With 25 days until the election it still looks like a coin flip. This is when the pundits look at the national polls, the battleground state polls, the polling for every voter demographic group, and then they say, “It’s all going to come down to turnout.” Which is probably not wrong. There are more unmotivated voters out there than undecided ones. Whichever party gets the most people to the polls in a state, including the unmotivated ones, wins it.
Voter registration deadlines have arrived in some states but anyone who wants to help get people registered or help with campaigning and turnout can still contact their local party organization to get involved. Our Secular America Votes page has resources you may need.
This is the time of year when you hear about pastors telling their congregations who to vote for. It’s illegal for any 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which includes churches, to endorse a specific candidate or oppose a candidate. Voter education is ok, even voter turnout efforts are ok, but they have to be bipartisan. If you happen to hear about a church leader violating this prohibition, the IRS has a surprisingly simple form, the 13909, you can use to let them know because the IRS is in charge of who gets nonprofit status and who should have it revoked.
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The 900 pages of policy recommendations in Project 2025 are still effectively on the ballot. As a reminder, this blueprint for the Trump administration shows how to implement dozens of conservative policy ideas at every federal agency. The words “religion,” ”religious,” “faith-based,” “Christian,” “Sabbath,” and “God” show up 170 times because the authors want to infuse the government with Christian principles and to favor faith-based organizations and schools in government regulations and funding programs. Here is our top-ten list of attacks on church-state separation.
We’ve been working with Congressman Jared Huffman, the House point person for efforts to oppose and expose Project 2025. He has established a tip line for anyone with information about the still-secret 180-day-plan for the next administration. If you happen to have any information on that, learn more here.
You know Project 2025 is still a far-reaching problem because the porn industry recently began advertising against it on porn sites in swing states because Project 2025 proposes banning pornography on page 5. Hat-tip to my boss for bringing this to my attention. And what better way to reach possibly unmotivated male voters?
Because a big part of Project 2025 is collecting thousands of resumes with which to staff the federal agencies with Trump acolytes, it really would be a guide for the transition to a Trump administration. This makes it especially significant because the Trump campaign has not yet signed two agreements that would provide government money and set in motion the normal, official transition process that every other recent presidential candidate has made use of since 1988.
Once you sign the agreements, you get $7 million in government money for office space and people to do just what Project 2025 is doing; finding candidates for thousands of jobs at the federal agencies to ensure a smooth transition. But once you sign the agreements, there are limits on the amounts of private donations to your private transition fund, and you have to make the donors public. In 2016 Trump’s private transition fund raised and disclosed $6.5 million from donors including lobbyists, corporations, and rich folks.
For all these reasons, next week The Secular Coalition for America is organizing a Project 2025 Week of Action. SCA’s social media will feature educational material on Project 2025, online events, social media campaigns, and advocacy efforts to bring national attention to the dangers of Project 2025’s policies. You can join in on our week of action by visiting our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
On Thursday, October 17th, from 6:00pm - 7:00pm ET, the Secular Coalition, in collaboration with our coalition member the American Humanist Association, will host a webinar: Stopping Project 2025: A Secular Call-to-Action. You can register here. We hope to see you.
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