It’s been a busy few weeks for the Flip 2020 Project, and things are only likely to get busier (and more exciting!) as we move closer to election day. We’re 7 days away from jumping off in Maine, we have exciting new allies, are continuing to raise funds, and are also working (remotely at the moment) with both the independent green & democratic campaigns in Maine.
7 days till Maine– The first part of our crew is currently in quarantine, while others are preparing for it. We’ve lined up testing for our early arrivals, are working on social media and other “air game” outreach, and are excited to be able to start our work in Maine in only a week.
Our amazing crew– We have about a dozen “un-canvassers” at this point, including several folks who were part of the 2018 Tampa canvass. We also have folks working in support & coordination, finance, outreach, fundraising, and on social media. We have pretty good racial and gender diversity in the group. We’re also delighted to have an experienced fundraiser joining the group who currently works with Michelle Obama.
Bread and Puppet is the premiere street theater and giant puppet making group which has been creating visually dramatic props for political story telling for decades. (We’re big fans.) One of our amazing un-canvassers has worked with Bread and Puppet in the past and is helping us to schedule a workshop/training with them, likely in mid to late September.
Maine allies– We have gotten through to both the Lisa Savage (Independent Green) and Sara Gideon (Democratic) campaigns and are talking with them about what kinds of support from us they are interested in, including fundraising training, phone banking (especially while we are in quarantine), as well as actions and street theater.
Ranked choice voting in Maine– Since we’re on the topic of independent candidates, we’re delighted that due to Maine’s use of ranked choice voting we can support both Lisa Savage and Sarah Gideon in their Senate races.
Other interesting races– We are working with the Down Ballot project (link is to their most current report), an analytical initiative which gives data and insights into the most current polling and fundraising for tight Senate races. They also make recommendations on which races to support financially. In the upcoming issue they are encouraging folks to fund our initiative.
Fundraising is going well, although there is (of course) more work to be done. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. We’ve received a few large donations, including $5,000 from an anonymous donor and $20,000 from a second anonymous donor (who we have never met). We have also raised smaller contributions made through PayPal and GoFundMe. We appreciate any contributions (small as well as large) you are able to offer, as well as shares on social media to spread the word. If you want help in you’d like to help with our fundraising efforts, please get in touch with us at Flip2020Project@gmail.com.
Georgia Special Election– We are continuing to do some remote work outside of Maine in other critical senate swing states. Georgia has a special election on Nov 3 for a second senate seat, this election is without a primary so multiple candidates (from the same party) are running for one of the top two spots. One of the leading Democratic contenders is Matt Lieberman, who wrote a racist fiction story which has been recently discovered and will likely cost him the election. He has so far not dropped out of the race, thus endangering other Democrats from getting one of the top two slots. We are working with the NAACP and other POC groups to try to force Lieberman out of the race.
Thank you to all of our supporters, and if you’d like to volunteer with us or make a contribution you can do so on our website, or get in touch with us directly at Flip2020Project@gmail.com.
The Flip Project 