What to do post-Kavanaugh
October 06, 2018
I've been so emotionally caught up in this Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination for the last few weeks, and now I find I can't even think about it. Too horrifying.
My way of dealing today is to pick a bunch of Senate and Congressional races and send them money. Ask your friends around the country for suggestions. Mine were very helpful. 538 is a good source to identify close races. Look at websites to see if candidates support your values. Support women and people of color when you can.
There are, of course, other ways to act. But I think this November election is crucial. If the Senate and House remain red we are truly screwed. So if you can't afford to donate, please volunteer in other ways. Send postcards. Make phone calls or texts. Help get out the vote. Indivisible Yolo is one local organization that you can join forces with, although there are others.
You don't even have to be excited about it. I'm not. I'm numb. But I feel slightly better for having supported a bunch of races, and will keep an eye out for more that I can support.
Other suggestions are welcome in the comments. Let's support and encourage each other.
You are absolutely right, but this is nothing new. The son of a blacklisted author, I have lived though this. The unions fought through this. See Howard Zinn’s article on this subject.
Vote! Then organize!
Steve Kahn
Posted by: Steven Kahn | October 06, 2018 at 03:57 PM
Thank you for that, Steven. It is comforting to think that we could come out on the other side of this, because right now it is hard to see.
Is this the essay that you mean?
https://www.howardzinn.org/a-marvelous-victory/
Posted by: Roberta L. Millstein | October 06, 2018 at 04:10 PM
Yes organize, and realize that elections do have dire consequences. To this end my wife and I are going to be working with Berkeley Indivisible. No disrespect to Yolo Co. Indivisible, but BI is a big organization. They have been sending out busloads of people to canvass in various key battleground California Congressional Districts for well over a year.
They are concentrating in particular on CD 10 where Rep. Jeff Denham (Turlock) is the congressman. He won, very narrowly, in 2016 in a district that HRC won in the Prez election. BI is focusing especially on Tracy on election day. A recent poll showed this district changing from "leaning Republican" to "toss-up." Indeed the Dem. candidate, Josh Harder had a 50-45 point lead. BI needs help getting out the vote Nov. 1-6, and my wife and I are going down to help Nov. 4-6. It is going to be a tough one as Denham has a lot of money, and local connections, but so do does Harder.
If you would like to sign up go to this link (as I did relatively recently and got an immediate and friendly response from Cheryl Fippen, one of their lead organizers).
Here is the link:
https://indivisibleberkeley.org/action/gotv-or-die
Here also is a link to the Josh Harder for Congress website:
https://www.harderforcongress.com/
You can also (or alternatively) make a campaign donation or if you really want hold a fund raising party at your house. A Berkeley friend of mine did three weeks ago and the goal was $10,000. She brought in nearly $30,000!!!
See you in Tracy!!!
Posted by: Dan Cornford | October 06, 2018 at 04:30 PM
Yes, 538 has that race as "close but leaning blue," so that is a great one to put one's efforts toward.
Posted by: Roberta L. Millstein | October 06, 2018 at 05:06 PM
Here is a link to the article: https://progressive.org/op-eds/howard-zinn-despair-supreme-court/
Steve
Posted by: Steve Kahn | October 06, 2018 at 08:04 PM
Dear Roberta, a good piece, but I just posted a link to this one.
Steve
Posted by: Steve Kahn | October 06, 2018 at 08:08 PM
Thank you, Steve. That is indeed an excellent piece. There are many parts I would quote, but I'll pick out just one:
"It would be naive to depend on the Supreme Court to defend the rights of poor people, women, people of color, dissenters of all kinds. Those rights only come alive when citizens organize, protest, demonstrate, strike, boycott, rebel, and violate the law in order to uphold justice."
Posted by: Roberta L. Millstein | October 07, 2018 at 07:45 PM
Kavanaugh will be a great Supreme Court Justice. Why do we have to read the Democrat talking points on a blog that is supposed to be about living in Davis? We get enough of that from the main stream media.
Posted by: Burt Davis | October 17, 2018 at 09:46 PM
Burt,
First, this felt personal to many of us who have stories that are all too similar to Christine Blasey Ford, and it was emotionally devastating. I wrote this to my fellow Davisites in case it was helpful to their coping. There are actions we can take at a local level that have a national effect.
Second, I'll note that our local newspaper, the Davis Enterprise, sometimes has national stories, letters to the editor, and columns. These of of interest to Davisites, too.
And to be clear, you'll note that this post was neither really about Kavanaugh nor about Democratic talking points. It's about actions that people can take concerning the upcoming midterm elections.
Posted by: Roberta L. Millstein | October 17, 2018 at 11:11 PM