In This Issue —
Events:
- Young Dems Meet-Up – Tuesday!
- Experienced Dems Meet-Up
- Pride Parade in Vienna
- Fourth of July Party
- Global Pride Fundraiser in Amsterdam
- Oktoberfest in Munich
Issues & Actions:
- Why We Can’t Stop Mass Shootings
- Meet DA Austria’s Youth Caucus Coordinator
Midterm Election News:
- Austria calling campaign concludes
- Battleground States Call Campaigns – Phonebank!
- Your Vote is Your Voice
- Voter Registration Tables
Reviews:
- DA’s Annual Global Meeting
Our Executive Committee meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month. However, our next meeting will be held online on: Thursday, June 23, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. Members are welcome to join us at the meetings. Please contact Richard at [email protected] to join.
DAA is making a strong effort to include in our monthly newsletter all the information you need to stay up to date. By sending you fewer emails, we hope you will read those you receive. Thanks for reading!
Message from the Chair
Everything is on the line: that’s the slogan we came up with for our June newletter. During 2020, we knew Trump was a threat to our democracy. But the threat is as real as ever.
At our DA Global Annual General meeting last month, guest speaker Senator Cory Booker of NJ spoke of a “real crisis in our country.”
“We are seeing the rolling back of rights, from voting rights to the sanctity of the dominion over your own body. We see threats to our democracy in ways we have not seen,” Sen. Booker said.
He told the story of driving out into Hurricane Sandy in 2012 when he was mayor of Newark. An elderly man in a rain slicker was standing out in the storm with a flood light alterting traffic to avoid downed powerlines. Booker rolled down his window and asked the man what he was doing out in the storm, and he replied, “I’m standing out here to make sure no one gets hurt.”
Booker said he has spoken both to the president and governor that night, “but the greatness I saw best exhibited that night was the man on a hill, in dark of night, in a savage storm, looking out for other people.” Then, addressing members of DA, he said, “And in many way I see you all out there in that same spirit, and what you are doing here, standing on hill in a storm, standing together to defend and protect, and it means a lot and it makes a difference.”
Let us all do our part in these next months to not only retain Congress, but increase our majority. Let’s believe it is possible. You can do so by making sure you and every overseas American you know requests their ballot to vote. Indeed, everything is on the line.
–Richard Miller, Chair, DA Austria
Events:
Austria Youth Caucus Pizza and Drinks
When: Tuesday, June 7
Time: 6:00pm CEST
Where: Pizza Bussi Ciao, Piaristengasse 15, Vienna 1080, Austria
Experienced Dems Meet-Up
When: Thursday, June 9, 2022
Time: 6:00pm CEST
Where: Café Museum, Operngasse 7, Vienna 1010, Austria
Pride Parade in Vienna
When: Saturday, June 11, 2022
Meet: 12:30pm CEST
Meeting Point: Steps of the University of Vienna, Universitätsring 1, Vienna 1010 , Austria
Celebrate Independence Day with Democrats Abroad
When: Saturday, July 2, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 4:00 pm CEST
Where: Meierei im Prater Hauptallee 3, Vienna 1020 , Austria
Pride Parade in Amsterdam with the DA Global LGBTQ+ Caucus
When: Friday, August 05, 2022 at 06:00 PM through August 08, 2022 at 6:00pm
What: Canal Parade on a Parade Boat, Cocktail Party with Special Guests, Walking Tour, Mimosa Brunch, and more!
Where: Various locations in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Get in Shape for the Midterms — Get Training!
When: Multiple dates through 2022
Where: Online RSVP for Zoom link
Oktoberfest in Munich with Democrats Abroad Global
When: Sunday, October 2, 2022 from 11:00am – 2:15pm
What: A fun weekend with othe DA members in Munich!
Where: Festhalle Schottenhammel, Munich, Germany
Issues & Actions:
Why We Haven’t Stopped Mass Shootings
Frustrated that legislation to stem America’s gun epidemic is going nowhere? How could Democrats fail so miserably despite the momentum gathered after school shootings in the 2010s?
Solidarity Sundays probed this Gordian knot in the wake of January 6, 2021. Frank Smyth, award-winning investigative journalist and author of “The NRA: The Unauthorized History,” explained a year ago that gun control advocates misunderstand their opponents and what motivates America’s gun rights movement. What’s stopping reform at this point “is neither the gun lobby’s nor the gun industry’s money. It’s the ideology, stupid” – and it’s high time for progressives to challenge it.
