MORNING MESSAGE
Del. Stephanie Smith (D-MD)
Your Voice Is Valuable
If you have identified a problem in your community that you feel can be addressed through public policy, you do not have to wait to share it, to lift it up, or to make a campaign around it. You have value because of your experience in your community, in a job, or in a system. It doesn’t matter that you aren’t the CEO, you still have a vantage point for diagnosis and you should give input. I encourage anyone who cares about their family, their block, their community, their city, their state to feel like their voice is valuable, because it’s going to take all of us participating in civic life and working together to solve problems. Don’t count yourself out.
People's Action is recruiting and training more than 500 grassroots community leaders to run for elected office at every level of government, who will co-govern to advance the values and goals in our People’s Platform. Delegate Stephanie Smith is one of our champions. She was elected last November to represent Baltimore City’s 45th State Legislative District, as a first-time candidate. To read more about our co-governing work, click here.
Obama Takes On Trump And Hate
Obama takes on hate and Trump takes on Obama. CNN: "Former President Barack Obama broke his self-imposed political silence for an obliquely worded but directly aimed statement calling out his successor, issuing a four paragraph statement condemning racism and leaders who foster it. 'We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments,' he wrote in the statement, a rare break from his pledge to give Trump room to lead the country. Obama did not name Trump, but there was zero mystery about who he was criticizing when he said Americans should reject leaders who 'demonize those who don't look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to just one certain type of people.'"
2,200 Trump Facebook Ads Warn Of 'Invasion'
Trump has run over 2,000 Facebook ads warning of 'invasion'. CNN: "President Donald Trump has run roughly 2,200 Facebook advertisements warning of an "invasion" at the US border, according to a CNN analysis of Facebook's political ad archive. The term is cited more frequently in Trump's Facebook ads than 'Obama,' 'China" and 'jobs,' and is facing renewed scrutiny following revelations that the El Paso, Texas, shooting suspect also used the phrase in a manifesto he is said to have published on the online forum 8chan. The manifesto claims the gunman's views on immigration predate Trump's presidency. According to Facebook, many of the 'invasion' ads cost the campaign less than $100 and received fewer than 1,000 views each -- which could mean as many as 2.2 million views in all. Many of the advertisements were shown to Facebook users in Southern states such as Florida and Texas, as well as to users 45 and older. Though they are no longer active on Facebook, a large number of Trump's 'invasion' ads were launched on the platform in February following a 35-day partial government shutdown over federal funding for Trump's border wall proposal."
Progressive Queens DA Candidate Concedes
Progressive Queens DA candidate concedes in tight race. The Hill: "A progressive candidate for Queens district attorney backed by both Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) conceded Tuesday night after the race came down to the wire. Tiffany Cabán said at a press conference Tuesday that she would end her campaign for DA after the Board of Elections ruled in favor of primary challenger Melinda Katz's (D) slim lead and denied Cabán's claim that many ballots were thrown out or counted improperly. 'This campaign may be over, but the movement does not stop,' she said at a press conference surrounded by supporters Tuesday night, according to the New York Daily News. 'We are just getting started.' 'To every young person, to every woman, to every person of color, to every Queer person, every single human being who was inspired by the campaign we built—you are next. And I promise, I will be the first one knocking doors for you,' Cabán added on Twitter."
TX To Enact New Pro-Gun Laws
Texas to Enact at Least 9 Pro-Gun Laws in Wake of El Paso's Mass Shooting. Time: "After a gunman shot up a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 people and injuring 26 others on Saturday, the state is set to enact at least nine pro-gun measures that would make it easier to carry or store firearms in places like foster homes, schools, churches, mosques and synagogues. The laws were approved earlier this year, during the 86th Texas Legislature, and should go into effect on Sept. 1, 2019. One of the laws, HB 1387, gets rid of a limit on the number of schoolteachers and staff that can carry guns on public school campuses. These designated staff are known as school marshals. Another one of the Texas measures, HB 1143, prevents school districts from making rules about how a licensed person’s handgun, firearm or ammunition is stored in their vehicle in a school parking area. A third regulation, HB 2363, allows foster parents to store firearms and ammunition in the same locked location."
Orange County Turns Blue
Orange County, longtime GOP stronghold, now has more registered Democrats than Republicans. LA Times: "Orange County, long a Republican stronghold, has officially turned blue. The county that nurtured Ronald Reagan’s conservatism and is the resting place of Richard Nixon is now home to 547,458 registered Democrats, compared with 547,369 Republicans, according to statistics released early Wednesday morning by the county Registrar of Voters. And the number of voters not aligned with a political party has surged in recent years, and now tops 440,770, or 27.4% of the county’s voters. Democratic leaders attributed the shift to changing demographics, aggressive recruitment efforts and President Trump."
