Messaging in an Era of Dog Whistles

How do we make ourselves heard in an era of dog whistles?  How do we get our message out when the GOP have turned truth and facts upside down?

We trumpet our values and we put them first in every conversation.  We believe in freedom, fairness, safety, working together, helping one another.  So do many voters but they don’t know we do. We must repeat what we value over and over.

We call out the bullies, but we bury their business in the middle of our messages, so their nonsense loses its power. We are explicit about who the bullies are–greedy corporations, radical right politicians.  We name them– DeSantis, Cord Byrd and more. We describe what they are doing and why they are doing it as briefly as we can.

Most importantly we save the best for the last.  We end our message by celebrating what we have already accomplished together. We explain who is included in our “together”, “everyone” and “all”. Then we shout, shout, shout what our future will be when we work together and vote together. Hope motivates.

We avoid responding to the Republican message. We avoid saying “You are wrong.”  We never, never repeat their words or argue with their ideas.  That just makes their message stronger.

Republicans are talking values and devaluing facts. But many of their values are not values we share. We must stress what we value and repeat ad nauseum.

Values and vision are remembered in the voting booth.  Facts and policies are not.

 

Courage

Two men in this impeachment debacle demonstrated the integrity that is so lost in today’s politics: Doug Jones and Mitt Romney.  Doug Jones, an Alabama Democratic Senator, won his seat by a hairsbreadth in a very red state.  Mitt Romney, an unquestioned conservative, braved his party’s wrath. Romney and Jones both knew what they were risking but they stood up and said no to this president.

Romney is the first politician in U.S. history to cross party lines to vote to remove a president of his own party. As you weep at the failure of the Senate, rejoice at the strength of character of these two men. Bask in these acts of courage which have always been at a premium in politics.

Our own act of courage is to stay focused on the distant prize. We must understand that the ultimate prize is not even winning an election. It is instead touching the democratic ideals that we have yet to capture since our founding as a nation.

Our ideals are certainly the shining city on a hill, but our history belies any claim to exceptionalism. It is this era that should waken us to that understanding. Each time we refer to history, we see the cruel distance we were from the ideal. Such  historical disabuse in itself can be a comfort. We survived before, we can survive now.

Our hope must be that we will come out of this era better than  we fell into it. We understand now that voting is not enough to advance our Democracy. Each of us must look into ourselves and determine how much we can stretch ourselves to save not only our Democracy but a very sick planet. Finding our courage is an exciting though scary journey.

PREVENT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

FEDERAL WEEKLY ACTION—Dec. 17-21, 2018
PREVENT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Submitted by Jean Sealey

CALL OR RESISTBOT your members of Congress and urge them not to agree to additional funding for a wall. Planned repairs to existing fencing and other security measures already funded are adequate to increase border security. Instead, urge them to pass a year-long CR funding the Department of Homeland Security. No one wants even a partial shutdown of the government.
RESISTBOT: Text the word “resist” to 50409. You will be prompt…

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GET OUT THE VOTE – VOTE BLUE

FEDERAL DAILY ACTION!
Monday, October 29 – Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Sign up to help in the Final Week before the election. We need ALL HANDS ON DECK!!!! Statistics show this final push can change outcomes.

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SIGNUPGENIUS.COM
The last 4 days leading up to an election are critical for getting out the vote and it’s especially so for this mid-term election. This is when we identify registered Democrats who have not yet cast their votes. Beginning on Saturday, November 3rd, the last day of Early Voting, we will knock on the…

OPPOSE NEW FAMILY SEPARATION, INDEFINITE DETENTION POLICIES

FEDERAL DAILY ACTION—Friday, October 26, 2018
OPPOSE NEW FAMILY SEPARATION, INDEFINITE DETENTION POLICIES
Submitted by Margaret Petty

CALL OR RESISTBOT YOUR MEM

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WASHINGTONPOST.COM
Determined to stem crossings, officials are considering asking parents to choose between detention or separation.

DEMAND THE SENATE BLOCK US-SAUDI ARMS DEALS

DAILY ACTION— Thursday, October 25, 2018
DEMAND THE SENATE BLOCK US-SAUDI ARMS DEALS
Submitted by: Margaret Petty

CALL OR RESISTBOT your members of Congress to insist they firmly oppose and condemn any future arms deals and military support based on the slaughter of Yemeni citizens with US-backed military strikes and the outrageous murder of an American resident journalist. If human lives have been reduced to the US dollar, none of our lives have value in this economy

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REUTERS.COM
The Trump administration and the U.S. defense industry are scrambling to save th…

HANDS OFF SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, MEDICAID

FEDERAL DAILY ACTION – Friday, October 19, 2018
DO NOT ROB SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, MEDICAID TO REDUCE THE DEFICIT
Submitted by Jean Sealey

CALL OR RESISTBOT your members of Congress to let them know Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are off limits as a solution to the burgeoning deficit. It was no surprise to many people that the tax break for the very wealthy would not pay for itself, as was promised by the Republican-controlled Congress and Executive Branch. It not …

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BLOOMBERG.COM
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blamed rising federal deficits and debt on a bipartisan unwillingness to contain spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and said he sees little chance of a major deficit reduction deal while Republicans control Congress and the White Hou…

STOP ARMS DEAL WITH SAUDI ARABIA

FEDERAL DAILY ACTION: Wednesday, October 18, 2018
DEMAND A STOP TO ARMS DEAL WITH SAUDI ARABIA
Submitted by Jean Sealey

CALL OR RESISTBOT Senator Rubio (202 224-3041 or 904 354-4300), Senator Nelson (202 224-5274 or 904 346-4500) to tell them the United States must take a strong stand against those responsible for the death of American permanent resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. Sen. Rubio has stated if the president does not…

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WASHINGTONPOST.COM
The president has repeatedly emphasized oil, arms sales and the dissident journalist’s Saudi citizenship as reasons for moving slowly on his disappearance and suspected murder.

OPPOSE INDEFINITE DETENTION OF MIGRANT CHILDREN, FAMILIES

FEDERAL DAILY ACTION: Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018
STOP INDEFINITE DETENTION OF MIGRANT CHILDREN, FAMILIES
Submitted by Jean Sealey
CALL OR RESISTBOT Senator Rubio (202 224-3041 or 904 354-4300), Senator Nelson (202 224-5274 or 904 346-4500) and your House representatives to tell them to oppose this administration’s cruel decisions and actions that hurt legal immigrants. Congress must not enable Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda and pass bills that would fund the mass indefinite detent…

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CNN.COM
There are 245 kids from separated families who are still in US custody, according to the latest filing in the ACLU class action case over family separations at the border. And just 18 of them are currently in the pipeline to reunite with parents in their country of origin.

OPPOSE ATTACKS ON IMMIGRANTS

FEDERAL DAILY CALL: Monday, October 15, 2018
OPPOSE CONTINUED ATTACKS ON IMMIGRANTS
Submitted by Jean Sealey

CALL OR RESISTBOT Senator Rubio (202 224-3041 or 904 354-4300), Senator Nelson (202 224-5274 or 904 346-4500) and your House representatives to tell them to oppose this administration’s cruel decisions and actions that hurt legal immigrants. Congress must not enable Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda and pass bills that would fund the mass detention and deportation of imm…

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TIME.COM
“If they feel there will be separation, then they won’t come”