Make North Carolina Blue Again
As a Lady who Lunches, it is my duty to use my ample free time and resources to mobilize others for important causes.
So I’m hosting my first fundraiser to Make North Carolina Blue again, on Sunday, July 12th at 4 pm EDT on Zoom. If you would like to attend and learn more, details below. If you want to donate (just American voters, sorry, no foreign interference!), click here.
June: My (mostly) Lost Month
I have spent the past month rage-reading the Washington Post and having protest FOMO. I started to write a post on June 1st about how I was going to stop being a lazy sad sack and actually do something useful, set some goals, and then...I spiraled into a bad news tailspin and now it’s the end of the month. Turns out pandemic living isn’t my early retirement dream - it’s a recipe for becoming a sloth.
I did do some reading this month on how to be a better anti-racist, which is important - but I can and should do more. Everyone thinking that someone else is going to do something about big problems is the reason we have so many of them. It’s inspiring to see first-time candidates running for local office to be that person who makes change- and the least I can do is help support them.
From Analysis Paralysis to Action
When it comes to most decisions, I’m a satisficer. I make choices with the information I have at the time and don’t look back. However, when it comes to giving money away, I’m a super maximizer, probably because I worked for non-profit for so long and know how money might get misused…which makes it hard for me to make a decision on what is the best cause and most efficient organization. This trait has led to me giving less than I would have liked in the past.
One of the main reasons I’m not renouncing my US citizenship, even though I don’t intend to return and still have to file taxes, is so I can vote in an important swing state - North Carolina. Elections in the US have repercussions on not just important things nationally like civil rights, social justice, and child hunger, but also globally in issues that matter to me like the funding of humanitarian aid and countering climate change.
So I’ve decided the 2020 elections are a maximizer way to focus my efforts at the moment, not only for the reasons above but also because whomever is in charge of the state legislature after the 2020 census will determine if we have gerrymandered districts for the next 10 years.
I regret not doing and giving more in the 2016 election cycle, but hindsight is…2020. And here we are.
Save North Carolina, Save the World
This is not an exaggeration.
In the before-times, I was planning on going to North Carolina in the weeks leading up to the election to help with voter registration and Get Out the Vote, which I loved doing with the Obama campaign in 2008.
Who knows now if that will be possible, but the silver lining of the pandemic is now all activities are online so expats can participate like never before.
I learned about 31st Street Swing Left when a former colleague and friend invited me to a virtual fundraiser. While they are based in the DC area, they have strategically decided that North Carolina is key to defeating Trump, taking back the Senate, and there is a real chance to take back the NC legislature.
The Republicans in the NC legislature are responsible for such gems as the anti-transgender ‘Bathroom Bill’, disenfranchising black voters with ‘surgical precision’, and recently removed an amendment to extend the no-mask law waiver (initially passed because of the KKK, but clearly has different implications at the moment). These guys have got to go.
The Democrat state legislative candidates are the ones that can mobilize local communities and make sure people get out to vote- ultimately also benefiting the also essential, more visible campaigns for President, Senate, and the Governor. All of these will be close races, and every vote really matters.
Maximizing Impact with 31st Street Swing Left
So back to 31st Street. One major pro for this organization is their chief strategy guy, Jim Shelton, who I know from my former life in global health, where he is a legend. Now he’s taking his vast experience with data and research and using it to constantly update where to channel limited money and volunteer time to make the most important marginal difference. His ‘reverse coat-tails’ strategy that I outlined above puts the focus on the local races within reach with outsize influence.
Jim is a maximizer for all maximizers, and he vets candidates, campaigns, and Get Out the Vote organizations to ensure they are effective. They have been quite successful in their targeting, raising more money than any other Swing Left group in the country and getting praise from the campaigns they supported.
On the flip side, this group is, shall we say, Boomer-heavy and melanin-deficient.
For fundraising, this is not an issue- they clearly have the money and time to support candidates in North Carolina, which are a fairly diverse group (see below, and click here for a list of their websites and endorsements) which they are doing well. Even though their own website isn’t as pretty as, say, this one, it is functional.
The current Democratic NC legislative candidates that need a fundraising boost!
They also have an interesting arrangement with a producer who makes pro-bono ads for their supported NC legislature candidates. She won an award for this ad she did with them for a Virginia candidate in 2019.
The low-propensity voters that are key to flipping North Carolina blue are the young and people of color. To their credit, since their current membership is pretty much the opposite, 31st Street supports You Can Vote, a Jim-vetted grassroots organization focused on voter registration and education which looks a lot more like the people they are trying to reach. You Can Vote has results from past elections to back up their approach and are working to pivot to an on-line strategy.
The good news is 31st Street is recruiting new members and super easy to join - just sign up for the email list here and you will get emails with curated, targeted volunteer opportunities and updates on the strategy and progress.
If you would like to join my Zoom event on Sunday, July 12th at 4 pm EDT to learn more about the candidates, organization and strategy, RSVP here!
If you are so inspired you want to donate to the key NC legislature candidates right away (all the money goes directly to the campaigns), click here.
To donate to You Can Vote, which is tax-deductible, click here.
The only time I wish I were still living in DC is when there are protests…
My July Goals
To prevent a repeat of June, I’m setting some public goals for myself!
1. Raise at least $5,000 for key NC legislative candidates
2. Recruit at least one other fundraiser host (let me know in the comments or send me a message if you are interested!)
3. Become the monthly top phone banker in Mexico for Democrats Abroad