We With Us

Oppose Neil Gorsuch: There are a lot of reasons to oppose Neil Gorsuch, and I encourage you to read up on him and find the reasons that best resonate with you for when you make your calls, but the specific reasons I want to make sure everyone gets involved this week are the constitutional implications of allowing a Republican administration to fill a seat that came open in a Democratic presidential term, and Neil Gorsuch's refusal to confirm that the Constitution grants a right to privacy.

The former has to do with protecting the ability of our government just to operate, long-term; the second is the fundamental area of evolving Supreme Court precedent, at the moment. There's a not-really-prescient-because-it-was-already-an-issue-but-still-insightful West Wing Season 1 clip about exactly this issue: privacy is the Supreme Court issue of our time that is specifically of our time (by which I mean, the other big issues of this moment are things like civil rights that have been Supreme Court issues for a long time); It affects not just reproductive rights but also most other individual rights in the era of the internet and cell phones and always-on GPS, and the decisions made in the next few years will guide the court's decision-making on individuals' right to privacy for decades.

Call your representatives to demand that they reject Gorsuch's appointment on the bases that matter most to you.

Recruit two people to protest with you: Hashtag #strongertogether etc--whether you do it online, in person, by phone, by carrier pigeon, I don't care: talk to your friends and family about the Gorsuch appointment, and why the resistance to it needs to be loud and visible and inescapable, like the resistance to the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act has been. Ask them to commit to you to make calls about Gorsuch too. Get a specific, affirmative commitment (why yes, at lunch I'll call Senator Ipswitch urging her to reject Gorsuch's appointment!) because that makes it more likely that the person you are talking to will actually do it. Let's all target at least two affirmative commitments, shall we? If we could make all those calls actually happen we would essentially triple our effective size.

Complain about Steve Bannon: Once again, at this point I don’t really care why you complain about Steve Bannon, just that you do it. There are just so many things to complain about. Note that some issues are going to require you to be a bit cannier than others: note that Bannon's stated position on several topics (e.g. healthcare, DACA) has softened, but that matters very little in terms of how terrifying his actual actions have been.

Whatever you choose to tackle, write your postcard to President Bannon, asking him to rein in his <insert demeaning job title here> Donald Trump on the topic you've chosen, and then [make your calls] to your representatives asking them to go on record against Bannon's position on that topic.

Senators and Congresspersons of particular interest: these are representatives whose seats that were considered “battleground” races in 2016 and are likely to have an especially hard time in 2018/2020/2022. Again, these people likely fall into one of two categories: one, they’re Tea Party hardliners who won’t help us out; or two, they’re moderates holding onto mixed or moderate districts. We want to press that second group, and press them hard, because that is how you swing mixed/moderate districts to the left.

In the parentheses after their names, I’m giving these representatives states, their parties, and their margins of victory in 2016. Note that the list is alphabetical first by state, then by the rep’s name. If your representative(s) is (are) on this list, especially if their margin was especially small, it is particularly important that you put pressure on them, and get other people in your district to put pressure on them too, because your vote could very well be their next swing vote—and they know it. If you contact these people, please either reblog or send me an ask letting me know how it went if you have a second (were they receptive? did you have to jump through hoops to get at them?) and I will compile (anonymously if you wish) that feedback to help other We With Us’ers put pressure where it hurts.

Congresspersons of particular interest (all info from Ballotpedia): Tom O’Halleran (AZ, D, 7.3%), Ami Bera (CA, D, 2.3%), Stephen Knight (CA, R, 6.3%), Darrel Issa (CA, R, 0.5%), Mike Coffman (CO, R, 8.3%), Stephanie Murphy (FL, D, 3%), Brian Mast (FL, R, 10.5%), Carlos Curbelo (FL, R, 11.8%), Brad Schneider (IL, D, 5.2%), Rod Blum (IA, R, 7.7%), Bruce Poliquin (ME, R, 9.6%), Jack Bergman (MI, R, 14.8%), Jason Lewis (MN, R, 1.8%), Don Bacon (NE, R, 1.2%), Jacky Rosen (NV, D, 1.3%), Ruben Kihuen (NV, D, 4%), Carol Shea-Porter (NH, D, 1.3%), Josh Gottheimer (NJ, D, 4.4%), John Faso (NY, R, 8.6%), Claudia Tenney (NY, R, 5.5%), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA, R, 8.9%), Will Hurd (TX, R, 1.3%), Barbara Comstock (VA, R, 5.8%). You can also refer to the lists of DCCC/NRCC targeted incumbents for 2018, though those are much longer and kiiiiind of like the Democrat/Republican letters to Santa, at this point in the game.

