The death of George Floyd, the terrible way he was killed, is heartbreaking. The violence of some protests -- and the violence inflicted on many peaceful protests -- is indefensible. That this is part of the history of this country is tragic.
In most times, it would be disrespectful to politicize such a tragedy. Today, in a world where the president urges governors to take a more forceful approach, we must acknowledge that fighting for the right to vote in the upcoming election is a required response.
It's because black lives matter that black votes matter, too.
We won't stop fighting for what is right Even as we at Swing Left Greater Boston continue to press for voter rights and participation, there is so much we can do to advance social justice and reform.
There is a "social contract between the presidency and the people"
Biden Speaks Out
Yesterday in
a remarkable speech in Philadelphia, Joe Biden laid out his vision of the presidency: a vision that could not present a more stark contrast to Trump. It was not just a vision of policy differences, though concrete policy differences were apparent. Joe Biden described a fundamental difference in values as well as the requiremment for a meaningful social contract between the presidency and the people. This is what we are fighting for.
Join the battle for the soul of our nation.
Start with Field Organizer Ryan Russell’s virtual organizing training where we'll go over our tactics, strategies, and practices.
Sign up for either of these training sessions and start leading the action.
Saturday, June 6
@ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Sunday, June 7
@ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Stay abreast of progress and new strategies
-- and give feedback to the Biden campaign --
on the first Saturday of each month at noon.
Next meeting on June 6
@ 12:00 pm
Swing Left 's Super States are on the road to winning
Why We Focus on Super States
According to former Clinton political director Doug Sosnik, Biden must achieve the following to win:
Top Priority: Put Michigan out of reach for Trump
Lock up Pennsylvania
Prioritize winning Arizona, Maine-02, and Nebraska-02
Focus remaining resources on Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Florida
That's why you'll see articles about these states in every issue until November.
Pennsylvania
Vote-by-mail ballots went into drop boxes across the state
The First View of Things to Come
The Pennsylvania primary on June 2 gave us a glimpse into upcoming elections across the country.
Per the NY Times, “Both parties are treating the [PA primary] election as a statewide “dry run” before the November presidential vote. The outcome will test their outreach, turnout and voting strategies.”
Per the Philadelphia Inquirer, “The success of the operations of this election --
and its results
-- may lie in the days ahead, as officials process stacks of mail ballots, which more than 1.9 million Pennsylvanians requested."
Any announcements of election results will be slow, given the need to process vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots. Certain large districts will be accepting ballots until June 9 as long as they are postmarked by the close of polls on election day.
As states ramp up for extensive VBM procedures, November 3 might be a long week.
Write Letters to Mainers to Vote Vote Vote Absentee
Paula Joseph
The Maine Senate primary is coming up on July 14, and we want to make sure that as many Democrats as possible vote absentee. With the oldest population in the country, Maine is likely to see a dramatic cut in polling places as older poll workers stay home.
The July primary is a critically important test run for the November elections. We need to get people into the habit of voting by mail, identify ballot issues that arise, and make sure the voting process runs smoothly.
Swing Left is partnering with the Maine Dems and Vote Forward on a letter writing experiment to get absentee ballot information to older voters and measure the results.
More than 200 people from Concord and surrounding communities lined the streets of Concord Center for a socially distant ‘car protest’ demanding justice for black lives lost to police violence. Participants read the names of black men and women killed at the hands of law enforcement.
See the video
by protest organizer Concord Indivisible
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