An inspiring day yesterday of canvassing for Abbas, texting for Stacy Abrams and participating in an architects charrette focused on sustainable housing options for the homeless, for very low-income renters, and for the very clever use of a range of misused urban properties. A good day. A brief report.
Friends of Architecture Housing Different. And boy was it different.. I will be writing extensively about the charrette next week and beyond. This is a group of truly inspired and creative folks who have created a number of very outside the box ideas for developing very low-income affordable housing, supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals, co-housing for more affordable home buying and community building, and 21st century bi-modal transportation systems. And while the concepts were outside the box, they were also eminently doable. It was mind-blowing. There were no elected officials present, indeed, I was likely one of perhaps 3-4 folks who were not architects in the room of about 50-60 folks. Their thinking needs a much broader audience. Soon. But til Tuesday it is election, election, election.
Journey Santa Fe Today at 11 at Collected Works. Democratic Socialists of America. A talk featuring Ken Baumann and Cathy Garcia. I’ve had them on the radio show and they are very inciteful. The conversation will include DSA’s take on healthcare for all and the Health Security Act in NM. Check them out, then head over to the Coordinated Campaign headquarters on Botulph and find something to do. See below for details.
Scary Trends in Polling Friday and Saturday.. I’ve been tracking polls to update the Returns Watching Guide I will publish Tuesday, I am noting a small but disturbing trend. Candidates like Stacy Abrams and Andrew Gillum, dropping a bit with leads cut by 1-2% or in Abrams case evaporating entirely into a tie. In NM, a KOB poll had MLG’s lead dropping from 9% to 5% and Xochitl going from 1/2 point up to 3 points down. I also noted Trump’s favorability ratings creeping upwards. And then the memories of 2016 flood back. We can’t take this for granted. And so, today, my encouragement to use the next three days to be active. I must say,
I have been very encouraged to hear from do many folks in emails about all the canvassing and calling they are doing. I know that many of you have turned the last two weeks into your own personal campaign central. Kudos to all of you. And so while many of you have found your niche, here are some new and not new but important opportunities for those of you who may not have become active. Among the new opportunities: a clever way to use texting to reach hundreds of voters in minutes and a 1-3pm women’s gathering in Santa Fe first to have conversation and then to call in support of women candidates. It is not too late to have an impact. Let’s Do This. See below.
Virtual Phone Banking for Xochitl Torres Small from home. Click here. It is very easy and very important.
Stand Up for Stephanie. This is a race I am very worried about. And Land Commissioner is such an important position and Pat Lyons is such a bad option. If you go to SGR’s campaign site and go to Volunteer and sign up, Sharon will contact you and give you the link and phone bank code. Once you’ve got that, the rest is easy. Click here for times, dates and actions (canvass/phone banking).
Volunteer Opportunities in Santa Fe (and now throughout the State). At the Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign offices throughout the state, there will be canvass launches, phone banking operations, and even targeted texting to voters. NMFA office in Santa Fe located at 2006 Botulph, suite 2 offers a range of phone banking and canvassing activities pretty much every day, all day, Click here for times, dates and actions (canvass/phone banking) in Santa Fe, but the link also provides information about campaign efforts throughout the state, a fantastic tool.
Texting from Home for Working Families Party. A Remarkable Tool. I ran tinto Eric Shimamoto at the Abbas canvass kick off (below), and he introduced me to the Working Families Party (national, not NM) website where you can sign up to text for WFP endorsed candidates: think Stacey Abrams for Gov in Georgia and Andrew Gillum in Florida, also Governor. From Eric I learned that you can go to WFP, click to join #Text4Resistence, a Slack platform where you obtain a ‘coach’ to support you and where you get lists to text to for various candidates. Scripts are provided, even responses to most common questions. You can pick the candidate from among the WFP candidates. Once you sign up on slack you are directed to download “Scope” an app which is the tool you use to actually text voters. What happens next is a miracle. You can text 50 people from your list in less than a minute. Each recipient will get a brief message about why to support candidate X and how to get more info on the candidate and where to vote. Then you stop for a bit and wait to field questions. The system takes a bit to figure out, hence the value of the coach, but for those who don’t feel fully comfortable representing a candidate and discussing positions with someone on the fence, this is a great way to get in the game. Click here to sign up. You can be texting within 15 minutes.
