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FW: here’s what happened:

11/07/2014 Nativegrl77

Wanted to make sure you saw this. It was a tough election night — but you made a real difference in this campaign. You should take a look at what you made possible.

And if you’re still fighting with us… if you’re still standing with the President… sign our note to President Obama thanking him for all he’s done and letting him know that we have his back.

———- Original Message ———-

This is a long email — but we hope you’ll read all the way to the end.

First off, you know we’re not afraid to be blunt. So we’ll just come out and say it: last night was rough. We registered more voters, and made more phone calls, and knocked on more doors than ever before. But we were still left with heartbreaking losses.

Although make no mistake: last night’s results were no accident. It was the result of Republicans’ cynical political strategy that put hurting President Obama before helping the American people. The President put it best just a few months ago:

There has been a certain cynical genius to what some of these folks have done in Washington. What they’ve realized is, if we don’t get anything done, then people are going to get cynical about government and its possibilities of doing good for everybody. And since they don’t believe in government, that’s a pretty good thing.And the more cynical people get, the less they vote. And if turnout is low and people don’t vote, that pretty much benefits those who benefit from thestatus quo.– President Barack Obama (August 29, 2014)

In other words, the Republicans broke Washington. Then, they spent millions of dollars of secret money running against a broken Washington.

So yeah, last night was rough. It’s infuriating that Republicans’ cynical strategy worked. But we refuse to give in to them. We refuse to give in to the cynicism. As President Obama always says, “hope is a better choice.”

And believe it or not, there were some bright spots last night that give us hope. Here are just a few examples:

FLORIDA

Republican Congressman Steve Southerland is the poster-child for Republicans’ anti-woman agenda.
He opposed the Violence Against Women Act. He voted to defund Planned Parenthood. He even held an all-male fundraiser where the invite actually said, “Tell the Misses not to wait up […] because the after dinner whiskey and cigars will be smooth & the issues to discuss are many.”

WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We registered 9,958 new Democratic voters in the district.
For the first time in our history, we supplemented our field program with a voter registration program. In addition, our larger, more targeted field program knocked on 75,000 doors.

THE RESULT: We defeated Rep. Southerland by 2,193 votes.
We’re so glad you gave us the chance to execute that voter registration program — it made all the difference. And we’re so happy to welcome CongressWOMAN-elect Gwen Graham.

NEBRASKA

Republican Congressman Lee Terry voted to shut down the government.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, when Congressman Terry wouldn’t give up his government paycheck during the shutdown, he replied, “Dang straight… I’ve got a nice house and a kid in college.”

WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We launched a massive early vote program that gave Democrats a 5,262 vote advantage.
When we told you we could beat Boehner’s Republicans — even in deep-red states, we weren’t kidding. We personally reached out to nearly 40,000 voters on the ground. And when the Republicans ran an attack that was called “unspeakably racist,” we got on the air and fought back.

THE RESULT: We defeated Rep. Terry by 4,132 votes.
Because of the work you made possible, Congressman Terry is going to have a lot more time to spend in that “nice house” of his.

ARIZONA

Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin was a chief architect of SB 1062, better known as the “No Gays Allowed” bill.
Under Tobin’s bill, businesses could deny service to customers simply because they’re gay.

WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We invested in community organizers early and often.
We knew defeating Tobin was going to be tough, so we made a huge investment on the ground. We put field staffers on the ground earlier than ever before. In particular, we focused on organizing tribal communities.

THE RESULT: We defeated Speaker Tobin by 9,346 votes.
None of this would have been possible without your support. You broke every grassroots fundraising record we have — and then some. And each one of those $5 and $50 donations allowed us to pull off these upsets — even in a tough year.

So now the question is: what’s next?

Let’s start with the obvious: Republicans have won control of Congress — so now they have no excuses. They can’t just sit back and blame Democrats like President Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi. They’ll have to stand up and try to convince people that the Republican agenda is better than the Democratic agenda.

That’s a fight we’re looking forward to.

So if you’re still fighting with us… if you’re still standing with the President… sign our note to President Obama thanking him for all he’s done and letting him know that we have his back.

Thanks again for everything you do.

All of us at the DCCC

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Marc Solomon, Freedom to Marry

11/07/2014 Nativegrl77

The past few weeks have been ones of unprecedented momentum in our fight for the freedom to marry: We’ve built public support for marriage to historic levels, and we’ve won marriage in an additional 11 states.

But even now, hundreds of thousands of gay Americans — across the South and around the country — are denied the freedom to marry the one they love.

Our campaign shows just how important marriage is to countless families who call these non-marriage states home. Watch our powerful new video featuring a beautiful family from Alabama, and then pledge to fight with us until we’ve won marriage nationwide.

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Nancy Duff Campbell and Marcia Greenberger

11/06/2014 Nativegrl77

Nancy Duff Campbell and Marcia Greenberger

In yesterday’s election, we saw voters were with us on the issues. Here are a few bright spots: Four states and two cities voted to raise the minimum wage. Two out of three states voted down restrictions on reproductive rights. One state and three cities guaranteed paid sick days to their workers. And extreme candidates moderated their messages to appear to support women’s issues.

Now it’s up to us to hold them to their campaign promises.

You may feel down — but we’re not out. Not by a long shot. Pledge to stand with us.

