๐Ÿœ Feeding America, Demanding More in the Central Valley

Part II: Our Southwest Swing State GOTV Election Roadtrip

Sam Chavez
Sam Chavez

Welcome Back! ๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿผ

๐Ÿœ๏ธ
We are highlighting our Southwest Swing State Roadtrip this month! Each week, I will report from and highlight key swing states or districts and reflect back on past newsletter topics that will impact the 2024 U.S. Election. This week, we swing over to the Central Valley in California, America's breadbasket. Read on for more...

In Case You Missed It: ๐Ÿœ The Margin of Victory Runs Through the Southwest

Whoops! This newsletter is coming out a day later because I simply forgot to schedule it while I've been out on the road. Hopefully the delay is that much sweeter like the last batch of peaches for the season that I picked up at a roadside stand in Taos, NM. ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿš™

The House Is Winnable In the Valley

We're officially on the road, meeting with voters during an ominously warm October. Bear and I have already met some incredible swing district candidates and we didn't have to go that far from what most think of as reliably blue San Francisco!

To kick off our Swing State Sweep, we actually start in California! Yes, it won't impact the presidency, but there are a few key districts in California that could lead to winning back the House of Representatives. Where is this magical place? It is in the Central Valley of California or what is referred to as the breadbasket of America.

The Central Valley is nestled in the middle of the state between the Sierra Nevada and Diablo mountain ranges just east of San Francisco. It gets its name for self explanatory reasons. It is a valley of vast amounts of land smack dab in the middle of California. For folks in the Bay Area, it's a drive-through region. For the most working class folks living and working across agriculture, manufacturing, and more, it is home.

The GOP only has a slim 8-seat control of the House of Representatives. Democrats has a chance to make up two of those seats they lost in 2022 by the slimmest of margins:

  • California District 13 - Adam Gray (D) lost his election by 564 votes in 2022 because of low-turnout during mid-term elections. Democrats are determined to take back this seat and help support constituents, not special interests.
    • Adam Gray is running again and we (Swing Left) have been out in Modesto, CA every weekend knocking on doors with his team and will continue to be there every weekend until election day.
  • California District 22 - Another tight election last cycle with David G. Valadao (R) barely defeating Rudy Salas (D) in 2022. This seat is one of 14 seats won by both Republican House candidates and Joe Biden in 2020.

These districts are not just important because of the overall control of the House, but also they are often areas that have been left overlooked in politics. Across the Central Valley and up and down the ticket, voters have a chance to be represented by local Democrats who understand the needs of their district.

Follow us on the socials for regular updated on the road! our TikTokInstagram, and YouTube.

Volunteer Your Ossoff Before November 5!

Feeling inspired? There are a ton of volunteer opportunities happening across the country. And I promise it's not as scary as you might think it is. My roadtrip trip is also to feature the amazing volunteer opportunities that you can still participate in before the election. Try one or two phonebanks or canvasses this year and I promise you'll feel more inspired and less anxious about the election. If you are in the Bay Area, we are hosting weekend trips to the Central Valley until election day!

Squeezing Out the Middle & Working Class

The main issues at play across the Central Valley are costs, costs, costs! The people living in Modesto, CA and other towns across the part of the state nestled in the middle of the state just east of San Francisco, are mostly working class, rural folks who are been heavily impacted by the corporate greed and rise in prices at play across the U.S. and world economies.

Our series in September 2022, we touched on the state of Labor Movements when Starbucks and Amazon workers were beginning to loudly declare unionization in-spite of the billionaire class backlash.

But thereโ€™s a much bigger more nefarious reason that inflation has continued and only gotten worse: corporate greed.
The U.S. government began the process of deregulation during the Reagan years and never stopped, meaning they removed laws like consumer protection, anti-monopoly, environmental protection, etc. to make it easier for businesses to make money.
Inflationโ€™s Impact on Movement Building
Part III: State of Labor Movements

Distraction & Shifting the Overton Window

Sadly, the election coverage barely includes the real-life consequences of communities across the country, because the horserace is more exciting for the media. However, it's also important to recognize how much our media discourse has shifted to the right since Donald Trump came into political life.

In our Black History Month series this February, we discussed the Evolving Face of Racism in the U.S., which was a precursor to J.D. Vance's very "normal" seeming debate performance.

The Claudine Gay ousting is a case study of how extremists muddy the waters through right-wing media that gets amplified up to the โ€œmainstreamโ€ media which parrots the talking points without any forethought. Letโ€™s talk about the person behind the effort to oust Harvardโ€™s first Black and Haitian-American president, Claudine Gay. He is a very special person that people should know about because these racist tactics are being used across the globe.
Christopher Rufo, who is not a Harvard alum, but went to their Extension School, calls himself a conservative activist and works to further marginalize BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks through anti-CRT, anti-trans, and anti-DEI efforts. His past work includes the Heritage Foundation, the organization behind our White Supremacist Supreme Court. He has been vocal that he's using a โ€œplaybookโ€ to pressure institutions to roll back any DEI initiatives.

Business Suits are the New Tiki Torches & Khakis

"Our biggest mistake is giving bad actors the benefit of the doubt. We see how that is playing out in Gaza in the most extreme, disastrous, and genocidal way. We have seen throughout history how bad actors can exploit our social norms. Both the examples of Rufo and Dimon illustrate how right-wing messaging can worm its way into mainstream narratives by exploiting our biases and using dog whistles to excite the base without the public catching wind. In short, they are doing it all out in the open and are hoping we don't notice."

These men are telling us directly what they believe regarding colonialismeugenics, and how our society should operate with them at the top. We should start believing them now.
๐ŸŒฑ Resetting the Terms of the Debate: The Rightโ€™s Media Trap
Part II: The Evolving Face of Racism in the U.S.

Stay tuned! Update your preference if youโ€™d like to get direct video updates on the road! We wonโ€™t email you more than once a week.

Enjoying our newsletter? Subscribe to get our resources and support in your inbox weekly. I created Roots of Change Media to help busy communicators and activists practice intentional activism through a decolonized lens.

storytelling for change - actionable communications advice for advocacy, activists, & campaigns

Last Week's Flowering Deep-Dive

๐Ÿ“š Donโ€™t Waste Your Ad Dollars | Tips for 2024 Fundraising


Keywords: Unlocking Google Ads Success

The primary way to target and create Google Ads is through keyword targeting. While on Instagram, you can advertise based on โ€œwhoโ€ the person is (i.e. targeting by age, geography, interest, etc.), Google search is more focused on the actionable โ€œhow.โ€  We're covering tips on creating strategic Google Ad campaigns.

  • There are a few free tools that can help you find your keyword strategy. Google Ads does a relatively good job of including research and planning tools in their platform. The Keyword Planner in Google Ads lets you do research a few different ways.
  • Googleโ€™s keyword tools are helpful, but they can also be flawed! The number one rule is to always be discerning and align back to your organization and strategy.
  • Have a tool to visualize your keyword strategy thatโ€™s not just the Google Ads platform. Our Google Grants Toolkit offers a tab thatโ€™s designed to help you see visually your keywords as broken out by your ad groups.
๐Ÿ“š The Keyword Strategies to Unlock Google Ads Success
Part III: 2024 Fundraising, Advertising, & Google Grants
Getting to the roots - evaluating the news with a social change lens
Building Media Literacy to Reshape the Conversation
  • ๐Ÿ“š The New York Times Sanitizes Trump; Fails Voters - This piece by Mark Jacob from Stop the Presses lays bare how The New York Timesโ€™ coverage softens the reality of Trump and the MAGA movement. The comparison between headline and quote is especially interesting!
    • ๐Ÿค“ The Root ๐ŸŒฑ - When we donโ€™t call out racism and mysogeny when it happens, then it festers and grows. The mainstream media has failed to meet the moment since 2016 when Trump first sued immigrants as scapegoats.
  • ๐ŸŽฌ Blackrock is Bad! - You've probably heard of the company Blackrock, but do you know that they do? Most people don't, but they are deeply influential in our society. @moreperfectunion has a great explainer video about it.
    • ๐Ÿค“ The Root ๐ŸŒฑ - "They claim theyโ€™re just passive investors, but theyโ€™re concentrating money and power in the hands of a few ultra-rich people."
  • ๐ŸŽ™ Why is Jill Stein Trying to Get Donald Trump Elected? - The What a Day podcast from Crooked Media has a helpful 30 minute episode breaking down Jill Stein's 20 year history of running as the Green Party candidate and her questionable ties to the Trump campaign.
    • ๐Ÿค“ The Root ๐ŸŒฑ - Many folks are searching for an ideal alternative to the two-party system in this election. Unfortunately, a third party vote will only be a spoiler vote. I believe our approach needs to be working in parallel paths within the Democratic Party while reforming our democracy to allow for more voices in our political system.

And that's a wrap on this weekโ€™s newsletter! We hope you found this helpful in your work to cultivate lasting social change. Forward this to a friend and help democratize communications!

If you have any topics you want covered or have any questions, please reach out and let me know.

In Solidarity,
Sam Chavez
Roots of Change Founder

About the roots of change agency โ€” helping activists and social change communicators navigate our media & tech landscape, avoid burnout, and build connective strategies. Donate to support our work.

๐ŸŒฑ Seedling Member Zone

Everyone's talking about the top of the ticket, but there are some crucial local races going on. I spoke with a local school board candidate about his election and the importance of voting down ballot to keep going with progressive policies like the largest fleet of electric school buses and avoid a MAGA school board takeover. Find our latest videos on our ๐ŸŽฌ Quick Bites page.

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