Join Our Next Meeting, July 27 at 7:30pm ET

Thanks so much for being part of the Georgia chapter of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) and special thanks to those of you who participated in our last call on July 8.  Your support is critical, and with your help, we will increase our House majority, take back the Senate, and win the White House. In this email, we will explain where and how each of you fits into the Georgia chapter of JDCA by providing clarity and details regarding JDCA’s goals in 2020 and where you all fit in to meeting those goals in the 2020 election and beyond.  The feedback some of you provided following our last call was invaluable, and we hope you will join our next call on Monday, July 27 at 7:30pm. Please register here.

How is JDCA Different?  JDCA is the only national organization that represents Jewish Democrats and combines Jewish values advocacy with a Democratic political agenda.  

JDCA advocates on a broad range of Jewish policy issues including, but not limited to: combating antisemitism and racial injustice, access to affordable healthcare and education, comprehensive and compassionate immigration reform, women’s reproductive rights, ending gun violence, ensuring free and fair elections and defending our democracy, and ensuring a strong US-Israel relationship.

JDCA employs a robust, sustained, fact-based communications campaign to refute false narratives perpetuated by Republicans to sway a small percentage of the Jewish vote, especially regarding Israel, anti-Semitism, and the Jewish vote. It also supports Democratic candidates, such as Joe Biden, who share its values. JDCA’s 2020 endorsements can be found here, and check out our Frequently Asked Questions About the Jewish Vote resource.

What Can Your Support Mean for You and JDCA? Quite simply, your support and active engagement will help drive JDCA’s political goal of electing Democrats in 2020. Your support will allow you to directly Get Out the Vote for Democrats, including Joe Biden, impact election results in GA, and provide you with the personal satisfaction of knowing that you made a critical difference in advancing Jewish values in this critically important election and for years to come.

What Are JDCA’s Goals, Strategy, and Tactics?  JDCA is aiming to advocate for Jewish values and elect Democrats who support our values in 2020 and beyond.  Our overriding goal is to elect Democrats who support our values to Congress and the Presidency in 2020 and beyond—candidates like Lucy McBath (GA6), Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA7), Dana Barrett (GA11), Jon Ossoff (US Senate) and, of course, Joe Biden. Our strategy is to mobilize Jewish voters in key districts and states where the Jewish vote can make the difference in close elections. Our tactics include targeted advertising campaigns, online petitions, communications and, most importantly, grassroots organizing through our state chapters to mobilize voters in support of Democratic candidates through our organizing principles: Build, Train, Mobilize.

What is the calendar of events? All of JDCA’s events – including chapter meetings – can be found here. The schedule is updated each day.

What role will the chapter play?  Now through the end of the summer, we will build and train an expansive volunteer base through chapters in key states, as we have in GA, primarily through social networking.  At the same time, volunteers will be trained in critical organizing skills, such as community mapping and personal narrative training, phone banking, text banking and other voter engagement efforts aimed at persuasion, principally targeting Jewish Democrats and Independents.

Starting in September through Election Day, we will mobilize the army of JDCA volunteers to engage in active persuasion and GOTV (Get Out the Vote) efforts targeting Jewish Democrats and Independents. During this phase, chapter members will utilize the skills learned during the Training Phase to get out the vote with targeted messages, including explanation and direction regarding early voting and vote-by-mail. Rest assured that the training will fully equip you to engage in GOTV efforts, including scripts to guide your messaging. All activities can be done from the safety of your home – all you need is a computer and a phone.

What You Can Expect in Future Meetings. Since we are still in the Build and Train Phases, each chapter meeting between now and September will focus on growing the chapter and training on community mapping, personal narrative training, and phone and text banking. To that end, at our next meeting on July 27 at 7:30pm ET, we will be holding a personal narrative training, which will be a key skill in ensuring Georgia Chapter members can talk to other Jewish voters about why Democratic candidates share our value. Please sign up and register for this event here.

Please mark your calendars for our next two meetings as well: 

Wednesday, August 12 at 7:30pm ET:_phone banking to recruit additional volunteers

Wednesday, August 26 at 7:30pm ET:  phone banking to begin to persuade voters.

On Wednesday, September 3, we will begin the Mobilize phase of our efforts and will then be actively engaged in GOTV right up to November 3. We’ll provide more detail on our activities in this phase as we get closer to September.

If after reading this email you still have questions or concerns, please reach out to either of us so we can address them.

Carly Pildis

JDCA, Director of Grassroots Organizing

Elle Segal 

JDCA, Outreach, Policy and Program Manager