January 30, 2022 / Newsletter 261 |
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RUN FOR OFFICE!
You can help Dems up & down ballot by being a candidate.
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SAVE THE DATE
Next meeting of the Hall County Dems:
When: Monday, February 14, 2022
Watch Blue Notes & News for more details next week.
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Upcoming key election dates:
First day to qualify to run for office: 9 AM March 7
Last day to qualify to run for office: NOON March 11
First day to request absentee ballot for May primary: March 11 (mailing out begins April 5)
Last day to register to vote in May primary: April 25
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Apply to Be a Poll Worker |
Hall - WorkElections
Apply online by clicking on the "Apply Now!" button above. Hall County also has a downloadable PDF application, available here. Poll workers should plan to vote before Election Day unless they are assigned to their own polling place. Citizens who ...
Read more
workelections.com
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Train to Be a Candidate
Want to run for something but not sure how? Attend the webinar on February 2. Click on the photo to register.
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SIGN UP TO HELP GET VOTERS TO THE POLLS
Hall County Dems have the opportunity to work with RideShare2Vote, a national organization that helps coordinate getting voters to the polls.
if you're interested in volunteering to drive people to the polls during the primaries or the general election, email Jennifer LaRose at jblarose13@gmail.com to learn more.
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Run for Hall County School Board |
Are you a resident of Hall County who cares about education? Then run for the Hall County School Board! Three seats are up for election this year:
Board of Education Post 1
Board of Education Post 2
Board of Education at Large
To run for the Post 1 or Post 2 seats, you must live in the associated district. To run for the at-large seat, you cam live anywhere in Hall County except inside the city limits of Gainesville (which has its own school board).
Serving on the school board requires a small time commitment for attending monthly meetings and keeping abreast of school issues and initiatives. It provides huge rewards through its impact on the education of all K-12 students in the county.
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Weekly Thoughts from the Chair:
It's time to get going!
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Wednesday, the Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson gave us a 90 minute zoom tutorial on how to win the messaging wars and save our democracy. In his blunt and caustic manner, Rick gave us five Rules:
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Drive the damn bus, don’t lay down in front of it. This means take the fight to the opponent early, hard, and make the opponent react. Be firm and strong, don’t stop and don’t apologize.
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Don’t bring a policy pen to a knife fight. Policy arguments don’t win. We have to take the fight to where it matters – culture, emotion, values, ideals. Policy has no traction with voters.
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Never catch the grenade. When the opponent throws the CRT bomb, deflect it and turn it against the opponent. For example, When you hear “CRT,” call out the speaker by insisting the CRT is his cowardly way of using the “N” word!
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Have some damn fun and stop worrying about everything. Do what you like and don’t over think everything. If things are not working, change strategy or tactics. Nothing is perfect.
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Sell your wins and back your own. Our economy grew by an amazing 5.7 percent in 2021, we have the lowest unemployment rate in ages and we have the highest stock market in history. These are amazing facts. Yet Democrats have let others spin the great news into morbid questions about the future. Why? Never undercut our leadership and our fellow Democrats. To do so is just plain stupid.
Rick is absolutely correct. We are in the fight to preserve Democracy. We have to bring all our firepower to bear and we have to apply it correctly. To that end, we must have every possible volunteer, worker, committee member, party member, donor and patriot working to help.
Our Committee members must step up and become fully engaged.
When we have our next Hall County Democratic Party meeting on February 14, 2022, all our Committee members need to be there.
We need recruits to run for office.
The fight is on, right now. If we don’t prepare ASAP, the March qualifying time will have passed. Party members and visitors need to see a full house. We are Committee members because we pledge to be good Democrats.
Make your plans and let’s go!
Mike
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Suppression is the GOP Brand
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Whether it is suppressing votes, banning books, or using fake electors to try to overturn an election, Republicans have continued their incessant march towards authoritarianism.
