It is impossible to overstate what is at stake: two runoff wins & the Dems will have a free hand to heal our nation and reverse the travesty of justice that has been the Trump term. To lose even one of the races & McConnell will be in charge. Read on.

Today, we offer info on the importance of these Senate runoff races, contact information for the campaigns and then at the end, a little soulful inspiration from Ray Charles to ensure you have Georgia on Your Mind. Also just above the Ray Charles video is an 8:45 am update thanks to Heather Karlson. She has identified some other ways to effectively support Georgia effort beyond donations and calls. Before we dive in, an alert from Working Families Party.

Working Families Party: Frontline Tonight 6pm MT

Last Wednesday, those of you who joined the WFP Frontline call, heard from Stacey Abrams and organizers from around the country about the incredible work they did to win the election. The votes are in, and the resilience of our movements proved that when we fight we win. But the work continues. In our next post, we will write about how Stacey Abrams and other women of color worked for ten years to flip Georgia, a lesson to Democrats in CD-2 and given the narrow win by Senator-elect Ben Ray Lujan, a lesson to the entire DPNM. Stay tuned. But tonight, WFP takes center stage.

Join this Wednesday, November 11th at 8:00 PM EST, and get important updates and action steps about how we move forward together.

Stacey Abrams told us that “You don’t get the power you ask for, you get the power you take.” When we come into the community together – when we learn, dream, and support one another – anything is possible. We’re going to need to win the senate in Georgia and turn these electoral victories into wins for our communities. Below, Retake lays out what you can do.

Georgia: The Races That Will Shape the Next 2-4 Years

This weekend, the Washington Post offered a short piece outlining just how bad a GOP controlled Senate would be. We now have a chance to avoid that situation. Consider these observations if the GOP continues its control of the US Senate, from the Post:

• Absolutely zero chance of any meaningful Covid relief for those out of work or for states and cities out of money, none.
• Absolutely zero chance of any kind of judicial reform, court expansion or anything. We would be hostage to the court system created by McConnell and Trump;
• No Green New Deal;
• No criminal justice reform;
• No path to citizenship;
• No relief for students with overwhelming student debt; and
• Remarkably, the Senate could actually refuse to approve any and all cabinet positions, no Secretary of the Treasury or Secretary of State approved unless they are Republican.

But we can prevent this and by now you are experts on what needs to be done. Are you ready to get involved in the two Georgia Senate runoffs slated for Jan 5? We can do this and below you will find links for how to donate, how to make calls or send texts and other ways to become involved.

I’ve heard it said that if we want to heal the country, the best thing that could happen is that the GOP hold the Senate, forcing Biden to negotiate with the GOP and in doing so, heal the country by passing bipartisan legislation. I don’t know what the people saying this have been smoking, but they apparently didn’t notice just how collaborative Mitch McConnell and the GOP were during the last two years of Obama’s term and how much kumbaya they’ve been signing the last four years. The GOP Senate is not to be trusted; the GOP Senate is not to be negotiated with; The GOP Senate is to be defeated. Period.

The best way for America to heal is for Biden to not have to heed GOP concerns, but rather for the left to press him to advance legislation that will substantively address the long unmet needs of communities of color, of women, of students AND VERY IMPORTANTLY, of those middle class, largely white people who voted for Trump. None of these groups have had either party do much for them, as they’ve been too busy catering to the rich and the mega corporations. The best way to heal America, is to actually heal America, that is, to implement bold legislation that puts people before profit and demonstrate to America that one party cares, not to reach across the aisle and be forced to accept massive corporate handouts to obtain GOP approval for tepid Democratic plans.

We’ve got 56 days to ensure that the Democrats win both of these runoff elections. I’ve put feelers out to several folks I trust to identify the best, most reliable ways to support this effort as I noted that I was receiving emails requesting donations for various campaigns from a half dozen sources and wondered whether some were pitches more about building their organization than supporting the campaigns they purported to be supporting.

Who are the Democratic Senate Candidates?

Jon Ossoff is an investigative journalist committed to strengthening our civil rights laws. His opponent embodies everything that’s wrong with our political system from lying to Americans about coronavirus to blatant corruption.

Rev. Raphael Warnock has dedicated his life to serving his community as Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the former pulpit of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His ultra-conservative opponent will spend whatever it takes to keep this seat red.

And let’s be clear, for progressive’s, Rev. Warnock has the stronger allure, but if we are to secure control of the Senate, we need to win both these races, so if Warnock is the more appealing candidate, donate and support him, but don’t forget Ossof. To meet our goals, we must win BOTH these races. I will continue to research other ways to write letters, send cards, and other actions through the national Indivisible, but for now, I am suggesting the following sites where you can find out how best to support these campaigns.

How to Help the Candidate’s Campaigns.

