Covid affairs are soaring, businesses are staring at a gloomy winter, millions of Americans are struggling, and Congress … well, they’re on hiatus. Sarah Ferris of POLITICO breaks up why there is still no agreement on another round of coronavirus relief.
Some liberal activists have questioned the decision to leave pre-November personal electoral contact mostly to Republicans who exceed expectations, even when President Donald Trump was defeated in the presidential race. But now Democrats say they can search safely, even as Covid-19 cases spread throughout Georgia and across the country.
Ossoff and Warnock Campaigns require volunteers to always wear a mask, step back from the door before anyone responds, use hand sanitizer after touching surfaces, and confirm that they have no symptoms and have not contacted anyone suspected or confirmed to be positive about Covid. To 19 before their shift.
Epidemiologist of campaigns he trained field personnel to lead safety guidelines according to a coordinated campaign. Campaigns work full time to ensure compliance with security protocols.
Campaigns are not alone in their efforts. Some progressive organizations, including the Working Families Party, returned to the state for a personal hearing this weekend. The State Democratic Party of Georgia is launching a personal search this week specifically to cure ballot papers, in order to help voters with missing ballots on any issue that will be mailed as early as this week. This program will run in the days following the January 5 runoff.
Gate-knocking protocols alternated for a number of grassroots groups that weighed the merits of potentially jeopardizing lawyers while finding a way to mobilize hard-to-reach voters for Democrats in January.
“There is an increased awareness that we need to do everything we can to be safe, to keep voters safe, but not to lose our credibility,” said Nse Ufo, CEO of the New Georgia Project. UFO said his organization needed to take even more account of the risks of personal contact, as black voters, who make up roughly 30 percent of Georgia’s electorate and typically make up half of Democrat supporters, are the most disproportionately affected. by the epidemic.
“No one knows the risk better than we do,” Ufo continued. “And we also understand how important it is to make sure voters show up at this moment.”
Earlier this month, Ossoff told POLITICO that his campaign was still exploring how a safe field operation could be set up, but stressed the campaign’s telephone banking efforts and other ways to reach voters that did not involve personal contact.
“The team will continue to work on all health implications and ensure that our volunteers and staff, and above all voters, are kept safe and healthy in whatever we do,” Ossoff said.
The Democrats ’new efforts come when several Republican groups have already begun to persecute voters. Speaking for Koch-backed welfare and women, PAC, an anti-abortion group from the SBA List, operates door-knock programs in the state. The National Senate Committee of the Republic has announced a huge field program for the two events, with 21 regional directors and 1,000 field staff across the state.
Democrats organized on the spot, but most groups stopped their door-knocking programs after the pandemic broke out. Other groups have adapted their protocols to deal with the new environment.
“It actually took months to get to where we worked out prudent and meaningful precautions where the risks were low,” said Liz Cattaneo, a spokeswoman for For Your Future, a local political action group that led personal field operations in Pennsylvania. , Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida.
According to Cattaneo, the group not only emphasized the use of personal protective equipment; a full-time in-house health director was hired to conduct mandatory health training for all organizers. According to Cattaneo, none of its organizers have been infected with the coronavirus this year.
Britney Whaley, chief political strategist at the Working Families Party in Georgia, said the group’s aim was to knock 750,000 doors. He said their protocols include lawyers wearing masks and bringing additional masks with them to voters in their homes and leaving literature if a voter does not want to put on a mask.
“He’s always considered it important to meet people where they are, in their homes and communities,” Whaley said. “We wanted to make sure we talked to our people and communicated with them in the best possible way while we were safe.”
Warnock’s opponent in the special election, was appointed GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler has been isolated on her own after giving a positive result for Covid-19 over the weekend, although the senator has since revealed that she has been negative for two days in a row and wants to return to the campaign. Loeffler campaigned Friday with Senate David Perdue (R-Ga.), His colleague working in the runoff, and Vice President Mike Pence, raising concerns about a possible spread of the virus.
Following Loeffler’s exposure to Covid-19, Ossoff also called on Loeffler and Perdue to ask for a mask at their campaign events. Both senators also held several indoor events where participants were largely without masks. This practice, health officials say, is accelerating the spread of the virus. The campaigns provided masks, but were not needed at their inaugural state rallies earlier this month.
On Monday, Perdue appeared alongside those just re-elected Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in open field, mostly distributed among participants pictures of the event.
