Welcome to the big Wednesday night edition of Progressives Everywhere!
Did you vote yet? If not, find your state’s early voting dates right here.
The onslaught of news flying at us right now is pretty overwhelming — the resurgence of COVID-19, the Republican hijacking of the Supreme Court, and Rudy Giuliani’s run-in with Borat (I’ve seen it and it’s the stuff of nightmares) are but three of the big stories making headlines just two weeks before Election Day.
Still, even with all that’s happening, we can’t let this summer’s mass uprising and demand for fundamental criminal justice reform fade into history. Because not only is it a moral imperative, criminal justice reform is tied into so many issues we care about — including the very survival of our democracy itself.
Stick with me, because I’m about to tell you how it’s all connected and the concrete actions we can take to fix things.
Let’s look at what’s been going on in Florida. When a huge majority of Floridians voted in 2018 to allow formerly incarcerated citizens the right to vote, just like nearly every other state does, it looked like an incredible 1.4 million people would be eligible to be added to the voter rolls. In fact, it was the biggest civil rights victory since the 1960s… until it wasn’t.
Last year, the Florida Republican Party passed a racist poll tax that managed to stop all but 67,000 of those 1.4 million people from registering to vote. And now, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has instructed election officials to disqualify as many of those newly registered voters as possible.
It’s an enraging assault on democracy and a sign of just how broken our criminal justice system has become. And while we’ve focused on state legislatures, some of the worst criminal justice policies are actually determined by local prosecutors, district attorneys, and sheriffs.
It is prosecutors, not lawmakers, who decide whether to press charges against people and whether to consider any charges felonies or misdemeanors. Some prosecutors, for example, refuse to press charges for marijuana possession, while others push hard to send people away for years for having a little bit of weed. Meanwhile, nobody from the Sackler family, the OxyContin-pushing cabal responsible for the opioid crisis, will spend a minute in jail. Any ideas why that might be?
Mass incarceration is racist, and in most states, it’s also a form of mass disenfranchisement and voter suppression. Prosecuting fewer unnecessary felonies means more registered voters, more democracy, and more positive outcomes for everyone.
Better prosecutors and district attorneys also translate to fewer protections for crooked and killer cops. By electing better DAs, we’ll have fewer cops willing to blithely kneel on the necks of Black men and murder them. And we’ll avoid what just happened in the Breonna Taylor case, where the grand jury wasn’t given all the damning evidence against the police who shot her to death.
It is sheriffs, meanwhile, who operate prisons and decide the conditions in which people will live — and all too often, the conditions in which they will die. Look at Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona, who ran what were basically immigrant death camps and cooperated with the rogue agents at ICE.
In fact, Joe Arpaio’s former deputy is running for sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona, hoping to bring back his inhumane tactics. We can stop him from winning — and a whole lot more.
I’ve put together a list of Democratic candidates running for prosecutor/DA and sheriff in some of the most intense and important races in the country. There are some well-known races, like the Lacy vs. Gascón race in Los Angeles and the aforementioned race in Arizona. Some are less recognized but no less important, including races in Texas counties where dozens of prisoners have died and ICE cooperation is on the ballot. You can read about more of the races right here.
Winning as many of these races is absolutely crucial. Both decency and democracy are at stake.
Important News You Need to Know
Supreme Court: Mitch McConnell (who has now actually become Swamp Thing) plans a Senate vote to confirm far-right holy warrior Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court this coming Monday. And in anticipation of her confirmation, the other arch-conservatives on the court are upping the ante on their attack on voting rights.
Just this evening, the Supreme Court voted 5-3 to reverse an appeals court decision and block curbside voting in Alabama. This, despite the fact that curbside voting is in no way illegal in Alabama. Why’d they come to this decision? Unclear — they didn’t attach any comment whatsoever.
