For the safety of our community, we are conducting our meetings online until conditions permit us to resume assembling in person.
Monday October 7th at 7 PM
Closing Strong!
Indivisible's Field Strategy to Win! with Ezra Levin Indivisible National's Co-Executive Director & Co-Founder
As we careen closer and closer to November 5th, many of us are taking Simon Rosenberg's advice to 'do more' but I'm not sure that we're able to actually 'worry less'!
In addition to action, information - and especially information about effective and strategic action - is also grounding and orienting in these final weeks.
So, join Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western MA to hear from Indivisible National's Co-Executive Director & Co-Founder about the closing strategies planned and already happening to win a blue trifecta, and to protect that win from post-election shenanigans!
Ezra will be with us for the first half hour, and we'll use the second half to share what IN-SLWM - and YOU - are doing right now!
Closing Strong! National Indivisible's Field Strategy to Win!
with Ezra Levin,
Indivisible National's Co-Executive Director & Co-Founder
Monday, October 7th, 7 - 8 pm ET on Zoom
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Sunday Oct 13th 3:30-5:00 PM
AMHERST Activist Afternoon
Let's gather in community and help save democracy together!
Our first Amherst Activist Afternoon was a rollicking success!
Join IN-SLWM & friends for our second one!
We can write letters to voters, learn about texting, phone banking and canvassing, Project 2025 and how to fight its extreme agenda, and more!
Join like-minded progressives for an afternoon of ACTION, along with schmoozing, snacking, and connecting in person!
Sign up at this Mobilize link, bring friends, and let's save democracy the best way of all – together!
Amherst Activist Afternoon!
Sunday, October 13, 3:30-5:00pm
Cherry Hill Cohousing
120 Pulpit Hill Road, Amherst MA 01002
(please park on the roadway behind the Common House) Sign up here!
See you soon!
In community,
Amy, Nancy & Michael, for Indivisible Northampton – Swing Left Western Mass
Saturday Oct 19th 3:30-5:00 PM
(Note the new start and end times) FLORENCE Activist Afternoon
Let's gather in community and help save democracy together!
Let's gather in community
and help save democracy together!
Join IN-SLWM & friends for our July Activist Afternoon!
This month, we'll be writing letters, as part of a unique and powerful multi-pronged effort to increase Democratic turnout in PA, find out about phone and textbanking, and have good conversations about why we MUST win, while doing the actions that will ensure that we DO win!
Join like-minded progressives for an afternoon of ACTION, along with schmoozing, snacking, and connecting in person!
Sign up at this Mobilize link, bring friends, and let's save democracy the best way of all – together!
Florence Activist Afternoon!
Saturday, October 193, 3:30-5:00pm
Pathways Cohousing
25 Mountain Laurel Path, Florence
(Building is accessible, but please park on the road, if you can.) Sign up here!
ACTIONS
Phone
Banking
Tuesdays, from 6-8pmET thru Election Day
on Zoom Fortify the Blue Wall in PA
Elect Kamala and re-elect Senator Bob Casey
(Oct 8, 15, 22, 29)
Join us to help fortify the blue wall of PA to elect Kamala Harris for President, re-elect Senator Bob Casey to hold our Senate majority, and for blue all the way down the ballot!
We'll be calling young (ages 18-30), Democratic voters who haven't yet voted in a presidential election! We'll be giving them information and motivation to cast their ballots in this pivotal year so that their voices will be heard and opinions heeded!
Recent polling (I know...polls!) indicate that among likely voters under age 30, Harris leads Trump by 31 points (better than Biden in 2020 - see the linked article for more details)! So let's make sure these young voters have all the info they need to get their ballots cast and counted!
We'll be using the very user-friendly dialer, Scale to Win, and always start with a full training for any who'd like that.
For those who like to check things out ahead of time:
Here's a link to our script (it may be tweaked slightly)
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Always with a full training and loads of support!
Thursdays, from 5-7pmET thru Election Day
on Zoom Flip the Ohio Supreme Court
and Re-elect Senator Sherrod Brown
(Oct 3, 10, 17, 24, 31)
This November, we have the chance to flip the Ohio Supreme Court, end gerrymandering (by passing ballot Issue #1), and re-elect Sen. Sherrod Brown to keep the U.S. Senate blue!
See this David Pepper substack on the outrageous 4 -3 (GOP - Dem) OH Supreme Court ruling on deceptive ballot language, and his June article on the more general context of this crucial Supreme Court race!
We'll also be reminding voters of the importance of re-electing Sherrod Brown - a great Senator - and a must-hold seat to retain a Democratic Senate majority. The GOP is prioritizing this race and in the past month, has doubled it's spending on Brown's opponent!
