Dems, we got mad, now let's get strategic
Job 1: Elect Cheri Beasley as our next US Senator from North Carolina
I’ve moved past feeling shut down in anger, to looking for strategic next steps to take in 2022 to protect our reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I will be interviewing an expert for advice on this very soon, and in the meantime I forming my thoughts about what Dems and Independents in North Carolina should be thinking & doing.
We are working within a highly flawed system, but Rs have figured out how to grab fore the levers of power, and we need to fight back. I want Dems to act with integrity and true to our values, AND fight HARD. (Don’t lie, steal, or cheat, but FIGHT!)
Initial thoughts:
North Carolina is a critical state, one of the 7 states that “matters” in 2024. It is important to know that now. (The Mary Trump Show has a great strategy new session which I recommend, talking about this. The 7 states that are up for grab as swing states in 2024 are: NC, WI, MI, PA, AZ NV. I hate that only 7 states “matter”—it is frankly a dysfunctional and offensive state of affairs. But it is the system we are stuck in for now.
This means that it is crucial to vote NOW for Dems up and down the ballot in 2022. I know that we have been told “VOTE” time and time again and it is frustrating when things don’t change, but voting is still absolutely necessary, if not sufficient, for change. Right now we need to vote for Democratic candidates like our lives & livelihoods depend on it, because they do.
Some of the key levers of power to defend: US Senate, Congress, Governors (not on the ballot in NC this year), NC General Assembly, boards of elections, Secretaries of State (not on the ballot in NC this year), school boards.
Congress is hard because of gerrymandering of House districts. The US Senate is a statewide vote of coures, which makes it a great opportunity this year—let’s be inspired by he election of Senators Warnock and Osoff in Georgia.
PLEASE SUPPORT CHERI BEASLEY FOR US SENATE!!! Cheri Beasley picking up a Democratic seat in the Senate could be the most important Senate race in the country. How lucky are we to have Cheri Beasley as our candidate—a brilliant Black woman who served as Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court!
I’m all in for Beasley. Two days ago, she was interviewed on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell as a strong supporter of reproductive rights. (Video here)
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Other ideas in formation—my own, not affiliated with any campaign:
Reach out to unaffiliated voters, infrequent voters, try to mobilize them off the sidelines. Non-voters are a huge potential reservoir of change. I know they are hard to reach, but where else will we find millions of new voters?
Work with groups such as Planned Parenthood Votes, who are trusted by their supporters.
We need a massive mobilization of young voters—voter registration and turnout. Every person in the United States of childbearing age has grown up in a country where abortion has always been legal. Their lives are on the line. Not septuagenarians in Congress or the Supreme Court.
I would consider creating messaging aimed at Independent and Republican women to reminds them that their vote is their own decision, to be made by secret ballot. When they get in the voting booth, hopefully alone, not with their husbands looking over their shoulder, they can vote for Democratic candidates. That is their right! And you don’t have to tell anyone how you voted, if you don’t want to. YOUR BODY, YOUR LIFE, YOUR VOTE.
Wait until we see how the election turns out in November, then consider adding Justices to the Supreme Court or changing filibuster rules if possible. Be willing to play hardball.
I know we are fighting uphill against voter suppression, gerrymandering, bad court decisions, and more. But we don’t have an option to give up. And things will only get more skewed and unfair in 2024 if we fail to elect Dems in 2022.
You don’t always need to win a majority in a legislative body to have a positive effect. In NC, we are so fortunate to have a Democratic Governor, Roy Cooper. Even if we don’t win a majority in the NC House or Senate, we need to keep the margins close enough that we have enough votes to sustain a Governor Cooper veto.
The Mary Trump Show episode that I mentioned earlier made a compelling case that if Republicans succeed in their power grab in 2022, they won’t need an insurrection to overturn the Presidential election in 2024, they will just do it by having state legislatures name their own slates of electors, contrary to what citizens vote for.
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Please vote in North Carolina’s May 17 primaries. Early voting is open now. Many races are effectively decided by the primary, so be sure to make your preferences known.
Let me know what you think about what Democratic NC priorities should be between now and November. Let’s make a plan together!