SCHEDULES FORÂ SWIM AND PARTNER MEETINGS
See SWIM's website here for more events!
NEXT UPDATES WITH SENATOR STABENOW'S STAFF
You don't want to miss these super-informative meetings with Terry Campbell, Sen. Stabenow's regional manager! She is always full of details on what the Senator is working on. We only have this level of access for another year so join us to hear what answers the 3rd highest ranking Democrat has to our driving questions. The next meeting is Thursday, December 7th at 11am. Email your questions before December 1. Register here!
SWIM BI-MONTHLY MEMBER MEETING
The next bi-monthly member meeting will be January 23 and we will kick it off with a topic of interest for everyone--putting an end to secret money in our elections. Register here.
Did you know? Â
Secret money in our elections means the voters have no idea who funds a candidate or political action group.
Secret money is how foreign interest money is influencing our elections.Â
Secret money is growing exponentially, and mega donors are increasingly using it. It totaled over $1 Billion in the 2020 election. Â
Secret money was the biggest class of money in the 2018 Governor’s race in Michigan.
Out of state interests frequently use secret money to influence Michigan’s elections.Â
Depending on the race, secret money is behind the outrageous ads that inflame our politics and subsequently cripple the work of our Congress.Â
And did you know? Â
The ShowMItheMoney (SMTM) coalition pulled together 6 state and 4 national groups in April who gathered in Lansing and lobbied 77 legislators (1/2 of the legislature).Â
SMTM found extensive bi-partisan support to legislation to end secret money in Michigan elections. A small group of legislators are meeting now with the Secretary of State to develop election finance and messaging transparency legislation.
Michiganders for Fair and Transparent Elections (MiFTE), with its SMTM Partners, is leading the charge in securing needed legislation. MiFTE is now engaged in a grass roots campaign to mobilize concerned Michiganders to tell their legislators that the time for action is now. Â
Hank Mayers, president of MiFTE, will present about his group’s progress at the January 23, 2024 SWIM meeting. If you wish to contact him in the meanwhile to explore opportunities to engage in their work, you can reach him at hankmayers@riseupmi.org, or 810-207-1688.Â
UPDATES WITH SENATOR PETERS STAFF
We had a great meeting with Kevin Hirt and other statewide representatives for Senator Peters Team. Use this list to locate the Senator's representative for your region. Get in touch and through this liaison, let the Senator know what is important for you and your community. If you are a leader or community organizer, invite the Peters staff member to your member meeting and establish a relationship now. If you missed this informative meeting you can access the notes here. Some post-meeting follow up items included Senator Peters' staff weighing in on the Continuing Resolution in the House that will allow for a clean supplemental funding resolution that will include Ukraine, Israel, Gaza Humanitarian aid and other needs. Also the rules committee moved forward with a plan to break the military backlog on Tuberville so there is movement on that.
CALLS TO ACTION
CHECK OUT BLUE VOTER GUIDE
If you were able to attend the last SWIM member meeting you got to preview the amazing product being developed by Blue Voter Guide. (If you were unable to attend you can view the meeting recording here.) They plan to create guides for all fifty states that will offer information on how candidates are responding to issues and who is endorsing them. This guide directs voters specifically to progressive and democratic candidates. If you are interested in helping with this process you can learn more and volunteer on their website. This looks to be a valuable tool for activists, especially those trying to engage younger voters. Take a few minutes to learn more and to support them on social media using this link.Â
PARTNER WITH VOTE RIDERS
Vote Riders is tracking Voter ID requirements and assisting voters who need help complying with ID laws in every state. Check them out: make sure you are up-to-date about ID laws in Michigan and then see how you can help voters obtain a listed ID so they can vote!  Share this information widely - voting matters!
POSTCARD WRITERS! LET'S FLIP THE HOUSE IN 2024 WITH POSTCARD WRITING!
Activate America is dedicated to mobilizing voters to elect Democrats in the House and Senate through post-carding, phone banking, texting, and canvassing opportunities. Right now, the organization is focusing on flipping 11 House seats in California and New York, all of which President Biden won in the 2020 presidential election. Click here to join Activate America in writing postcards to voters in these districts, and work towards flipping the House back to Democratic control in 2024.Â
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SHOW UP IN YOUR COMMUNITY AND BE HEARD!
Check out Redwine.blue/events or SWIM's website to check for events in your area and GOTV for good local candidates!
