Yesterday were the 2018 midterm elections, and for Democrats, it was kind of a mixed bag. Dems retook the House, but lost some seats in the Senate, and at least in my home state of Texas, things stayed pretty Red overall. But there’s a lot of reason for hope — and out of hope comes action.
Here’s why you should see yesterday’s results as a victory for progressive change:
- In 2014, the last Senate election in Texas, the Republican candidate beat the Democrat by 27 points. Yesterday, Ted Cruz only managed to beat Beto by 3 points. Texas continues to change demographically, and another 2 years of this change paired with 2 years of hard work getting new voters registered and expanding reach in traditionally low-voting groups, and Texas will flip. And when it flips, it will flip HARD. Without electoral votes from Texas, there is NO path for Republicans to win a Presidency again. So that’s something to look forward to.
- A lot of firsts were accomplished last night. The first openly gay governor. The first indigenous female in Congress. The first Muslim woman in Congress. More than 100 women elected to the House for the first time ever. Our elected officials should look like America – and having representatives from many different minority groups represented helps to get people who may have felt disillusioned with the political process re-interested in voting.
- Florida, a state which is basically always a toss-up, restored the voting rights to more than 1M ex-felons. These people can help secure a Democratic victory in Florida in 2020, helping ensure a change in the White House.
- Some really horrible people are out of office. Kobach in Kansas. Paul LePage in Maine. Scott Walker in Wisconsin.
- Down-ballot races were helped by strong progressive candidates at the top like Beto in Texas, Krysten Sinema in Arizona, Amy Klobuchar in Minnestoa. This is important for state house composition and judicial nominees. In Texas, for example, Democrats took more than 70% of judicial races, and managed to flip two state appellate courts. That’s huge!
So….hopefully you’re feeling a little better after reading all that…but now what? Well, we get to work. Here’s how you can help. Many of the below are pulled from my articles in 2016: 44 Things You Should Do If You’re Disappointed by the Election and 22 MORE Things You Should Do If You’re Disappointed by the Election. They’re still relevant, but I’ve added a bunch of new things as well. We might just be getting kinda good at this resistance thing.
Communications/Advocacy
- Send a thank you note to the candidates that inspired you this election — regardless of whether they won.
- Do you know someone who voted for the first time, or for the first time in a while? They may be feeling especially discouraged today, if their preferred candidate didn’t win. Reach out to these individuals, and let them know that their vote absolutely mattered. Feel free to send them this blog. And then keep reaching out to make sure they become a consistent voter in the future as well.
- If your state elected any new representatives or senators, get to know their position on issues that matter to you. Once they’re sworn in this January, begin regular communications with them via phone, fax, social media postcards; whatever works best for you. There are some useful tools like Daily Action and ResistBot that you can subscribe to to get regular reminders to reach out.
- Consider joining a Facebook group like your local Indivisible or Pantsuit group, so that you have similarly-minded individuals to reach out to for events, actions, and just moral support. (Keep in mind that some of these groups may be “secret” so you may need a current member to invite you — ask your most politically active friends if they can help recommend such a group.) Or start a group of your own. Here’s some info about that.
- Call out “fake” news, claims and conspiracy theories whenever you see it, citing real news sources, fact-checking websites, and Snopes to debunk them.
Political Action
- Volunteer to become a Voter Registrar in your state, and attend large events/festivals in your area where you can talk to people about registering to vote.
- Attend a City Council or School Board meeting in your town, or even better, start attending one regularly. Ask questions. Speak up in the public comment time periods. Regularly introduce yourself to your Council members.
- Lay the groundwork to run for office yourself in a local role like school board, city council, or other starter position: Texas women in particular should consider attending a training/event from Annie’s List; other state orgs promoting women candidates can be found via Emily’s List. Millennial candidates should look into Run For Something. Candidates in Republican-held districts should look into Flippable.
- Check whether any local- or state-level races in your area are headed for a run-off election. If so, mark the date on your calendar and tell your friends about the run-off as well.
- Browse RallyList regularly to find marches, protests, and rallies about topics you care about. (Just be wary of Facebook-only organized activities, which have been a target of foreign influence campaigns.)
Donate & Help Raise Funds
- Donate to worthwhile organizations that defend and legally advocate vulnerable groups:
- Better yet, set up a recurring monthly donation.
- If you donate, check with your employer to see if they will match your funds, and see what they require in terms of verification in order to do so.
- Can’t afford to donate? Set your Amazon Smile charity to donate to one of the above whenever you shop, and always shop through https://smile.amazon.com.
- Black Friday is coming. As much as possible, support minority-, women-, and LGBTQIA-owned small businesses in your community to do your holiday shopping. Or, consider making pledges to the above organizations instead of giving physical presents this year.
- Are you a runner, walker or biker? Consider downloading the Charity Miles app that will donate $0.10 per mile biked or $0.25 per mile walked to a charity of your choice. Many of their charities have an international focus, but some also do work in the US, like: The Nature Conservancy (environmental protection), Partnership for a Healthier America (children’s health), or Back On My Feet (homelessness).
- Consider setting aside some amount of funds each month, perhaps as a direct withdrawal from your paycheck, into a fund that you can dedicate to supporting your chosen candidates for 2020.
