Hey Swing Left,

The news about Justice Ginsburg has been gutting. Over the next few weeks we’re going to dig deep to make sure we win big in November. That means doing what we’ve always done best: contacting voters and raising money for candidates who need our help the most.

This email lays out what our strategy is going to look like over these final weeks, but obviously it’s never felt more urgent for all of us to jump in and do our part. So if you feel the same, here are two critical things you can do right now:

And if you’d like to dive a little deeper into our strategy, keep reading for a play by play.

It’s just a few weeks till Election Day. But this year, it’s really an Election Season. Voters are already casting ballots—both by mail and early vote—so our turnout efforts have already started.

In 2018, we flipped the House. That put a check on Trump and stopped many of the Republicans’ worst excesses at the federal level, like trying to repeal Obamacare. In 2020, we have a chance to flip all the houses: the White House, the Senate, and the state legislatures that will have a once-in-a-decade chance to put a stop to Republican gerrymandering after this year’s census.

The battle for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat is going to be epic. It’s already shifting the calculus in many Senate races. Of course, this year is anything but predictable—we’re holding an election in the middle of a pandemic and fighting Republicans who are going all out with voter suppression and misinformation.

So here’s what we’re going to focus on for the next 39 days: Contacting Voters, Immediate Impact Donations, and Swearing in a New Government.

This is also the perfect time to get more of our friends and family involved. This is normally the time of year more people start volunteering for campaigns, but with a new battle over the Supreme Court, we’re hearing from even more people. Of course, we have them covered—that’s why we created The Last Weekends! Please, invite your friends and family to pledge to volunteer today!

Strategy 1: Contacting Voters

Winning elections comes down to one thing: voter turnout. The more voters we contact, the more votes we can count on for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot and the more seats we flip from red to blue. That’s why we’re contacting voters in the 12 Super States that give us the best chance of beating Trump, flipping the Senate, and winning state houses. We’ll stay active in them through the campaign but we’ll put more emphasis on states where we see key races tightening.

The two ways we’re contacting voters are writing letters through Vote Forward and calling voters through campaigns.

Writing Letters

Personal letters to voters have a significant impact on their chance of casting a ballot. It’s a tactic that’s been proven to work in previous elections and it’s even more important this year since we need to reach people remotely. Importantly, the voters we’re writing to aren’t the folks who show up to the polls every year: they are infrequent voters who often need an extra reminder to cast their ballot.

Swing Left volunteers have helped write millions of letters through Vote Forward and we’ll be mailing them all at once on October 17th so they reach voters at *just the right time.* That means the next few weeks are the last chance you’ll have to help out this way. If you’re new to letter writing, it’s easy to do, but it takes a few days to sign up, so get started now!

Making Calls

Phone calls are a tried-and-true way to reach voters, and campaigns are reporting that it’s even more effective this year. Not only are voters answering calls more often, but these calls are often the only information some voters are getting about the election. It’s on us to make sure voters in all 12 Super States have the information they need to cast their ballots. We can’t overstate how impactful and important phone banking is—think of it as the new canvassing.

If you’ve never phone banked before, don’t be intimidated! We have an entire team of volunteers ready to help you get up to speed. They’ll give a rundown of all the tech, practice your script with you, and give you some tricks. RSVP for a phone bank training today:

If you’re ready to start phone banking, you can make calls into any of the Super States starting right now. RSVP for a phone bank today.

Strategy 2: The Immediate Impact Fund

There are thousands of Democratic candidates running for office this year and hundreds of them are in competitive races which can make it hard to know where our donations can have the biggest impact. That’s where Swing Left’s Immediate Impact Fund comes in. We boil all our targets down to the closest state legislative and Senate races where Democratic candidates are facing fundraising gaps, then we channel dollars into those races.

We keep this fund up to date based on the latest polling, fundraising numbers, and reports on the ground. As we close the gaps, we move new races into the fund so we can maximize our donations in as many races as possible. Give now (or any time!) and you’ll know it’s where your donation is making the biggest difference. Every dollar you give goes directly to candidates.

As we get closer and closer to Election Day, it’ll get harder and harder for campaigns to put new donations to work by hiring staff or reaching voters with last-minute reminders about how to cast their ballots. So if you want to donate to help Democrats win in 2020, we’d suggest making your contributions soon.

Strategy 3: Swearing in a new government

Okay, deep breath! There’s been a lot of speculation that Trump might not concede even if he loses. Normally, it’s not an idea we’d even have to entertain, but “normal” flew out the window back in 2016. So we, along with many other Democratic organizations, are taking this threat seriously.

Our first job is to make that impossible. That starts with making sure Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win an overwhelming victory—the kind that no one can deny (not even Fox News!).

Of course, on election night, we’ll all be closely watching the results. In some Super States like Florida, election officials can start counting mail ballots early, so they’ll be able to report results quickly. But in other Super States like Pennsylvania, election officials can’t start processing ballots until Election Day. That means major network news outlets might not be able to project a winner on election night.

Trump knows he’s losing right now. So he’s trying to bully and cheat his way through the election. But if the worst happens, we’ll do everything we can to defend democracy and swear in new leaders, including making sure Swing Left volunteers can connect to the most strategic ways to protect the results.

Yes, that’s incredibly daunting to think about. But we don’t despair; we mobilize. And that means doing what we do best: contacting voters, supporting Democratic candidates and flipping red seats to blue. Help us do the work to win this election, find your most strategic action today.

Bottom line: When we work together, we win

When we started Swing Left in 2017, a lot of people said that we’d never flip the Republican House. Instead, we built a blue wave that swept a new generation of leaders into office.

Today, the blue wave is still rising. The work we do to win elections is part of a bigger story, from the Women’s March to student climate strikes to the unprecedented movement for Black lives.

Let’s make sure the blue wave crashes over Trump, and sweeps away Republican control of our state legislatures and Senate.

Let's give it all we've got,

Ethan, Catherine, Tori, and the Swing Left Team

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