Good news: Two more state seats flip red to blue!

[teaotter]

Democrats won two formerly Republican state seats tonight: Florida State Senate 40 and New Hampshire Rockingham 4. That makes EIGHT flipped special election seats since the November election -- while the Republicans have yet to flip a single contested seat.

I want to give a shout out to Postcards to Voters, a grassroots organization that sends hand-written postcards to potential progressive voters in competitive districts like these. I was part of the postcard campaign for both of these candidates, and I'm thrilled to see our GOTV efforts pay off.

GO TEAM BLUE!!

Comments

[tassosss]

That's fantastic news!

[ride_4ever]

Yays!

[st_aurafina]

Oh, wow, that's great news!

[juniperphoenix]

Postcards to Voters sounds intriguing. Can you say a bit more about how it works and what it's like to volunteer for them?

[redbird]

Yes, please. That Facebook page is "here's what we've accomplished!" and "sign up here" but light on what I would be signing up for if I did.

[teaotter]

Here you go:

My comment.

[teaotter]

Here's a story on DailyKos that probably tells it better than I can.

You tell them how many postcards you can write in the next couple of days, and they'll send you that number of addresses.

They send you information about whichever candidate we're doing at the moment. This information will include three specifics the candidate needs voters to know -- what seat they're running for, when the election is, and at least one thing about the candidate's platform. They'll also send you optional details and some suggestions about how to word things.

You provide the postcards, stamps, and write them yourself. You can also decorate them if you're so inclined. If for some reason you can't get all the postcards done, let them know and they'll assign those addresses to someone else.

When you first sign up, they'll ask you to write a postcard and send them a photo, so they can make sure you're getting the required information on it. If you're having trouble, they'll give you pointers. After that, they just send you as many addresses (and candidate info) as you request.

It's a great way to help that doesn't involve talking on the phone, but still reaches people. I think about what I'd like to see if I got a postcard about a local election, and I try to write something friendly and encouraging. Especially for special elections, voter turnout is so important, so I try to fit that in. I think about this postcard maybe hanging on someone's refrigerator as a reminder to go vote.

You only get as many addresses as you ask for, when you ask for them, so if you get busy or something comes up, you don't have a huge commitment hanging over your head.

The hardest part is figuring out how to fit everything I want to say onto a postcard! It's such a small space, and I'm long-winded. (As you might be able to tell from this comment...)

[juniperphoenix]

Thank you! This is great information.

[bridgetmkennitt]

Huh, that's so interesting. So you can write to voters not even in your state?

Though writing in my own words would be difficult. I'm terrible at wording political things.

[teaotter]

Yep! I haven't had one in my state yet.

You don't really have a lot of space, so there's not a lot of wording to do. For Annette Taddeo in Florida, we were told to include her name, the seat, the date for voting, and that she wants better public schools and to protect clean water. They also gave a lot of optional info I just didn't have room for.

So I wrote:

Friend,

Democrat Annette Taddeo is running for Florida State Senate #40 in a special election on September 26th. Annette will fight to improve public schools and protect clean water.

Special elections are decided by who shows up, so your vote really counts! Please vote Annette Taddeo on September 26th!

#TeamTaddeo

So it's not really much of a persuasion thing, so much as it's just telling them that there's a Democrat running, and when the election is.

[genarti]

Oh, huzzah!

[clare_dragonfly]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing some positive news.

[monanotlisa]

Woo hoo!