lose.

Simon advises that we GO POSITIVE and GET LOUD! We have great news to spread; we have to GO BIG to crush MAGA. Through grassroots power and positive messaging, we can consign MAGA to the dustbin of history. 

Therefore this year, we should add the following to our arsenal– 

1. Get Democrats into positive territory on economic news. Our numbers are great, and too few are touting them. This is an information deficit that we can fix. Spread the word every way you can – personal contacts, social media, Letters to the Editor, whatever route you can think of. Usual grassroots activities, e.g., postcards, also can spread the positive economic message.

2. Expand our coalition to 55% – grow our majority to WIN BIG. Our margins of victory have been growing. In the midterms, we saw high numbers like 59% in CO, 57% in PA, and 55% in MI. In 2023, Judge Janet won big in WI, a battleground state, with 55%. So register new voters, persuade the persuadable, and recruit to expand our majority! 

3. Claim “political real estate” available to us due to MAGA extremism. Example: Democrat Donna Deegan is running for mayor in Jacksonville, the largest city in FL. While this is Ron DeSantis’s home turf, the city runs blue. Taking the city out from under Ron’s nose is not only doable, it makes a statement. Donate to Donna’s campaign here:

To hear more on this topic, visit Simon Rosenberg’s substack Hopium Chronicles. And thank you for helping to save our Democracy with your grassroots activism!

Update: David Pepper came to our Indivisible Mass Coalition book group! Watch the recording below:

Here’s the highly recommended Incorruptible Mass podcast we talked about.

Today: A Focus on  David Pepper’s Step 12: When in Power, Create Laboratories of Democracy

Last year, Indivisibles were so impressed and inspired with David Pepper’s book “Laboratories of Autocracy.” It illustrated perfectly the stakes of the 2022 midterms -even before Dobbs reared its ugly head.  We worked diligently last year, especially in the swing states of Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, to prevent our nation from electing election deniers to state offices.  

I highly recommend David Pepper’s book to learn about all the dirty tricks Republicans play to cement their power in the statehouses – from gerrymandering to cookie-cutter autocratic legislation to governmental negligence to voter suppression.  But you may recall that I also called out the Massachusetts State House in my original article, Autocracy Alert:  Massachusetts, for the anti-democratic structural problems in Beacon Hill’s legislature.

In 2023, we can take a breath to focus on the Massachusetts Government.   It really needs our attention. Exhibit 1: Jan 4, 2023, MA House Speaker Mariano decides to not swear in two duly elected and certified by Secretary Galvin and the Governor’s Council (both conservative, staid organizations) Democratic women. (After an outcry and hearing, Scarsdale was seated.  As of this posting, Kassner has not been seated.) His motivation is unclear, but his action threw fuel on the fire of election denialism that still threatens our rule of law.  

This year, what we must do is press on to David Pepper’s 30 Steps to Save Democracy.  While they are all thought-provoking, today I want to talk about  Step 12:  When in Power, Protect and Strengthen Democracy, Create a Laboratory of DEMOCRACY.  I am not suggesting we stoop to the dirty tricks Republicans pull as Autocrats in power- dark money, lobbyists writing legislation, defunding public institutions, or disenfranchising voters.  Indeed, when Democrats are in power, we need to build the laboratory of democracy.  Expand voting rights. Expand civil rights.  Expand equity and fairness.  Expand climate protections. Enact our democratic principles into law.  Push the boundaries and show what a democracy can and should be.

Massachusetts is failing at promoting democracy.  It didn’t used to be that way: the achievements of RomneyCare and Marriage Equality led the way for Americans to enjoy the expansion of their civil rights.  More recently, we passed important legislation codifying ROE and overrode Charlie’s veto. These things were not easy to do, and they could not have been done without elected officials and activists working together to create a better government.

But somewhere along the way, we gave up our mantle of leadership.  We turned inward, allowing popular bills to wallow in the legislature for 8, 10, 12 YEARS.  We didn’t bother to come back into session to override Charlie’s veto.  We accepted the Speaker’s excuse that we can’t have nice things because Charlie MIGHT veto it.  So we watered down and undercut legislation before Charlie could even slow-walk his implementation of bills already years late.  

No same day voter registration.
No safe communities act.
No prison building moratorium.
No no-cost prison calls.
No standardized sex education.
No reforming our flag (Can’t even get rid of that hovering sword)
No public record of how your Representative voted.

Still refusing to submit to normal records requests.
Still ranking in the bottom 4 states of transparency.
Still allowing bullying and harassment in the Statehouse
Still allowing the Speaker to have sole control over the promotions, salaries, staff and offices of each representative, so that they are working for him and not us.

So what can we do?

1. Keep up the hard work that we already do to try to get legislation passed in a two-year cycle
   1. Write and call your Representative
   2. Attend hearings
   3. Attend forums explaining legislation

2. Know your Representative
   1. Form a Coffee and Conversations small constituent group where you meet regularly to communicate your values and expectations for how your government should legislate
   2. Sign up for your State Senator and Representative’s newsletter, and follow them on social media

3. Do not allow any anti-democracy backsliding
   1. Monitor your town and school meetings for extremist attacks.  The Republicans know how to gin up fear and hate, especially in these smaller, less followed elections.
   2.  Know your Select Board or Town Council and tell them that you expect them to strengthen and protect democratic principles.
   3. Continue to advocate in the Statehouse.

