I Couldn't Think of a Good 99 Days Joke
BUT WE ONLY HAVE 99 DAYS LEFT IN THE MIDTERMS
There are only 99 days left in the 2022 midterm elections.
It took Taylor Swift and her writing partners less than 99 days to write folklore, the Beatles less than 99 days to make the White Album. 99 days is longer than the gestation period for a dog, but shorter than that for a camel. It apparently takes way fewer than 99 days to build a car, but way more to build a national landmark. 99 days is just a bit longer than a college semester or summer vacation. But it’s less time than it takes to get a Top Secret security clearance. It’ been more than 99 days since I started this substack. Less than 99 days since my first phone banking shift this year.
In the past 99 days, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion. Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law took effect. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe vetoed five bills put forth by his Republican state legislature, blocking laws that would prevent cities and counties from addressing climate change, that would ban trans kids from playing sports, and that would undermine democracy. In the past 99 days 19 children and 2 parents were murdered in Uvalde, Texas. In the past 99 days there have been over 200 mass shootings.
In the next 99 days 19 states will have primaries. That’s 19 electoral opportunities to push for more progressive policies, for more fighters in our cities, states, and federal government. Tomorrow Kansas could vote down a constitutional amendment that would allow their government to fully ban abortion. In the next 99 days Congress might actually pass legislation to address climate change.
A lot can happen in 99 days.
Perhaps someday, we’ll have elections that aren’t fraught with existential crises; a day when each election isn’t exponentially more urgent than the previous one; a time when our choices aren’t between hate on one side and opportunity on the other. But it’s not this election. In this election the fate of our democracy and our planet hang in the balance. In this election we have two choices - a Republican party rife with corruption and bigotry, determined to destroy lives in the pursuit of their own power and enrichment - or a Democratic party that can be incredibly flawed but fighting for a world where we can all thrive. The bad news is that it will be hard, and even once it’s over, we won’t be finished. The good news is that we are powerful beyond measure. We have the capacity to be bolder and braver than we ever have been before. And everything we do, every donation, every phone call, every conversation matters. We matter. And we will make them see us.
We have 99 days. Let’s go to work.
Here you can find a guide I put together of ways to volunteer in elections organized by how much you want to talk to strangers, and how much you want them to be able to talk to you. If you don’t want to talk to any strangers, that’s cool! You don’t have to, and you can still help reach voters.
If you want weekly tasks put in context, specifically chosen to be the most useful, but you don’t necessarily care about what those tasks are, sign up for Vote Save America and get everything from letters and donation opportunities to canvassing and phone banking shifts.
If you want to organize your friends, find out all your local deadlines and election rules (do you need an ID to vote? Where is your polling place? Do you have early voting?) and send it out to everyone you know who lives near you. Have a letter writing party, or make everyone donate $5 to your favorite candidate to get into your parties. Forward this email/share this link which has the added benefit of helping me!
There are a million ways to get involved and a million things you can do to help. It’s going to take all of us to make a difference, but the good news is that together we are more powerful than we can even dream.