Month: August 2018

Dear Group,

The General Election on Tuesday, November 6, is in just seventy-seven days. It is the last chance we have, as citizens and voters, to slow or stop Donald Trump’s consolidation of autocratic power. If he succeeds with Mitch McConnell in the outright theft of yet another seat on the Supreme Court AND the Republican/Libertarians retain majorities in both houses of Congress, however slim, Trump will have his small, oligarchic hands on the levers of all branches of government. The vaunted “checks and balances” we learned about in junior high fall away. As Devin Nunes said right here at the Spokane Club with McMorris Rodgers nodding along with him, without the Republican majority in the House, “All this goes away,” including their ability to threaten the Mueller investigation by impeaching Rosenstein.

We in eastern Washington have a key role to play.in this struggle. McMorris Rodgers, with her toothy smile, mom persona, and her veneer of supposed Christian values is a supreme enabler of her “positive disruptor,” Mr. Trump. For the very first time in her political career starting fresh out of the Fundamentalist Baptist Pensacola Christian College she is facing a formidable electoral challenger in Lisa Brown. Lisa Brown has the charisma, the mom credentials, the education, and the life outside of politics that exceed everything McMorris Rodgers pretends to offer. 

We are blessed in Washington State with a government that encourages voter participation, a government that has not gerrymandered its voting districts to a fare-thee-well in favor of Republican majorities they way they are computer-engineered by Republican controlled state governments elsewhere. 

We have a Primary Election behind us that gives us hope but offers no comfort in complacency. Winning in November depends on sustained efforts to reach Democratic voters, to convince the undecided, and to mobilize them all to vote. 

Do not wake up on some morning following the General Election on November 6 after they’ve finally counted all the ballots and lament, “If only I had…” because then it will be too late.

There is not just one thing you can do. There are many, but the single most effective thing an individual can do is have meaningful conversations with people they don’t know. Canvassing is a great way to make those happen, though good conversations can happen anywhere. 

Here in eastern Washington we are blessed with a good solid, intelligent, civic-minded Democrat running for almost every office on the ballot. Lisa Brown’s candidacy will help each of them, and the work each of them puts in will help Lisa Brown. My point is this: pay attention to your local candidates, meet them, get to know them, support them with canvassing and with money. It all helps.

Last Wednesday ninety-two unpaid local volunteers showed up for voter contact training with the Lisa Brown campaign at Youth For Christ on N. Ash St. Hook up with the Lisa Brown Campaign or with the Wa-Democrats (see links below in “Calendar”) Commit to a day a week. Join a group. Canvass with a friend. Go out with the group afterward. Compare notes. Have bite to eat. Make new friends. Politics is a social endeavor.

Check out the canvassing links in Calendar below. Join the Indivisible canvass next Monday.

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

Dear Group,

Last Friday the Indivisible email went out as usual at around 5AM. In it I highlighted an announcement I had gotten wind of by email only at 7PM the evening before. At 7AM Friday, two hours after the Indivisible email posted I received a report from one of my readers the town hall signup link on Eventbrite was reporting “Sold Out.”. 

Sold out over a twelve hour period overnight? Really? This isn’t a Rolling Stones concert. What’s going on? How many places were offered? How many held back? Checking the “Facility Specifications at the Spokane Convention Center website was inconclusive. The “Centennial Ballroom” can be any of Ballrooms 300A,B,C,D or combinations thereof. Assuming a “Classroom” configuration that could mean they offered anywhere from 115 to 690 seats. In response to a direct inquiry to the Convention Center people, a reader was told the room McMorris Rodgers rented (whatever the partitioning) will be set for a capacity of 300.

Last August McMorris Rodgers held a tightly controlled town hall at Gonzaga at which there were empty chairs in spite of a crowd outside. Is this a repeat?

The conditions of attendance are interesting, too:

All attendees will be required to show proof of residency within the 5th Congressional District at the door. Proof of residency may include a drivers license or a utility bill with the name of the constituent and their address printed. Failure to show proof at the door will result in being denied entrance.

Tickets to this event are free. There is one seat per ticket. Please contact the office at 509-353-2374 with any questions regarding this event.

PLEASE NOTE: For the safety of everyone participating in this event, all bags will be subject to search prior to entry into the facility. Additionally, no signs of any kind will be allowed inside the auditorium.

With an opaque sign-up and the requirement of proof of residence at least McMorris Rodgers won’t be able to claim the tough questions are coming from paid protesters bused in by George Soros from outside the district.

