HAPPY NEW YEAR! We are so grateful to be friends with super activist Jess Craven, whose daily newsletter Chop Wood, Carry Water gives you easy, effective political actions to effect positive change. (Meet her in person at our upcoming Blue Voter Guide party – details below!) This week her message was so damn inspiring, we repost an excerpt here with her gracious permission:

This will, in many ways, be an exceedingly difficult year. It will be seismic. It will be historic. I am cautiously optimistic, however, that it may be a surprising one, too. There will be ups and harrowing downs, but we are, at this point, so seasoned, so strong, and so organized that I feel certain we will be able to rise to the occasion and deliver unexpectedly good results.

We kind of have to.

So here are my 2024 New Year’s resolutions—at least where politics are concerned. Please feel free to adopt as many of them as seem useful to you.

1. I will do everything that I am able to do to help save democracy. Notice I say everything, because this, if there ever was one, is the year to leave it all on the field. But I add “that I am able” because we must all work within our own limits. Some will be able to do more, some less. It’s OK. Let’s all just do as much as we humanly can, while being honest about what that is. 

2. I will spread good news relentlessly. Part of how we’ll win is by spreading the word about all the great things Democrats—and Biden—have accomplished. We know what they are. Many, many Americans don’t. Every one of us must now become an Ambassador for Biden and the Democratic party. (Also, keeping morale up is going to be key. This will help.)

3. I will ask everyone I talk to if they are registered to vote, and help them register if they aren’t. Whether they’re my barista, Lyft driver, babysitter, or dentist—if they’re not obviously a Trump supporter I will tell them “your voice matters!” and I will make sure they are ready to vote.

4. I will repeat the words “A vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for Trump” everywhere I can, as loudly as I can, as often as I can. Again, we understand this. Less informed voters may not.

5. I will ignore polls. Like, IGNORE THEM. They. Have. No. Purpose. Whether they are “good” or “bad” our work remains the same. They are also deeply unreliable and heavily manipulated. So why look at them?

6. I will stay in the day and do what I can. Obsessing about what will happen in November, or next month, or even next week is pointless. I will ask, every day, “What can I do to be helpful to our cause today?” And I will do that.

7. I will remember to eat, to sleep, and to recreate. I will stay in touch with friends and nurture my relationships. I will take breaks from the news and be in nature. I will meditate. I will exercise. None of this is so I can be a “self-help”poster child. All of it is to make me a more effective tool for helping to save democracy.

8. I will “go where it’s warm.” In other words, I will seek out calm, determined, and generally hopeful sources of information. They must, of course, also be factual, but they should not be fear-mongering, cynical, or hysterical. I will gravitate towards those who aren’t just dwelling on the problem, but are proposing solutions.

9. I will remember, and repeat often to friends and family, that “the many are more powerful than the money.” This is not just wishful thinking. We have seen it over and over again. Remembering it is key.

10. I will write the following and post it on my bathroom mirror: “The object in this mirror is stronger than it appears.” Then I will remember it. We can do this. We must do this. And we will.

That’s it. Now let’s get to work.

– Jess Craven, Chop Wood, Carry Water

SATURDAY, JANUARY 6: RECLAIM IT FOR DEMOCRACY!

Help us fight the electile dysfunction of those who can't sustain an insurrection.

Every year since 2021, we commemorate the 1/6 attack on our democracy by registering Democrats to strengthen that democracy.

Sign up for all our 1/6 events HERE, including:

• a phone bank into Michigan – into Arizona – or into New York's 3rd district, where we must clear the Santos Stench™ by electing breath-of-fresh-air Democrat Tom Suozzi!

• a Zoom training on how to hold your own live voter drives in New York!

• a voter drive in Bakersfield, CA!

This is how we build power in a democracy – by empowering each other!

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10: VOLUNTEER FAIR

You say you wanna get involved? You say you wanna make a difference? You say you're not sure how? Well, step right up, and join the fun-tastical Volunteer Fair.

Activism is really just talking to people. We've found that's the best way to change the world. So come learn about all the ways you can do that: via in-person voter drives – phone banks – text banks – postcarding – social storming – and helping out behind the scenes, including with our sister org Blue Voter Guide!

It's kinda like speed dating, but with all the different ways you can help register Dems, save democracy, and crush fascism once and for all.

