Election Day

The day that seemed to take forever to arrive. I think whatever happens, we can say we have collectively left it all on the table. I say this having watched, read, organized, scrolled and personally fielded hundreds of emails and calls asking for help, giving thanks for the help, or just expressing the pure joy of having voted. Along with so many of you, I’ve watched massive  enthusiasm at rallies, hours-long early voting lines, and an historic coalition of longtime Republicans and Democrats, some of our biggest cultural figures/influencers like Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Michele Obama, JLo, Bad Bunny, Willie Nelson (to name just a couple!) as well as many important media endorsements. We’ve all seen the New York Times questionable framing of the narrative finally shift to putting a target directly on the unfitness and instability of the disgraced former president. This shift in the story has been making its way across media, polls, and conversations.

I experienced the enthusiasm and engagement among Democrats here in Portugal escalate from a soft meh, to large teams around the country writing letters, taking trainings to help people return ballots, and making calls to swing states up until election day.

Despite heightened anxiety, I’m choosing to believe that the American people are not going to let this absurdist character return to the Oval Office so that Christian extremists and tech billionaires can dismantle our government. Polls and newspaper headlines don’t begin to tell the full story of this election - the biggest issue will be what happens tomorrow and the next month, what happens on January 6th and 20th? And what happens after that?

We can assume the election will not be decided decisively by the time we all wake up tomorrow, November 6th. We can assume that Donald will declare victory as soon as the last poll closes - if not before. We can assume there will be lawsuits, challenges, almost the entire GOP fanning out in a massive disinformation campaign to declare voter fraud - it has already begun. Our job now is to counter-message as much as we have capacity to do: on-line and off.

No one has a crystal ball - this is what I hope and am mentally prepared for. And then will start the era of repair. This polarity built on fear and hate cannot continue. There will be plenty of time to discuss this - a truly global conversation.

For now, Democrats Abroad Portugal has done an amazing job on the world stage in turning out the vote. We have expanded our membership by 150%, we have created regions of influence in Porto, Coimbra, Caldas da Rainha, Alcobaca, Cascais, Estoril, Lisbon, and the Algarve, and our ballot request is more than 220% of where we were at the beginning of the year - more than twice every other country chapter of DA in the world. We have reached out and engaged voters via events, phone calls, postcards, direct mailers, and in-person ballot return events. Other DA countries have reached out asking what is in our water.

This is the result of a team of dedicated members and committed volunteers.

Most of you only hear from me, or only know your specific group leaders. But democracy depends on civic engagement - period full stop. Without it and without active participation on the local level, whether you are here in Portugal or back in the States, democracy will devolve into autocracy - history has shown us this truth. If the majority is going to have a voice, we need to exercise our privilege and vote, of course, but also make sure that others have that right as well.

A short story that illustrates the above - an extraordinary effort made to secure one lone vote in Pennsylvania. Rosa is 81 and lives in Almada, Portugal. We learned that Rosa needed help voting: despite having voted in the past, we discovered she had been purged. She has no printer, and as with many people her age, is not very computer literate. It became clear that she needed some in-person assistance. The word went out in a few Whats-app groups and a small team of Avengers assembled. One of them made it her personal mission to make sure Rosa voted. Morgan Monet took a bus across the river from Lisbon, filed the necessary paperwork, printed the ballot and personally took the ballot to the Lisbon airport DHL so it could be express mailed. In Morgan’s words: When I found out she voted in a deep red county in Pennsylvania, there was no stopping me. Her vote WILL be counted.

It’s because of Democrats like Morgan, that I believe we are going to win. And then we will tend to the work of democracy. Although we live abroad, we are a crucial part of that work - it started more or less with eleven elected Americans on an Executive Committee, and has grown into a vibrant, incredible team of people who met new friends, expanded their communities, and found joy in doing democracy.

I believe in credits and nerd out at the end of a movie when most people are filing out. I think most jobs are done by people who never get credit or recognition - they are the ones doing the hard, behind-the-scenes work. It’s the same with politics - most work goes unrecognized.  And in the case of Democrats Abroad, it is 100% volunteer. Every volunteer who contributed to Portugal’s get out the vote effort deserves credit. Pardon the length - it was a virtual (literally and figuratively) army of engagement.

