Friday Signpost: What Are You Doing the Next Five Days?

Happy Friday, Lowdowners! DZ, your friendly neighborhood nerd, here. It goes without saying that we’re all feeling the pressure intensify exponentially as we head into this final weekend before the election. We’ve loved seeing all the different kinds of organizing happening, and we want to hear from you: How are you spending the next five days? From actions you’re taking, to candidates you’re supporting, to ways to find joy and soothe your souls, what are you up to? If you’re looking for things to do, keep reading below—we’re looking at Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Swap Your Vote. Leave your suggestions in the comments so we can read and share!

Photo: Jenn Carrillo

Over at In These Times,

George Goehl

has written about the importance of organizing older folks as the fight for good care nationwide gets more and more intense. He’s been organizing with a community in Wisconsin, where a county-owned care facility has been threatened with privatization.

Nationwide, more than 10,000 people turn 65 every day, and the number of people over 85 is expected to double by 2040. For those who are serious about organizing working-class people, that must include older people — and lots of them. Millions of seniors in the United States have been working-class their entire lives, and millions more have slid into poverty since they retired. A movement of working-class people that does not include them is missing the mark by a country mile.

If you want to join up with the folks George is organizing with to make phone calls to senior voters in Wisconsin, you’re in luck! They’ve got phone banks going every day, multiple times a day, until Tuesday. Sign up with them here.

Calling Pennsylvania

There are still a few more times that the Pennsylvania Democratic Party has available to call rural voters there—we’ve been hearing some great stories from friends joining up with these events. Tonight’s event is hosted by none other than

Jess Piper

, the executive director of Blue Missouri and writer behind

The View from Rural Missouri by Jess Piper

.

“A Dating Site to Defeat Fascism”

Over at

The Connector

, Micah Sifry has a great post about some reasons he’s still feeling optimistic about the outcome of the election. We’re intrigued by the idea of Swap Your Vote, where activists are, by hand, matching people who live in swing states and want to vote for a third party candidate with people who are willing to change their votes in exchange in a non-swing state. And while I’m one of those people that supports long-term organizing to get rid of the Electoral College, I also believe in harm reduction wherever possible. So, their tagline, “Outwit the Electoral College,” really resonated with me. From Micah’s post:

Obviously, SwapYourVote has a very political goal—to elect Harris, defeat Trump while providing voters a way to pressure Harris on issues like America’s support for Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza and the climate emergency. Rae Abileah, its co-creator, says, “As a Jewish-American I was raised with a vigilance against rising fascism, and I can’t just stand by as I witness the ongoing starvation and death of children in Gaza.” She adds, “I know we must defeat Trump (and Netanyahu) but it’s also so hard to bring ourselves to vote for a Democratic party that continues to send weapons to Israel. I wanted to find a middle path that would be both strategic and connective.” 

Here's her key argument: “Our communities are embroiled in a bitter fight over this election, and we want to help unite progressives toward a winning strategy. Voting is not a love letter, it’s choosing our opponent, and Harris would be far more receptive to pressure from the Left than Trump would be.”