November 2020 Talking Points
GOTV Messaging
We are officially in the home stretch! Less than a month until Election Day, and it’s time to go all out. We have blog posts, videos, graphics, and more for you to share, along with some important reminders about how to talk about Trump (hint: don’t!). Plus, our new hub for GOTV events and information.
Post-Debate Messaging
The second and final presidential debate is on Thursday, October 22. After the debacle of the first debate, we put together some recommendations on how to talk about the presidential debates.
Supreme Court Messaging
Amy Coney Barrett will likely be confirmed to the Supreme Court on Monday, October 26. Under a 6-3 conservative Court, states are one of our last lines of defense for at least two reasons:
First, the new Court will gut or strike down protections on all kinds of issues, but the states can mitigate this damage. For example, if the Court continues to gut voting rights, states can enact protections like expanding vote by mail and no-excuse absentee voting, and eliminating voter ID laws.
Second, the new Court will uphold extreme policies that will set national precedent—some of the more horrifying examples are around abortion restrictions, such as heartbeat bills. But if we have majorities in state legislatures, we can stop bad laws from being enacted in the first place.
Check out our messaging around Justice Ginsberg’s death for additional language.
Election Results Messaging
The most important thing to consistently remind your volunteers is that we may not know the results on election night, and that is totally normal and to be expected. Especially at the state legislature level, races often take days or even weeks to be called.
Secondly, be sure to have some of the accomplishments of your team handy to talk about on Election Night. This could include the amount of money raised, number of phone calls made, number of new volunteers, or some short personal stories of what your team has achieved in the last year. No matter what happens on November 3, we have already accomplished so much together!
Read our comprehensive Election Night watch party recommendations for more tips, including how to talk about losses.
How to Convince Voters, Effectively
- Blog Post: GOTV with our latest research
- Blog Post: GOTV Messaging for the Win
- Video: The Most Effective GOTV Messaging
GOTV During COVID-19
- Blog Post: 6 Things you can do right now, safely
- Coming soon: Our new research on COVID-19 and in-person voting
Current candidates and Sister District news:
Sister District in the News
- Our very own Mallory Roman, and candidate Frances Jackson, on MSNBC!
More Resources:
- Join the Social Media Squad!
- Check out the Sister District blog for more articles from staff, candidates, and guest authors.
- The Sister District Asset Library is a one-stop shop for images and messaging to share on social media.
And our Resource Library has even more information, guidelines, and resources for Sister District volunteers.