Call To Action 8-23-20

STATE & COUNTY ACTION

Stand with Carolina Mejia, OI Endorsed Candidate for Thurston County Commissioner
This week our endorsed candidate Carolina Mejia has been under attack. The Olympian: “A supporter of Thurston County Commission candidate Bud Blake is accusing front runner Carolina Mejia of being ineligible to run for office — and the accusation is being called racist by a chorus of local and state Democrats. … Victor Minjares, chair of the Thurston County Democrats, called the allegation “despicable” in a phone interview with The Olympian Wednesday. “False accusations are a part of any campaign,” Minjares said. “This accusation in particular, though, is racist to the core. It’s birtherism.”

Read the whole article and see the press conference here: https://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article245087140.html

There is another interesting article about the Commissioner race in today’s Olympian, stating her opponent C Davis is having his residency address challenged https://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article245152375.html

Your OI Washington Election team says Ms. Mejia is the most important race for us in the state – most other races are not that close or pit our endorsee against such an unacceptable candidates as this race. This is a race we can and must win.

​How do you help the campaign?
1. Volunteer https://www.carolinaforthurston.com/volunteer They need your help now!
2. Donate https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mejia The campaign needs money for mailers, info packets, postcards, signs and more. Let’s show Carolina we are solidly behind her and raise $2,000 from OI this week! I just donated - do it right now before you forget!

SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY

A WEEK OF POST OFFICE ACTION!
 
This week Olympia Indivisible members will be picketing at the downtown Olympia Post Office in Support of our Postal Workers.   Members will be picketing from 11-1 pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and from 3-5 pm on Tuesday and Thursday. Our goal is to show support for our Post Office and to remind voters to do 3 simple things: vote early, use the county drop boxes (this frees up the load on the USPS) and to call the county auditor if they don’t receive a ballot promptly after they are mailed on October 9th.
 
We still could use a few more volunteers (especially Tuesday 3-5pm). Please contact Tom Dyer if you can help. indivisibletom@gmail.com
 
Will You Join in this Week of Action?  Here are two ACTIONS to do!
 
1. Publicly thank your letter carrier!  Leave a Thank You card, or even better, put up a poster for all to see on your front door or porch. Do it today while you are thinking about it!
 
2. Drive by, honk, and show support to our volunteers while they are picketing. Cheer them on! You can also mask up, bring a sign and walk with them (there is extra room across the street).
 

The Register Voters In Michigan Project Is Up and Rolling
Olympia Indivisible has joined a nation-wide effort to register voters in the battleground state of Michigan. The goal of the project is to contact left-leaning Michiganders and register 25,000 voters by the end of September.  In 2016, Trump won Michigan by only 10,704 votes! Michigan must flip to blue for a win in November.  
Join us Monday, August 24 at 12 noon for a 30-minute introduction and training followed by an hour phone banking session.  We’ll be making calls as a group and provide all the support you’ll need. This work is non-partisan and the calling platform is exceptionally user-friendly.  If you can’t make it on Monday, join us Friday, August 28 at 10 a.m. We’ll provide all the training you need every Monday at 12 noon and Friday at 10 a.m. before we start making calls.
This project runs for only 5 weeks, so we hope to get you calling soon!

• Monday Zoom sessions at 12 noon. PDT - Register here.
• Friday Zoom sessions at 10 a.m. PDT - Register here.
  You’ll receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link.

Check out the O.I. website for project details, including exactly what you’ll need to start making calls.
https://www.olympiaindivisible.org/michigan-voters-project.html

Shifting gears, focus on the election
 
The preliminaries are over, and the big show is starting.  Primaries and the only convention that matters have been wrapped up, and now we know the playing field for critically important races at the federal, state and local levels.  This is the beginning of the final chapter in this four-year odyssey, resistance becomes fighting for free and fair elections and candidates who will reverse the tide of reactionary and racist right-wingers. 
 
The OI Action Team is sharpening our focus as well.  Putting our energy into the initiatives that OI has underway to win the upcoming elections is our number one priority.  Will we still keep our eyes on DC and state and local politicians, to push back when they are wrong and support them when they are right?  Absolutely, but we will be balancing emerging issues against the need to maintain momentum on our successful efforts for safeguarding our elections process and to elect candidates who will advance our causes and champion our values.
 
This week, we have a lot of actions lined up.   We hope you already know about them from our web page, email alerts, Facebook posts and word of mouth.  All of these actions are both strategic and essential to our goals, and we are listing them here as a helpful reference.
 