Update: 7:52 AM. One of our trusted allies from Indivisible, Rayellen Smith, has heard from the Stacey Abrams that both campaigns are totally overwhelmed with volunteers and worry that if they deluge Georgians with phone calls, it will be counterproductive. So for now, they are asking for donations only. We will keep you posted on other ways to support their campaigns. One that needs to be investigated is handwritten letters as those are said to be quite effective. Another effective strategy would be to reach out to any Georgians you know personally and encourage that they not just vote, but that contact the campaigns to do whatever is asked. I believe that both campaigns are doing socially distanced, masked canvassing. Stay tuned.

• To volunteer for the Jon Ossof “Run Your Ossof” campaign: Ossof for U.S. Senate. They are organizing twice daily phone banking seven days a week, at 1pm MT and 4pm MT. You can sign up at this link.
• To donate directly to the Jon Ossof campaign: Click here to make a donation.
• To volunteer for the Rev. Raphael Warnock campaign: Warnock for U.S. Senate. Here you can sign up to text or call for Rev. Warnock. You can also host an event, like a remote house party.
• To Donate to the Rev. Raphael Warnock campaign: Click here to donate.

Another source which will play an important role in these races is the organization led by Stacey Abrams, Fair Fight. Fair Fight’s website indicates that funds they receive will be split 1/3 for Warnock, 1/3 for Ossof and 1/3 for Fair Fight. See below for what Fair Fight does and look for more on Fair Fight and Stacey Abrams in our next post. As a PAC, it can also create mailers and ads on TV that do not come from the campaigns themselves.

Fair Fight promotes fair elections in Georgia and around the country, encourage voter participation in elections, and educate voters about elections and their voting rights. Fair Fight brings awareness to the public on election reform, advocates for election reform at all levels, and engages in other voter education programs and communications.

Voter suppression of voters of color and young voters is a scourge our country faces in states across the nation.  Georgia’s 2018 elections shone a bright light on the issue with elections that were rife with mismanagement, irregularities, unbelievably long lines and more, exposing both recent and also decades-long actions and inactions by the state to thwart the right to vote. Georgians and Americans are fighting back. Fair Fight Acion engages in voter mobilization and education activities and advocates for progressive issues; in addition Fair Fight Action has mounted significant programs to combat voter suppression in Georgia and nationally. Fair Fight PAC has also initiated programs to support voter protection.

WOW: Retake Supporters are Informed: Update 8:45 AM

Heather Karlson sent this along to me after reading our post. She is a solid resource. Read on for ways to effectively support the Georgia effort.

I watched a great presentation (which included an interview with Ossoff) on Sunday by a group of folks who have been researching the best ways to help with these races and have identified a few.

Based on their recommendation, I just donated to Block Power, a group run by a professor at Howard University, which has developed an effective way to get Black citizens in Georgia engaged in community organizing by getting non-voters out to vote. This group will be doing another presentation this Thursday at 6 pm Mountain time, with Warnock as a guest.

Here’s the info:

GA Senate Runoff – Rev. Warnock

Thursday, Nov 12th at 5:00 PM Pacific/ 8:00 PM Eastern

Please RSVP here.

And here’s the info on the donations they recommend, (in addition to donating directly to the campaigns):

Both Block Power and Voter Participation Center are nonprofit, non-partisan 501(c)3s so . . . on top of giving by check, credit card, or stocks, you can also give through a DAF, charitable fund, or family foundation.

Block Power: (tax deductible option to their c3, but c4 donations preferred) Click Here

The Voter Participation Center: (tax deductible) Click Here

In addition to calling and texting opportunities with Fair Fight that you mentioned, Working America is doing another effective calling and letter-writing program (similar to the one they did for swing states in the general election). They make it super easy – you personalize and print your letters, then sign and address them by hand to ensure they get opened. The letters don’t talk about the election, just about health care issues to help get voters engaged. These voters will then be followed up by calls or canvassers from Working America. You do have to provide your own paper, envelopes, and stamps. I did a bunch of these for the general and it is easy and fun. Here’s the info from Working America:

We’ve identified folks at 956,000 households in Georgia who are ideal targets for our health care letters (or postcards). The pandemic is continuing to rage across the country and by sharing relatable personal experiences with this group of modeled targets, our research shows we can shape how these folks’ interpret new information and make decisions. For a quick refresher on the research on this tactic, check out this summary:

Working America Letter-Writing Research GA

Additionally, we’ll have opportunities for volunteers to phonebank with us in order to recruit new Working America members. We have a goal of recruiting 75,000 new members in Georgia in the next two months. Studies have repeatedly shown our members are 3-5 times more likely to be receptive to our communications than the general public. It’s critical we’re able to break through the noise to reach as many people as possible in the next couple of months.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for bringing people together for positive change. Join us for letter-writing, phonebanking, or both by signing up at workam.org/VolunteerGA and we’ll follow up via email when our programs launch tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 10.

And now, in hopes that Georgia will very much be on your mind, a little inspiration from Ray Charles.

In solidarity and a whole heckuva lot more hope than last week at this time,

Paul & Roxanne

Categories: Election, Political Reform & National Politics

Tags: Featured, Georgia, Ossoff, read more, Senate runoff, Stacey Abrams, Warnock