“WE ARE NOT GOING BACK!!” – House Speaker Pelosi
We’re already in a war for American democracy.
QUICK READ: Republican politicians tell their voters that they should be scared, and they use that fear to further divide the country. Democratic politicians, on the other hand, are trying to pass legislation that would help all Americans - making it easier to vote, legalizing abortion across the country, passing reasonable gun restrictions, and trying to pull us back from the brink of climate disaster. A majority of Americans want these things, but Republican politicians block them every time.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
BACKGROUND
A new awakening is here for those of us who thought defeating Trump would end our national divisions.
But now we have a radical rightwing majority on the Supreme Court who are pushing an agenda to roll back our rights.
This is forcing the coming election to be, even more clearly, about the future. And there are clear choices to be made.
Democrats want reasonable limits on gun access, they want abortion to be legal, and they want a livable climate.
MAGA Republicans want power.
They found it in sexist and racist religious tropes that were used on Jan. 6 to justify the attack on the Capitol. These White Christian Nationalists are, according to scholars, a fundamental threat to American Democracy.
While Democrats campaign on policies they believe will make life better for voters, Republicans talk of violence. They cultivate fear that “liberals hate them personally.” It’s working. A third of Republicans surveyed believe it may soon be necessary to take up arms against the government.
So it’s time for you to fight for democracy. Work for a stronger America, one where all races have an equal right to vote, where women have control over their own bodies, and a world not burning up.
ACTION One: Call the Senate.
Script for Oregon Senators
SEN. MERKLEY: Portland office: 503-326-3386 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
My name is [--] and I'm a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
We Democrats face a mob armed with weapons and loaded with misinformation. They must not be allowed to destroy our democracy. While MAGA Republicans are bloodcurdlingly divisive, our power is not in guns but in our vision for America – peaceful, embracing ALL Americans, tolerant of the views of others, and dedicated to preserving a government of, by and for the people. You must keep repeating this message between now and November.
SEN. WYDEN:
Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
We Democrats face a mob armed with weapons and loaded with misinformation. They must not be allowed to destroy our democracy. While MAGA Republicans are bloodcurdlingly divisive, our power is not in guns but in our vision for America – peaceful, embracing ALL Americans, tolerant of the views of others, and dedicated to preserving a government of, by and for the people. You must keep repeating this message between now and November.
Script for Republican Senators
D.C switchboard: 202-224-3121
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], [state], [zip code].
This fight, this civil war you’re promoting, is a con, designed only to keep Republicans in power. Break free and think for yourself. Help save American democracy.
ACTION TWO: Call the House.
Script for Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
Oregon office: 503-469-6010 | DC office: 202-225-0855
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
We Democrats face a mob armed with weapons and loaded with misinformation. They must not be allowed to destroy our democracy. While MAGA Republicans are bloodcurdlingly divisive, our power is not in guns but in our vision for America – peaceful, embracing ALL Americans, tolerant of the views of others, and dedicated to preserving a government of, by and for the people. You must keep repeating this message between now and November.
Script for Cliff Bentz (OR-02)
Medford office: 541-776-4646 | DC office: 202-225-6730
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
This fight, this civil war you’re promoting, is a con, designed only to keep Republicans in power. Break free and think for yourself. Help save American democracy.
Script for Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Oregon office: 503-231-2300 | DC office: 202-225-4811
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
We Democrats face a mob armed with weapons and loaded with misinformation. They must not be allowed to destroy our democracy. While MAGA Republicans are bloodcurdlingly divisive, our power is not in guns but in our vision for America – peaceful, embracing ALL Americans, tolerant of the views of others, and dedicated to preserving a government of, by and for the people. You must keep repeating this message between now and November.
Script for Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
Eugene office: 541-465-6732 | DC office: 202-225-6416
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
We Democrats face a mob armed with weapons and loaded with misinformation. They must not be allowed to destroy our democracy. While MAGA Republicans are bloodcurdlingly divisive, our power is not in guns but in our vision for America – peaceful, embracing ALL Americans, tolerant of the views of others, and dedicated to preserving a government of, by and for the people. You must keep repeating this message between now and November.
Script for Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Salem office: 503-588-9100 | DC office: 202-225-5711
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
We Democrats face a mob armed with weapons and loaded with misinformation. They must not be allowed to destroy our democracy. While MAGA Republicans are bloodcurdlingly divisive, our power is not in guns but in our vision for America – peaceful, embracing ALL Americans, tolerant of the views of others, and dedicated to preserving a government of, by and for the people. You must keep repeating this message between now and November.
ACTION 3: GOOD TROUBLE
GOOD TROUBLE: Below are opportunities to fight for our democracy. As John Lewis said, go make some “good trouble.”
NEXT TUESDAY LETTER WRITING PARTY, Aug. 9, 11:30am-12:30pm - INDIVISIBLE OREGON:
https://www.mobilize.us/swingleft/event/442887/Fridays at 4 - Letter and Postcard Writing — Indivisible Oregon.
Learn about persuasive language and communication research at the Zoom ASO Movement Briefings every second Wednesday.
Join the campaign to hold the House and Senate at GiveNoGround.org
Work to protect democracy in the House by replacing retiring US Representative Peter DeFazio with another Democrat, replacing Democrat Kurt Schrader, the “Manchin of the House,” with a progressive, and electing a Democrat in Oregon’s new Congressional District 6.
Demand that your primary news source stop creating false equivalencies and just report the truth.
Check out the Poor People's Campaign Readies 'Massive, Nonviolent' Effort to Save Democracy
Outside of Portland? Check out COIN Oregon.
further reading:
Stacey Abrams Aims to Put Abortion at Center of Georgia Governor Race - The New York Times
Key facts about abortion views in the U.S. | Pew Research Center
A new measure of the bleak, alarming partisan divide in America - The Washington Post
Many young Democrats are furious at Democrats. But they’re pushing through. - The Washington Post
On the campaign trail, some Republicans talk in violent terms - The Washington Post
Welcome to Texas, Cradle of American Theocracy
Opinion | Can These Evangelicals Save Their Movement? - The New York Times
An 'imposter Christianity' is threatening American democracy - CNN