Remember how they claimed the 2021 voting laws were simply security measures and not intended to suppress votes? In 2021, the new requirements for requesting absentee ballots and the drastically abbreviated timeframe for requesting and returning the ballots resulted in 45 TIMES MORE ABSENTEE BALLOTS BEING REJECTED. That's 45 time more PEOPLE BEING DENIED THE RIGHT TO VOTE in 2021 compared to 2020.
Among the book banning extravaganza of the past few weeks, a Tennessee school district banned Maus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the holocaust. They claimed it was because of violence and nudity. They claimed that it's inappropriate to make students uncomfortable when learning about the extermination camps in Nazi Germany. They can't handle the truth, and they don't want students to learn the truth either.
Devotion to a corrupt and ignorant man on the part of the Republican faithful has led other Republicans to extreme measures in their fight for an authoritarian government, where only Republicans are in charge. To the small-minded bigots, Trump was an inspiration to punish liberals and reverse progress through draconian laws and edicts.
We said Democracy was on the ballot in 2020. With the rush to the extreme right by state and local Republican officials, Democracy is still on the ballot in 2022. Make your plan to act. Run for office. Register voters. Come to meetings. Donate. Organize. Vote.
Together, we CAN put a stop to their power grab.
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Video: 'Maus' author Art Spiegelman reacts to book being ...
The McMinn County Board of Education in Tennessee voted 10-0 to remove "Maus," the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the experiences of Holocaust survivors, from it's eighth grade language arts curriculum. The book's author, Art...
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www.cnn.com
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Georgia educators push back against bill restricting how ...
The head of the Georgia Association of Educators says the group will lobby against a series of GOP-pushed bills that would restrict the way teachers can discuss race, and racism, in classrooms. One Senate bill - SB 377 - would prohibit K-12...
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www.wabe.org
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Democracy in Danger - WTF, GOP [Rebroadcast]
This isn't and never has been a podcast about "Democrats" in danger. But in the United States, one political party epitomizes the antidemocratic moment: Republicans remain devoted to a corrupt leader, intent on suppressing the vote and hostile to ...
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podcasts.google.com
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We uncovered the impact of GOP voting restrictions in...
Fight disinformation. Get a daily recap of the facts that matter. Sign up for the free Mother Jones newsletter. "States are not engaging in trying to suppress voters whatsoever," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared last year....
Read more
www.motherjones.com
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Investigators subpoena fake Georgia presidential 'electors'
Alternative slates of presidential electors in Georgia and other states played a key role in Trump's failed plans to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to reject Biden's victory when Congress convened to ratify the election results on Jan. 6, 2021.
Read more
www.ajc.com
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Republicans Are Trying to Suppress More Than Votes
The proliferation of restrictive laws-from school curriculum to the ballot box-continues. The accelerating red-state offensive to censor what public-school students are taught about racism is emerging as a critical companion measure to...
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www.theatlantic.com
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Letters below were submitted by members of Hall County Democrats.
If you are interested in writing a letter to The Times, sign up for our Letters to the Editor project. The mission of our Letters to the Editor project:
- counter disinformation with facts
- express opinions that reflect Democratic Party values
- raise the profile of Democratic voices in the Hall County community
The Times limits individuals to having 1 letter published per month. We’re looking for writers to help our members with expressing their views and for individuals willing to have their letters published in The Times. Email hallcountydemocrat@gmail.com to help with our Letters to the Editor project.
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Opinion: Is inflation really forcing prices up?
I have to admit that I am confused about inflation. I understand that the generally accepted idea is that inflation is a condition where prices are generally increasing or alternatively stated, the dollar has less buying power. That part isn't...
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www.gainesvilletimes.com
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Opinion: We should be able to disagree respectfully
There are a few signs around town that I truly don't understand. To be clear, I do understand exactly what "Let's go Brandon" means. It means screw Joe Biden, with a more vulgar word in place of screw (one that the paper won't print).
