This is a report from a meeting of the Georgia leadership of “Fair Fight”, the political action PAC that Stacey Abrams set up “to advocate for free and fair elections ….and to ensure access to democracy for all.”
The meeting started with two reports, one on their activities in the field, the second on their sophisticated polling results, followed by a strong pitch and strategy briefing from Stacey Abrams. Abrams said we have to “use this moment to reach every voter in Georgia and get them to act because every voice counts and every vote matters…. We have to bring people together…”
These were very well organized, jam-packed, data driven reports with lots of graphics.
The First report, by Exec Director Lauren Groh-Wargo, summarized the current state of the two Senatorial races (both are in a “dead heat”) and what they are doing to mobilize the democratic vote – and combat voter suppression.
Their first effort is to get out the vote and encourage mail-in ballots. So far one million ballots have been requested, mostly by Democrats. (Polling shows that Republicans do not have confidence in voting my mail.)
As of today, more ballots have been requested then were requested 33 days before the general election in November.
To get out the vote they have completed 347,000 “field knocks” (knocking on doors to talk to people in “Covid-safe” canvassing) and are now ramping up these efforts after Thanksgiving. (They were featured in an article in Politico.)
They are also using radio ads to target Black, Hispanic, and rural voters as well as digital ads that target the youth vote.
They urged everyone on the call to “help win Georgia” by clicking on and “blasting out” this link: HELPWINGEORGIA.COM
The second report focused on their sophisticated polling, done between Nov.16 and Nov 22, by their polling director, Esosa Osa. She highlighted their efforts to understand general trends—but to also learn what issues were most important for 8 specific populations such as “the youth vote, swing voters, suburban women, African Americans, Asian-Americans, etc.”
In general they have found high voter enthusiasm. Voters know this is a really important election and have a clear set of issues they consider important. They have completed 65,000 in-person conversations in which 59% of the people have pledged to vote by mail.
Among the highlights of the report were
1. 93% of the white liberals plan to vote, as do 87% of the white conservatives (but 22% of the later do not believe their vote will count: they believe there is voter fraud)
2. One-third of the voters are worried about voter intimidation at the polling place
3. They presented some complex data on how different populations (e.g. white liberals vs. African Americans) have slightly different priorities with regard to the issues. BUT, they all want their candidate to
a. deal with racial inequality
b. manage the Covid pandemic
c. invest in health care – and the serious problem of the closing of many rural hospitals
d. invest in jobs and employment
e. and, for some, protect the environment
For example, 90% of white liberals support all of these issues but the youth vote supports them to a lesser degree.They are more future oriented. They ask what “CAN WE DO NOW?” about Covid, about protecting the environment, about climate change, etc.
In contrast, the issues that seem to be motivating white conservatives are
a. fear of AOC and Pelosi – 89%
b. voter fraud -84%
c. supporting Trump and his policies
d. fear that Democrat control of the Senate will lead to a radical agenda and Socialism
Abrams urged not wasting time answering Republicans, but to use this moment to put forth a positive agenda and positive images…
Most important right now is the Dec 7 DEADLINE for registering the 23,000 young people who have just become eligible to register to vote in the January election.
To support that effort, here are 3 options :
1. go to : HELPWINGEORGIA.COM
You will see direct links to Fair Fight (Stacey Abrams’s PAC) as well as direct links to the two Senate candidates.
2. Support Stacey Abrams’s The New Georgia Project (her 501 c3) which makes your contribution tax deductible. Go tohttps://newgeorgiaproject.org/donate/
3. respond to the email plea from Jon Ossoff for help with the voter registration drive – see NEXT PAGE – page 4– below this list
Finally, if you would like to be on the Georgia leadership call next Friday at 4pm, you can write to
“Dom Kelly” <Dominic@FairFightAction.com> and ask him to put you on the list for the “Winning Georgia Weekly Leadership Council Call” on Friday at 4pm.
This is from Jon Ossoff re support for registering the 23,000 newly eligible voters:
The last day for Georgia residents to register to vote in the January runoff is THIS MONDAY, December 7!!
In the general election, I was honored to receive the most votes of any Georgia Democrat in state history.
By hitting our Runoff Voter Registration Fund goal, we’ll have the resources to register even more voters for this runoff and expand the electorate to give us the best chance to win a majority in the U.S. Senate.
Will you be a founding donor of our Runoff Voter Registration Fund and help us hit our goal to turbocharge our outreach efforts this weekend?
Direct links to the two campaigns are here:
Contribute to the organization leading Georgia voter registration, New Georgia Project.