News & Notes, June 2020
Activity has been intense in the past month. First, the political season is heating up and has presented us with a rich menu of opportunities to become politically active. Many DFA residents participated in a drive-through rally on May 22, the day Gettysburg transitioned to “Yellow,” to express appreciation to Governor Wolf for following sensible rules in protecting us from the pandemic. Over 100 cars participated in the rally.
DFA hosted well-attended Zoom open houses that gave us the opportunity to hear from and exchange views with 13th district congressional candidate Todd Rowley and state Senate candidate Rich Sterner. Both are running serious but austerely funded campaigns and there are volunteer opportunities with both campaigns. Their opponents (Rep. John Joyce and state senator Doug Mastriano) are blind followers of Trump who may be vulnerable in a year when Trump’s unpopularity may be a drag on down-ballot races. Several DFA members are assisting Sterner with issues research.
The leadership of DFA was invited to participate, along with other community groups, in a zoom session with Senator Bob Casey, sponsored by the Adams County Democratic Committee. The state party has sent a field organizer to Adams County and it appears that a real effort is planned. This will require volunteers and money. At the end of this newsletter is an e mail sent by the field organizer.
It is likely that two volunteer opportunities in particular will be available: voter registration, which will start later in the summer, and staffing the party headquarters on Chambersburg St.
Within the last month, the racism and inequality that are endemic in our society also burst into plain view as a result of the unjustified murders of several black males and the grossly disproportional reaction to protests by President Trump and others. In Gettysburg, individuals from across the community joined in two peaceful protests on the town square, the last one involving an estimated 300 people.
These events bring new urgency to groups like DFA. Clearly, there are people in the community who care about issues that also concern us, many of whom are probably not politically active. It is incumbent upon organized groups like DFA to consider how we can be of assistance to groups suffering inequality, whether as a result of discrimination, economic circumstances, or the pandemic. We also need to think how best to ensure progress with the issues that have long been of concern to us.
DFA News and Updates
Education. The education task force will be focusing on the challenges of educating students during the pandemic. Their July op-ed will be written by a teacher about the experience of teaching through the pandemic.
Healthcare. Tom DeLoe published an op-ed titled “After Coronavirus, What’s next?” He concluded, “We are a rich country that can afford a world class healthcare system, but right now, only if you have the ability to pay for it. Going forward, we need to create an economy and healthcare system where workers earn enough to support thriving families.”
Political and Economic Reform (formerly Government Accountability). Leon Reed wrote an op-ed, “Corona, poverty, and the way from here.” He wrote, “In the wake of the virus, things will change and lessons will be learned. The question is, which ones? … Will we address long-developing long developing inequalities In the system? Or will we say as long as my business can open, hey, we’re good?”
Mark Berg published an op-ed “Rich get richer, pandemic notwithstanding.” He commented, “You can call me a socialist, but if the fact that the top 90 percent hog the benefits isn’t cause for economic and political reform, then what else could be?” He also addressed the apparent growing Republican exodus from the ranks of Trump supporters. He quoted Andrew Bacevich, “Donald Trump is not a conservative. Nor are the leaders of the Republican Party over which Trump presides.… Indeed, allowing Trump, McConnell, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh et al. to present themselves as exemplary conservatives testifies to the pervasive corruption of contemporary American political discourse.”
The task force agreed that two primary areas of focus will be inequality and restoring the capabilities of the government.
Other groups
Organizing Together is a new national organization that is focusing on building a local field organizations that will work to defeat Donald Trump in November. The organization is targeting Adams County and is searching for volunteers. For more information, contact Darcie.grunblatt@organizing2020.net
Green Gettysburg. The Green Gettysburg Book Club met again last Friday, June 12 with about a dozen members participating as we worked our way into the first pages of Falter by Bill McKibben. The group discussed a powerful article in Vogue on “intersectional environmentalism,” an approach grounded in the awareness of the special vulnerability of people of color to environmental damage of all kinds. The article, “Why Every Environmentalist Should Be Anti-Racist” by Leah Thomas is available at https://www.vogue.com/article/why-every-environmentalist-should-be-anti-racist
Several members will be participating in an upcoming phone meeting with a staffer for Congressman Joyce’s office, as part of a contingent from the Chambersburg chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. The meeting will focus on carbon pricing and dividends in HB 763 but will also take note of the brand new Growing Climate Solutions Act, a bipartisan bill that would allow farmers to sell environmental improvements to their land as “offsets” in carbon markets.
Gettysburg for Gun Sense. Members participated in the statewide Wear Orange Weekend 2020 on June 7 and 8. They filmed a 15-second video to be used as part of the statewide video on the event.
Gettysburg Rising. Besides its continuing focus on immigration and promoting recycling, Gettysburg Rising has established task forces working to promote visibility of school board decisions and oversight of community policing practices. Jenine Weaver spoke at their June 11 meeting on white privilege and her experiences with racist educational and police practices.
Email from state Democratic Party
Let me begin by introducing myself to those of you that I haven’t met. My name is Brendan Salyards, I am the Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s Back to Blue Campaign Field Organizer for Adams County. In May of this year, I graduated from Gettysburg with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Economics. At Gettysburg, I was an active member of the College Democrats and served as the liaison between the club and the Adams County Democratic Committee for several semesters. I am a political junky through and through and in my free time, I enjoy collecting political buttons and other campaign-related items. I look forward to working with you this campaign season and ensuring that Pennsylvania goes Back to Blue.
Where we’ve been: Two weeks ago, Pennsylvania held its presidential primary election. Millions of Pennsylvanians cast ballots to determine candidates for offices across the Commonwealth. We have a lot of work to do before November 3rd. Let’s get started.
What we’re up to: In cooperation with the Adams County Democratic Committee, I have attached a survey created by Sara Laird to gauge interest in various ways to support the campaign. I’d be much obliged if you could fill out the attached questionnaire.
Where we’re going: I am looking forward to attending the Adams County Democratic Committee Meeting on June 16th at 6:30 pm. The meeting is to be held at a picnic pavilion at Lake Heritage.
Beginning the week of June 22nd. I will begin running phone banks two to three times a week. My initial thought is to hold these events on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, however, I am certainly open to adjusting this schedule to better fit the needs of volunteers.
The link to sign up for the phone banking event is here: https://www.mobilize.us/backtobluepa/event/279983/
On Tuesday, June 23rd at 7:00 pm, I will be holding a virtual meet and greet via zoom. This will be a great opportunity to discuss issues that are important to Adams County, the campaign, and volunteer opportunities.
The link to sign-up for the meet and greet is here:
https://www.mobilize.us/backtobluepa/event/281239/
What is Back to Blue? We are the PA Dems' coordination effort between Democratic races across the state. Our goal is to ensure Democrats are elected all the way from the bottom of the ticket to the top. We're here to make sure Democrats across the state are mobilized and actively working to turn Pennsylvania Back to Blue.
Social Media Media: Facebook: Back To Blue Central PA
Let’s keep up the good work and Turn PA Back to Blue!
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Thank you,
Brendan Salyards
Field Organizer for Adams County
Back to Blue 2020
484-388-6306 | bsalyards@back2blue2020.com