The women’s vote continues to be a critical factor in elections — and politicians need to make sure they don’t turn their back on policies that help women. But we also know that we’ll need to roll up our sleeves, stand by our agenda, and use every tool we can to make advances for women and their families.

This is not the time to back down. Now is the time to fight even harder, stand even stronger and never let up for a minute.

Will you join us?

Sincerely,
Nancy Duff Campbell and Marcia Greenberger
Co-Presidents
National Women’s Law Center

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Protect federal and military retiree pensions …

11/06/2014 Nativegrl77

In this tough economy, there are always businesses looking to take advantage of people. Sadly, a new underhanded business practice is targeting the pensions of federal and military retirees.

In the same spirit as payday and car title loans that victimize the poor, “pension advance” schemes provide instant cash at a terrible cost.

Veterans and federal employees are encouraged to sign away pensions earned over decades for a high interest loan laden with hidden fees obscured by complex fine print.

Representative Cartwright (D-PA) has introduced a bill, H.R. 3310, that would end this unethical practice. We need your help to force John Boehner to bring this to a vote. Sign the petition here.

Our veterans and public servants deserve better.

Campaign for America’s Future manager@ourfuture.org

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Problems At The Polls

11/05/2014 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

State Laws And Election Administration Errors Causing Problems On Election Day

***The polls are set to close in a few hours. If you have yet to vote, what are you waiting for? Vote! Click here to get all the information you need when you go to the polls. A number of state laws have changed and may have altered the required documents you need to cast a ballot.***

Throughout the course of Election Day, ThinkProgress has been reporting on the ground from seven states across the country. They have gone beyond the horserace to uncover how the election process is going for voters. And they are finding numerous problems, whether the result of new state voter suppression laws, election administration issues, or something else. Here are a few (and check out the liveblog for more):

North Carolina’s New Election Restrictions Are Turning Away Voters: At two polling places south of the city center, voters are turning up in steady numbers throughout the morning. But many of them aren’t casting ballots: they are being turned away because they aren’t at their correct precinct.
Georgia Voter Redirected To Polling Place 35 Miles Away: Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office failed to process tens of thousands of voter registration cards — mostly in heavily African-American counties — before the election, and it’s causing confusion at the polls. Karl Ragland and his wife moved to Atlanta from Covington, Ga., earlier in the year and submitted a change of address form to the Board of Elections. But when they showed up at their new polling place in Atlanta, they learned that the form had never been processed. Karl now has to drive 35 miles to Covington to vote, causing him to miss up to two hours of work. “I am going to vote today,” Karl said.
Texas Voting Restrictions Sow Confusion At The Polls: At a polling site in Third Ward, a historically African American neighborhood in Houston, two voters have been turned away for lacking a photo ID. One had simply left it at home, and would have to make an additional trip to the polls. The other had to cast a provisional ballot, which has a much lower chance of being counted.
More Than 21,000 Kansans Could Be Blocked From Voting On Election Day: Tens of thousands of Kansans who registered to vote may find themselves ineligible on Tuesday as a result of a new law that “requires people registering to vote for the first time to provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport,” the Wichita Eagle reported on Friday. As of Oct. 31, 21,473 registered voters had not sent in documentation showing that they are American citizens.
Atlanta Voters Are Being Required To Pay To Park: In one of Atlanta’s largest voting precincts, voters are complaining about being required to pay as they leave the parking lot next to Georgia Tech’s student center polling site, even though signs advertised free parking on Election Day. Advocates say that requiring people to pay extra fees during the process of voting essentially amounts to a poll tax.
Miami Man Waited More Than 4 Hours To Vote After Poll Workers Refused To Allow Address Change: Florida law allows voters to change their address at the polls on Election Day. But because poll workers have not been adequately trained on Florida’s Electronic Voter Identification System (EVID), some voters who have recently moved are having problems casting ballots in their new precincts. Opa-Locka resident Eugene Gonzalez arrived at his polling location at 8:30 this morning, but did not cast his ballot until 1 pm because poll workers mistakenly told him that he needed to vote in Broward County, where he lived previously and was still registered.
Alabama Voters With Public Housing, Shelter IDs Are Being Turned Away: At least three Alabama citizens apparently have been denied their right to vote thanks to the state’s voter ID law, a last-minute decision by the state that public housing and shelter ID’s are not valid proof of identity.
Longtime Voter Removed From Voter Rolls In Ohio: Jamil Smith, a producer for MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry show, reported on Twitter this morning that his father encountered a serious problem attempting to vote: “My father, who has voted in every election as long as he can remember, tells me his name wasn’t on the rolls this morning. He lives in Ohio.” It’s unclear how Smith’s father’s name was removed from the voter rolls, but Ohio was one of several states that signed onto a voter purge scheme devised by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) that developed a lost of voters under consideration for purging by simply finding people who share the same first and last name as a voter in another state.

BOTTOM LINE: These problems at the polls are just a few extremely concerning examples that should be immediately corrected — and could be illegal or unconstitutional. In response to this and other anecdotal evidence of barriers to voting, the Center for American Progress has issued letters to Secretaries of State in Kansas, North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia, urging them to take “immediate action” to rectify these concerns. Voting is a fundamental deomcratic right, and it should be free, fair, and accessible to all citizens.