I have a fair amount of information for you in this message.  There are two very important topics, so I am noting them right here with two bullet points.

• Movement Voter Project fundraiser Feb. 29 on Orcas (or donate).
• Vote Forward/Swing Left letter-writing project already going on San Juan Island and soon to be organized on Orcas, also hopefully on Lopez.

       We are a pretty blue state here in Washington, so we often wonder how we can impact results in other states that are not so dependably Democratic.  In the summary of last month’s meeting, I mentioned that there will be an event this month to support the Movement Voter Project (MVP).  You may remember that this is a project to help local, grassroots community members register people to vote and get them out to vote for Democrats in five swing states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Arizona.  These five states all went to Trump last time around.  The first three have generally gone to the Democratic presidential candidate but were ignored in 2016, so with a little extra effort they should go to the Democrats again this time.  Arizona had been red but is increasingly purple while its population continues to grow, while Florida seems to be a state that can go either way; because of its large population, third largest and with 29 electoral votes, it is a very important state to win.  MVP’s goal is to raise money around the country to support the efforts in the five named states so that all five states vote for the Democrat.  Here is some information from their site:
       “Movement Voter Project (MVP) raises money to support vetted grassroots organizations (as opposed to specific candidates) in swing states! These are organizations that exist today and will exist after elections, making them a great short-term AND long-term investment. From immigrant rights groups in Arizona to student groups in Michigan to reinstating voting rights in Florida, MVP builds infrastructure in critical states with national implications. (MVP’s own operating expenses are covered thanks to another group of committed donors; every dollar they raise now goes to organizations on the ground.) MVP has a great website https://movement.vote
for you to explore…”
       To that end, a fundraising event is being held on Saturday, Feb. 29, at George Orser and Molly Donovan’s farm on Orcas just past Doe Bay.  This is Orcas Farm at 120 Byrle Hall Rd.  The time is 3:00-5:00.  I am hoping that many of you can make it, and you will want to go to the following site to RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/winning-in-2020-washington-state-tickets-92547793943 .
       For those who are unable to attend the event, you can contribute online or by check.  Here are some links:
       Here is a link to FAQ about donations including how to give by check (best for donations over $1000 to avoid transaction fees): https://movement.vote/faq .  Most of the organizations supported are 501©(4)s, meaning they are not tax-deductible, but for those who need tax deductibility, look at the site for opportunities for this.
       Here is a unique link setup for the Orcas party for donating to MVP (it is in 3 different formats but all the same place):
-Long link: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/big5battleground/?refcode=WAOI022920
-Short link: http://bit.ly/WAOI022920
-QR code: WAOI02_29_20.png
       Those donations will go to the Big 5 Battleground Fund.  If folks want to give to another fund that is fine… there are 13 funds and folks can give to any of them or to an individual group/ groups. You can explore the website for giving in a more specific way if you prefer.

       In the previous section I provided a way for you to support electing the Democratic presidential nominee with your dollars.  But perhaps you would also like to be a little more involved with some personal participation.  If so, here is the perfect opportunity to affect voting in other states through as little as an hour per week.  Vote Forward and Swing Left have teamed up to promote a letter-writing campaign.  Research shows that personal letters sent to voters who don’t always vote can have a significant impact on the number of voters who turn out to vote, definitely increasing turnout.  Vote Forward is targeting letters to voters who tend to vote Democratic, whether they are actual Democrats or Independents who lean toward the Democrats, but are not consistent voters.  This is in certain states where a little more turnout could make a big difference: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas.  Volunteers are writing personal letters to these voters, the letters to be mailed shortly before election day to get them out to vote.  Most of the verbiage is already printed on the letters, but each volunteer writes a short message by hand about why we vote, making it personal.  For instance, those of us with children and/or grandchildren can express our desire for a habitable planet, or we can talk about the need for better and more economical health care.  Nowhere in the letter are the names of any candidates mentioned, this is merely to get the recipients to vote.  However, these are likely Democratic voters, so there is no need to provide candidate names.  Then you address the envelope yourself so it looks like a personal letter, which it is, rather than the mailing of some political group.  You would need to bring your own stamps, but the letters and envelopes will be provided.
       San Juan Island has a group that has been doing this for two years already, meeting weekly, and they have produced thousands of letters that are ready to be mailed.  If you are on San Juan Island and would like to get involved, contact Beth Larson at betha.larson@me.com ; she would love to hear from you.  If you are on Orcas and would like to help us start a similar group here on our island, please contact Geri and me at davidgeri@centurylink.net .  Or if you are on Lopez and would like to start a group over there, contact Beth at the above address.  If you have been waiting for an opportunity to really make a difference without having to travel to other states, this is it!

       At the meeting on Saturday, besides Beth’s presentation about Vote Forward, we had a brief presentation on the Bernie Sanders campaign from Sharon Abreu, and I read a note from the statewide coordinator who wasn’t able to attend.  We then had a presentation from the statewide campaign coordinator for the Warren campaign, Maria Leininger, and one of her assistants, Henry Pollet.  The website for the campaign is elizabethwarren.com.  They had a meet-up after our meeting to talk with volunteers and do some knocking on doors.
       Thanks to the efforts of Bob O’Connell, Ken Crawbuck, and Lynn Baker, we finally have verbiage for our platform plank on the income tax and a wealth tax.  Here is the language we adopted
We call for a more progressive federal tax system, including:
— income taxes at the highest brackets to be increased significantly. 
— elimination of loopholes in the tax code which allow persons and entities to escape taxation largely or entirely.
— amendments to the tax code to ensure that all persons and entities pay their fair share. 
— creation of a wealth tax to redress the historically unprecedented imbalance of wealth distribution in this country.
— creation of a financial transaction tax on every Wall Street and other financial market transaction, and measures to tax capital gains at the same rate as income.
We also started to work our way through the platform in general, which we will continue at our next several meetings.  If you would like to see a copy of the platform along with proposed changes, email me and I will send you a copy.
            There are three committees that work in preparation for the state convention in June: Credentials, Platform, and Rules.  At our meeting Saturday, Sharon volunteered for Credentials, and Stephen Shubert volunteered for Platform.  If there is someone who would like to represent us on the Rules Committee, please let me know.
            You might remember that regarding endorsements, we have agreed to consider each election individually and not tie ourselves down to just endorsing for the general election, that there may be circumstances that merit our endorsements for the primary election also.  The other question was what term to use for endorsing more than one candidate, as many people understand an endorsement to be solely for one candidate.  From the situation last year with the race for state senate, we found that two equally qualified candidates may emerge who both merit our endorsement.  We considered a number of terms to use for endorsing more than one candidate, and the term most of us agreed on was “dual endorse”.  Hopefully this will not confuse anyone.
            Our state committeewoman Sharon spoke on her attendance at a state party meeting in Vancouver, WA, and at several lobby days in Olympia.  She had lots of praise for our three elected state officials, Representatives Debra Lekanoff and Alex Ramel and Senator Liz Lovelett.  They are very approachable and wanting to do their best to represent us.  Her meetings with them were excellent.
            I want to remind you that you will be receiving your presidential primary ballot in a little less than two weeks.  I had sent out a long explanation of how the process will work this year, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.  Be sure to vote by March 10.
            We seem to still be having trouble with our Zoom transmission for virtual attendance.  We know of one member who tried to attend that way but couldn’t get any sound.  We will try to remedy that for next time.
            Our next meeting will be March 14.  As of this writing, Congressman Rick Larsen is scheduled to attend.

Thanks for reading,

David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
davidgeri@centurylink.net
360-376-4165