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www.gainesvilletimes.com
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What's happening in the GA Legislature in 2022 |
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There are 22 election-related bills carried over from 2021 and 60 election-related bills somewhere in process at the capitol. Among those:
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SB325, prefiled by Sen. Butch Miller (R- District 49, Gainesville), would eliminate absentee ballot drop boxes. Miller is running for Lieutenant Governor.
- SB363 would prohibit non-citizens from voting (already prohibited by the U.S. Constitution).
- HB531 would prohibit election superintendents or boards of registrars from accepting private funding (which LWVCGA did by underwriting the purchase of nine absentee ballot drop boxes for Chatham County in 2020).
- SB93 outlines requirements for mobile polling places when an existing structure has been deemed unusable because of safety or facilities.
- SB178 makes it impossible for the Secretary of State to send absentee ballots without a written request from the voter (as SOS Brad Raffensperger did during the pandemic, promising that certain qualified voters would continue to receive the ballots automatically in the future).
Follow our newsletter to get news on elections legislation in the 2022 session.
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Critics say Georgia bill intended to ease school library ...
A bill aimed at making it easier for Georgia parents to have books banned from their school libraries earned Republican support in a state House subcommittee meeting Tuesday. Under Dallas Republican Sen.
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www.gpb.org
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WABE's Week In Review: Georgia lawmakers take up mental...
Georgia lawmakers are considering a bill that would prohibit public schools from kindergarten all the way through colleges and universities to teach "divisive concepts." Senate Bill 377 comes after the mobilization from some to ban or limit the...
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www.wabe.org
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State & Local News (Some links may require a subscription)
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PLEASE NOTE: Any articles we post about Georgia Democrats on the primary ballot in 2022 are intended to keep you informed. They are not an endorsement of any candidate. |
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Opinion | Distinguished pols of the week: Rising stars...
If not for the election of Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael G. Warnock on Jan. 5, 2021, Democrats would not hold a majority in the Senate.. President Biden would not have been able to pass the American Rescue Plan or maybe even the...
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www.washingtonpost.com
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Battle for Warnock's seat at center of US Senate power...
Washington - A year after Georgia voters sent Baptist minister Raphael Warnock to Washington, the national spotlight is back on the lawmaker, whose reelection bid could determine whether Democrats maintain control of the U.S. Senate for the...
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www.detroitnews.com
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Cobb school board member Jaha Howard runs for state...
Since then, lawmakers have introduced legislation on the matter. Howard joined some metro Atlanta school board members in publicly opposing it. Howard will be campaigning in the Democratic primary against Gwinnett school board member Everton...
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www.ajc.com
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Dunahoo to run for House re-election in different...
The state legislature drew new lines in November, and Gov. Brian Kemp approved the districts near the end of 2021. District 31 now covers part of East Hall County and much of Jackson County. District 30 will cover much of South Hall, including...
Read more
www.gainesvilletimes.com
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Judge rejects Georgia's attempts to dismiss...
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones on Thursday denied motions to dismiss the cases over Georgia's redistricting of congressional and state legislative seats. The lawsuits allege that Georgia's redistricting in the fall violated the Voting Rights...
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www.ajc.com
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Opinion: Georgians should speak up for common sense -...
Right now, high-paid influence peddlers are working around the clock under the Gold Dome. Some of what they are "peddling" isn't in Georgia's best interest. Quite the opposite. Throughout the General Assembly, you can find evidence where special...
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georgiarecorder.com
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National News (Some links may require a subscription)
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3 Covid stories the press is getting wrong right now
Wednesday's Wall Street Journal brought troubling news about Covid-19 deaths as the paper detailed how they "have reached the highest level since early last year," emphasizing that the virus "spread wildly through the country and caused...
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pressrun.media
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Opinion | We Still Can't See American Slavery for What...
The historian Marcus Rediker opens " The Slave Ship: A Human History " with a harrowing reconstruction of the journey, for a captive, from shore to ship: The ship grew larger and more terrifying with every vigorous stroke of the paddles.
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www.nytimes.com
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