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Thanks, Dan, for this valuable resource. I'm going to keep this post and refer to it as I get fund-raising appeals this year. Please let us know of any major sea changes you notice. I want to give time and $ "smart". I sometimes feel that because R's know how to piss us off, I end up giving $ to causes that will never win. (Case in point- going against Madison Cawthorn in my NC gerrymandered district- sigh--) BTW, I'm still going to fight against that local loser.

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I agree with almost everything you say here. My one point of contention is that every time we refer to the "structural disadvantage for democrats" rather than "undermining democracy itself to rig the election and future elections" we gift a partisanship talking point to the right wing.

I'm not certain how to accomplish it. I just know that every time a democrat mentions "we can't win if they do these things," my heart sinks as I realize that the main point has just been handed over again from democracy to partisanship.

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Dan, as always this big picture view is appreciated, as is the to-do list. I'm surprised, however, that in describing the Senate situation here in PA you referred to is as the GOP *defending* a seat (that of the ever-Where's Waldo Sentaor Toomey) when in fact Toomey is not running for re-election. Some newbie will be on the ballot, and our progressive lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, is running hard to take that seat back to the Blue side. Fetterman is respected across Pennsylvania, even in the many areas that are red and not blue, so contributing to his campaign is a more positive act (imo) than just supporting a Dem challenge to an incumbent, which is how it appeared.

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If HR 1 spends time going through process and still doesn't make it, would you support unbundling the piece to end partisan gerrymandering (or would you even support it now)? I ask because it seems like the biggest structural advancement to be made w/o changing the Constitution, has the worst arguments against it, and in practice a) could be a cornerstone that allows Democrats to retain the house at the federal level long term and roll back minority Republican control at the state level, allowing other progress to happen over time and b) it seems like the one thing that if not passed would cement Democratic challenges for at least a decade.

To put it slightly differently, if partisan gerrymandering stops we can democratically fix other problems, but if it continues and Republican take the federal and 2/3 of state legislatures anything else would get rolled back, so what else is the same priority and why couple them?

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One more thing: I think Joe Biden came to office, remembering the 'old days' when deals WERE done....BUT I think he is slowly (slower than I would like) coming to grips with the fact that his ENTIRE agenda will be destroyed if HR1 is not passed. Nostalgia can have quite a grip on us older people, but eventually, reality DOES intervene.

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I was waiting for this message from you Dan; vis-a-vis Joe Manchin, Elizabeth Warren on the Pod with Jon last week was very good. I like that lady...she is smart and she is determined. I will do everything in my power to flip the Pat Toomey seat blue here in PA; I started election day exercises (here in PA on May 18) by writing postcards for the D candidates running for Board of Supervisors and School Board. We also have three ballot initiatives, two of which seek to allow our R majority legislature to overturn our D governor's (Wolf) decisions. This came out of the big fights over Covid-mandates. People need to WAKE UP. I posted this on my FB page yesterday: " FACT: 30 Republican majority legislatures; 18 Democratic majority legislatures. Voter suppression is the new game. Understand?" I find that people read/listen better when you make it SHORT.

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thanks for pointing the way to help now in advance of all of this. I have to tell you that half of my democratic friends have put their heads back in the ground after Biden's win. I kind of keep screaming... "Don't look away!" But I also don't want to lose my friends. I guess we all needed a break of sorts, but this is coming on us really quickly. Thanks again.

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