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Focused Read in 3 minutes
"Electing to improve people’s lives
(By Randi Weingarten)
American Federation of Teachers president, committed to improving schools, hospitals and public institutions for children, families and communities.
Last year, U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) authored an amendment to repeal the Affordable Care Act and allow insurers to raise premiums for people with pre-existing health conditions.
Last week, MacArthur lost his seat to Andy Kim, who campaigned on expanding access to health care.
Kathy Hoffman,...was so appalled by Betsy DeVos’ inability to answer basic policy questions during her confirmation hearing that Hoffman ran to become Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction.
Last week, she prevailed over a former Republican congressman who is a leader in the charter school movement.
President Trump made the midterm elections a referendum on himself, using fear and lies in rally after rally to mobilize his base.
Meanwhile, Democrats made a different choice, running hopeful campaigns focused on making life better for people — ...The midterms pitted fear against problem solving, and this time, problem solving won out.
Such extensive Democratic victories in U.S. House of Representatives, gubernatorial and statehouse races were not a foregone conclusion.
The economy is strong by many measures, although most Americans have not seen the benefits of it in their wages.
And Republican gerrymandering has created scores of congressional districts and statehouse seats designed to give the GOP an impenetrable lock.
But the American people sent a clear message.
They voted for a check and balance on President Trump by taking control of the House from the GOP, which has served as a rubber stamp for Trump.
And they rejected Trump’s politics of fear, division and lies, voting for decency over cruelty, fairness over prejudice, and democracy over demagoguery.
These elections demonstrated a realignment in the electorate.
Nearly 4 million more young voters (ages 18–29) cast ballots in the 2018 midterm elections than in the last midterms, and nearly all of that increase in turnout went to Democratic candidates.
Democrats also carried majorities of women, well-educated voters, Independents and minority voters. A surge of suburban voters chose Democrats.
And voters age 45 and older essentially split between Republicans and Democrats, a shift that Republican pollster Frank Luntzcalled “historically and catastrophically low for the GOP.”
Voters flipped governor’s seats in Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin. In these states, the outgoing Republican governors had defunded and undermined public schools and universities, stripped workers’ and labor rights, and doled out corporate tax breaks that precipitated steep cutbacks in essential public services.
The incoming governors, on the other hand, have detailed plans to reverse the damage, prioritize public education, and revitalize the infrastructure and services the people of their states need.
Voters responded to a decade of disinvestment in public education and the Trump administration’s assault on public education and students, including student borrowers, by overwhelmingly choosing to invest in public schools and stand with educators. ...
More than 300 AFT members ran for office this year, and more than 60 percent of them won. And in another rebuke to Trump’s attack on diversity, newly elected officeholders reflect America’s wonderful tapestry ...
While voters chose candidates who want to problem solve and make life better for people, our work is far from over.
Let’s be real — winning is meaningless unless it translates to actual change in people’s lives.
Democrats will need partners to pass meaningful change.
In order to get that done, the new majority in the House will need allies in the Senate, whose GOP leader is unmatched in the dark arts of obstructing political opponents to the point of paralysis.
(Emphasis 🠙 per the underlined sentence is mine.)
That means our advocacy remains hugely important — to press for the results people need, to demand checks and balances on an increasingly autocratic president, and to stand up against hatred and divisiveness.
You can read more here
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Focused Point of Interest in 2-3 minutes
"The Glass Ceiling-Shattering Midterms Are Inspiring More Women To Run
As we well know by now, Tuesday’s midterm elections were a major day for women on the ballot.
Female candidates across the country shattered ceilings and broke down barriers with history-making wins.
For the first time, the longtime (old, white) boy’s club in Washington will likely include women who are Korean American, Native American, Muslim, and under 30. That’s not even counting all the “firsts” scored on state levels.
But even with those wins, some key questions about the future of women in American politics remain (and not just when it comes to a number of big races that are too close to call or potentially heading to a runoff.).
One of the biggest unknowns:
will the oft-described “pink wave” of women running for and winning elected office in 2018 continue beyond this election cycle?
Early signs indicate the answer is: hell yes.
She Should Run, a nonpartisan group dedicated to supporting more women in office, saw a 900% increase in inquiries from potential candidates week over week after the midterms.
Erin Loos Cutraro, the group’s founder and CEO, said that she and her colleagues were “holding our breath” ahead of the midterms, knowing that “whenever there is a big gain and a series of gains, there is potential for people to feel like we can let off the gas.”
But she has been thrilled to see the opposite is true: women seem more revved up than ever about running in years to come.
... It’s not just She Should Run fielding fresh inquiries. Emily’s List, the pro-choice Democratic PAC that was instrumental in both getting more women elected and flipping the U.S. House of Representatives this year, is seeing a post-vote bump, too.
... "As we expected, we've seen an explosion of enthusiasm from women since Tuesday,” Emily’s List president Stephanie Schriock told Refinery29 in a statement. “Fifty-six women on Wednesday alone reached out to us about running for office — they're inspired by the historic number of victorious women who will be serving come January.
This was never about one year; we're in this for the long run."
