Do you remember the online “The Weekly List” from early 2017? Under this chilling heading—“Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember”—Amy Siskind began chronicling the anomalies and downright illegalities of the Trump administration in its nascent days, sharing a weekly list on Facebook. The posts quickly went viral and stayed so week after week, and she ultimately published a book in 2018. A longtime advocate for women’s rights, she’s become an outspoken political activist and democracy defender in the years since 2016, and she’s been using her online presence to talk extensively about the upcoming election. And lately she’s been freaking out about Pennsylvania.
She’s not wrong to be alarmed. I will expand on this opinion at a later time, but I am not a believer in modern political polling; it’s been spectacularly wrong in recent years, but particularly during the last several election cycles. But the fact of the matter is that the combination of our antiquated, racism-rooted Electoral College system and our increasingly divided electorate means this is going to be an extremely close race. So it’s difficult to look past polling in the battlegrounds, especially when it shows the difference between Harris winning and losing as coming down to a single percentage point. And if you follow state-specific polls, some of the latest ones released in the past few days show Pennsylvania as very tight.
For this reason, now is a great time to act. But maybe a more important reason is that National Voter Registration Day is one week from today. Last week I wrote about data analysis I’ve been following this is showing how voter registration rates among young people, particularly young women of color, has skyrocketed since Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Kamala. Which is great! But Democrats have to register as many new voters as possible, and then later, make sure they and all other voter turns out at the polls in enormous numbers; this is going to be the only way to buttress the GOP’s attempts to overturn the election results. And to be clear, they are working diligently to do so. So this is where the rubber meets the road; the document I created for students attending college in swing states includes the voter registration deadlines for each, and we only have a few precious weeks left to register people in record numbers.
So pencils up, because I have a list of some things to do:
On Substack, I recently stumbled upon a woman who is putting out the kind of newsletter I intended to write when I first started The Lady Rage Exchange. Please take a few minutes to check out Jessica Craven’s fantastic publication Chop Wood, Carry Water. Among much fantastic information, you will find her weekly guidance to how to help in the swing states; adopt a state and sign up for her weekly missives. She also has an amazing array of Google docs that summarize a lot of key info; here is her missive on postcard writing and what you need to know to participate.
Amy Siskind is organizing a canvassing group in the Philadelphia suburbs this coming weekend, 9/14 and 9/15. From her post about it: “PA is close! I am organizing door knocking for Harris in Philly and suburbs on Sept 14-15. We have volunteers to host travelers, and a block of hotel rooms. Email PACanvass2024@gmail.com if you can join us for details.” So hit her up if you can join!
Field Team 6 has many volunteer opportunities to explore, from postcards and texting to phonebanking and volunteering in-person at voter registration events, check them out.
Vote Forward is organizing many postcard and letter-writing campaigns targeting the battlegrounds, so take a look. (Go to the first bullet above and cross-reference Jessica Craven’s essential summary of postcard writing campaigns and what to know before you try it. Pro tip: order your postage through USPS.com; if your local post office is like mine—meaning, small and understaffed and in a blue area—postcard stamps will be hard to find!)