INDIVISIBLE NATIONAL
Indivisible National is moving away from Twitter towards other social media. You can read more about that here. If you and your group are already on platforms other than Twitter, you can follow Indivisible National on Facebook, Mastodon, Threads, and Instagram to keep up on the latest from the Progressive Movement. And they'll follow back. Drop your handles here. And check out Indivisible's Guide to Emerging Social Media Platforms to learn more.Â
ACT ON CLIMATE WITH OUR PARTNERS: MICHIGAN CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK!
MiCAN's Community Voices Series is intended to convene diverse participants from the network to amplify local climate work, connect members and groups, and support each other's actions.Â
In case you missed it, they recorded the Grand Rapids Climate Coalition's recap of its primary climate initiatives from back in October—you are invited to riff from their tried-and-true approach to action!
Next up, on Monday November 20 at 6:00pm (virtual) we will hear from White Lake Area Climate Action Council (WLACAC). Please register here for the November edition of our Community Voices Series. WLACAC hopes to create a new story for its lakeshore community which preserves the beauty and health of the natural environment, and to declare a climate emergency for the two cities in its boundaries in partnership with local government leaders  - all while remaining stubbornly optimistic about what we can accomplish as a collective!
Know some young social-savvy climate activists? MiCAN is looking for a participants in their new Climate Influencer Cohort (with generous support from the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition). MiCAN will mentor a set of three diverse storytellers to become messengers creating climate, culture, and decarbonization content.  We are currently searching for our first three participants to start the 12-week paid program in the second week of January – but bear in mind, we will also welcome a second set of influencers come March.  Full eligibility requirements are listed in our formal Climate Influencer Cohort invitation form.Â
MiCAN Winter Quarter Members Meeting will feature the climate award winners on Tuesday December 12, RSVP here!
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RESOURCES TO AMPLIFY YOUR MESSAGING
PARTNER TOOL KITS -USING THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO AMPLIFY GOOD NEWS
Many of SWIM's partners have wonderful .gifs you can use for free in your newsletters and social media posts. Into Action Labs allows you to download and add your own message(s). MI Right to Read offers this tool kit of graphics.Want training? Field Team 6 takes the fear of posting on social media. You can watch a video that explains the impact you can have with a couple of keystrokes on your phone, smart device or computer. Click to view this.great video. Field Team 6 has a Field Team 6 Current Storm with prepared posts that can be shared across many platforms with the click of a button.Demcast Michigan also has rich, sharable content.Facebook is where it's at right now if you want to have a big impact on spreading political information to your network(s). Twitter's influence is waning on the liberal voice and full of disinformation, but Threads, on the other hand, is picking up. WhatsApp is popular with the BIPOC community. And who knew! LinkedIn is taking over in the networking space for activism. Wow! Needless to say, all of this can be daunting.
OTHER NEWS:
American Bridge 21st Century, the largest research, tracking, and rapid response operation in the Democratic Party, is focused on holding Republicans accountable and helping deliver Democratic victories.American Bridge 21st Century not only brings to light what Republicans are saying behind closed doors, but also runs large-scale paid media programs that center storytellers and utilize a data-driven approach to achieve the greatest impact.This cycle, American Bridge 21st Century is tracking Republicans’ anti-abortion positions, protecting democracy by focusing on extremist down-ballot Republicans threatening our elections, and touting the Biden administration and Democrats’ record of results for families and businesses.You can check out the Senate Key Race information they have on Michigan here.If you want to know more, check them out at: https://www.americanbridgepac.org/about-us/ or contact Andrew Irons at (248)520.4200
STAY CURRENT ON SWIM & PARTNERS' EVENTS!
Here are some ways to share them with your network:
Visit the Website often!  www.statewideindivisiblemi.com. New events are being posted regularly; bookmark the page! The new website is designed to be a central repository of the resources and network partners that we’ve amassed since 2016. We also want you, as members, to be able to add your own announcements about your successes and events. Have news to share? Let us know by using the "Comment" link at the top of the homepage, or click here!
Follow us on Facebook!  The SWIM private group is now open to all interested members. Simply go to the page, answer a few simple questions and you are in. This is a great way to keep current on events and issues in between newsletters. This page will be the sole Facebook page for SWIM going forward as the SWIM public page is being archived in the near future, so join the group today!
Help us build our social media presence and impact by following SWIM on Twitter (X) @SWIMIndivisible and Instagram StateWideIndivisibleMichigan !If you are familiar with social media platforms like Threads, Mastodon, WhatsApp, TikTok, Tribel, Post, etc. please contact SWIM CORE member & resident social media maven Vickie Gutowski at info@statewideindivisiblemi.com to help expand our outreach!