Frank advocates for a new approach with former NY Times opinion writer Nicholas Kristof on the NYT podcast Sway with host Kara Swisher – here’s the link to the article and podcast episode. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/opinion/sway-kara-swisher-nicholas-kristof-frank-smyth.html
Meet DA Austria’s Youth Caucus Coordinator
Hi Austrian Democrats Abroad,
Some of you may know me from our last annual meeting - I wanted to take a second to introduce myself! My name is Sarah and I was raised in Vienna as a dual citizen. I’m 30 years old and have been involved with Young Dems Abroad for close to ten years. This year it’s my turn to make an impact as Youth Caucus leader.
So we’re reinstating regular in-person Young Dems meetups after a two-year hiatus, and our first meetup is this Tuesday at Pizza Bussi Ciao, where the vibes are good and the pizza is better. My goal is to build a network of young Americans living in Vienna, and all are welcome to join.
So if you’d like to connect with like-minded expats, come join us on June 7th at 6pm. A table is reserved under the name “Sarah” :)
See you on Tuesday!
— Sarah Knaus, DA Austria Youth Caucus Coordinator
Midterm Election News:
Austria Calling Campaign Concludes
A big ‘thank you’ to all our phone bankers who made our May calling campaign a success. We called nearly 1,000 of our members in Austria, speaking to 359 (34%) of you, leaving 319 (30%) messages, and sending nearly all of you a text message. Our question: did you request your ballot yet? Many did, but those who had not thanked us for the reminder to go to VoteFromAbroad.org. Thanks to everyone who picked up or called back! If any of you need further support or have a question, please call or text 0676 447 3418 or send an email to [email protected].
Battleground States Call Campaigns
Austria has finished calling our members living is Austria, but there are still thousands of DA members who vote in critical battleground states to be called. We need your help to reach them!
You can only vote once, but calling multiplies your vote and amplifies your voice and helps and empowers others to cast their one vote. In 2020, DA callers made over 600,000 calls! And we needed every one to win the House, the Senate and Georgia Runoffs, and the Presidency.
Be part of the team and get started with a phonebank training. Learn more about training dates in June and July at phonebank training or get in touch with us at [email protected]
Your Vote is Your Voice
One of the DA’s core activities is to help Americans to register and return their ballots. The non-partisan Vote from Abroad website has up-to-date information so voters are best informed about their state’s regulations and deadlines. There is also a voter protection team that works with local election officers and state secretarys to solve issues that disenfranchise overseas voters.
Every election cycle we hear from overseas Americans and dual citizens who say they didn’t know they had the right to vote in federal and even state elections. Help us spread the word among your family, friends, and colleagues. And if there are Americans on your sport’s team, club, school, or place of worship, we’re happy to come by and help get them registered – regardless of their party affiliation. Contact the Vote from Abroad Coordinator at [email protected]
Voter Registration Tables
Are you part of a group — a baseball team, church group, book club, company — or network with American members? Many US citizens and dual citizens don’t realize they are able to vote in federal elections and many down ballot state races. Help us spread the word! VFA’s trained nonpartisan voter registration volunteers are happy to come to your event and help people register and request their ballots. Contact us at [email protected]
Reviews:
Democrats Abroad Holds 2022 Global Annual General Meeting
DA leaders from around the world gathered virtually on the weekend of May 21–22 for our Annual General Meeting, getting inspired and sharing best practices to get out of the vote for the upcoming midterm elections.
As DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison told us, “Eighty-one million of us, domestically and abroad, stood up in the face of hate and bigotry in 2020–now let’s step it up again for the midterms.”
DA Austria has three voting representatives who participated in the meeting: Richard Miller, chair, Faith Herbold, vice-chair, and Marcy Fowler, secretary and DPCA voting representative.
Besides Harrison, we heard from DNC Deputy Executive Director Roger Lau and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. We also gained ideas and inspiration from DA leaders about how they are mobilizing overseas voters. We got a tour of our soon-to-be-launched new DA website (thanks to many generous donations we're just shy of our target) and learned how battleground state teams are working to rally and support Americans abroad. We also welcomed DA Caribbean Islands, as DA’s newest country committee and the first-ever transnational committee!
We passed the following six resolutions:
· Memorial Resolution Honoring Jim Christiansen of DA France
· Resolution to Catalogue Our “Standing Resolutions”
· Resolution on the Climate Emergency
· Resolution to Establish a Special Committee on Legal Compliance and Implementation
Issues
· Resolution to Establish a Standing Voter Protection Committee
· Resolution in Support of Statehood for Washington, D.C.
All in all, it was outstanding to see the commitment and dedication of so many people – all volunteers – making this organization function. At some points, there were about 190 people on the call, some of them waking up in the middle of the night or staying up to the early hours of morning to attend. Next year, the meeting is expected to be in person in Washington, DC.
–Richard Miller, Chair, DA Austria
Thank you for reading the June Newsletter!