Finally, close every conversation with elected officials and their staff with a hard ask:  Will you commit to being a leader in Massachusetts?  A leader in promoting, strengthening and protecting democratic principles?  Will you take risks to push against the quicksand of the status quo?  

We are looking for leaders.  It’s not just for us, but for all Americans.  Blue states must share and push for best practices. Let’s show what we can DO with democracy.

Thank you for writing for four campaigns!  We had two for the primary, and two for the general, drawing from Activate America and Swing Blue Alliance (an Indivisible group).  TurnPurple2Blue.org (YOU) wrote a total of 11,813 cards! Our group, stretching from Sudbury to Westford, alone wrote 6,000 out of Swing Blue Alliance’s 50,000 cards.

If you donated to Indivisible’s campaign you can see what they spent the money on here.  As I have said elsewhere, Indivisible uses the money quickly and wisely – unlike the democratic party which can be moribound and bureaucratic.  

Heather Cox Richardson has the full story here, but here’s my favorite excerpt:

At the end of the night, the Wisconsin Democratic Party released a statement congratulating Justice-elect Protasiewicz on her victory. “The resurrection of democracy and freedom in Wisconsin has begun,” it read.

“On paper, this campaign may have lasted only a few months. But tonight’s victory is the result of years of unglamorous work by volunteers, activists, union members, and organizers across our state who knocked doors, made phone calls, chipped in, and never lost the faith that a better future was possible—even when hope seemed all but lost. Tonight is a testament to the power of never giving up. And it’s a testament to the whirlwind that the foes of democracy—in Wisconsin, and in America—can expect to reap.

“While we may have won tonight, we know that the threat posed to our freedoms and our democracy by MAGA extremism continues. And that’s why we will never stop organizing. We will use this moment as a springboard into the long work ahead—to build a multiracial democracy in which all of us, no matter our gender or gender identity, our generation or the geography in which we live, has a voice, has dignity, and has the power that is supposed to be the birthright of all American citizens.”

Democracy is a Verb!

April 1, 2023 by Christine Brown

People ask me what’s next after Wisconsin?  Well, one of the things TurnPurple2Blue monitors is emerging strategies for the 2024 US House elections.   Many groups are thinking about this, and it’s exciting to see where the strategies converge.  I’ve even started a spreadsheet!

What goes into making these strategies?  First, a lot of analysis about the last election.  Yes, we did way better than the pundits using their historical trends thought we would.  On the other hand, we came tantalizingly close to actually keeping the House too!  One of the key takeaways is that we can’t trust New York and California to do okay without us.

The consensus is that New York Democrats really failed the nation.  It started when they overreached on redistricting, and a judge rejected the proposed districts in favor of much more competitive ones.  (Yes, I  know that’s the ideal, but we can’t disarm unilaterally).  Add in the inexplicable fumble of electing George Santos and the general lack of defending democratic seats, Republicans flipped a total of four seats in New York. That alone caused us to lose the House.

California is another focal point.  Republicans attacked and won some very close races.  Ironically, codifying abortion rights brought out more voters -some who voted Republican candidates down ballot.  Bottomline, California Democrats lost some close races that they shouldn’t have, even as they pat themselves on the back for beating the historical trends.  Wait, didn’t they hear about MAGA breaking all the norms? 

With that in mind, what is the strategy for 2024?

One emerging strategy from Activate America is to focus on New York and California, rather than chasing single House seats in other states.  I definitely agree that we can’t leave these states to their own devices anymore – we will have to roll up our sleeves and get busy.

Indivisible has a different, but intersecting strategy.  They have identified “The Unrepresentative 18”  These are 18 Republicans that were elected in districts that Biden won, which includes 11 representatives from…. New York and California!!  Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible, makes a very compelling case and I highly recommend you read it in full. Basically these 18 Reps are very vulnerable- they are voting along MAGA lines, but lying about it in their Biden districts. There is a great summary in Rachel Maddow’s interview of Ezra.

The third column in my spreadsheet is Democrats we need to defend.  We need to keep a close eye on what Republicans are trying to flip.  Sometimes they are just being strategic, luring us to waste time and money in districts where we shouldn’t have to.  The first list released by the RNCC has 37 names and it’s unlikely that they will really have the money to go after all of them.  So this list is in flux.  But I picked out some representatives in states that we have worked with before:  Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, etc.

But I know you all – right now you are skipping down to the bottom to see what actions to take!  So here you go!

1. Messaging postcarding from Activate America is starting already.  These cards don’t have the urgency of Wisconsin, but they are still important to support for democratic House candidates.  They have three California districts right now. Get postcards here.

2. Donations.  Now is the time to review your strategy and EARLY small-dollar donations are so valuable.  It’s satisfying to give to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s opponent, but your dollars could go so much further in races flying under the radar. I suggest the Indivisible 18 campaign. I like Indivisible because they are light on their feet- they can move money to where it’s needed quickly without the bureaucracy and fiefdoms that plague the democratic committee. You can donate here.
3. Texting.  Movement Labs is still texting for local elections and base-building activities.  If your impulse is to say that we can’t just focus on CA and NY, this is the place for you.  You can make a huge impact by volunteering your time texting.  Over the past 4 years, I have trained at least 500 people to text politically.  It’s fun, easy and free.  Not trained?  Contact me at Christine@IndivisibleActon.org and I’ll get you set up in 45 minutes.  A refresher might only take 20 minutes.

So, are you ready to take back the House now?  Let’s do it together!