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"Let’s not worry about imagined disasters. We should be realistic. We should be open to the truth. But let’s stop rehearsing catastrophe in our heads as a defense mechanism against disappointment or as a way of mediating anxiety. Action is the antidote to anxiety."
-- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition Newsletter, 12/30/23
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Hi all!
We’re ready to hit the ground running for the next ten months until the elections. We are committed to ongoing actions as a local Indivisible group, and we hope that each of you will commit to whatever actions you can personally take between now and November.
We know how easy it is to tune out the barrage of information, requests, warnings, and negative news. We know that if you are getting this newsletter, you have probably been doing this work for a long time. We know that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep hearing that "this is the most important election of your life!"
But it is 2024, and a man who many of us wrongly thought could never ever win in 2016 is likely to be the Republican presidential candidate again this year. We don't have to wonder how bad it might get...he has told us, and we have seen for ourselves that neither his party, nor the courts, nor centuries of political norms are going to stop him.
What will stop him is what has been so effective for the past seven years: grassroots organizing. Get people registered to vote, aware of the issues, and to the polls so that they can make their voices heard. There are more of us than there are of them, and we can win this, one vote at a time.
We each can't do everything, but every single one of us can do something. We can each make a difference.
So please. Take our survey to let us know how you want Indivisible-RISE to proceed this year. Join us on January 16th for our first monthly meeting in 2024. Write postcards. Text voters. Phonebank. Donate money. Contact Congress. Write Letters to the Editor. Talk to friends and neighbors around the country. Do whatever makes sense to you to make sure that Biden and Democrats win in November.
Let's all commit to a weekly action between now and the elections. If the thousands of individuals concerned about the threats to our democracy and our country all make this commitment, we can (and will!) prevail in November!
Onward.
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TO DO
Share your ideas about our 2024 Plans
Complete this survey to tell us your interests and priorities for this year. We want to plan our focus and actions to meet your needs.
Write Postcards for Time-Sensitive Campaigns
Weekly Action Hour begins again on Wednesday January 10th at 5:30-6:30 at NU Kitchen on Pleasant Street. Initially, we'll write to NH voters to encourage them to write in Biden at that state's Jan 23rd primary.
Write remotely to encourage voters in NY-3 to vote for the Democrat running to replace the expelled George Santos. This is an historically Democratic district that Biden won by 10 points, and where voters are angry that the candidate they elected was a lying criminal. The time is ripe to elect a Democrat to replace him and gain a seat in Congress, so let's help get out the vote for this Feb 13th special election.
As always, pick up postcards at one of our pickup locations and email indivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com for the script and addresses. If you are new to this program, email us for instructions.
Join us at the first in-person meeting of 2024 on January 16th
We are resuming monthly meetings with guest speakers, updates, actions, and a chance to ask questions and share ideas. This month, we will review our 2023 accomplishments, discuss strategy and key elections for 2024, and welcome guest speaker Larry Drake of the NH Write In Biden campaign. Larry will talk about how we can help ensure that Biden wins their Jan 23rd primary through a write-in process, and how this will help set the tone for the upcoming primaries around the country.
Our meeting is at Central Congregational Church on Titcomb Street at 7:00-8:30 pm on Tuesday, Jan 16th. RSVP's are not required, but we'd love to know if you are coming so that we have an idea of how many people to expect. Please reply to this newsletter or email us at indivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com to let us know if you will attend the meeting.
Help the New Hampshire Write In Biden Campaign
Granite State Write-In is a grass roots, volunteer-driven effort committed to organizing voters to show support for Joe Biden in the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Primary on January 23, 2024. While DNC rules are leaving Joe Biden off the primary ballot, New Hampshire Democrats and Democrat-leaning Independents overwhelmingly support Joe Biden and plan to write him in.
You can help by 1) encouraging your Democrat and Democrat-leaning Independent friends and family in NH to turn out and write in Joe Biden’s name on the 2024 New Hampshire Primary ballot; 2) write postcards to NH voters at Action Hour on Jan 10; and 3) register here to hold a sign outside a Hampton or Seabrook polling place on January 23. If you'd like to hold a sign at a polling place elsewhere in NH, please sign up here.
We'll hear directly from an organizer of this campaign at our Jan 16th meeting. With the New Hampshire primary taking place on Jan 23rd, though, there is no time to wait until then to get started with these efforts.
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TO CONSIDER
Democrats' Secret Weapon in 2024 is an optimistic piece describing how Democrats have been defeating extremists and are on a path to victory in 2024.
For a compelling piece by Indivisible Co-Director Ezra Levin on how to keep going, and how to talk about the fight when it feels like everyone has heard it all before, read this.
It will be critical this year to focus on young voters (ages18-35). This podcast entitled Are Young Voters Tuning Out 2024? is a useful discussion about what motivates young voters and what might help encourage them to get out to vote for Democrats this November.
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TO CELEBRATE
Democracy was on the Docket in 2023 and it Won, by voting rights lawyer Mark Elias, is a concise summary of many pro-democracy and pro-voter decisions that courts (even conservative ones) issued in 2023. These decisions overrode unreasonable and sometimes unconstitutional decisions of Republican legislatures. They help restore faith in our system and offer hope for 2024 and beyond.
Below is a list of positive news and action taken in December to help protect democracy and voter rights.
Election News
Voter Protection Updates
LA - The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by the state of Louisiana to the right of private parties to sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act. Had the court accepted the state's arguments, it could have severely limited enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.
MN - A state court judge dismissed a lawsuit by a conservative group challening a new state law that restores voting rights to people convicted of a felony upon release from incarceration.
NY - The State Court of Appeals granted Democrats a chance to approve a new set of congressional districts, effectively throwing out a map that led to several Republican victories in 2022. This may lead to Democrats picking up as many as 6 seats in 2024 and could determine who controls the House during the next Congress.
OH - Democrats are challening Republican incumbents in every 2024 State Senate race. This is a huge improvement over the 2022 elections when 20 Republicans in the senate ran uncontested. Democrats cannot win elections if they do not run!
WI - The State Supreme Court ruled that the state's voting maps (drawn to favor Republicans) were unconstitutional. The Court ordered that new maps be drawn before the 2024 election, a ruling that could produce a seismic political shift in this crucial swing state. This ruling was due to the election of Janet Protasiewicz for whom we wrote postcards - bravo!
As always, we appreciate and rely on two sources for most of this information: Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water newsletter and Democracy Docket.
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