On Behalf of Democrats Abroad Portugal Leadership, and with tremendous gratitude, I’d like to thank:

Hub Leaders: Porto - Lisa Hawley, Vickery Randall; Coimbra - Kristina Maloney; Silver Coast - Billy Easton, Katie Doyle, Amelie Kelly; Cascais - Christina Davis and Barbara O’Neill; Lisbon - Terry Recht; Algarve - MJ Neighbour; Setubal - Jules de Mello and Laurie Steinke; Azores - Michelle Gantt and Inge Sengelmann

Communications Team: Dan Dawson lead; Neil Krupnick; Julia Woods, Lisa Hawley, Justin Knepper, Jee Lam, Kristina Maloney, Kimberly Lang Sanberg, Carolina Medina, Mike Johnston, Ann Weiser, Gloria Carion, Megan Thomas

GOTV: Rick Poulin lead

    Postcards: Michele van Eyken, Tom Quinn, Samuel Garza Bernstein, Lorraine Platman, Steve Goldberg, Leah Goldberg, Mark Solana, Steve Wiseman, Barb Thomas, Jeff Thomas, Chris Barrett, Lisa Hawley, Mona Martin,Ron Shore. Kristi Espineira, Andres Espineira, Barbara O’Neill, Christina Davis, Jee Lam, Ann Little, Dori Wolfson, Hilary Galler, Erik Hagen, Emily Speden, Sharon Cohen, MJ Neighbour, Ellen North, David Neighbour, Elaine Hinman-Sweeney, Diane Haven, Martina Brehmer

  Phonebanking: Billy Easton lead

Roberta Abel, Katie Doyle, Mike and Wendy Schramm, Anna Hale, Alyce Koruna, Barbara O’Neill, Christina Davis, Christy Le Lait, Daniel Thomason, Darcy Edmundson-Andrade, Derek Sinns, Debbie Ream, Eric Sonderlund, Jacqueline Ochs, Jasen Williams, Jenny Rhine, Julie Roberts, Katie Doyle, Kim Wilcox, Leah Goldberg, Lisa Gregg, Lisa Sonderlund, Lynn Rose, Marita Roos, Michael Schramm, Wendy Schramm, Oscar Halpert, Penelope Eicher, Penelope Krump, Phil Rowe, Rebecca Byrnes, Rose Deats Benitez, Teresa Chocano, Teri Loendorf, Marc Lee, Dolores Baldasare, Leah Goldberg, Steve Goldberg, Elaine Hinman-Sweeney, Oscar Halpert, Jane Price, Nancy Warr, Andrea Kissick, Ellen North, Carrie Jandura, Martina Brehmer 

Shout-out: Billy Easton who, after having built a veritable machine of phone-bankers who called DA members around the world, in these final weeks mobilized a massive Global team to phone-bank for the Harris-Walz campaign and called directly into swing state voters in the States - thus inaugurating a massive organizing effort for Democrats Abroad.

   Direct Mailers: Susan Arant, Rebecca Hagen, Jennie Rhyne, Stacy Roesser, Tom Arant, Jennifer Gately,  Lynnette Shaw, Amelie Kelly, Katie Doyle, Mallory Warman, Emma Inman,  Karen Holland, Lisa Peterson, Melissa Larsen, Georgia McDaniel, Lynnette Shaw, Kelly-Raitt, Kate Kealy, Patricia Noel, Ivy Dawn, Barbara Oneill, Christina Davis, Darcy Edmundson-Andrade, Nate Wundermann, Ray Locke, Beth Thordsen, Dori Wolfson, Tamara Nameroff, Debbi Custer, Gloria George

  Events: Vickery Randall, Lisa Hawley, Catherine Kreston, Clayton Hersom, John Garlick, Carolina Medina, Justin Knepper, Carlane Passman, Amelie Kelly, Billy Easton, Julie Roberts, Katie Doyle, Debbie Ream, MJ Neighbor, Melanie El-Sabaawi, Inge Sengelmann, Michelle Gantt, Laurie Steinke, Christina Davis, Barbara O’Neill, Jules De Mello, Tara Fisher-Munoz, Thea Logan, Sunil Khanna, Maria Burns, Karen Beverly, Paula Nailon, Eriko Talley, Morgan Monet, Linda Rupert, Lisa Besso, Dolores Baldasare, Roberta Abel, Jon Carroll, Kristina Maloney, MJ Neighbour, Martina Brehmer, David Neighbour, 