"We've seen important breakthroughs, particularly in the U.S. House,” Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women in Politics, said in a statement. “But deepening disparities between the parties in women's representation will continue to hobble us on the path to parity. We need women elected on both sides of the aisle."
That’s a message that hits close to home to Cutraro, whose organization has set a goal of getting 250,000 women to run for office by 2030. She knows that in order to hit that number, women of all backgrounds and political affiliations need to step up...she acknowledges that paving the way for true gender parity is going to take concerted effort and time.
...One thing Cutraro is sure about? That the masses of women motivated by the midterms won’t give up until they’ve hit their goals.
Focused Monthly Inspiration
( #itsNovember2020Now )
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What's in the book:
→ Direct sources & resources for Democrats:
* ( Personal favored and most informative follows are also shared here with the understanding that readers will always apply their own critical thinking to any information provided anywhere by anyone. #StrongerTogether does not share sources of information lightly but -- no one is perfect! -- so always #DistrustAndVerify -- even if it's me. I am using a star rating that is strictly based on my situational experience with the work of the media personality specifically in relation to issues of interest to me. )
The Democratic Party Website
Also, NOT exactly a Democratic Party specific source under a GOP majority but a good place for to hear and to watch speeches & hearings directly C-SPAN
Democratic National Committee's Team Blue!
"The Blue Wave 
🌊 won't happen unless we all pitch in to help elect Democrats across the country. We've partnered with a number of organizations to make sure we're covering ground in every single community 👣. Join Team Blue to volunteer to get out the vote 
🗳️ in your community..."
🌊 won't happen unless we all pitch in to help elect Democrats across the country. We've partnered with a number of organizations to make sure we're covering ground in every single community 👣. Join Team Blue to volunteer to get out the vote 🗳️ in your community..."
You can email your two Senators and your Representative in Congress in one email here
"Postcards to Voters are friendly, handwritten reminders from volunteers to targeted voters giving Democrats a winning edge in close, key races coast to coast.
What started on March 11, 2017 with sharing 5 addresses apiece to 5 volunteers on Facebook...
Now, we consist of over 20,000+ volunteers in every state (including Alaska and Hawaii) who have written close to 3 million postcards to voters in over 100+ key, close elections."
You can find Postcards to Voters here
→ Some of my favorite, most active organizations -- some existing & some developing to elect Democrats:
Born from conversations between Governor Howard Dean and Secretary Hillary Clinton in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Onward Together was established to lend support to leaders — particularly young leaders — kicking off projects and founding new organizations to fight for our shared progressive values. here
Since #StandOnEveryCorner has grown, it’s become a stand by all of us to protect our democracy from corruption and treason...A stand not at your State Capitol, but in your own backyard. Not once every few months, but as often as you can here
→ Fact checking organizations courtesy of the Society of Professional Journalists
in alphabetical order...
→ Some of my favorite, most informative
follows on Twitter include:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ US Intelligence | Author | Navy Senior Chief | NBC/MSNBC
⭐⭐⭐ Federal Government Operations | Vanity Fair | Newsweek | MSNBC Contributor | Author
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Voting Rights/Voter Suppression | Author | Mother Jones
→ Some of my favorite, highly credible media -- at the moment:
📰📰📰 Mother Jones
📰📰📰📰 The Washington Post
→ Some of my favorite Talking Heads -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:
→ Some of my favorite media/panelists -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:
✅✅✅✅ Joan Walsh national affairs correspondent for The Nation; CNN political contributor
✅✅✅ Heidi Przybyla USA TODAY Senior Political Reporter
✅✅✅✅ Jennifer Rubin Conservative blogger at @ WashingtonPost's Right Turn,MSNBC contributor
✅✅✅ Natasha Bertrand Staff writer @ The Atlantic covering national security & the
intel community. @ NBCNews/@ MSNBC contributor
→ Some of my favorite Democrat Party Leaders to follow on Twitter, not in elected office but proving knowledge & experience are positives & not negatives are:
Former First Lady Michelle Obama
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Former Labor Secretary/Today's DNC Chair Tom Perez
Note: I rarely get involved in primary races -- outside of those in my own area and unless there is a glaring reason that can not be ignored, I support Democratic Party nominees in general elections. I don't support bashing Democrats.
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(Linked) "...is our 2016 platform...a declaration of how we plan to move America forward. Democrats believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.
It’s a simple but powerful idea: We are stronger together."
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Owned, Created and Curated by Gail Mountain, this blog is often gently edited and/or excerpted for quick reading, with occasional personal commentary in the form of the written word and/or in the form of emphasis noted. Network For #StrongerTogether ! is not affiliated with The Democratic Party in any capacity. This is an independent blog and the hope is you will, at a glance, learn more about the Party and you will, with a click or two, also take action on its behalf as it is provided!
( You can find me on Twitter
( You can also find me on Facebook
*
See the League of Women Voters website:
Vote411 here
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...for Networking for Democrats today!
g. (Unapologetic Democrat)
✊ Resisting "Fake News"
g. (Unapologetic Democrat)
✊ Resisting "Fake News"
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