Please call (509-353-2374) and inquire why the Convention Center says there are only 300 seats in a venue that can hold 690 in a “Classroom” configuration. Asking where and when the town hall was first advertised might also be instructive.There is also a means through a tab at the signup link on Eventbrite down toward the bottom at which you can “contact the event organizer.”

Will she add to the seating? It’s seems enough of a challenge for her to respond to a small, mostly friendly audience up in Green Bluff (also chronicled here and here) 

A good many McMorris Rodgers’ constituents might be wearing face masks (if it is still smokey, as seems likely) and carrying signs outside the event on Thursday, wondering why the seats were so few and so briefly advertised.

Here’s what might be a better outlet for frustrated energy–get out and canvass.

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

Dear Group,

Everybody loves a parade, right? Well, here’s your chance…a great chance to participate, get out in the great community of eastern Washington, and make a positive, joyous political statement. There is a long tradition of politicians marching in parades, smiling, and “kissing babies.” It is a tradition Democrats used to engage in with gusto. It’s time to get back to those roots. More than a hundred of us marched in the parade at the Hillyard Festival with Lisa Brown, Maria Cantwell, and local Democratic candidates. McMorris Rodgers’ followers were far outnumbered. Babies were kissed, candy strewn, chants shouted, and songs sung. The parade watchers were delighted. The buzz was fun.

This weekend, August 17 and 18, the National Lentil Festival is held in Pullman, Washington, heart of the great agricultural region, the Palouse, the center of U.S. production of lentils. A whole lot of lentils are exported to China and India where lentils are still more of a staple food than here in the United States. It is no secret that Palouse farmers are uneasy over Trump’s disruption of agricultural export relationships carefully nurtured over decades. McMorris Rodgers only pays lip service to defending our region’s interests against Trump, her “positive disruptor.” 

Not a single Representative, Republican or Democrat, currently represents the interests of northwest agriculture on the United States House Committee on Agriculture from WA, OR, MT, ID, or WY. It is about time to change that. Lisa Brown pledges to seek a position on the House Committee on Agriculture, the same committee upon which the great Tom Foley served, including six years as Chairman of the Agricultural Committee.

So get out and take part. Take a road trip to Pullman (meet there at 10AM) and engage in regional fun. Invite two friends! Meet up with friendly people including Lisa Brown and Maria Cantwell. March in the parade. Feel the energy. (See two boxes above “Dear Group” for details.) Then learn about lentils. Re-learn the lessons of our region’s agricultural roots. Celebrate. Send a positive message! Here’s a link: https://lisabrownforcongress.com/event/pullman-lentil-festival-parade

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

A 4X8 foot yard sign along Rockwood Blvd devoted purely to name recognition. The candidate doesn’t bother to mention he is running for Spokane County Treasurer. Apparently he doesn’t even wish his audience to know he is running as a Republican. That information and the reminder that he ran (unsuccessfully) for U.S. Senate in 2012 (in the middle of his Washington State LD6 Senate term) is provided courtesy of back lighting from the afternoon sun.

Dear Group,

It is hard to miss the bloom of political yard signs this year in Spokane and all over eastern Washington. For me, the first hint of where we might be headed in 2016 came from a 4X8 foot red “Make America Great Again” sign in a field west of Moses Lake along I-90. In view of that uncomfortable memory. the sheer number of residential yards with Lisa Brown signs in Spokane, eastern Washington’s most populous county, is a hopeful sign that speaks of enthusiasm and change.

Especially in midterm (non-presidential) elections turnout depends on awareness of the existence of a real contest. The greater the rivalry in a sporting event, the more people attend, the same with voter participation. Yard signs increase the awareness of rivalry…of possibility. Beyond rivalry comes simple name recognition, especially for down ballot candidates. There is no clearer example of name recognition as a tactic than in the race for Spokane County Treasurer, a race between David Green, a man thoroughly qualified for the job, and Mr. Baumgartner, a career politician looking for a temporary place to light before his next conquest. I have yet to see a Baumgartner yard sign advertising more than his name. 

There is a another utility of yard signs. Yard signs informed me that many of my neighbors I imagined were straight-ticket Republicans are actually supporters of Lisa Brown…and staunch critics of the incumbent. People who put out yard signs have an opinion, they have some political awareness, and they are often open to conversation. I am aware folks displaying yard signs for the incumbent have an opinion, too, an opinion to which I am happy to listen, not with much expectation of changing a mind, but to better understand their position. A yard sign can facilitate conversation.

Clusters of yard signs can send several different messages. I have one neighbor who displays a dozen or so political signs in advance of every election. For years they have helped me recognize the names of those for whom I do NOT wish to cast a vote. This year they added the flag-draped cross of a We Believe-We Vote yard sign. For me that sign speaks of a closed mind, a far right ideology that taints the candidates on the associated signs.

I especially notice mixed clusters of signs on residential property. I find it instructive when I see signs in one yard for candidates of both major political parties. Makes me go, “Hmmm.” I’ve met more than a few thoughtful Republicans who could place a sign “Republicans for Lisa Brown.”

I have friends who deplore the clutter and visual confusion of political yard signs. Once upon a time I might have agreed with them. No longer. I now view yard signs as promotion of name recognition, and name recognition is the first ingredient to political discussion and awareness.

Joyously add to the clutter! Visit the office at 1507 E. Sprague, make a small donation, pick up a Lisa Brown sign, and display it proudly. Then discuss with your neighbors why you put it up. 

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

P.S. I have a Mary Kuney (R) for Spokane County Commissioner in my yard as by far the better candidate than her opponent, Mr. Chase, a man entwined with the white supremacy of Northwest Grassroots.

P.P.S. I also have a David Green (D) for Spokane County Treasurer sign. His opponent, Mr. Baumgartner, a man of minimal qualifications for the job, is relying solely on name recognition using yard signs recycled from his campaigns for prior offices. Don’t let Mr. B get away with it.

Dear Group,

People confide, “I just couldn’t go doorbelling. I don’t know enough. I don’t know how I could do that.” 

If you had told me two years ago that a year hence I would be knocking on doors, introducing myself, listening to, and chatting with people I’d never met I would have thought you were nuts. 

Was/is it easy to get started? No. Every time I go I still have to give myself a talking to. Every time there are things I’d rather be doing, and yet each time the experience is rewarding. Each time I gain fresh insight on people, life, politics, and the neighborhoods I’ve driven through for years. 

We are all just people. We are fundamentally social. We live naturally in social groups where we interact face-to-face every day. It was a very short time ago, within my lifetime, we quit interacting, we quit sitting on our porches on summer evenings, and we began spending more time in front of TVs and computers than we did seeing each other face-to-face. Conversing with another person on a doorstep is far more natural and genuine than passively receiving tribal information from a screen. Most people respond very well to friendly social contact.

First, let’s dispel a few worries. You’re not out there by yourself. It is a group effort with at least two in a group. You start shoulder-to-shoulder and after a while start knocking singly but on the same street. The doors you knock are selected, By and large you are contacting people whose profiles suggest they are neither committed Republicans or committed Democrats. Once in a while the data is wrong, but that’s a valuable contact to record either way.

No one bites. There is no need for confrontation. You don’t need to have a detailed grasp of every position. You’re not there to argue. That’s pointless and counterproductive. A lot of what you do is listen. Listening is always educational. With a committed, engaged Republican a bit of listening is informative, but mostly you smile and thank them for their time. “Bless and release” is a great strategy. A few of your contacts may benefit just from meeting a non-confrontational progressive. Most committed Republicans (especially the “old school” Republicans) are as pleasant as we try to be. You quickly realize the very few gruff folks you meet are gruff because of who they are, not because of who you are. Smile and move on. It’s not personal.

By now I’ve knocked on several hundreds of doors and chatted with at least a hundred people. On any given day a quarter to a third of the doors are opened. Behind the doors that do open nearly everyone is willing to chat for a few minutes. 

Remember the old adage “Never judge a book by its cover?” Knocking on doors quickly teaches you to make no assumptions. I’ve met elderly grandmothers who major concern is preserving second amendment rights and I’ve knocked on doors draped in bunting and flanked by flags and behind them met vets whose main issue was thwarting privatization of the Veterans Hospital. Never assume.

We’re not going to make a change in our politics by sitting at home, listening to pundits and pollsters on TV, wringing our hands, and lamenting to our like-minded friends. We’re not going to change things only by contributing to campaigns (although that is important, too). The way we’re going to pull this out of the fire is by interacting with and listening to people we don’t know or hardly know and by expressing our concerns, worries, convictions and hopes for a better future. This change isn’t going to happen overnight or with the election of one or a few candidates. It is going to take a sustained effort over years. Too long we have been asleep at the wheel. Change is going to happen because we interact with our fellow humans, because we pay attention, because we recognize twisted hate, shine a light on it and call it out. Forces in the Republican Party have bent it over decades. I no longer recognize the party I once knew. It needs to wander off in the wilderness for a while before it will find its way. 

This week is time to get started. This Wednesday, August 15th, from 6-8PM come on down to the DCCC Headquarters at 1507 E. Sprague for Canvass Training. Food provided. Get more details and RSVP here.

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry