Have you voted? We’re planning on voting after doing door hangers this morning. One of my RAs said it was 20 min wait to vote on campus (which is normal), but one of my friends said there was a LONG line at the utility center where we normally vote– that place is usually deserted!
Today is also the BIG SEND day for votefwd. So we’ll be dropping those envelopes off at the post office today. I’m guessing they’ll have addresses up for a few more days, so check!
And… just because we’re all super focused on the election, doesn’t mean we should ignore what is going on in congress right now. I know a lot of people are feeling defeated about the Supreme Court thing, but we should still protest it. First off, only two R senators need to flip. Second, if there’s a groundswell of support Dem senators can say, see, this is what my people want, and Rep senators can feel nervous about their choices. Third, if we make this difficult for them, especially during an election year, then they are less likely to do more horrible stuff… if we are complacent they will ram through as much horribleness as they can as quickly as possible. Protesting now delays whatever the next awful fascist thing is. Also there is a very important Supreme Court case coming up… if you want to keep the pre-existing conditions exclusion, we need to delay Barrett’s confirmation at least that long.
This whole thread is very good. Make noise. Note especially the discussion about Covid as a pre-existing condition.
Here’s where to find out if your senator is on the judiciary.
This description of what it is like flying during the pandemic makes me really not want to risk flying to DH’s family at Christmas.
Senator Gary Peters discusses his abortion experience. Donate to his re-election campaign here.
The guy behind Amptoons gives a detailed illustration of how he made his voting decisions.
How Ouija boards really work.
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
October 17, 2020 at 7:22 am
Note that that word of God thread could also help explain why trump supporters are so out and militant this election after being much more quiet 4 years ago. Trump support is down but trump signs are up in my neighborhood.
October 17, 2020 at 7:50 am
I dropped my ballot off at a drop box on Wednesday! Had I realized that I would get an alert once my ballot was received, I probably would have just dropped it in the mail. But I wasn’t sure how that would go, even this early, so I wanted to be sure that it got in. I also got roped into phone banking for GA this afternoon; I tried to find a group doing text banking, but I guess that’s less popular this year?
Re: trump signs – I was pleasantly surprised last weekend when I drove out to the nearby state park, and suddenly saw a LOT of Biden signs. Usually when I’ve driven out there, it’s only Trump signs, with Biden signs concentrated near the college. But this time there were at least as many Biden signs as Trump signs in the smaller towns, which gives me some hope that people have realized how close the election is and are pushing on their neighbors (I’m in a swing state).
October 17, 2020 at 11:53 am
Yay voting!!!! Yay getting an alert! Double yay phone banking!!!!
I have been getting a bazillion texts asking for money. So someone is doing phone banking… I’ve been doing a lot of typing “stop”. I like the get out the vote texting but not the interminable give us money texting.
We have a Biden sign up this year because I don’t want non-crazy people to feel afraid and alone given the militantness of the trump voters. I mean, they have flags and banners! (One of our neighbors got a Biden banner and then a few days later had a sign up saying it had been stolen(!) I have been contemplating getting a banner to put up if our corner sign gets stolen. DH says we should make our own signs if the Biden sign gets stolen instead.) So yay everybody who has put up a Biden sign!
As another good sign– Crazy Trump people made a lot of noise trying to take over our HOA and got soundly defeated 3-1, even though they did a lot of awful things trying to game the election in their favor (or perhaps because they did!)
October 17, 2020 at 10:32 am
October 17, 2020 at 11:47 am
We didn’t end up doing doors because by 8:30 the people with the stuff still weren’t there (lots of volunteers, no organizers) so we decided to go vote instead. We first tried the early voting place near dem hq (in the town next to where we live). It was AWFUL. Huge indoor line, nobody standing 6 ft apart, no indication of what 6ft was, bad ventilation. On our way out I saw a (white) dude without a mask talking to his friends in line. I gave him a disposable mask which he put directly into his pocket.
Then we went to the place nearer our house (where the rich white people live) because my friend went there yesterday and we knew there was a long line but it was mostly outside. Not only was the line mostly outside, but people were social distancing outside and indoors there were stickers on the ground indicating where to stand every 6 feet. It took about 50 min. We have NEVER had to wait to vote before. This is truly the first time. On our way to the line, I let a guy with a Trump tshirt know that they wouldn’t let him vote unless he covered it up so he should grab a jacket before he got inside (he suggested voting shirtless), but he didn’t believe me. Later on he got to the point of the line where they check and he had to go back to his car to get a jacket.
Moral: Don’t try to help Trump voters even if deep down you irrationally believe everybody should vote. They don’t want to be helped. They just want to hurt and inconvenience other people. That is why they are voting against their own interests in the first place.
Then we mailed our 160 letters to voters. Then went home and wrote 40 more (feeling guilty for not staying at Dem HQ and waiting for Godot I mean organizers) and almost ran out of envelopes, so I guess we’re done with letters to voters for now! Back to postcards! (I stocked up on postcards since DH has been spending quite a bit of his furloughed fridays writing them.) DH is dropping off the additional 40 soon.
October 17, 2020 at 3:47 pm
I had thought per the usual that I would just vote in person on Election Day. Bringing along my newly registered voter daughter. Then today early voting began in Massachusetts and I am aware of all of the times we can go early to vote in person. And it is looking like we may do this….still not sure.
We also bought some Biden Harris stickers and a tote bag to support.
I am not confident in the outcome next month. Still can talk someone’s ear off how Hillary won but somehow someone horrible ended up in the white House instead.
Everything is so F*cking scary.
Anon in mass
October 17, 2020 at 5:09 pm
Vote early to be sure and so you don’t spend all night in a line in November! I have never had to wait in a line before.
Congrats to your daughter!
October 17, 2020 at 8:31 pm
Vote early if at all possible. Avoids any problems or confrontations, makes it possible to get ballots processed and moved through the system. Some people may not be able to vote early, by getting your vote in you make their delays shorter and ensures they get to vote too. Really the ‘American Way to do things by thinking of others and helping our neighbors’… rather like wearing a mask during covid time. Or fixing a meal for a friend with a new baby…..Traditional American kindness to others. Having it DONE is also a stress reduction action.
October 19, 2020 at 10:12 pm
I dropped off ballots for DW and me at the Drop Box last week, then a couple days later confirmed on the County Auditor’s website that they had received both our ballots. We’re in Iowa now, after many years in Connecticut, so our votes for both President and Senate matter a LOT. If Biden wins but the GOP keep the Senate they will do everything they can to block progress. All the pundits say both Presidential and Senate races in Iowa are close.
October 20, 2020 at 5:18 am
Yay for voting!