Actions, for further details on all of these, visit the OI web page at https://www.olympiaindivisible.org/:  
Register Voters in Michigan – Because of the Electoral College, our individual votes for President have little impact (although they sure do make a big difference at the state and local level!), so OI has teamed up with others to put our energy into states where individual votes for President have high importance.  Michigan is one.  Help to ensure that voters who likely lean left are registered to vote.  As one OI member said recently, when you help turn out the vote elsewhere, it is like getting to vote more than once.  Haven’t you always wanted to do that?
Support our postal workers and oppose Trump’s efforts to suppress voting – Now that we are all hyper-aware of the importance of the postal service in ensuring free and fair elections, here is a great opportunity for a twofer.  Letting our hard-working postal workers know that you have their back, and flipping a figurative booger on the figurative windshield of Trump and his cronies who are intent on dismantling the postal service, one high speed sorting machine and overworked mail carrier at a time.  Join us for a week of information leafleting at the downtown Olympia post office.
Join us for Friday evening meet the candidate sessions – Our first session last Friday was great, with more to come.  This is an easy way to accomplish several things simultaneously.  You become more educated about the candidates, always essential for being an informed voter.  If you like what you hear (and based on the first one with Carolina Mejia, we think you will), you can learn how to help them win. And, you add to our numbers, impressing the candidates with the value and power of OI.
Volunteer for a local candidate – Thurston County residents shouldn’t rest until we have elected leaders that reflect our values, and as the racist dirty tricks that are already underway demonstrate, these elections aren’t going to be easy.  You are the best antidote to this brand of reactionary tricks.  Decent, caring people working for candidates who value diversity, inclusion, conservation and a sustainable future are our best defense and our best offense. 
 
Script:  I am _________________ and I am a member of Olympia Indivisible and I’m here to work and ready to win!
​

Olympia Indivisible Elections Alerts and Events

​Help out our OI endorsed candidates – go to https://www.olympiaindivisible.org/endorsed-candidates.html to see their upcoming needs. Here’s what’s posted this week:
 
Postcarding Notice:Olympia Indivisible members are writing postcards for several campaigns including Carolina Mejia, Jessica Bateman and an Arizona U.S. Senate campaign. Email postcardrequest@gmail.com and let them know you are a willing writer!

​If you can stamp the cards, that is great but even if you can't, we need writers.  The postcards will be written between September 1 and October 1, 2020. We aren't doing delivery except in special circumstances because of the volume. 

Carolina Mejia -Thurston County Commissioner District 1
ALERTS: Team Carolina Mejia needs your help! We need volunteers and we will train!
Contact Information:
Email: info@carolinaforthurston.com
Phone Gaby at (360) 481-3241

Coffee with Carolina: Join us every Saturday @ 10:00 am as Carolina hosts a livestream with community members that is broadcasted on Facebook Live. Watch

​Phone banking training Tuesday 8/25/20 @ 6:00 pm 

Phone Bank Party - Meet virtually
Every Thursday from 4 - 7 pm
Every Saturday from 11 am - 2 pm

Contact  the volunteer coordinator Antonia Moore: 
Email: antonia@carolinaforthurston.com 
Phone: (253) 468-3725

Michael Steadman -Thurston Commissioner District 2
ALERTS: Michael Steadman’s campaign is currently requesting volunteers who will do phone banking.

Phone Banking will be held weekly from 6pm to 8pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from
Tuesday Aug 18 to Tuesday Nov 3.

Any of our members who would be willing to volunteer should contact Jesse Simmons via
email (jwsimmons0824@gmail.com). Campaign phone: (360) 525-4142

Sharonda Amamilo - Superior Court Judge
ALERTS:
Want to know more? Contact her team with questions or to volunteer.  
(360) 464-4093
ElectSharondaAmamilo@gmail.com
Or visit her website.

Jessica Bateman - ​
​Representative District 22 Position 2Ready to roll up your sleeves? Sign up below to volunteer!
 
Beth Doglio - 
Congressional District 10 Representative
Upcoming volunteer opportunities for the general election!
Members can sign up here for all of our virtual events:  https://www.mobilize.us/doglioforcongress/

We'll be starting with 3 weekly volunteer events, and ramping up as the general election nears:

• Tuesdays 5:00-7:30     Phone Bank!
• Thursdays 5:30-7:30    Friend Bank!
• Saturdays 10:00-1:00 Phone Bank!

Beth Doglio is proudly endorsed by Olympia Indivisible Group, Indivisible Tacoma Community,
and Indivisible Puyallup.