Project Update: What to do When You’re Not Reading

I created this blog and this project because I wanted something concrete and completely unrelated to national politics to focus on in the ramp up to the election in November, something that I was in control of and had a direct say over. But in 100 days, the U.S. will have either chosen Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as President, and there are some simple, straightforward steps I wanted to lay out that we can each take to ensure that we elect Hillary Clinton.

1. Register to Vote.

This is the “make sure you put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others” step. Now is the time to either register to vote or to check that you are registered to vote at your current address, and to confirm your polling location. If you may not be in your city or town on Election Day, take a look at what your state’s requirements are for voting by absentee ballot if your state doesn’t allow early voting for everyone. Have a plan for when you’ll vote on Election Day (before/after work or school), and check to see if you live in a state with new voting restrictions in place—17 states have new restrictions that were not in place in 2012, and while we’ve been fighting back against them in many states, being informed about possible changes now will help you be prepared to exercise your right to vote.

2. Donate your time or money (or both!) to the Clinton Campaign.

Once you’ve double-checked that you’re registered to vote for Clinton in November, the next step is donating to the campaign. If you can afford to donate money, that is obviously incredibly helpful and important, because running an effective Get Out The Vote (GOTV) organization in fifty states isn’t cheap. But not everyone can afford to do that, and many people who are able to donate money also want to volunteer their time. And here’s one of the secrets about volunteering your time for a campaign: not only are you directly helping to elect your candidate, it’s also much harder to get lost in the anxiety about an election when you’re out there doing the work. It takes you out of the echo chamber of the media’s horse race and puts you in touch with the nuts and bolts of the organization’s work. Plus, once we hit the fall, the main focus of the GOTV drive is to get in touch with voters who are democrats and therefore likely voters to support them in getting to the polls. This means you’ll get to have conversations with people who are already on our team, rather than attempting to convince swing voters or people who have previously voted Republican. It’s you doing your part to help everyone we can check off Step 1 of this post so they can go out and vote in November.

3. Have conversations with the people in your life who aren’t firm Clinton supporters.

Does having conversations with people who supported Sanders in the primaries and aren’t fully on board yet, or Republicans and Independents who don’t like Trump but aren’t sure if they can vote for Clinton, sound like fun to you? Great! This is also an extremely important step, in both swing states and in safe blue states, because the margins of her victory also matter (especially when it comes to down ballot races—more on that in a bit). I confess that this particular point is one I don’t have a ton of experience with, because I live in a very blue state and my family is full of Democrats. But having in-person conversations with people you love about why it matters beyond Democrats vs. Republicans that we not elect Donald Trump is incredibly important. I would recommend looking at President Obama’s speech at the DNC to get a sense of how to frame a conversation like this: it’s not about the differences between the parties, it’s about competing visions of who we are and what we want this country to be. And frankly, this weekend Trump has done an exceptional job of making that difference as stark as possible.

4. Support Democrats in down ballot races.

There are two levels of victory we can achieve this fall. The first is to elect Hillary Clinton as president, which will protect us from a Donald Trump presidency and strengthen the progressive wing of the Supreme Court. That is vital, but as an isolated achievement it’s also a fairly defensive-minded victory: it protects the advancements of President Obama’s administration and prevents the damage of a Trump presidency, but that’s not all we’re fighting for. And in order for Hillary Clinton to be able to put her plans into action, we need to take back the Senate and increase our numbers in the House.

One of the most satisfying things about supporting either Senate or House candidates is that a little goes a long way, especially in comparison with Presidential campaigns. One great resource for identifying candidates you want to support is Emily’s List, which works to get pro-choice Democratic women elected to office. Electing women candidates changes the composition and functioning of government in many ways, not least of which by making a representative government truly more representative of the country it serves. And you can get even more bang for your buck by supporting women candidates for office in swing states, because they will support and coordinate with Clinton’s campaign in winning the state up and down the ballot.

5. Do the work you can, and otherwise focus on your own life.

This piece of advice will probably come as no surprise, given that it’s the basis of this blog, but there is a very big difference between doing something about this election, and simply worrying about it. I am as guilty as anyone of going down a politics spiral, but unless you work in politics or are volunteering full-time for a campaign, compartmentalize your engagement in this election as much as you can. Give it your full attention when you are volunteering for a campaign or researching which down ballot candidates you wish to give money to or engaging in a good faith conversation with someone you know about voting for Clinton. But try to minimize the amount of time you spend following what shameful thing Trump has said or done on any given day, or chasing new poll numbers for swing states. No matter how much the media wants you to follow the election minute by minute, you don’t need to spend your time doing that, and it won’t change the result of the election if you follow every twist and turn. Take action in the ways that you can, and otherwise shut it off. I recommend reading a book (or 132 of them). Trump is a nightmare, but you don’t owe it to anyone to let him increase your anxiety or stress, beyond doing what you can to elect Clinton and defeat him.

Okay, enough with the politics! Time for me to get reading :)