Even seemingly positive SCOTUS decisions on voting rights are bad news right now. In a 4-4 decision, the court decided not to take up a Republican petition to block an extended absentee ballot deadline in Pennsylvania. What makes this so scary, despite the surface-level good news, is that Republicans appealed a State Supreme Court case, which has generally been out-of-bounds for SCOTUS.
And yet, despite being staunch “federalists,” the court’s four far-right justices indicated that they would be happy to interfere with a state Supreme Court’s decision, so long as it meant voting rights would be restricted.
Both of these cases should be more than enough evidence that Democrats absolutely need to expand the Supreme Court, which will hopefully be the first order of business come January.
Polls Polls Polls: Some mixed news in swing states, where things are either looking peachy or starting to tighten, depending on who you ask.
Here’s good news: The new Fox News poll (despite the network being terrorist TV, its polls have an A- rating from FiveThirtyEight) has Biden up by 12 points in Michigan, five points in Pennsylvania, and five points in Wisconsin.
OK, not entirely good news — Biden’s leads in PA and WI are both lower than they were in September.
More good news: Quinnipiac’s new poll has Biden up eight points in PA, while the new Suffolk University poll has him up six points there. The new CNN poll has him up ten points in PA.
Here’s bad news: A new Data for Progress poll has Biden up by five in Michigan… but only after leaners are pushed. Initially, it’s got Trump up three with likely voters.
Legislature races: OK, some more good news, this time about the down-ballot races.
The Cook Political Report upgraded Democrats’ chances of flipping the PA legislature, one of eight chambers that moved toward team blue.
Barack Obama spoke in PA today and actually shouted out the legislature flip opportunity there. The speech is embedded at the bottom of this item — it’ll lift your spirits.
Speaking of upgrades, one of our favorite candidates, Michigan’s Christine Morse, just got her race moved to lean Democrat by the state’s major political news service.
In Texas, endangered Republicans are starting to backtrack on a whole lot of unpopular policies, from resisting Medicaid expansion to anti-trans bathroom bills. (Allow me to note that all of these nervous Republicans are facing off against candidates we’ve endorsed and fundraised for here at Progressives Everywhere.)
Wannabe Dictator: It’s odd to think that exactly four years after James Comey sunk Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Democrats would be coming to the defense of an FBI director right around Election Day. And yet, Trump is just that bad.
News broke tonight that Trump has been itching to fire FBI Director Chris Wray because he won’t do his explicit, illegal political bidding.
In particular, Trump wants charges filed against Joe Biden for… well, that’s not clear or evidently important.
If he does win in November and Republicans hold the Senate, there’s a solid chance that Trump doesn’t leave office until he dies.
San Francisco: Kudos to SF Supervisors, who unanimously passed the CAREN Act, which outlaws racist 9/11 calls. Bring this law (with that name) to New York, please!
What I’m Reading Right Now
The American Prospect is running a great series on the caretaker crisis in the United States. This story, about the corporatization of nursing homes, is a must-read. It’s never been more relevant.
Democrats are often pretty bad at moving the debate to the left — in fact, right now they’re proving more adept at moving it towards Republicans on some key issues.
LeBron is the GOAT and this seals it.
Can You Help Us?
Together, we’ve raised $3.3 million now for progressive candidates and causes, plus over $1.5 million for bail funds and civil rights groups. That’s over $4.8 million raised!
To make this sustainable, I need your help. I don’t get paid by any politician for this work. In fact, it costs me money to do this. To make this sustainable, I’m offering very low-cost premium subscriptions that offer a lot of goodies. If you become a member of Progressives Everywhere, you’ll get:
Frequent election season emails with deep dives into elections and the crucial political stories not getting enough attention. You’ll read the news before anyone else you know.
Exclusive updates from candidates and interviews with other progressive leaders.
A new best friend (me).
It’s just $5 a month and one of the best investments you can make this election season. Why? For your $5, you help:
Raise money for great candidates being ignored by national donors.
Power campaigns across the country.
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We’ve got one shot at saving this country. Let’s work together to make it happen. I’m excited for you to join our team.
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