The next 20 days could swing the whole election

Here’s our chance to maximize voter turnout against Trump where it counts

November 5, Election Day, is 35 days away. But the next 20 days in Philadelphia, PA could change the course of the election for the whole country.

How, you’re wondering? Read on!

What’s unusual about the next 20 days?

·      In 20 days—on October 21—we reach the Pennsylvania voter registration deadline; AND

·      Until then, every Pennsylvanian eligible to vote—both registered and unregistered voters alike—can early-vote, in person, at a Satellite Voting Center.

For unregistered voters, they go to the satellite office where, in 15 minutes, they can register to vote; receive their ballot; fill it out; and drop it in a dropbox.

Why does this matter? Three specific reasons.

1.     Pennsylvania is our best chance.

Pennsylvania is one of the very closest states in the country. Whoever wins it almost surely becomes President.

2.     Within Pennsylvania, Philadelphia is our best chance.

Our best chance to increase Democratic voter turnout in Pennsylvania is in Philadelphia.

That’s because tens of thousands of Philadelphians in Democratic neighborhoods are at high risk of not voting: they missed the most recent Presidential elections even though they were eligible to vote. They are unlikely to know that early voting is possible, much less that it has already begun.

3.     These at-risk voters won’t learn about early voting unless we go see them in person.

Two groups are particularly unlikely to have heard that early voting has begun: 1) those eligible, but not registered; and 2) those registered, but at an old address.

These potential voters don’t receive mail about the election because, if they are on the voter list at all, it’s at an old address. So they don’t get mail from the state of PA which might inform them about early voting. Nor do they get the abundance of campaign mail that fills the mailboxes of chronic voters like you and me.

These voters are off the map unless we take the time to go door-to-door to find them; talk with them; and listen to them. Almost no group does that.

Which is why, currently, the satellite offices are open but little used.

This is the moment where you and I can make the difference.

The group I am working with, Changing the Conversation, https://ctc4progress.org, is going door-to-door in neighborhoods where 95% reliably vote Democratic when they vote.

But half of the Democrats in these neighborhoods eligible to vote, don’t vote. Most missed either the 2016 or 2020 Presidential election or both.

The result: Pennsylvania swung by tiny margins to Trump in 2016 and then to Biden in 2020. The neighborhoods we are doorknocking—if they voted—could more than tip the election.

You can help in a very practical way. Come to Philadelphia.

Particularly in the next 20 days, we need more of us to reach all the voters who are at high risk of not voting.

Can you consider coming to Philadelphia for a day? I know it’s a big ask. But we will train you, pair you up, and enable you to meet the voters we need to win this election.

Yes, I realize Philadelphia may be inconvenient for you. I live in Los Angeles, it’s not convenient for me. But I decided: I have to be here, because here is where it’s all going to get decided.

More than 200 of us have been canvassing every weekend. Many of the 200 are from Pennsylvania or New Jersey or New York. But we have teams of friends coming regularly from Massachusetts and Connecticut, and from Maryland and D.C. We even have some traveling from Louisiana, Utah, and California.

So what about you?

If you decide to help, sign up at the Changing the Conversation website: https://www.mobilize.us/ctc4progress/

I particularly encourage you to come this Saturday or Sunday, October 5 and 6, or the following weekend, October 12 and 13. When you sign up, you can also sign up for crucial training happening on Zoom. Get trained on the evening of your choice: October 2, 3, 9, or 10. Double your impact by asking a family member or friend to come with you.

A special note if you are already helping in some other way

I know you care about this election or you wouldn’t be reading this.

Maybe you have already volunteered this year.

I have to say: good for you. Thank you. Every bit helps.

But let me be honest with you. Some forms of help matter a lot more than others if we are trying to increase the number of votes cast for Kamala and against Trump.

For example, postcards and letters reach very few except the most informed and most likely to vote. Why? Because non-voters are not on the voter list at an address where they actually receive mail—or, often, not on the voter list at all.

Phone calls and texts don’t reach non-voters, because the phone numbers in the voter data file are not their current phone numbers. The “data” in the file are laughably archaic.

A special note to those of you have donated money

That’s a good start. But don’t only donate: because there are crucial things that money can’t buy. Connecting with non-voters is one of them. That’s why high rates of non-voting have persisted even as campaign spending has skyrocketed.

All of us have to answer a final question.

How will you feel on election night when the election is too close to call or is going the wrong way?

Will you be able to say to yourself: I did all that I could.

How will you feel if you can’t honestly say that?

Save yourself the anguish now and come to Philadelphia and join us. For a day. For two days. For a week.

Because if we are here together—a team—we can make a measurable difference. Perhaps we will even make the decisive difference, because the election is that close.

Thanks for considering disrupting your life for a day.

Let’s save our country.