October 2024
Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene. Three Airlift Partners–Black Male Initiative Fund of Georgia, Carolina Federation, and Down Home North Carolina–have been directly affected. As one of their leaders put it, “We are slammed as we get ready for one of the most important elections of our lifetime.” If you’d like to help our affected partners as they provide aid to hard-hit communities while also continuing the crucial work of getting out the vote, please donate below.
The Margin of Effort will Decide this Election
One of Carolina Federation’s canvassing teams mobilizing thousands of NC voters to the polls this year
Regardless of the polls, regardless of the scoreboard, this election will be won or lost by a handful of votes in a few states. The #1 best way we can tip those scales is to fund the ground game. Local organizers are the best voter mobilizers. - Movement Voter Project
You know the stakes of this election. You also know how heart-stoppingly close it’s expected to be. We constantly hear about the margin of error, but it’s really the margin of effort we make between now and November 5 that will determine the difference between winning and losing. Funding the ground game is key to victory.The more money we donate, the more Airlift’s Partners can be on the ground, knocking on doors, making phone calls, conversing with their neighbors, and providing accurate information in-person and digitally about the issues and voting. As reported in the New York Times just last week, leaders of major voter mobilization organizations warned that:
“Grass-roots organizations working to reach young Black and Latino voters were critically underfunded.” . . . More money would allow these groups to expand their canvassing operations in battleground states and reach more of these voters across digital platforms and social media sites.
These are precisely the potential voters Airlift Partners engage. As trusted messengers, they excel at turning non-voters into voters. Their ability to mobilize these hard-to-reach folks doesn’t show up in polls, but you can be sure it shows up on Election Day–the only poll that counts. That’s why your support for our Partners’ efforts matters.
For example, thanks largely to funding from Airlift, Communities for a New California was able to launch its GOTV efforts in the Central Valley in July rather than September: “Now, CNC has a solid 21 weeks of voter engagement–21 weeks of building authentic relationships with voters, learning about the priorities of their families, and earning their votes.” Those votes will be crucial in retaking the U.S. House by flipping CA-13, 22, and 41.
In North Carolina, Airlift Partners Carolina Federation and Down Home North Carolina are anchoring the state’s most ambitious grassroots mobilization campaign ever of knocking on four million doors. Keeping the governorship Blue, breaking the GOP’s legislative supermajority, and putting North Carolina’s 16 electoral college votes in the Harris-Walz column depends on their ground game success, which depends on adequate resources.
In Arizona, Airlift Partner Worker Power recently surpassed the halfway mark in their massive million-plus voter outreach to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution, flip the state legislature blue, flip two U.S. House seats, elect Ruben Gallego to the Senate, and put Harris-Walz in the White House. Donations like yours have helped Worker Power expand their 20-person off-season team to over 500 canvassers–the largest field operation in Arizona. Organizers are knocking on 20,000 doors daily, and have already spoken in person with more than 90,000 voters and secured more than 55,000 voter commitments for Harris-Walz. Worker Power notes, “With Biden winning Arizona by a razor-thin margin of just 10,357 votes in 2020—the smallest victory margin of all swing states—the impact of mobilizing every single one of these voters cannot be overstated.” That’s the margin of effort it takes to win up and down the ballot.
And so it goes throughout all of Airlift’s territory in the battlegrounds. Our Partners’ impressive achievement of knocking on millions of doors isn't just about reaching a number—it's about laying the groundwork for important victories in 2024 and beyond. None of this would be possible without your support for the winning margin of effort.Thank you for standing with us in this fight.
Abortion 2024:
The Key is Reaching Moderate Women
Ariel Volk & Urooj Mughal
from Galvanize Action
October 17, Thursday
5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET
Abortion is big on the ballot this year, and women hold the key to victory. Issues like abortion, healthcare, childcare, and other aspects of the “care economy” are of utmost importance to moderate women in rural, small-town, and suburban communities. Galvanize Action motivates these women to vote their Blue values through research-backed messaging. Ariel Volk and Urooj Mughal will demonstrate to us how such strategies will help win in November by galvanizing the power of moderate women voters.
Pablo Rodriguez, Samantha Valadez, and Cassandra Gutierrez from CNC
Communities for a New California (CNC), our Airlift partner group organizing in the Central Valley, will join us for this event. CNC is focused on mobilizing Latina women to vote Blue in November using person-to-person, values-driven outreach on abortion and pocketbook issues. One in six registered voters in California is a Latina woman, and CNC knows the power of these women as leaders in their families and communities. Come and learn what they are doing, as we all have a stake in their efforts with three crucial U.S. House seats in the Central Valley to be flipped.
If you can’t attend but want to support Communities for a New California, click the donate button below:
BMIF Overcomes Obstacles to Voting in Georgia
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “In the years since the 2020 election, many states have aggressively attempted to restrict voting access.” Georgia has been one of the worst. So we were eager to hear what Airlift Partner Black Male Initiative Fund’s organizers were encountering on the ground. David Ford and BMIF’s Co-Founder John R. Taylor III had an illuminating conversation about misinformation, disinformation, and getting out the vote in Georgia this year.
