IN THIS ISSUE:
Events
- Experienced Dems Meet-Up
- Flipping the House - Phone-banking parties in August & September
- Amsterdam Pride Fundraiser on August 4
- Young Dems August Pub Night
Midterm Elections
- Election Calendar: Register, Request, Return!
Issues & Actions
- Postcard Outreach Action
- Enough! Vote Them Out
- Final Deliberation on the Unity Reform Commission (URC) Proposals
Reviews
- Solidarity Sundays Vienna Targets Gun Violence
- An Event-full June
Save these Phonebanking Dates!
- Summer Voter Shout-Out on Wednesday, August 22
- SolSun Civics Special on Tuesday, September 4
- Dems Dialing for Voters on Thursday, September 20
- Don’t Wait, It’s Late! on Monday, September 26
WE’RE RECHARGING OUR BATTERIES AND TAKING A SUMMER BREAK.
WE'LL SEE YOU AT OUR FALL EVENTS BEGINNING ON AUGUST 22. ENJOY THE SUMMER!
EVENTS:
Experienced Dems Meet-Up
Come one, come all to the July meet-up of Experienced Democrats. Take the time to discuss the latest news from the USA, positive and negative, with like-minded people of a certain age.
WHEN: Tuesday, July 17
WHERE: Cafe Museum, Operngasse 7 1010 Wien
RSVP: Experienced Dems
FLIPPING THE HOUSE -
PHONE-BANKING PARTIES IN AUGUST & SEPTEMBER
What could be a better way to spend an evening than with other DAA members working to flip the House? It’s easy, fun, and the most effective way to get our members to the polls. Join us at one of our get togethers from the end of August through September. The midterm clock is ticking...
In the 2014 Midterms only 4% of Americans living abroad voted. We must do better! The upcoming midterm election is probably one of the most important in our lifetime. Help us save democracy one call to a voter at a time!
Bring your laptop, charger, and earbuds/headphones with microphone. We'll supply the pizza and beer.
You've never phone-banked before? No problem! We have a training session for newbies from 6-6:30pm. We'll walk you through it, you'll be comfortable in no time. We're calling our members and they LOVE hearing from us!
You’re fed up with the current administration and want to start calling immediately to vote them out? You can’t attend one of our phonebanking parties? You can still save our democracy by getting out the vote! Go to the handy Phonebanking Introduction to get started. And feel free to email if you have any questions or need assistance.
WHEN: Always from 6pm - 9pm on the following days: Summer Voter Shout-Out on Wednesday, August 22; SolSun Civics Special on Tuesday, September 4; Dems Dialing for Voters on Thursday, September 20; Don’t Wait,It’s Late! on Monday, September 26
WHERE: The phonebanking parties will be held in private homes, please rsvp below to get the exact address.
CONTACT: Jennifer Rakow-Stepper · [email protected] or Tanya Lolonis · [email protected]
JOIN DEMOCRATS ABROAD FOR A UNIQUE FRONT-ROW VIEW OF AMSTERDAM’S WORLD FAMOUS GAY PRIDE CANAL PARADE!
If you’ve never experienced Amsterdam Gay Pride, thousands line the streets along the canals jostling for a glimpse of the parade as it sails past. But we’ll have our very own boat moored at a prime location along the route!
We guarantee you the best view in town — complete with unlimited beer, wine, soft drinks, snacks and our own sound system to get the party started. You’re welcome aboard from 12:30, with the first floats arriving around 14:00. The last one closes the parade around 17:30. A limited number of VIP ticketsare also available, which include a 90 minute boat tour of the city with refreshments early the evening before (Aug 3). Click here for more information.
Visiting from out of town? Homestays are possible on a first come, first served basis. You’re welcome to contact Democrats Abroad Netherlands Chair Kendra Borgen at [email protected].
WHEN: August 4, 2018
WHERE: Amsterdam, Netherlands
CONTACT: Kendra Borgen · [email protected]
RSVP: Amsterdam Gay Pride Fundraiser
YOUNG DEMS PUB NIGHT
Join us at our summer meet-up. We hope to see a lot of you and you’re welcome to bring friends! Please look for updated information on our facebook page.
WHEN & Where: TBA, August 2018
CONTACT: Ashley Arreola · [email protected]
ISSUES & ACTIONS:
Postcard Outreach Action
Are you a swing state voter? Do you not receive our emails or calls? If so, you’ve most likely heard from us over the past few months. DA activists have been busy writing members like you a postcard to remind you to register, request, and return your ballot for the midterm election. Drop us a line. We’d love to hear that our work paid off!
MIDTERM ELECTIONS: ELECTION CALENDAR – REGISTER, REQUEST, RETURN!
Lots of primaries are coming up and many of them have summer deadlines! Check below for important registration dates. But why wait? Register to vote today at Vote from Abroad and you’ll have registered and requested your ballot for all 2018 elections in one easy step. Midterm elections are Federal elections and you can vote in them. Don’t be a victim of voter purges. By law, overseas voters MUST register every calendar year!
Do you vote in one of these States?Alabama (run-off), Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia (Primary run-off), Guam, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina (Federal run-off), Oklahoma (run-off), Rhode Island, Tennessee Vermont, Virgin Islands, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Then READ MORE for your State’s upcoming deadlines and mark your calendar today!
DNC RULES AND BYLAWS COMMITTEE (RBC) – FINAL DELIBERATION ON THE UNITY REFORM COMMISSION (URC) PROPOSALS
The DA Progressive Caucus(ProDA) hosted a vibrant online cafe on June 17th, focusing on the final phase of RBC work with reforms the URC proposed in the aftermath of the 2016 primaries. The RBC must vote on its version of the reforms by the end of June. The DNC is scheduled to vote on them in August. The main proposals foresee changes in primary/caucus models; party outreach, diversity, and transparency; and superdelegate influence. Special ProDA cafe guest Selina Vickers (West Virginia), who has provided excellent live stream coverage and commentary on the URC/RBC reform work for well over a year, summarized the process and offered scenarios for the upcoming final voting. Here is a condensed scenario version:
- Accept Unity Reform Commission changes
- Keep automatic delegates in the convention, but not allow them to take part in the initial vote,
- Vote down the Unity Reform Commission recommendations in their entirety, in other words, vote for the status quo,
- Add delegates from the community to the states using a 25% proportionality formula.
Selina is hopeful that the Party will become more inclusive, diverse, and transparent, as we strive for greater strength and unity on the road to the midterms and beyond.
UPDATE: On June 27th, the RBC endorsed what it refers to as the third way plus for “superdelegate” voting at presidential nominating conventions. It is intended to curb the influence of superdelegates by conditionally removing the unpledged delegates from first ballot at the convention.
The conditions of those contingencies for superdelegate participation fall into three categories.
- If a candidate wins 50 percent of the pledgeddelegates plus one during or by the end of primary season, then the superdelegates are barred from the first ballot.
- If a candidate wins 50 percent of all of the delegates (including superdelegates) plus one, then the superdelegate opt-in is triggered and that faction of delegates can participate in the first (and only) round of voting.
- If no candidate wins a majority of either pledged or all delegates during or by the end of primary season, then superdelegates are barred from the first round and allowed in to vote in the second round to break the stalemate.
Importantly, the first contingency allows a candidate to win without superdelegates, while the second deprives superdelegates through a supermajority requirement the ability to overturn the pledged delegate majority scenario in the first contingency. Here is a source of more information.
– Bruce Murray, DA Austria Counsel
REVIEWS:
SOLIDARITY SUNDAYS VIENNA TARGETS GUN VIOLENCE
On June 24th, Solidarity Sundays took a deep dive into what the data tells us about gun violence in America, and how effective policy needs to address different causes.
We learned how to make sense of the NRA‘s resistance to public safety concerns, and how early signs are showing some movement in the direction of common-sense gun laws. While the NRA remains largely unassailable at the federal level, activists are making meaningful gains in state houses across the country.
Test how well you know America‘s gun culture by taking the „Make My Day Gun Quiz“, (insert link to SS FB page). Solidarity Sundays attendees found some answers more surprising than expected.
Getting any progress on gun control means getting good politicians into office. With that in mind, the band turned to getting DA members in Austria registered to vote. In all, over 150 postcards were handwritten reminding voters to register and request ballots at VoteFromAbroad.org. The postcard project is part of Solidarity Sundays Vienna’s ongoing focus on getting out the 2018 vote in Austria, which has included phonebanking and registering Americans at various public locales. When David Byrne asked DAA to set up and register voters at his concert in the Museumsquartier, SolSunners were tapped to help DAA woman the tables. Got a suggestion where we might meet a lot of Americans? Send us a message: solsunvienna.
– Tanya Lolonis, Solidarity Sundays Co-Coordinator
AN EVENT-FULL JUNE
It was great to see so many of you at one or more of the whopping eight different events that happened in June! We’ll be recharging our batteries over the summer and gearing up for a big push to get all our members to vote in the midterm election in November. But before we head off for distant ports, here’s a quick recap of June’s events.
We began the month under LGBT Caucus leader Juan Cerda’s guidance and participated in the annual Regenbogenparade. At March in Pride DA members and friends showed our support and solidarity with our LGBTQ friends and family. The following Monday, a group of seven members gathered at Tanya’s place for pizza and beer and phone banked lots of our members to remind them they have to re-register every year. On the last Sunday of June, Solidarity Sundays discussed gun violence in America (see article above) and reached out to members to affect change at the ballot box.
David Byrne has also been encouraging Americans to vote and has invited Vote From Abroad to set up a stand at his concerts on his current European tour. We were in the Museums Quartier’s Halle E on the 26th and registered a bunch of grateful Americans – Burning Down the House!
Finally, on the 30th DA Austria joined more than 700 Families Belong Together marches worldwide to demand the end of Trump’s Zero Tolerance policy and the reunification of the families. It was a somber demonstration as a variety of members read the tragic stories of parents and children who had been torn apart at the border. Danny Chicago and Raina Saul-Ganev provided wonderful music and songs and some of the of the more than 30 members who attended left chalk-written messages in front of the US Consulate.
And if that wasn’t enough, Black Caucus Book Club, Young Dems, and Experienced Dems all had their regular monthly meet-ups! As you can see, DA Austria is rev’d up and busy. Enjoy the summer break and I hope to see you soon at an upcoming event!
– Jennifer Rakow-Stepper, DA Austria Chair