Help Ohio citizens continue to fight back by giving them the information and inspiration to elect a State Supreme Court that will actually protect their wishes & freedom, and to re-elect Sherrod Brown and keep the U.S. Senate blue!
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Always with a full training and loads of support!
Writing
Postcard Campaigns for NV & CA!
We are doing our best to alert as many voters as possible to the answer to that question! This postcard is going out to infrequent Democratic voters in another tight House race in California. Blue victories in these House races could ensure a Democratic majority in the House. The cards will be available starting Friday, 10/4. They involve minimal writing, a first class stamp, and a quick mail-by date.
There will be at least two more campaigns following close behind. One going to Nevada Democratic voters, to encourage them to return their mail-in ballot, and another going to infrequent Democratic voters in swing states and districts, also to encourage them to vote. If you would like to get on the list to receive the announcements for these imminent postcarding opportunities, contact Marta levmartam@gmail.com. If your pens are ready, we can put them to work defending democracy!
Limited Distribution of Letters
to Register Infrequent PA Voters
Two years ago, IN-SLWM participated in an effective project with Swing Blue Alliance to increase registration to vote by mail among infrequent PA voters.
Local activist Ellen Schwartz and the folks at VoPro Pros, an organization that works to eliminate voter suppression and support free and fair elections have organized a letter writing campaign, including data collection to gauge effectiveness. The project will involve sending these voters everything they need to register to vote by mail--application, stamped envelope, instructions.
Letter packets will be available soon both from Ellen and from Marta Lev. Watch your inbox or email Ellen (boeneleandr@gmail.com) or Marta (levmartam@gmail.com) to get details when signups open.
VOTE FORWARD GET-OUT-THE-VOTE LETTER WRITING
Vote Forward's 2024 letter-writing campaigns have been underway since March and IN-SLWM has been with them all the way. The 4-week mailing window started on October 1 and runs until the 29th. Because of this, we are no longer accepting new signups to prepare letters.
As we approach the end of this year’s Vote Forward campaign, I’m happy to report that our team of more than 70 volunteers have downloaded and prepared over 14,000 letters to swing state voters and to voters living abroad in 35 countries. Vote Forward’s research shows that their letter campaigns can raise turnout by one to two percent, enough to affect the outcome in close races.
Thank you to all the volunteers who contributed their time and energy to getting out the vote across the country!
Michael Dover
Texting
Activist Texting: You can get involved
Activist texting is now ramping up, and I encourage everyone to get involved with texting during this critical election year. Texting is a good way to contribute our time and skills to elect Democrats up and down the ballot in November.
Political texting is easy, anonymous, efficient, and often fun. It’s a comfortable and fast way to connect with voters, and many find it very fulfilling.
There will be more and more texting campaigns as we get closer to the elections in November. Here is a summary of some texting groups which are active now.
If you have questions, feel free to contact Larry.
In the Streets
Canvassing Near and Far!
Canvassing is well under way in New Hampshire’s NH-02 and New York’s NY-19.
Contact Wendy Berg to volunteer in southwestern New Hampshire (Keene area).
Contact Michael Dover to join a listserv for information on canvassing in Columbia County, NY - just across the Massachusetts border – to help unseat a MAGA congressman in a district that voted for Joe Biden in 2020.
Are you up for more? Our friends at Swing Blue Alliance are sending volunteers to Pennsylvania, Arizona, and North Carolina to register voters and to canvass. Click here for more information and to sign up.
Energize Volunteers for Voter Registration Seven Ways to Leverage Swing Blue's New Video
To counter GOP voter suppression, Democrats need more feet on the ground, more people involved!
Recognizing this critical, time-sensitive work, Swing Blue Alliance has a succinct but powerful new video to help your group register and inform Democratic voters. Remember: People registered and paying attention to the election are more likely to vote Democratic. Watch the video here
Now you can share this video with friends and family. Click here for more information, to download the video and learn how to customized it for your group.
Other Ways to Pitch In
'24 FUND DRIVE - THE HOME STRETCH, PART 2
IN-SLWM's fund drive to support Movement Voter PAC, Swing Left's Win Back the House Fund and the Harris-Walz campaign is coming to a close on October 31. As of September 30, our combined total was just over $37,000. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far!
And there’s still time to help. Gifts to Movement Voter PAC support grassroots groups that form the backbone of the “ground game” in getting out the vote. Giving to the Win Back the House Fund can help certain congressional candidates in tough races get across the finish line. And donating to the Harris-Walz campaign may be key to funding the legal teams that will likely be fighting attempts to overturn the election results.
If you’re ready to give for the first time, or to donate one more time, click on the links above to contribute whatever you can. Let’s win this!