Senators of particular interest (all info from Ballotpedia): Marco Rubio (FL, R, 7.7%), Tammy Duckworth (IL, D, 15.1%), Todd Young (IN, R, 9.7%), Roy Blunt (MO, R, 2.8%), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV, D, 2.4%), Maggie Hassan (NH, D, 0.1%), Richard Burr (NC, R, 5.7%), Pat Toomey (PA, R, 1.4%), Ron Johnson (WI, R, 3.4%). Note that none of these senators are up for election again until 2022, and that Democratic senators, writ large, are, right now, feeling much more vulnerable than Republican senators, writ large.

Engage thoughtfully if you live in one of the states that appears to have a state-wide rising Republican tide: try to focus on the bipartisan elements of the issues that you’re arguing for, and (even if you can't keep it bipartisan) keep it personal, rather than general. Your Tea Party-backed senator doesn't give two shits about human rights, but they do have to care about how what they do in Washington costs their constituents.

Also, for now: don’t contact any of these people if they don’t represent you directly. That can have value when it looks like one of them might be about to make a broader run (e.g. for state-wide office, if they’re in the House; or for the presidency), but for now it’s just going to be a waste of your time.

A note on protesting amid breaking news: As always, I recommend searching a reputable news source, like one of those two news sources you picked in 5M4F15 or The Guardian if you haven’t done that one yet, shortly before you make your calls, for any breaking-news updates that may require you to tweak your scripts. It’s often also useful to check your representatives’ website to see what press releases they have on a given subject, so you know whether (for example) they have already gone on-record as opposing Steve Bannon. If they have? Ask them to do it again. Make it clear that this stuff is important to you.

How to Write Your Scripts (excerpted from 5M4F-5): The basic phone script for calling your representatives goes something like so:

Hi, {can I ask who I’m speaking to? <, if they don’t say when they pick up>} [Jot their name down.] Hi, <their name>. My name is <your name> and I’m one of <your representative’s name>’s constituents in <where you live>. I wanted to let <your representative’s name> know that I strongly <support | oppose> <the thing you’re calling about>, because <succinct explanation of reason why you’re calling>. Is <your representative’s name> planning to <do the thing you want>?

Then you have to plan for a few different responses:

They’re with you: Thank you. Could you please let <appropriate pronoun> know that <expression of gratitude> and <indication that you will continue to watch your representative’s behavior and hold them accountable>?

They’re neutral: This subject is very important to me because <longer, more in-depth and emotive reason why you’re calling>. I would very much appreciate it if you could let <your representative’s name> know that I feel very strongly about this and would really encourage <appropriate pronoun> to <do the thing you want>. Is there any way I could follow up with you or <appropriate pronoun> later?

They oppose you: This subject is very important to me because <longer, more in-depth and emotive reason why you’re calling>. Can I ask why <your representative’s name> is <not doing the thing you want>? [Let them give you a reason, and write it down.] Okay, thank you. I understand <appropriate pronoun> concerns, but as one of <your representative’s name>’s voting constituents, I would really appreciate it if <appropriate pronoun> revisited <appropriate pronoun> decision because <alternate succinct explanation of reason why you’re calling>. Is there any way I could follow up with you or <appropriate pronoun> later?

<expression of gratitude>! <polite send-off>!

I want to point out that you probably don’t actually really need to plan for all of these responses. You can probably make a pretty good guess where your representative stands based on their party affiliation. However, especially if your representatives are moderates and often vote across the aisle, it’s not a bad idea to spend a little time planning for all three cases, because then your behind is covered, and you can recycle this language over and over on later calls, to different representatives. And yes: we will be calling other representatives.

This is the sample script that I wrote back in November, on a different issue and to Barbara Boxer, who has been replaced by Kamala Harris, but it gives you an idea how the Mad-Libs-filling process works:

Hi, {can I ask who I’m speaking to? <, if they don’t say when they pick up>} [Jot their name down.] Hi, <their name>. My name is <Ginny Washington>, and I’m one of <Senator Boxer>’s constituents in <West Hollywood>. I wanted to let <Senator Boxer> know that I strongly <support> <her resolution to amend the Constitution to eliminate the Electoral College>, because <I think every American’s vote should count equally>. {I just wanted to thank her for all her hard work on behalf of the principles of equal representation and equal protection under the law.}

<Thank you so much for your time>! <Have a nice day>!

If you can’t make calls: I recommended before that if you can’t make calls, you copy down snail mail addresses so you can send snail mail letters, and that you grab an email address or online contact link no matter what. Calls are the most effective, if you can make them, but please, do send snail mail letters if you can’t, or an email if you also can’t swing a stamp or get to a post office. You can use the script above as a template for your letter, but you’re probably going to want to default to assuming that your representative opposes you, and you’ll have to of course make it sound like a letter and not a phone convo.

If you care about correct forms of address: weirdly, because these things are super arcane, technically the correct way to address your senator or representative is still “The Honorable <whoever>”, as in, “The Honorable Barbara Boxer.” That goes on the envelope. You can then write “Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. <whoever>” as your salutation.