News

It’s early 2019, and you may still be basking in a hugely successful 2018 election that saw us expand our majority on the state supreme court, add strong Democratic judges to the Court of Appeals, and break the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly.  Or you may be cringing at the continued intransigence of the General Assembly and its refusal to expand Medicaid or better protect voting rights and opportunities.  Either way, you can put that positive or negative energy into our precinct’s efforts to continue moving Durham and North Carolina forward in 2019 and 2020 (you may have heard there’s a sort-of important election in 2020).

We will be meeting this coming Saturday, February 9, from 10am to 12pm at Southwest Regional Library on Shannon Road.  We will review our precinct’s successes from 2018, make plans for 2019, and elect precinct officers and delegates to the county convention.  Perhaps even more importantly, this is a great opportunity for you to meet and connect with Democrats in the area.  At its core, politics is just about communities working together to advance their common interests, and we can’t do that if we don’t connect with our neighbors and build a community of active political participants!  So please join us on Saturday and help us prepare to grow the Democratic party in southern Durham, elect progressive leaders up and down the ballot in 2019 and 2020, and move our communities forward.  Hope to see you there!

Friends, you should be walking around town with smiles on your faces today.  We still have a long road ahead, but we made major strides toward a progressive future yesterday.  A list of outcomes to celebrate:

For Durham:

• While not unexpected, a long list of progressive candidates were elected to office up and down the ballot.  Our city and county are moving forward in exciting ways.
• Turnout was great in Durham.  We’ve added lots of new voters, engaged previously inactive voters, and laid the groundwork for a massive contribution to statewide races in 2020 (see Cooper, Roy and Tillis, Thom).

For North Carolina:

• We broke the supermajority in the State House, and pending provisional ballots and recounts may also have done so in the State Senate.  Roy Cooper now has a working veto pen and a bully pulpit.  This news cannot be overstated in importance.  North Carolina has a functioning government again starting in January.
• We elected Anita Earls to the State Supreme Court.  That’s now a 5-2 majority that will be a bulwark against legislative excesses and an opportunity to undo some of the worst legislation of the last couple years.
• We defeated the power-grabbing structural amendments that would have locked in conservative rule for years.

For the United States:

• In a massive rebuke to the President, we won a huge national vote margin and took back the House of Representatives.  Accountability returns to Washington in January, accompanied by a host of young, exciting, progressive representatives.
• We flipped seven governorships, including several in key 2020 states like Wisconsin and Michigan.

Other Stuff:

• Progressive priorities won all across the country, with Medicaid expansion in deep red states, re-enfranchisement in Florida, voting reform in Michigan, etc.

Was it a perfect night?  No.  We will rue the U.S. Senate losses and their impact on the federal judiciary, and it remains clear that racism, xenophobia, sexism, and general hate have frightening and enduring power in this country.  But we made a statement last night, and we have set the stage for another statement in two years.

So now we get back to work!  Two years to register voters, build a more progressive and engaged community, and find the next generation of leaders who will leap from last night’s foundation to new heights of progress and hope for the future.  Job well done, friends – take a breath and rest, then pick your next opportunity to engage and let’s get moving!

That’s basically all there is left to say today, folks.  Get it done.  Love and respect for all you’ve done this year!

And come back tomorrow, win or lose, and keep doing the work of democracy.

Friends, this is the final sprint.  We have eight days to run up the score in this progressive community to help move our state forward.  Early voting numbers are fairly high statewide, and our precinct has done very well so far – but we still have eight days to go and every vote matters.  Imagine waking up on November 7 and finding out that one of the odious constitutional amendments passed by just a handful of votes.  There’s no time to waste, and no time to wait!  Here’s what you can do:

VOTE!  Seriously, do we even have to discuss this?

GET YOUR NEIGHBORS TO VOTE!  That guy you see walking his dog in the morning?  Encourage him to vote.  The parent waiting at the bus stop?  Him/her too.  People vote when you ask them to do so and give them reason to do so.  So do so.

CANVASS!  We have hundreds more doors to knock to maximize our turnout.  Sign up for a shift on the last weekend before Election Day – we’ll be out and about on November 3 and 4.  It’s fun and easy and the proven, most effective way to get people to the polls.

PHONEBANK – We have a couple hundred more phone calls to make.  Contact Chris Andolina to get the info you need.  It’s super easy!

