Entry 534: In The Meantime

We are now less than a week away from election day.  Although, that's not really an accurate term anymore, being that the election has already been going on for weeks, and the nobody will actually be elected that day.  We are now less than a week away from the last and largest day of in-person voting.  For some states this is also, unfortunately, the last day a ballot can officially be received.  I probably don't have many readers in Wisconsin, but if I do, and you haven't yet voted, please do so, for Biden/Harris, in person or via an official drop box.  Don't rely on the postal service to get your ballot there by Tuesday.  Wisconsin doesn't have a posted-marked-by grace period for late ballots.  Six days is probably enough time, but why risk it?  That should be everybody's attitude in general.  Why risk it?  Even if your state has the most liberal laws in the union, let's not rely on the mail at this point.*  You have plenty of time to hit up a drop box (make sure it's legit and everything is in order), or, even better, to get your booty to the polls.  Wear a mask, bring a snack, check the website to find out when lines are reasonable, if you can.  Just vote -- for Biden and Harris.

*I voted by mail several weeks ago, which gives plenty of time for my ballot to be received.  I'm sure it already has been.  Also, I vote in DC where the presidential stakes couldn't be lower.  If I lived in a purple state, I likely would've done in-person early voting.  That's what I've done before.

A lot of people are already doing this and early voting returns and the latest polls look really good for the Democratic ticket... which comforts us supporters exactly 0%.  Nobody thinks this is in the bag; nobody even feels remotely good about it.  We should hope it's all true and act as if it isn't.

To that end, if you want to help, it's not too late.  You can volunteer to help get out the vote in swing states (phone banking and the like), or you can donate money to help pay other people to do so.  I don't know how much stuff like this actually helps at this point, but it can't hurt, and if the election is anything like 2016, fractions of percentages could decide the difference.  If your money helps add one new Biden voter for every 200 people that actually could matter.  You can make a blanket donation to something like ActBlue or you can target an individual state.  I just gave something (through ActBlue) specifically to help GOTV for Biden in Pennsylvania, because that's the closest state that Biden (almost) certainly needs to win.  But Michigan is a good one too.  So is Wisconsin and Arizona and Florida and a few others.

Here's my breakdown of most important swing states: 

Tier 1 (critical): Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin
Tier 2 (very-winnable backups): Arizona, North Carolina
Tier 3 (could-win luxuries): Florida, Georgia, Iowa
Tier 4 (close, but probably not): Ohio
Tier 5 (the holy grail): Texas

There are also some important Senate races out there, particularly Colorado, Arizona, North Carolina, Iowa, Georgia (x2), and Maine.  If the Democratic candidate can take the seat in five of these seven races, very doable, then they would likely control the Senate.  That would be good.

Well, we shall see.  In the meantime, consider making a donation.  It's easy -- just Google and click.

Until next time...