Volunteer
- Volunteer for an organization working to assist sexual assault survivors, by working the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline, or for local organizations (like SafePlace in Austin). They’re still seeing a rise in calls since the Kavanaugh hearings.
- Volunteer to be an abortion clinic escort — you help women with appointments get from the parking lot to the building, often through a line of horrid protesters screaming obscenities.
- Volunteer with any worthwhile organization, really. Just get yourself out there.
- If you’re a lawyer, set a higher pro-bono goal for yourself for 2017 and dedicate a portion of your CLE hours to learning more on constitutional law and immigration law.
Boycott
- Continue to boycott all things Trump related: Trump hotels and golf courses, Ivanka Trump products, etc. For a fuller list of Trump-affiliated businesses to avoid, check the #GrabYourWallet Boycott List.
- Don’t stay, gamble or shop at The Venetian casino in Las Vegas, which is owned by one of the largest Conservative donors, Sheldon Adelson. He reportedly donated nearly $100M this past election cycle.
- Boycott Cinemark Theaters, Omni Hotels, and Gold’s Gym – as the owners of all three donated heavily to Super-Pacs that supported Ted Cruz.
- Buy an electric vehicle or invest in solar panels for your house, so that you can boycott buying gas, thereby indirectly boycotting the Koch Brothers (who made their money off oil) and also decreasing the need for pipelines like that pollute and endanger native lands.
- Send emails/write letters to companies who advertise on Fox News, asking that they pull their advertising or threatening a boycott if they don’t.
Self – Protection
- All married couples, but especially LGBTQIA individuals, should make sure to create a will or estate plan, and consider creating both legal and medical Power of Attorney documents for their spouse.
- Get your finances in order. If you have credit card debt, get yourself out of debt as quickly as possible (I recommend tactics such as those espoused by Mr. Money Mustache) and start setting aside whatever you can each month in order to build up an emergency fund that would cover your family’s expenses for at least a six-months period. The whims of elections are a lot less scary if you don’t feel like you’re one paycheck away from financial disaster.
- Get a passport for yourself any any children you may have, and renew any passports that are set to expire anytime in the next few years.
- If you don’t have the same last name as your children, make sure you have official copies of their birth certificates that list your name as a parent. If you are in a same-sex partnership and have children, make sure your child’s birth certificate lists both partners names, or have it amended if it does not.
- If you have a passport from another country, don’t let it expire.
- Take self-defense or martial arts classes. One study out of Canada shows that women who complete self defense classes experience 63% fewer attempted assaults and 46% fewer completed assaults that those who had not.
- If you have stock market investments, make sure your portfolio is properly diversified. You want a mixture not just of stocks, bonds, and cash, but also a mix between US markets, international market, and emerging markets. REITs and even Gold can be added as well to create stability. Generally speaking, markets see a bump after the midterm elections (regardless of which party does best) but most economists are still predicting we’re heading towards another recession.
- Here’s a good list of Trans-specific healthcare concerns and actions you may want to take. If you’re not Trans, share with any Trans friends. You may also want to prioritize getting your name and gender marker changed on state and federal ids.
- Read this article about better protecting your data online, and make whatever changes you see necessary. Here’s another article on the same topic.
Health
- We’re currently in the period of Open Enrollment for both Obamacare and most workplace insurance programs. Make sure you’re covered and get insurance for 2019. Look into healthcare navigators in your area who can help if you need a better understanding of your options. You have until December 15, 2018 to make your selections.
- If you currently have insurance, make an appointment for your annual physical, annual female exam, any another covered preventative care before the end of the year.
- Exercise. You can’t fight if you don’t have the strength and stamina to do so.
- Teach children about how to stand up to bullies, not just for themselves, but others who they may see targeted. Teach them that it’s never ok to try to hurt someone else’s feelings because they are different from us in some way. Practice this skill with them using role-playing or dolls.
- Make sure you (and your children) are up to date on all vaccines, including HPV and meningitis for teens and 20-somethings, Hepatitis A & B for adults, and pneumonia and shingles vaccines for seniors. You should also get a tetanus shot every 10 years, and a flu shot yearly.
- If you are able to choose an HSA type healthplan through work, do so now, and contribute as much as you can up to the annual limit into the fund. Whenever possible, do not use this fund to pay for current health expenses, instead creating a rainy-day fund for yourself in case you encounter non-covered health expenses in the next four years.
Hobbies
- Join or start a monthly feminist book club.
- Begin listening to a political podcast, like PodSaveAmerica.
- Learn Spanish (so that you can help rally Hispanic voters for 2020).
- Get a PAID subscription to news organizations that are still doing comprehensive in-depth investigative journalism like the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, etc.
- Add a non-US based news site like the BBC, aljazeera.net, or RT.com to your daily news site list in order to get an outside perspective (but understanding that those sites are also biased in their own way.)
- Read the Quran, so that you can knowledgeably rebuff any Islamophobia you may encounter.
- If your workplace offers them, join an Employee Resource Group for minority or women employees, (even if you’re not a minority or woman!) and listen to what they have to say.
- Travel internationally — because travel helps us to better understand that while we may be different, we’re all humans and most of us want the same things.
Plan
- Put the date November 3rd, 2020 on your calendar right now. That’s how long you have to make change in your local community and get it on the path to a better political party. Don’t wait. Start now.
