Want To Do Something Concrete To Stop Trump? Support Jon Ossoff.

For those of us who didn’t vote for Trump, the current political climate can feel like being in the middle of a hurricane that is about to destroy our democracy. Have you seen the FX show Legion? There’s a scene where the (superhero) main character accidentally makes every item in his kitchen fly out of the drawers into a dangerous whirlwind. That’s what a lot of us feel like right now.

How it feels right now.

And many of us are asking ourselves, how can we start to turn the tide? What will it take to get Republicans to start distancing themselves from this chaos? Do we need to wait until 2018 to jump back into the political fray?

It turns out, you don’t have to wait at all. All the protests, angry phone calls and Facebook status updates don’t mean a thing to elected officials who just swept into office on a red tide of support. They can easily dismiss the resistance as the work of bitter voters who are mad they didn’t win.

But you know what they can’t dismiss? Actual votes that flip Congressional districts from red to blue.

And it just so happens there’s a seat up for a vote on April 18th in Georgia’s sixth district. The seat was vacated by Tom Price, the current Secretary of Health and Human Services. (You know — the man who will lead the charge on taking health care away from millions of people when the Republicans’ health care bill passes.)

The lead Democrat in the race is Jon Ossoff, a fresh-faced protege of Congressman John Lewis, the civil rights legend. Lewis has endorsed Ossoff. If Ossoff wins, it will send an incredibly strong message to the Republicans that the resistance isn’t just a fad—but that it’s a force to be reckoned with and one that is going to flip a lot of seats come 2018. It will show that they need to take us seriously and it will perhaps embolden them to move away from Trump.

This election is what’s known as a “jungle election” which means that the April 18th vote is to see which two candidates will end up competing for the seat. It’s possible that two Republicans will eventually square off in the final race.

Unless we can push Jon Ossoff over the top.

To learn more about Ossoff’s legislative priorities you can click here.

And here’s a telling quote from the New York Times:

I’m not campaigning across the district talking about Donald Trump at every event. There are many in this district who are concerned that the president may embarrass us on the world stage, that he may be incompetent and that he’s dishonest. I share those concerns, but by running a positive campaign focused on core American values, the contrast is obvious.

So how can you, a concerned citizen, help get Jon Ossoff elected? There are several things you can do.

1. Donate. Thanks to the readers of Daily Kos, Ossoff has already raised more than $1 million. Give him some more money. The Republicans aren’t dumb. They know this is an important seat and they’re doing all they can to keep a Republican butt there. Let’s give Ossoff the funds he needs to put up a good fight. You can donate here.
2. Make calls. Phone banking is a great way to support a candidate outside of your district. Check with your local Democrat committee about phone banking opportunities to support Ossoff. Make calls and get your friends to make calls.
3. Spread the word. The more people who know about this race the better. Tell your friends and tell them to tell their friends, especially if they live in the sixth or know anyone who does.
4. Go to the sixth and help in person. If you’re lucky enough to live near Georgia’s sixth district, you can go there and register voters. On election day, you can give people rides to the polls. You can volunteer to help Ossoff’s campaign in any way it needs.

This is an opportunity to do more than just complain or curl up in the fetal position and wait for 2020. There are more special elections coming up between now and 2018. The more seats we can flip, the more nervous House Republicans will be about their own seats flipping in 2018 and the more reasonable they might become.

Together — we can do this.