BE A POLL GREETER – We need folks at our local precinct voting site on Election Day ALL DAY to hand out voting slates and sign up people for our continued organizing efforts over the next two years headed into 2020.  Sign up for a shift!

Leave it all on the field, team.  Eight days to save democracy.  Make it happen!

Friends, there’s no getting around it.  These are dark times.  It hurts to watch the state and the country we love descend to the depths we are witnessing today.  But however you may feel after this debacle of a week, never fall victim to the belief that you are powerless.  Never believe that there is nothing you can do.  Cynicism is the easy route.  Reject it, and seek the harder path.

The harder path isn’t just about political activism.  Registering voters is great.  Canvassing to encourage neighbors to vote for progressive candidates and policies is important.  But there’s a greater challenge here.  That challenge is to continue, against all odds, to be motivated by hope rather than anger, to see the best in our neighbors, to see the best in ourselves.

Voting matters, but so does every act of kindness, every positive sentiment, every moment of trust.  People matter.  Community matters.  Human connection is what binds us all and moves us all toward a better future.  We as Democrats believe in a country where “we” matters more than “me.”  We believe in a country where our neighbors’ needs are our needs.  We believe in a country where fairness and kindness are strengths rather than weaknesses, and where your success makes my life richer and more secure.  Do not abandon these values, even in the face of a nihilism from the other side that seems insurmountable.  They are not lost; they have simply forgotten.  Be an example to everyone around you.  Be a foundation for those who need solid ground.  Be a light in the face of great darkness, and the darkness will inevitably turn away.

Fresh off the resounding success of our September 8-9 canvassing weekend, during which we knocked on 520 doors and had face-to-face conversations with over 150 voters, we are rolling out the next phase of our efforts to reach every possible Democratic voter before November:  The Comfortable Canvassing Initiative!  If knocking on strangers’ doors on a Saturday is a bit too intimidating, you’re not alone, and we’re here to help.  We want to empower each of you to locate and make contact with the people in your neighborhood that you already know.  That way, you can bring back the weed whacker you borrowed three months ago AND encourage someone to vote in one fell swoop.  Here’s all it takes:

1.  Send an e-mail to durhamprecinct35.3@gmail.com with the name of your neighborhood.  If you’re not in a named neighborhood, just send your street address and we’ll work from there.
2. Download the MiniVAN app from whichever app store you use.  Create an Action ID for yourself.  Here’s a short (7 minutes) video tutorial with screen shots of the app that can guide you through both set-up and use.
3. We will send you a list number customized to include only targeted Democratic and Unaffiliated voters, so you don’t have to guess whether it’s a politically friendly house.  Download the list in MiniVAN and view the addresses.
4. Pick the people whose names you already know, or a neighbor you’ve been meaning to meet.  Click on their address and there’s a pre-loaded script with questions for you to fill in as you talk to them (since you already know the person, you don’t have to follow the script exactly, but please enter the info requested regarding their voting intentions and willingness to volunteer).
5. Visit the people you want to visit, or visit everyone on the list.  Knock on one door per week or all the doors in one day.  It’s entirely up to you.
6. Sync the app after you talk to someone and enter their answers, then go home and get back to whatever it was you were doing before.

It’s that simple, and if each person on our volunteer list talked to just five people in the next six weeks, we’d finish our list of targeted voters even before our last GOTV event on the weekend before the election.  So get on board with canvassing made easy.  All it takes is an e-mail to durhamprecinct35.3@gmail.com.  Be a voter, be a volunteer – and be a Comfortable Canvasser!

For those who watched results from the Florida gubernatorial primaries this week, you may have noticed that a progressive candidate took a surprise win on the Democratic side.  What you may not have known, since we all live in North Carolina, is that Mr. Gillum was vastly outspent by his primary rivals.  I don’t have exact numbers, but I have seen reports that two of his rivals spent over $30 million, and another spent over $15 million.  Mr. Gillum won despite spending less than $7 million.

How?  Voter enthusiasm and face-to-face voter contact.  Research has shown that the power of a face-to-face conversation about voting and/or a specific candidate is FAR greater than that of any television ad.  Why don’t more candidates spend their money on canvassing then?  Because it requires so much more effort than paying an ad company to prepare a slick 30-second spot.  It requires volunteers, and time commitment, and the courage to knock on strangers’ doors.  But it works.

