The DROP - July 2022

July 2022

The Supreme Court’s reckless overturn of constitutionally protected abortion rights has triggered chaos, grief, and rage across America. As Movement Voter Project’s Billy Wimsatt notes, “We’re in for a long fight and there are no shortcuts! Grassroots organizing in battlegrounds is the most robust way to win elections and transform our country — and the Supreme Court! — over the long run. In every period of history, from the depths of despair come the most transformational changes.”

We are more determined than ever to be a part of that transformation.

Reproductive Rights and the Midterms post Roe v. Wade: Communicating to Win

 
 

Jackie Payne, Founder & Director of GALvanize Action

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

5 pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern

Building support for reproductive rights requires careful messaging to women ambivalent about abortion. Jackie Payne, Founder and Director of GALvanize Action, is on a mission to persuade women to "vote their values." Jackie will share with us how she has learned to shape messages that move women to support reproductive rights.

 
 

Jackie will be joined by Carrie Santoro who as Director of Pennsylvania Stands Up is on the frontlines in a state where the election for governor is clearly defined between a pro-choice and anti-choice candidate. Carrie will share how PASU gets their message through to community members across the state to elect a governor who will work to protect access to abortions.

BREAKING THROUGH THE RIGHT-WING NOISE MACHINE

Among the many worries people have right now is how Democrats can “outfox” the Republican disinformation machine. In his new book, Battling the Big Lie, Dan Pfeiffer places disinformation as his top concern–even above the oft-lamented Democratic messaging inadequacies.

It may be that the January 6 hearings will make inroads into the first problem. Plus, even DC Democrats are upping their messaging game. To wit: the White House announced last month that former Atlanta Mayor and Democratic superstar Keisha Lance Bottoms will serve as Senior Advisor for Public Engagement to improve communications with local, state, and national organizations.

It’s also great news that, beyond DC and the party, Airlift’s partners, their peers, and the organizations who provide them with support have been testing and using messages that work to increase motivation and turnout.

Jackie Payne’s team at GALvanize, for example, has been working since 2017 to develop ways to effectively communicate with and influence the decisions of persuadable rural women. GALvanize’s approach is to first understand what makes these women tick—their values, what they care about most, and who influences them. Armed with this information, her team then develops and tests messaging that can be used on social media to motivate these women to “vote their values.”

Jackie’s latest project focuses on how to use the issue of a woman’s right to decide her own reproductive future. Please join Airlift for a special event on July 12 to hear from her first hand (sign up above, and spread the word).

Melissa Morales, who heads the Winning Jobs Narrative project, focuses on developing messaging designed to win back the non-college-educated Black voters who have defected from the Democratic Party over the past decade. A disproportionate number of these people live in rural areas. Reaching them matters, since rural areas also have disproportionate political power.

Morales's research shows that working people feel that Democrats care about the poor and Republicans care about the rich–but that nobody cares about them. To counter this, they develop messages that center working people, connecting to their values and building trust that Democrats are looking out for their economic well being. Among the findings: it is important to frame government programs as “tools” that provide “opportunity,” NOT using words like “help.” Working people want to see the government in a supporting role, not as the “hero.”

A third and related approach to messaging is the Race Class Narrative, employed regularly by Airlift partner groups. It’s designed to counter the long-time Republican strategy of dividing and conquering working people of different racial groups. The Race Class Narrative points out how cynical elites retain their power through such exploitation, and instead unites people around their shared values and common interests to build grassroots political power. Anat Osorio Shenker, one of the founding theorists along with Ian Haney Lopez, explains that you have to persuade the middle while also energizing the base. You also have to craft a message that will NOT fire up the opposition.

Neither Republican nor Democratic leaders in DC are master communicators, which is why we value organizations that research and test their messaging and then make their findings freely available to our partners on the ground. We are all part of an innovative progressive ecosystem that knows how to reach out to potential voters who are so often overlooked.

The right-wing has created a cacophony of lies, misinformation, and outright criminality. Our role as funders is to support the growing chorus of smart messaging and grassroots power to take them on.

All our partners will work tirelessly to turn out voters for local and statewide candidates as well as U.S. senators and representatives who are all in for reproductive rights.

We need to be all in, too. Your support has never been more critical.

DIG DEEP TO MEET THE URGENCY OF THE MOMENT

 
 

“When we face epic challenges like we have in the past few months, we have two choices: We can become demoralized and isolated and quietly shrink away, or we can look the challenge in the eye, and fight back with all we’ve got.”

--Billy Wimsatt, Movement Voter Project

More than 100 of the Republicans who have won primaries have signed on to the Big Lie, including eight candidates for the U.S. Senate, eighty-six House candidates, five candidates for governor, four for state attorney general, and one for secretary of state.

This is what we face. January 6 is not over, nor is the battle for reproductive rights. That’s why Airlift needs to reach its $1 million goal this year to support those most able to stop those 100 insurrection supporters.

So, this month we ask you to dig deep. We have a $10,000 challenge grant from one of our team who will match your contributions up to $10,000.

The stakes are high; the time is now. Thank you for meeting the moment.

Donate by Check. Set up automatic payments to Airlift with the Bill Pay service at your bank, or send a check directly to: Airlift, PO Box 617, Corte Madera, CA 94976

Donate Online at ActBlue. Just click the button:

For Tax Deductible Giving. Email Ruth Jaeger at ruth@airlift.fund.

Host an Airlift@Home Party on Zoom or in your home! For more information, contact Lizzy Hersey at lizzy@airlift.fund or Alison Whittaker at alison@airlift.fund. 

Spread the word! Tell your friends and family about Airlift and our events. Share this newsletter and the link to our website. 

Thanks!

Thought we'd share this rave review for Airlift@Home that we received from recent hosts Margaret Partlow and Berta Segall McDonnell:

"Friends, family, and acquaintances frequently ask, 'How do I sort through all the political donation requests and who should I donate to?’ Hosting an Airlift house party provides the answer, and it could not be easier or more rewarding. 

The Airlift@Home Team was so supportive and gave us all the tools needed to help make this a successful virtual event. Our work was simply to create an extensive, wide-ranging list of people to invite (we recommend making a huge invitation list—people who were not super close friends came and/or donated too!). Then Airlift leaders met with us to run through the presentation, customizing it to work well for our guests.

It was so rewarding to: 

  • Introduce the excellent Airlift leaders and groups to our guests

  • Share our own enthusiasm and Airlift’s beautiful, clear presentation

  • Show friends why grass-roots/people-to-people contact is effective

  • Share the hosting with each other

  • Give people a great reason to feel hopeful

Guest feedback was very positive. They were all grateful to have vetted options able to maximize the impact of their donations on the electoral outcomes in volatile swing states. 

We’re so glad we stepped up for Airlift@Home. You’ll be glad, too!"

For more information, contact Lizzy Hersey at lizzy@airlift.fund or Alison Whittaker at alison@airlift.fund. 

FIELD NOTES

Dream Defenders, bringing better mental health care to Miami with a $900K grant for crisis response: Read more.

Guilford for All, a Carolina Federation chapter, speaks out against the overturn of Roe v Wade: See more.

Want to go deeper about smart messaging and how to fight disinformation? We particularly recommend: