The Quiet Before the Storm
Enjoy the week before things start moving REALLY FAST!
Five Things Candidates Should Do This Week
Let’s be honest. This is going to be a slow week. Maybe the last quiet breath any of us get before Election Day devours our calendars, our peace, and our remaining brain cells. So while the world takes a tiny nap, here are a few things every candidate should absolutely be doing.
First, enter your information so Mothers can make you a Candidate Trading Card Form is here: https://forms.gle/kc3Tt5L7Sbj6yGE19
Your future voters want to know who you are. And no, the card is not an endorsement. It is a public service. Like sunscreen. Or seat belts.
Second, watch the RISE Summit videos from our September Candidate Training
I know some of you believe you already know everything. You do not. Not even close. Here are the essential videos.
Messaging with Anat Shenker-Osorio
Social Media with Josh Klemons
Trust me. Watch it.
The Ground Game with Alex Salerno and Kristi Lara
Data with Jeremy Smith
Third, sign up for a Mothers Against Greg Abbott Webinar
You need this. We need you. Let’s do it.
https://calendly.com/mothers4democracy/candidate-interviews
Fourth, set up your Linktree and update your bio everywhere
If you want a sample, peek at ours. It is tidy and to the point and we link to it off every single social media channel we have.
https://linktr.ee/MothersAgainstGregAbbott
Fifth, set up your texting 10DLC if you haven’t already and pick a texting vendor. Setting it up will take a little over a week, so the sooner you do this the better and it will be good till 2027.
https://www.campaignverify.org/
Why I Took a Breather
I have been quiet because the news cycle has felt like drinking from a fire hose while juggling emotional support flaming torches. I read the book Invisible Rulers by Renee DeRestre and it hit me like a bag of hammers. It made me step away from social media so I could reflect on how much influence influencers actually have on me and on all of us.
The book made me rethink how we move the needle online and what responsibility comes with that power. And then this week we learn that some of the biggest propaganda accounts on X come from Russia, Mongolia, India and Vietnam. Not exactly Cousin Linda from Lubbock who posts too many Bible memes.
So now the one question I ask constantly is this.
Where did this story come from and who is paying the influencer who is pushing it?
Spoiler. Someone always is.
A Lesson from TribFest
At the Texas Tribune Fest I went to a panel called The Attack of Knowledge hosted by The Atlantic and it blew my mind. Adam Serwer reminded us that people do not trust news they see on social media yet social media is their number one source of news. So we are all standing inside the mistrust factory complaining about the strange smell while continuing to breathe the fumes.
Every morning I read The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Dallas Morning News, The Guardian and The Economist. I am fully aware that this makes me a nerd. Most people are not waking up ready to speed run citations. They get their news from influencers who often did not even read the articles they are interpreting. Meanwhile I am lost in a research rabbit hole, realize I forgot to brush my hair and have a Zoom meeting in five minutes.
Adam also reminded us that ten years ago Republicans made fun of anti vaxxers because they were considered far left weirdos. Here we are now with anti vaxxers on the far left and the far right merging into a Voltron of bad science takes. Some of these MAHA folks are going to get people killed with their homemade herbal refrigerator cures.
The Republican Big Tent
Democrats love to say we are the big tent party. Fine. True. But Republicans have a tent too and it is enormous. It is basically the circus tent of ideological contradictions. Welcome to the Republican Big Tent.
People who believe in cures that have never passed a lab test
People who want healthcare for themselves but no one else
People who are pro life and also pro death penalty
People who think democracy is satanic but authoritarianism is cool
People who believe white people are biologically superior
People who think men are naturally superior to women
People who want women to have more babies
People who want to ban IVF which families need to have more babies
People who support Christian Nationalism
People who support Israel because they want to fast forward to the end times
People who want to abolish the police and replace them with militias
People who refuse to vaccinate their kids and get angry when the kids get sick
People who want BIG government
People who want SMALL government
People who blame all their problems on immigrants while refusing to pay more for groceries and while also refusing to send their own kids to pick crops or work construction
I could keep going but I am busy making room for more people in our tent. As we should.
What Texas Democrats Should Be Talking About on the Campaign Trail
Affordability
Raising the minimum wage so families can breathe again.
Healthcare
We have a massive Rainy Day Fund and one of the largest economies on earth. Yet we have some of the worst healthcare outcomes in the entire country. This is not acceptable anymore.
Property Taxes
It is time to tell the truth. Property taxes are high because the Governor and the Legislature refuse to fund public schools. When the state does not pay for schools the burden lands on homeowners. And the Rainy Day Fund is our money.
Education
Talk about it but after the basics. Education will be the top issue in 2028. You can quote me. School districts are going to collapse like a cheap lawn chair. Texans never think pain is coming until they are already standing in it. They live in a river called Denial. I live in Austin Texas and we are closing 10 public schools in a city that is growing and selling school and land (probably to private schools). Every single private school around me is expanding next year. The Voucher paid is coming like a slow moving train wreck and some people are fighting over school closures while we are about to lose every single public school across this state if Greg Abbott gets his way.
South Texas is the Battleground
A few weeks ago I said Dave Carney was about to make South Texas the centerpiece of the 2026 election. I hate to say I told you so. Actually no I do not. I absolutely told you so. Here (click link) Carney said he was going to spend 25 million in 50 counties.
When I said that they were going to target blue cities, stop and think, they already started this propaganda and some of their online followers(influencers and donors) are doing this work for them already. They are making it sound like blue cities are corrupt and crime ridden and full of homeless people. Even though crime is down and there are fewer homeless issues recently than there were a few years ago. As for Democrats being corrupt, well they could learn a lesson in frugality and ethics. Everyone is feeling in the pinch and so should you.
At some point the TDP and a few elected officials need to admit I am handing them good info and answers for free. I sent this info to so many people though I doubt one single one of them read it. You can lead a horse to water! Sigh! Dave Carney said Democrats will never win until we grow up and honestly he is right. Time to grow up. Time to fight smart. Time to start working together for the greater good of this state.
Listen I work around the clock really hard at Mothers Against Greg Abbott and if you would like to make a donation, I would really appreciate it. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mothers-against-greg-abbott-pac-1?refcode=website-mainmenu
Yours in Resistance
Nancy Thompson