So start the year right! Join us on Wednesday, January 10 at 5p PT for this volunteer fair – hosted by Field Team 6, Demcast, and The Union – and find out all the fun ways you can help. RSVP HERE!

THURSDAY, JANUARY 11: CALLING ALL FRIENDLIES!

Let's kick off '24 by calling our besties and telling 'em how much we miss 'em! Heading into this make-or-break election year, we need all the help we can get, especially from volunteers we haven't seen in awhile. More than ever, we need these FT6 vets to hop back into the trenches and fight the good fight with us.

So we're going meta here – we're phonebanking to former phonebankers to get them to phonebank again. Hopefully we don't upset the space-time continuum! So please click HERE and join us Thursday, January 11 at 1p PT for the easiest phonebank ever, since we're calling friends; it's a guaranteed love-fest! And it's super effective!

SATURDAY, JANUARY 13: JUMPSTART YOUR ACTIVISM!

Activist fatigue is no joke. Especially when your newsfeed is burning with dumpster fires set by a pack of crazies hellbent on destroying democracy.

Yep, we've all hit that wall, more than once. But we can help you can bust through it and kick off the new year in a much better and healthier headspace. Field Team 6 multi-hyphenate Czar (Postcarding, Mobilize, Zoom, Newsletter) Sharon Lord Greenspan and Field Team 6 super activist Cathy O'Krent are experts at overcoming the fatigue, and they're hosting another episode of their hit workshop to discuss strategies for remaining upbeat and positive through nonstop worldwide chaos.

This meeting of like-minded folks will leave you feeling refreshed, regenerated, and armed with all the tools you need to get back to full strength... so you can get back out there and do what needs to be done, all from a place of joy. Join us Saturday, January 13 at 4p PT. Sign up right HERE.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20: BLUE VOTER GUIDE PARTY!

One of the most underestimated problems that keeps young and inexperienced voters from actually voting? Ballot confusion. Plain and simple, the dang ballots are too hard to figure out. Enter BlueVoterGuide.org.

Just type your address and see what will be on your whole ballot—candidates, measures, judges—accompanied by a list of trusted, progressive endorsers for each. Like an X-ray of who supports whom. It empowers quick, informed, pro-democracy choices up and down ballot, in just minutes instead of hours. Plus, the results can be printed, saved, and shared with friends and family. It's a secret weapon that will boost turnout in all 50 states this year.

So all our Los Angeles peeps, please come join us for Ride with the Guide in Los Feliz on Saturday, January 20 at 2p PT. You'll meet special guests, including the inspirational team that grew the guide from a simple idea into a 50-state, progressive juggernaut! And if you can't make it to the event, please consider supporting this fantastic new tool that will make all the difference to Blue candidates in close, swing elections. RSVP and/or donate HERE!

IN-PERSON VOTER DRIVES!

Register Democrats on the ground in

Bakersfield, Costa Mesa, Fullerton,

Irvine, Mission Viejo, and Victorville, CA!

VOTER DRIVE TRAINING

Learn on Zoom to lead your own voter drive

on the ground in 2024 target states:

AZ, CA, GA, MT, NC, NY, OH, PA, and WI!

PHONE BANKING

Call likely Dems in AZ, CA, GA, OH, MI, NY, PA and TX!

and get them registered to vote!

"Baby Come Back!" Volunteer Reengagement Phone Bank!

Join our workshops designed to reduce your phone banking phear

and increase your phone banking phun!

POSTCARDING

We're registering Dems in our 2024 target states and more!

Join us at our weekly virtual postcarding parties!

SOCIAL STORMING

Got ten minutes?

Help us generate another 4 billion impressions this cycle -

all from the comfort of your social media accounts! 

Find camaraderie, tips, and tricks on our Zoom trainings!

No social media experience required!

TEXT BANKING

Free BYOP Text Banking to

AZ, CA, FL, GA, IL, MI, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, PA, TN, and WI

and weekly text arcades to NY-03 ($25 = 1400 texts)

Click VOLUNTEER OPS below to get up-to-the-minute details and sign up!

Let's do this!

POSTCARDS, SNAZZY TEES, & STICKERS IN STORE!

Now is always the best time to get low-priced BlueVoterGuide.org and voter registration drive stickers!

Looking for more swag? Check out our full range of postcards by visionary artists James McMullan, Deborah Aschheim, Jamie Rodgers, and more! Click HERE to order a whole bunch of all of 'em. Celebrate and save the world with gifts from Field Team 6!