Each month Trump’s message becomes more hateful and baseless, but this messaging is what left us stunned in 2016 and it foretells a truly terrifying 2020 campaign where any semblance of democracy is jeopardized. We need to send a clear message now. If you have been on the sidelines til now, get in the game before the game is over.
Look for tomorrow or Sunday’s post as it will include a score sheet on all of the swing districts which will spell victory or defeat. So much is at stake and with this Election Viewer’s Guide open, you’ll instantly be able to watch TV results and appreciate how each race’s returns are leading to victory or defeat on a state or national level. It may not be published til Sunday, as right now I am focusing on getting people active. Voting right now is not enough. Trump has raised the ante significantly. Too much is at stake and echoes of Nov. 8, 2016 are blaring in my head. Read on. Then act.
The very best thing you could do is to send this post to 5-10 friends and ask them to join you, either at the campaign headquarters in your community, to head to ABQ to be trained to canvass for Xochitl and to knock some doors, or to get organize your own phone banking team. That is what is needed now. Info on how to do all of the above can be found below. Let’s Do This.
Think About How You Felt Nov 8, 2016, 5pm. We Can’t Let It Happen Again. But It Could
I am both sad and angry. But mostly I am scared because I keep thinking about 5pm Nov 8, 2016 and my growing horror as I watched shocked commentators reporting on one stunning Trump win after another. His lies and his vile hateful language had carried the day. That simply can’t happen again.
Yet, I fear it could. I have assembled three short videos for you today. Watch them carefully, consider how Trump and the GOP have created a national emergency to transform what is supposed to be a dignified election into a racist war. And be fearful, as that strategy delivered Nov 8, 2016. Please, don’t just get sad and angry, get active for just four damned days.
Video I with the Ad Itself:16 Minutes. CNN video below from #AMJOY presents both the infamous Willie Horton ad, followed by the new Trump-funded ad. Both ads presented within the first 2 minutes of the clip. After viewing the ad, four commentators, GOP and Democrat, characterize the ad as vile and counter productive to any future GOP effort to build a base. “That ad is disgusting, it is racist and it is a dog whistle.” And that from a GOP strategist. The commentary also included one very important point: where is the Democratic Party leadership response? Thus far, it has largely focused on the ad as a distraction from discussion of healthcare and other mainstream Democratic messaging. Where is the courageous rebuke of this ad? If it won’t come from leadership, it is time for us to lead. Let’s turn NM 100% blue and then push our leadership to lead.
Video Clip II The Absence of Threat & the Real Motivation Behind the Troop Buildup. 4minutes.The video clip below includes extensive video of the actual caravan with commentary from Idrees Ali who is covering Gen. Mattis and the military buildup on the border. Ali points to how the administration has failed to provide any evidence that there is a threat to the US and shows the caravan almost 1000 miles from the border and weeks away from reaching it. He questions the timing of the buildup. As should we all.
Video III Includes Clips of the Frightening, Hateful Rhetoric Fox Spews Across the Nation. Five Minutes. This video clip focuses upon the degree to which Fox News is complicit in fomenting hate, the very hate that inspired the horror in Pittsburg and that now is characterizing brown people as murderers and rapists. This is a powerful five minute piece and should be a very scary warning of what is almost certainly coming from Trump and Fox. The ton and tenor of the clips of Fox commentary is truly terrifying..
Please watch them all and as you do, think about 2016 and also think about 2020. If the hateful rhetoric can get this bad at the mid-term, imagine 2020.
- If Trump is willing to blame Democrats and accuse them of funding the fleeing refugees, what is he willing to say in 2020?
- If Trump is willing to spend $150M to send 15,000 troops to our border the week before the election and a month or more from when the first refugees will reach our border, what threat to our country will he concoct in 2020 and against whom will he deploy our troops then? Us?
- If Trump is willing to suspend the truth by claiming that no other nation on earth allows being born in a country to translate into citizenship, despite at least 35 other nations doing so, what other truths will he suspend in 2020.
- If Trump is willing to suspend the Constitution and to forbid by executive order the 14th Amendment, in 2020 what other Amendments might he suspend? Freedom of speech? freedom of the press? or even the right to hold an election itself.
We have four days. There is nothing on earth that is more important than making sure we send an irrefutable message to Washington. Nothing. If you work. Try to get some time off. If you have a social calendar, ask those with whom you were going to hang out to join you in a canvass or phone banking effort. If you can’t walk easily, you can call from home. If you don’t like phone banking, canvass. If you don’t like either, ask yourself this: How much do you like the rhetoric and actions being conducted in our name right now and think again about your shock on Nov. 8, 2016.
Every single NM race is important, many are so close a few calls or door knocks can make the difference. Imagine the difference between a glorious victory on Tuesday and that sinking feeling as you slowly realize that somehow Xochitl has lost and that Steve Pearce will be our Governor. Seems impossible. But then so did Nov 8, 2016 and the ads being spewed by the GOP right now are designed to instill fear and rage and to motivate a bunch of Republicans who may not have voted otherwise. That was his strategy in 2016, when Democrats were divided and bitter over the 2016 primary. We need to pull together for four days and turn NM 100% blue.
What You Can Do the Week Before the Mid-Term has been updated again. Click here. It still includes how to call for Xochitl, Beto, Stephanie Garcia Richards and Abbas Akhil, but now it includes info on how you can get to Valencia County and be paid $15/hour to canvass every day between now and election day. It also includes an urgent need for someone with experience to volunteer in Los Lunas to help coordinate and train other volunteers (housing in ABQ will be provided). The Xochitl campaign is overwhelmed with volunteers and now they need a volunteer to grow their Valencia County coordination team from 3 to 4. If you want to serve as a volunteer coordinator, call Soledad Roybal at 917 757-1963. If you want to canvass for Xochitl in Los Lunas, get to 5100 Grand Ave. NE, ABQ by noon if you are not an experienced canvasser, or by 1pm if you are. You will canvass from 2-6:30 and then be bussed back to ABQ. There is housing available in ABQ for those who want to cut down on the driving. Let’s Do This.
Seriously folks, it is our time, it is your time. Put aside whatever is on your plate and help save our future.
In solidarity,
Paul & Roxanne
Video I with the Ad Itself and 10 Minutes of Tremendous Commentary
Video II: The Absence of Threat & the Real Motivation Behind the Troop Buildup. 4minutes.
Video III Clips of the Frightening, Hateful Rhetoric Fox Spews Across the Nation. 5 Minutes.
Categories: Election, Political Reform & National Politics, Personal & Collective Action
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