  Registration/Ballot Return: Kristina Maloney and Carolina Medina leads

Penelope Krump, Lisa Sonderlund, Eric Sonderlund, Susan Arant, Vickery Randall, Neil Krupnick, Lisa Hawley, Julia Woods, Michele Van Eyken, Darcy Edmundson-Andrade, Diana Langer, Jennie Rhine, Jennifer Gately, Therese Paul, Terry Recht, Christina Davis, MJ Neighbor, Eriko Talley, Morgan Monet, Linda Rupert, Gloria Carion, Thea Logan, Sunil Khanna, Tara Fisher-Munoz, Maria Burns, Kate Klise, Judith Rosenberg, Karen Beverly, Roberta Abel, Susan Lindsey, Debbie Bradford, Laurie Steinke, Jules de Mello, Barbara Speicher, Joe Barton, Tricia Endicott, Sharon Plisko, Colleen Murphy, Louis Steinke, Cindy Gwaltney, Peggy Bendel, Joan Hardy, Tina Singleton, Katie Doyle, John Harlick, Clayton Hershom, Debbie Ream, Julie Roberts, Wendy Schamm, Mike Schamm, Amelie Kelly, Lynnette Shaw, Nate Wundermann, Fran Locke, Ray Locke, MJ Neighbour, David Neighbour, Diana Haven, Elaine Hinman-Sweeney, Martina Brehmer, Melanie El Sabaawi, Jeana Whitaker

General Presidential Primary: Eriko Talley, Terry Recht, Jon Carroll, Sarah and David Hassler, Linda Rupert, Michele Van Eyken, Nevin Weiner, Diane Haven, Morgan Monet, Gloria Carion, Lisa Besso, Dolores Baldassare, Christina Davis, Paula Nailon, Maria Burns, Ethan Stone

Also, special thanks to Susan Korthase, admin for American&Friends, PT Facebook site. From the outset, Susan has viewed voting as both a privilege and a foundation of democracy - and supported almost every DA and individual posts about voting, events and personal commentary. Thanks to broad engagement of that group, we were able to reach Americans who were not yet members, didn’t know about Democrats Abroad, and for many, didn’t even know they were eligible to vote. I attribute at least a portion of our tremendous growth to the Americans&FriendsPT group.

Local businesses who supported the DA outreach. Let’s show some love and if you’re in the neighborhood, please grab a coffee or a glass of something.

Setubal: Capt. Tap, Little Fox, Sítio, Wine Love Palmela, Chez Barbara and Joe, Rafeira Setúbal, Quinta de Alcube

Algarve: The Black Anchor

Porto: Cafe de Passaporte, Scoundrel’s Distillery, (Joe’s) American Club Food & Cocktails, Fino Golf Club

Caldas da Rainha: Local Cafe, Citrus Cafe, The Black Sheep

Alcobaça: Parque Verde

Lisbon: Whisk, Ecolongo, Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara, Sá da Costa Art Gallery and Coffee Shop. 

Cascais: House of Wonders

Coimbra: Beers, Epicura , The Living Room, Atelier

Donors: Any organization knows the most challenging part of keeping things going is donations. Thanks to on-going donations by some members, and with special thanks to two very generous donations made by Ron and Becca Williams and Jonathan Freeman we were able to build our infrastructure for getting out the vote. The money you started donating in 2023 made GOTV 2024 possible.

To the many individuals who opened their homes: Vickery Randall, John Harlick, Clayton Hershom, Carlane Pressman, Laurie and Louis Steinke, Rick Poulin, Jules de Mello, Terry Recht, Michelle Gantt, Billy Easton, MJ Neighbour, Wendy and Mike Schramm, Melanie El-Sabaawi

Finally, special thanks to Andres Espineira - former Vice Chair of DA Portugal and tech wizard. He has continued to personally fund and maintain the servers that allow DA Portugal to have a dedicated democratsabroad.pt email and democratsabroad.pt direct link to our webpage. It is a big deal and under-recognized.

…there were many, many more who either chose to remain anonymous or I was unable to get permissions from. I’d like to extend a deeply-felt gratitude to you as well. You know who you are.

On behalf of our entire DA Executive Committee and DA global, thanks to everyone for voting and for doing your part - big and small - in helping to preserve our democracy. I look forward to  continuing this level of commitment.

Democratically yours,

Sally DeSipio, Chair DAPT

Nevin Weiner, Vice-chair DAPT

Michele Van Eyken, Secretary

Camilo Cornejo, Treasurer

Diane Haven, Counsel

Lisa Besso, Member-at-large

Terry Recht, Member-at-large

Jon Carroll, Member-at-large

Christina Davis, Member-at-large

Ron Williams, Voting Member