Mayor Keller, Moi, and Neri Holquin, campaign manager supreme
Abbas Akhil (HD 20). I canvassed for Abbas yesterday, hitting 80 doors and talking with lots of people. It is remarkable to find so many people who give so little thought to voting, to the election and while they may know about who is running for Governor, they may have given little thought to down ballot candidates or the overall importance of the election. In 2-3 minute front door chats you can often help someone see the importance and translate a caring but politically disinterred person into a caring voter. Tim Keller was at the kickoff for the canvassing and then canvassed with Abbas. Before hand I spoke at length with Tim and he has agreed to come on the radio show again and wants to work with Roxanne and I and Mayor Webber to do a couple of thought provoking panels that will offer both Mayors to wrestle with the “how could we get this done here” part of translating good ideas Roxanne and I gleaned from the Road Trip into operational programs in NM. More on this after the election. In any case, it is not too late for you to get out there and canvass. I may have mentioned that before 😉
- Saturday, November 3, 9am—12pm, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller will walk doors with volunteers and supporters!
- Call or Walk Saturday, November 3, and Sunday, November 4. 2018. Join us for our final push to inspire and reach voters!
- Sunday, 10am-6pm to walk and 2pm to 7pm to call.
- GOTV Monday, November 5, 2pm-7pm
- GOTV Tuesday, November 6, 6:45am-7pm
- 7pm, Election Night watch party is at Hotel Albuquerque, 800 Rio Grande Blvd NW
Women Calling for Women Candidates TODAY. You can also join more than 30 women who have already RSVPd, including Roxanne 🙂 tomorrow, Sunday Nov 4 from 1-3 for Convos and Calls – a brief conversation with Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (which includes NM) CEO Vicki Cowart and CXO Adrienne Mansanares, as well as others, about what’s at stake for women in this election, and then make calls to get Planned Parenthood Votes NM endorsed candidates elected!
Snacks and drinks will be provided, but please remember to bring your cell phone and a charger! See you then!
RSVP to JuliannaKoob@gmail.com for location details!
In solidarity,
Paul & Roxanne
Categories: Election, Political Reform & National Politics, Personal & Collective Action
I would bet that not one of those Architects ever set foot or spent any time in any current Subsidized Housing. New Mexico used to have 2 versions of Architect Licensing, one the real one required Math, and Engineering. The other one was just a glorified design degree. It is really disturbing how there is no observation of how any of these current housing programs work, or don’t. One would think in order to design or conceptualize anything new, one would at least observe what is already in place. It is actually kind of terrifying, this abject obliviousness,. Here in Santa Fe, they slap a new coat of stucco on it all, so that is looks good for the realtors selling properties down the street. Out of sight out of mind!
There is plenty of time for more dirty tricks before Election Day. Too bad none of our local officials paid attention after 2000. Over the years I have observed plenty of hanky panky right here in Santa Fe, and Las Cruces. I have yet to hear about anyone asking the question or doing any thought experiments of putting themselves in the shoes of average people. The people whose exposure to fact based information is limited to the check out stand at Wal Mart or the Dollar Store. The people who can’t afford Cable, or Internet. The more comfortable retired folks around here are in an information silo too. one that involves watching the stock market constantly. Plenty of people around here are invested in the conspiracy theories too. No one paid attention in 2016, on how local sites were inundated with trolls, and some of it was encouraged. It showed “Engagement” and brought in advertising dollars.
The information silos on sites like Facebook, Instagram, of course those relying on those tools have no idea how manipulative any of it is. The “Marketplace” of ideas, the false belief that politics and marketing go together. No one picked up on the subtext in the Marijuana and Alternative Medicine Community here either. There was a particularly noxious article about the CBD racket in yesterday’s news. It regurgitated the online trolls trope about healthcare as a “Market.” I almost spit out my coffee.
I really don’t think that a lot of people around here understand what is at stake here. There really is no choice, one one side we have fascism, and the end of our way of life, death, despair and agony. Unfortunately the media outlets most people are exposed to, failed to inform them of the facts. It is a lot worse than we think! Around Santa Fe, there is still a sense of complacency, normal looking people are more concerned with conspiracy theories than the facts. I eavesdrop on the conversations at nearby tables in restaurants, and engage people in conversation, unlike so many.