One thing you can do for democracy this weekend

OK, two things since not all of us can spend $44 billion buying Twitter to help Trump.

What I keep hearing is that people want to know exactly what they can do to help since so few of us get to pick who will be on the Democratic ticket personally.

That’s why erlywrm.com exists.

Every morning, you can find one thing you should know and one thing you can do to help democracy. We also have a Giving Guide you can give to anyone who asks, “WHAT CAN I DO?!!” But that can be overwhelming. We get it. We’re earlyworms. Not everyone is!

That’s why every Friday, for the rest of the election, we will post one thing you can do for democracy. It will actually be two things because only a very few of us are made of money or bitcoin or Venmo, whatever money is now. 

Here they are for this week:

THING ONE: Give Smart to targeted state legislative races (ActBlue link)
This is from the States Project, which we trust with all our money and helps run our Flipping Arizona Giving Circle (THAT’S AT 96% OF OUR 2024 GOAL!)

And this is how you feel like a big-time donor. Let’s say a competitive stage leg race costs $200,000. Who knows, the number is really hard to grok? But let’s say. Your $25 donation is about .0125% of that candidate’s campaign. To have that much pull in the presidential race, where a billion dollars could be spent by the campaign alone, you’d have to give $125,000. And you have no idea if your money makes a difference.

This money gets candidates off the phones and knocking on doors, the single most effective campaign tactic. And that’s how we create the “reverse coattails” effect that could help Democrats win the House, Senate, and even the presidency. Nice work, Auntie or Uncle Moneybags! 

THING TWO: Write some postcards to Michigan
They’ll send you the names and the postcards. You need to provide the stamps. This is from the Progressive Turnout Project: "Our research proves that our postcards will add more than 130,000 votes, which is three times the number that decided the outcome of the 2020 election in favor of President Biden.”

 So do one if you can!

And then–if you love democracy so much that you’d like to marry it even if it costs you your relationship with your dad, the King of England–email and post the suggestion to everyone you love or want to annoy. 

Yes, email. Social media is trash in a fan. Chances of finding something good are rare, and if you do, it’s probably video. So do both, if you can. And if you only do one, email or text or DM. Direct communication is key in this election; if we use it well, it could be our secret weapon, our finishing move, our superpower. OK, it’s just another thing we can do.

And doing one or two things, especially if it’s more than you’d do otherwise, could be enough to save democracy.

Have any good ideas for next week’s THINGS? Put them in the comments, yo.