More slates!

[rydra_wong]

This time, a deliberate, data-driven attempt to flip state legislatures:

The Intercept: Small Donors Suddenly Pour In to Flip Eight State-Level Seats — and Legislatures

Remember, state governments control drawing of districts and writing of voting rules, as well as having power over things like abortion restrictions, should Roe v. Wade be overturned.

Data for Politics: Give Smart -- with details of the individual candidates and who they're opposing

Most memorable opponent, IMHO, Sylvia Allen: She’s also a creationist who wants to make church attendance mandatory, and when her prison guard son was investigated for bribing inmates for sex she tried to pass a law to make that legal.

Act Blue: Give Smart -- donate here!

And between the time I started to draft this post this morning and posting it this evening:

Data For Politics: data for politics #30: Give Smart 2, EveryDistrict -- -- the first slate took off so well that they teamed with EveryDistrict to fund 8 more candidates who might have a significant impact

Act Blue: Give Smart 2 -- donate to the second slate here

Comments

[rydra_wong]

That seems like a very fine way to honour both your birthday and your rage!

Happy upcoming birthday, btw! From what I've experienced and seen with friends, turning 30 is excellent for many people (turning 40 = also great).

so this post happens to be very timely/convenient for me re: what to do for the portions I wanted to put toward political donations beyond ProPublica and Verified Voting and a handful of races I already had my eye on.

You've also seen the Great Slate and Grab Your Ballot slates, right? Lots of interesting options!

I really appreciate all the US political posts you've been doing here and at your own journal and the perspective you bring to bear - I've had such a hard time dealing with most mainstream media anything coverage of US politics this year that your posts have been such a gift: thank you.

I'm so glad they've been helpful. Honestly, I think having the distance of an ocean makes it a bit easier to process and look for ways action can be taken; my brain is much quicker to shut down in helpless despair and frustration when it comes to UK stuff. So I figure I'll pass on the helpful stuff when I can!

[jjhunter]

Ooo, Great Slate is especially apt for what inspired me to do this in the first place - I got to hear Sarah Kendzior of 'Gaslit Nation' podcast fame speak about her new book and more last weekend at the Boston Book Festival, and her direct, passionate eloquence on how dramatic the resource gap can be between USA folks on the coast vs. in rural districts, and how much of a monolith the Midwest is not (oh, she had words about parachute journalists - the joke about multiple NYT interviews with the exact same diner dude (who might be a Republican lobbyist posing as regular joe to boot) published in six months was the kind of funny that rings all too true) moved me in ways I keep returning to.

This is the kind of disparity that the engineered crises at the top are obscuring: the digital divide isn't just between people with internet access and without it, it's also subdividing those with quick and reliable broadband vs. those with cellular data access only and all the variations in between. The difference between places where there are jobs for younger folks vs. where almost all the young people move away and rarely return.

It's not just climate change: it's country change, it's urbanization and all the places left lonely in between.

Anyway, will definitely do Great Slate. Am eying Give Smart 3, LaunchProgress vs. cherry-picking a few folks from Grab Your Ballot for the remainder; I gave myself a hard limit when I started my spreadsheet for this, and it's been remarkably satisfying both to do it and to have given myself permission to draw a line where I'll stop and say 'enough, I've done my share and more'.

As I can, I'll likely still be donating bits of time, emotional labor towards getting other people to the polls and encouraging them to make informed decisions before they go (not to mention finishing reading / researching /deciding re: all the ballot questions I have to answer myself!), but it's a relief to be acting, to feel like I've taken significant action as a responsible and engaged citizen beyond just keeping myself afloat.