Take Action: Help Philly Bloggers WIN

by DanielUA, Mon May 16, 2005 at 11:26:26 AM EDT

I will be working on this for the next few hours, but I'll be back later tonight--Chris

Update [2005-5-16 15:37:17 by DanielUA]: Bob Brigham will be on Inside Politics, (which starts now), discussing Blog regionalization, and quite possibly this race. If you have the ability tape it. If not, and you can watch it, leave a comment as to how it goes....

Many have been following what Tim Tagaris has dubbed "the Philadelphia Phenomenon," which refers to a uniting of bloggers from the small (such as Young Philly Politics), to the big, (such as MyDD), behind a wonderful, progressive, dynamic, reform candidate for District Attorney:  Seth Williams.  While the mainstream media mostly  ignored the race, we refused, and helped create a buzz in Philly for an amazing candidate.

We have held days of action (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3), had the Philadelphia Inquirer write about us extensively, and came off-line to hold a fundraiser/happy hour/final week-end kickoff that had at least 40 people on 3 days notice.  (See some photos at Young Philly Politics, and more at Tattered Coat, who gets credit for all the pics.)

Now, with the election one day away, we need your help, no matter where you live.  Can you spend one hour today helping to turn the "Philadelphia Phenomenon" into a model for BlogPac and others, who are trying to create powerful ways to unite local blogs for common causes?  Can you give one hour tonight, and help us WIN?

The how-to manual after the flip.

Here is the deal:  This is an extremely low turn-out election.  That, frankly, is what the incumbent is counting on, that Philly will not vote.  So, ye of many cell phones, one quick way to help?  Make some calls.  Remind people that tomorrow, Philly has a real chance for real change, and we cannot let it slip away.

Log in to the campaign website, which can generate you a list of voters to call (or door knock, if you are in Philly).  

This simple act, from bloggers around the Country, can be one more step towards showing just how powerful we all are, especially when working together for real reformers.

The script is below:



Hi, how are you. My name is .  Is [name] in?

[If the person you are seeking is in, continue; if not, ask when they might be in, and then thank the person you are talking to for their time. If the person you are looking for has moved away, and the person you ARE talking to has recently moved in, then they are a potential turnout target and you should proceed with the rap. You'll mark the contact who has moved as a bad contact AND add this new person as a good contact and continue rap with them.]

I'm a volunteer working on the upcoming election on Tuesday May 17th. Are you planning to vote for Seth Williams or Lynne Abraham for District Attorney?

[Seth] Great!  I'm a volunteer with the Seth Williams campaign and we're working to get out as many voters as possible on Tuesday to make real changes in the DA's office and our city.  The race is really close, but if we all get out and vote on Tuesday, we can defeat Lynne Abraham and make the DA's office a force for change in our city.

Your polling place is the same as the one you went to during the presidential election.  If you don't know where that is, you can go to www.hallwatch.org to find out.  The polls are open from 7 AM-8 PM.

You can go to the website www.seth4da.com and download a campaign poster to put in your window and get other information about Seth to share with your friends.

Thanks for your time _ [name], and thank you for your support.  Make sure to vote on Tuesday!

[Undecided]

Ok, well I'm a volunteer with Seth Williams for DA and we believe that the best solution to gun violence and crime in our city is to elect a new DA who understands the links between crime and drugs, jobs and public health.  After 14 years with Lynne Abraham, I think it is time for a change. You can see more information on our website at www.seth4da.com and I hope you'll decide to support Seth on May 17th.

[Abraham] OK, thanks for participating in our survey, and have a nice day.

Help us WIN, and make a real statement about what the future of the Democratic Party stands for.

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4 Comments

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you know you want to
Make a few calls.

If you are in Philly, keep helping out, and come to the victory party tomorrow night to celebrate.

by DanielUA 2005-05-16 08:56AM | 0 recs
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If we win...
We will rock the PA Democratic Party's world.

This would be a TRUE GRASSROOTS VICTORY for a strong progressive with a future.

This a chance to take back the Democratic party one city, one town, one county at a time.

by AnneinPhilly 2005-05-16 09:23AM | 0 recs
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Campaign Email
If you don't have time to call, but have friends in the area, you can also send along this email (written by ACM of A Smoke-Filled Room):

This is a small primary election, and many folks won't bother to show up. However, at least one race to be decided tomorrow could have wide ramifications: the race for District Attorney. Longtime incumbent Lynne Abraham (the "DA of Death") is being challenged by her onetime colleague Seth Williams. While Lynne has done a generally good job in her tenure, she has been resting on her laurels (and her party machine acceptance) in recent years, and there is a lot that her office could be doing better. Seth Williams has a lot of experience (his ten years in the DA's office is much more than any recent candidate for this job), has good ideas for restructuring the way cases are handled by prosecutors to make the office more effective (including fewer dismissals and better responsiveness to the community), and doesn't think that every case is best handled by simply throwing the maximal sentence at the defendant. He's a good guy, cares about the community, and would improve the handling of crime in our city. The Philadelphia Inquirer and police union agree that he's the choice this year.

For more point-by-point comparison of the candidates, see:

http://www.phillyfuture.org/node/543

Spread the word to your friends and coworkers -- Lynne Abraham is trying to win this race through poor turnout and voter intertia, but the momentum is with Williams and it doesn't take many voters to turn the tide in a local race like this one.

Most important, turn out on May 17 (7am - 8pm) and vote!

by TatteredCoat 2005-05-16 01:17PM | 0 recs
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Made some calls!
Okay - I called a list.  I hope it helps.  
by eRobin 2005-05-17 09:30AM | 0 recs

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