We all need to be supporting and promoting the work of Gen Z-led RISE, which is doing phenomenal and impactful work helping youth register, vote, and engage with the political process! Through grants, they pay their young volunteers, so a wider range of youth can actually afford to do the work of connecting with other young people throughout the year.
Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western MA just hosted their CEO to speak - and she was informative and inspiring - spread the word!
TEAMS
The Feminist Action Team
of Indivisible Mass Coalition Fridays at 4PM on Zoom
Join feminists from the Berkshires to the Cape as we plan and implement actions to protect and expand our rights! Currently, we're working to expose the deceptive practices of fake abortion clinics (aka CPC's) and strengthen women's autonomy here in MA and across the country! 'See the description of our exciting March 24th documentary screening and discussion event above
On Wed evenings at 8 pm or Fri mornings at 9 am, join Paul Spector and activists from across the country to collaborate on helping Democrats win elections. At Paul's meetings, you will...
hear upbeat political news
share questions and comments
learn about new political actions
support fundraisers with special guests -- such as Swing Left, Movement Voter Project, Flip the Senate, New Georgia Project, and Bucks County Democrats
hear inspiring music (mostly from Playing for Change).
Folks find his meetings educational, uplifting, and hopeful, and it's wonderful to see 50-100 other people at each of the two meetings. To check out the meeting, come Wednesday at 8 p.m. or Friday at 9 a.m. EDT, to this Zoom room: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87820043147?pwd=aXZ0K3QrZGtHR2dBUFlCZnk2TU1hQT09
Letters to the Editor (LTE) Writing Team Adopt, Amend, & Send Out-Your Letter to the Editor
Tuesday, October 8th, 7-8 PM
The IN-SLWM LTE Writing Team is an intrepid group of activists who enjoy reading, writing, and sharing ideas. We look forward to our meetings every 2 weeks on Zoom where we discuss important issues and share ideas for writing Letters to the Editor for our local papers (and beyond).
We’ve had 40 letters published (so far!) and will write many more because we are convinced this is a valuable way to reach people in our communities, and our local politicians too. We’d welcome you to come join our meetings sometimes or often. We are proud of our work and have made new friends too.
We meet every two weeks on Tuesdays 8:00pm (on Zoom) to strategize and plan. Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 8th at 7PM.
The Climate Team has evolved into a new format. We’ve started a Google Group with free exchange among team members – sharing resources like links to climate-related articles and forwarding emails from climate activist groups, discussing climate topics, and continuing to post action alerts.
As you know, Project 2025 is a perilous threat to our democracy, but few people understand it because its manifesto is 920 pages long. The "Talking Points Team" of the Longmeadow Democratic Town Committee (LDTC) has been hard at work for weeks building an infographic to make this critical information more digestible. Click on the image below to see the full online version.
Now On Our Website: IN-SLWM Events Calendar
We have added a new page to the IN-SLWM website: an Events Calendar!
Want to look up an event that you heard about but don’t know when it’s happening?
Forgot the date of an event you were planning to attend?
Curious about what kinds of activities we’re organizing?
Click the calendar image below to open the calendar on our website. It's always available from the main menu at our website at www.in-slwm.org
This section of our newsletter features articles written by one of our subscribers or selected by our steering committee. Subscribers to the newsletter are welcome to submit writing by email to info@in-slwm.org with the subject line "Newsletter Submission".
The opinions expressed in the writings are those of the author(s) and don't necessarily reflect any consensus of Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western MA.
That Zen saying is also the name of a daily email from activist and Substack columnist Jessica Craven. On weekdays she offers a bunch of actions for subscribers to take, such as phoning senators and representatives – often with different scripts for Democratic and Republicans – about issues needing their attention. On the weekends, she highlights items from the news that are encouraging, under the headline “Celebrate This!” Here’s the link to her substack page.
SPEAKING OF FACEBOOK…
If you’re not already subscribed to either our Facebook Page or group, consider joining! We share daily posts from political historian-commentator Heather Cox Richardson, occasional posts from other sources such as Robert Reich and Robert Hubbell, announcements of our public Zoom meetings, and opportunities for action. To follow our Facebook Page (followers do not post) , click here. To join our Facebook Group (members can post), click here. Both receive all IN-SLWM announcements and the daily Richardson posts.
Trouble Joining the Meeting?
When you click the link in your confirmation email, a Zoom page will open in your web browser and the Zoom app will open.
If the Zoom app does not open, here are a few things you can try. You will need to know the meeting id, which is embedded in the address of the Zoom page that opened. On the page that opened in the browser, in the address bar you'll see an address that looks something like this:
