🏜 The Margin of Victory Runs Through the Southwest
Announcing Our Southwest Swing State GOTV Election Roadtrip
Welcome Back! 👋🏼
In Case You Missed It: 🌱 Heart & Humanity — 1 Year Later
Welcome to GOTV Season!
We have officially entered the home stretch to the U.S. election or what campaigns call GOTV (get out the vote) season! This is the final period of a campaign when the main goal of the campaign is to get as many of their people out to vote as possible. Or what JD Vance likes to call, taking a break from his couch.
In that spirit and to make the most of the last few weeks of the election, I will be hitting the road with my corgi pup, Bear, to roadtrip across the Southwest to volunteer and amplify the candidates and organizations who have been working all year to push back against the authoritarianism of the modern GOP. I'm really excited to share the learnings back with you!
Our Southwest Swing State GOTV Roadtrip
As ballots are dropping, Bear and I are heading out on the road to canvass, volunteer, and uplift the organizations & candidates working in key swing districts in the Southwest. (watch our video intro)
Margin of Victory Runs Through the Southwest
We are going to win this election in a game of inches (or the Margin of Effort!) despite having the popular vote. The southwest is where we can push back against the authoritarian bent of the GOP. Biden won Arizona by only 10,457 votes and the margin was even narrower in local and state races.
Arizona and Nevada could make the difference in the Presidential, Senate, and Congressional elections (not to mention some crucial state and local seats and ballot initiatives). If Kamala Harris wins, we need a Democratic trifecta to pass voting rights, abortion, healthcare, and all of the other important priorities we as Americans have. Just two states and a few key congressional districts are how we can:
- Elect the first Black-Indian American woman as President plus a Democratic cabinet and Supreme Court (electoral college wins in Nevada and Arizona)
- Win back the House of Representatives (through California district 22 and 13)
- Maintain the Senate majority (in Nevada and Arizona)
- Take back the Arizona State Senate from GOP control after 22 years
- Expand the Nevada Democratic majority in the State Senate to pass housing and economic reform
So join me here each week for an update on the road. If you want to follow us on the socials, we will be regularly updating our TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Finally, I want to thank the Bay Area Coalition and Swing Left who I’m collaborating with on this trip. Update your preferences to get our Friday newsletters featuring the BAC's messaging library. Stay tuned!
Last Week's Flowering Deep-Dive
📚 Don’t Waste Your Ad Dollars | Tips for 2024 Fundraising
The Emotional Impact of Your Message
Danami-Maurice, the Story Director at BairStories, has a thoughtful piece about developing engaging stories that evoke emotion. It’s packed with helpful advice for video creators and nonprofit storytellers.
- “If your goal is to inspire and drive impact, you need to tap into the limbic system, which is responsible for emotional reactions and creates positive emotional connections.”
- Avoid wasting time on flat stories that don’t engage people
- Learn the three reasons to connect on a deeper level with your audience
- Try these 4 steps for creating engaging video stories that resonate
Danami-Maurice Champion
- 📚 Can Ohioans End Gerrymandering? - Ohio is so extremely gerrymandered that Democrats can win statewide, but has been locked out of state legislature control for decades. This November, voters have a chance to end this deadlock with a ballot measure backed by the Brennan Center that would give the power to draw district maps to an independent commission made up of Ohio citizens.
- 🤓 The Root 🌱 - These initiatives have been successful in the past, which is why many states controlled by Republicans are doing everything they can to stop people from voting fairly. If our vote didn’t count, they wouldn’t work this hard to stop us form voting. Check your voter registration status and learn more about gerrymandering.
- 📚 Mr. Moneybags Kid & The SCOTUS Takeover - Rolling Stones has a deep dive of Leonard Leo the head of the Federalist Society who has been instrumental in taking over the U.S. court system to force draconian right-wing policies that the majority don’t want on the electorate.
- 🤓 The Root 🌱 - If you think the election is just about a President, think again! The Supreme Court and the future vision of our country are also at stake. There has been a decades-long strategy for a right-wing takeover of the courts. They have succeeded very well! But we can be the ones to push back and reform the court. We just have to know what we're dealing with. Catch up on our SCOTUS History series.
- 📚 Vance Lies, Distracts from Housing Crisis Led By Corporate Greed - During the debate, JD Vance did a good impression of a normal politician as he lied at every corner. He continually used the old trope of blaming immigrants for the problems that stem from wealth hoarding by the elite. The most egregious was blaming immigrants for the housing crisis.
- 🤓 The Root 🌱 - “The simple fact is that the housing crisis lies squarely at the feet of the malevolence of developers just like Donald Trump himself. The reality is that unregulated real estate practices are at the heart of the issue.” - The Intercept
- 🎬 Why GDP Isn’t Working for Economic Wellbeing - This video by @greenpeace explains how GDP is a crude way of measuring the economy and what could be an alternative.
- 🤓 The Root 🌱 - Economic growth at all costs has led to vast inequality and a planet in ecological crisis. Read up on our Degrowth series to learn about a new way to view our economy for an equitable, sustainable world.
And that's a wrap on this week’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
🌱 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 🎬 Quick Bites page.
This post is for paying subscribers only
SubscribeAlready have an account? Log in
