Together We Elect is continuing its work finding effective organizations who are engaged on the ground in battleground states. Three members of the Together We Elect Core Team joined more than 1,500 progressive activists at the America Votes State Summit in Washington DC.
The two-day summit included strategizing, networking and energizing for the road ahead.
At the summit, Together’s April Nichols, Karen Mulhauser, and Bob Scheier connected with more than a dozen potential allies from states around the country, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Michigan.
One of the lessons gleaned from the event was the need to educate voters about the specific ways that voting for Democrats can improve people’s lives in concrete ways. The key is to overcome skepticism or discouragement.
As President Biden has said, “We hear over and over how voters don’t feel anyone is fighting for them and don’t see how voting helps them.”
The three Together leaders also found their contact with the America Votes state leaders particularly valuable in helping them to find potential allies in the swing states where the midterms are most significant.
U.S. Representative Pramila Jaypal, WA-07, spoke to participants about messaging that should prove effective in the midterms. We should talk about the contrast between Democrats and Republicans, though that should not be the entire focus. Phrases such as Republicans promoting government mandated pregnancy and creating a surveillance state are powerful. Positive messages to focus on include the Democrats’ success in cutting hunger, child poverty, and lowering the jobless rate to the lowest in decades.
The Together We Elect team also learned best practices about everything from energizing younger voters to progressive messaging for rural audiences. It was clear to Nichols, Mulahuser, and Scheier how much good work is being done in so many parts of the country and how important it is to keep engaging voters early and consistently, not just around get out the vote.
To learn more about The Together We Elect Ally Program go to our alliances page.