If we are going to defeat constitutional amendments and elect strong Democratic judges along with our local legislative candidates, we are going to need to run up the score in this Democratic stronghold.  We need all hands on deck, which means we need you.  Sign up to help us canvass on September 8 or September 9.  It’s a fun experience and a crucial event in getting out the vote.  Don’t miss it!

There has been a lot of coverage of this already, so this won’t be a long post.  Check out a local event on the amendments, like Rep. Marcia Morey and the Durham Democratic Women’s event tomorrow (August 12) from 3 to 5 pm at the Durham Democratic Party HQ (2634 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd).  For those who can’t make it, here’s a quick primer:

Voter ID Amendment – we all know what this is about.  Republicans can’t win a fair election, so they’re deliberately making it harder for people to vote.  This will most significantly impede the votes of people of color and college students, but irrespective of partisan impact, we should ALWAYS be making it EASIER for people to vote.  As if we needed more reason to oppose, the actual ID requirements will be set by the legislature after the amendment passes.  So it’s not even clear what we’re voting on.

Tax Cap Amendment – this will impose a 7% cap on the state income tax (the current rate is 5.75%, the current constitutional cap is 10%).  This will hurt funding for public education and other public services, and will further move the tax burden toward localities and sales tax (which is highly regressive).

Judicial Selection Amendment – this is misleadingly called a “nonpartisan merit-based system.”  It’s not.  It’s a power grab by the legislature to force the Governor to pick from their favorite two partisan judicial selections.  Do you want this legislature picking judges?  Didn’t think so.  Another terrifying aspect of this:  the way the amendment is written would allow the legislature to bypass the Governor’s veto on any legislation just by attaching it to a judicial selection bill.  If you believe that’s an accident, I have a bridge to sell you.

Elections Board Amendment – again, misleadingly called a “bipartisan” board, but it’s really just another way for the legislature to bypass the governor.  And again, it is deliberately written to allow the legislature to take over a large portion of the executive branch’s responsibilities.  If you like separation of powers (and with this legislature, you’d better), vote against.

Hunting and Fishing Amendment – not exactly a terrifying amendment, but poorly defined and could lead to lots of litigation over environmental regulations.  I love fishing, but there doesn’t appear to be a problem with the current scope of hunting and fishing rights.

Victim’s Rights Amendment – We already have a statutory “Victim’s Bill of Rights” in NCGS 15A-830 through 15A-841.  This amendment doesn’t do a lot more than codify the statute into the constitution.

There is a campaign to #NixAllSix.  That’s probably the easiest way to communicate this.  But the first four above are the real problems.  Get the word out, because the language that will appear on your ballot is highly deceptive.

 

Full disclosure:  That line is not mine.

There has been a great deal of discussion about whether Democrats are doing enough to get our message out, whether our elected representatives are fighting hard enough, and why voters remain confused about exactly what we as a party stand for.  Some people seem to assume that Donald Trump is unpopular enough that we just have to hold on until November, at which point we will win the House of Representatives and maybe the Senate in Washington, and break the supermajorities in the North Carolina General Assembly.  But it doesn’t work that way.

Democrats need a positive vision, an affirmative argument for why people should vote for us, not just against the entrenched and corrupt Republicans in power.  We have that vision: a government that works for the people.  An agenda that expands and protects basic human rights, reduces inequality, invests in people, and puts every American in a position to fulfill their potential.  We just need to get the message out.  And that’s not on our elected representatives or the party leadership or the media – that’s on each and every one of us.  There will only be a blue wave if we all start moving some water.

You are the Democratic party’s best messengers.  Talk to your neighbors.  Call your family members.  Don’t assume that everyone you know will vote – make them promise to do so (and then follow up).  This election is too important to sit on the sidelines and hope that it all works out.  Put on your walking shoes, go meet some people, and convince them to vote Democratic for everyone’s sake.  Our state and our nation are depending on you.

 

Note:  If you want to coordinate with our precinct’s local efforts, contact us.  We’ll be sending out volunteer opportunities starting this week.

The new Precinct 35.3 web presence is up and running as of this weekend!

Website: www.soduprecinct353.com

Facebook:  Durham Precinct 35.3

Twitter:  @SoDuPrecinct353

We’ll be kicking off a voter registration canvassing effort in the coming weeks, so check back often for more details.  If you want to volunteer, please contact us.  We will have opportunities to pitch from now until Election Day.

And spread the word – the more people who are connected to each other through this site and social media, the greater an electoral impact we will have together!