Taylor started out by noting:
We make a distinction between misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is not having an accurate picture of Kamala Harris. Disinformation is wrong information intentionally spread by the opposition. For example, “Kamala Harris is not black” is the most common disinformation. We have heard that from some people who believe it. BMIF organizers know where that comes from–directly from Trump–and we can set people straight.
At this point of the election cycle, most of what BMIF has been hearing on the doors is misinformation about Harris’s record:
Not knowing about the practices, policies, and legislation she put forward as Attorney General. Thinking she’s tough on crime and not a restorative justice advocate. Just educating people about Harris’s programs around Restorative Justice, Breaking Recidivism, and her Second Chance Programs–people are pleasantly surprised by the truth.
Taylor continues, “The second piece of misinformation is that Kamala Harris is not going to be able to stand up to Trump: She’s weak, she’s soft, he’s going to make her cry, or make her fly off the handle.”
That all changed with the debate.
“What they saw was someone who was very calm, cool, and collected. She made him look all erratic instead,” Taylor notes. “People are saying she’s got a kind of swag, she’s sassy, she gave him the business.”
Voters are also confused about who was responsible for the stimulus check during the pandemic–they credit Trump. BMIF makes it clear that the pandemic relief efforts were led from Congress by people like Maxine Waters, the House Democrat from southern California. “They love hearing about Maxine!” Taylor chuckles.
These kinds of conversations require trust and the time to drill down into details–something severely lacking from politicians who invest almost no energy in the people BMIF reaches out to frequently and year-round. In addition to civic engagement and electoral work, BMIF offers programs addressing mental health and wellness, economic empowerment, criminal justice, and education. Community members feel the difference. Taylor explains, “It’s not hard to have an in-depth conversation because we show up early, we deal with community issues. It’s not hard to get people to talk at all.”
BMIF earns the trust that’s needed to overcome cynicism, obstacles to voting, and the crazy, misleading info-spheres we inhabit now. Taylor expects a flood of disinformation around October 15, when Early Voting starts. Whether it’s lies about when and where to vote or outright and often outrageous lies about the candidates and issues, BMIF has been gearing up for it by going from 80 to 390 canvassers over the course of one week in September.
Capitalizing on their reputation as trusted messengers, BMIF is working hard to get out the early vote to combat disinformation and voter suppression. Taylor describes what will happen on October 15:
The first set of votes that goes into the box are our own, then we work our butts off to make sure every other vote we touch gets into the box as well. We know how critically important it is not to wait till November 5th. We’ve had about 25,000 conversations over the last 40 days. We’ve gotten over 86% positive ID rate for Kamala Harris.
This indicates to Taylor that “the real base of the progressive movement in this country understands what’s at stake. The question is not who they are going to vote for. The question is do we get the obstacles out of their way so they can go vote.”
BMIF continues to clear those obstacles through engagement, education, voter assistance, and mobilization. Voting in not just Kamala Harris, but others who “respect the right of our people to vote” makes 2024 a make-or-break election.
BMIF understands the assignment, and with your help, will continue to execute it effectively.
Fund the Ground Game
Every dollar counts more in very close races. - David Callahan, Blue Tent
Your generosity in funding the grassroots ground game is crucial to the margin of effort we need to win. It takes massive organizing to turn out the voters we most need for victory up and down the ballot in November. And that takes money. When we give, we win.
Here’s how:
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 this button
For Tax-Deductible Giving. Although non-tax-deductible 501c4 gifts allow our partners the most flexibility for political action, tax-deductible 501c3 donations are welcome too. Email Ruth Jaeger at ruth@airlift.fund.
Spread the word! Tell your friends and family about Airlift and our events. Share this newsletter and our website.
Thanks!
FIELD NOTES
Living United for Change in Arizona fights to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution: “Our LUCHA team is showing up strong and will keep fighting to protect reproductive rights in Arizona. We’re committed to ensuring everyone has the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions. Together, we can create lasting change—Say Yes to Prop 139!”
Leaders Igniting Transformation registers Wisconsin’s newest generation of voters: “Over 16 million young people have turned 18 since the 2020 election, making 2024 the first opportunity for millions of eligible Gen Z voters to head to the ballot box. We’re so excited to see everybody and get you registered to vote! It’s especially important to get our Black and Brown communities registered, that’s why we engage with young people year-round to ensure they not only have the information they deserve as voters, but have the knowledge and understand their power at the polls.”
Down Home North Carolina has long been sounding the alarm against Mark Robinson, the GOP’s MAGA-extremist candidate for Governor. The scandal CNN recently broke is only the latest in a long string of outrages. Down Home organizer and Reverend CJ Brinson leads faith leaders in decrying him. Read more.
Grassroots organizing legacy in Airlift’s own backyard: Donor Kenn Rabin points out that Marin County, California–Airlift’s birthplace–was home to Fred Ross, whose decades-long activism from the 1930s until 1992 illustrates how collective action can combat racism, bigotry, and greed, improving the lives and livelihoods of thousands by focusing on systemic change. Ross and Saul Alinsky co-founded the Community Service Organization, which registered communities of color in California and Arizona in their own neighborhoods to vote, and thus effect positive change in their lives. Ross trained a couple of volunteers named Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta; together they established the United Farm Workers. It’s an inspiring story told through the new film, American Agitators. We’re tickled that it runs straight through to the modern-day grassroots activists Airlift supports.
