One thing you can do for freedom this weekend

Actually, two ways to get people ready to vote.

What a week to be alive and have a functioning Democratic Party. 

From Joe Biden’s selfless announcement Sunday afternoon to the Obamas’ glowing endorsement in pre-sunshine hours of Friday morning…

…it has been a joy to behold the nation embrace Kamala Harris as she has embraced the theme of “freedom” that is the perfect contrast to Trump’s dim, dying, dictatorial MAGAism.

Now, what do we do with all this momentum? 

On Wednesday, I said the massive surge of support for Harris allowed us to work even harder on down-ballot races. Where before, we were talking about “reverse coattails” that would enable local Dems to improve the entire brand, now we’re talking about a ticket that could potentially rain support down that ballot and create a virtuous circle of the likes we haven’t seen since 2008 when Obama’s campaign and Howard Dean’s 50-stage strategy created the definitive Democratic win of the century.

(PLEASE VOTE IN OUR POLL TO DECIDE THE NEXT STATE EARLYWORM WILL FOCUS ON.)

The challenge now is to help people move away from thinking only about the top of the ballot, which is doing just fine right now. Thank you!

And as we do that, we also have to make sure that people can and do vote. Something Republicans have become experts in preventing.

And the problem is there’s always too much to do.

As you’ve seen on erlywrm.com or our social media, we’ve been spreading the word about Ohio’s voter purge and Democratic effort to re-register those voters. This is especially relevant given the news that gerrymandering will be on the ballot in the Buckeye state. But since that’s a Tuesday night thing and a bit focused for our elevated mood right now, we will offer two other “one things” you can do this weekend.

THING ONE (MONEY): Help Vote Riders make sure voters can vote
The reason democracy is even at stake is voter suppression in its many evil forms–from the hopelessness manufactured by the electoral college and gerrymandering to the poll taxes of unnecessary ID requirements, even though voter impersonation is an entirely fictional problem that exists exclusively on Fox News. Voter Riders is a national group designed to take on voter ID laws one ID at a time. It’s overwhelming work that needs overwhelming. And it could be decisive in a critical state like Wisconsin. Please give them some cash if you can.

THING TWO (TIME): Textbank to register swing state voters
We’re getting pumped for National Voter Registration Day on September 17. It’s going to matter a lot. So let's prime the voting pump. They call it “BYOP or Bring Your Own Phone, although it actually uses your computer with an anonymized Google Voice number or Apple’s iMessage app.” There’s a Saturday morning/afternoon training (depending on where you are), but if you’re tech-savvy enough to share a Google Doc, you can start on your own.

Thanks for everything you are doing. Really appreciate the comments, the hearts, and the messages from earlyworms. Didn't think we'd be working with this kind of optimism this summer. It will get tougher, so let's savor it and recharge while we can.

Feel free to share what you’re doing for democracy in the comments. Always interesting and inspiring. And you may grow your efforts exponentially.