You know what motivates me more than almost anything? When someone I know and trust asks me to do something! I joined Weight Watchers with a friend. I took a job I wasn\u2019t looking for because my friend recruited me. I served on our school district\u2019s foundation\u2014and even became its co-chair\u2014because so many people I admired were involved and urged me to get involved, too. I make countless donations, go to events, and buy unwanted wrapping paper and grapefruit from friends\u2019 children. I like to joke that my political activism consists of doing whatever my friend Ruth asks of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not that I\u2019m a pushover or a mindless follower. My parents never had to say, \u201cWould you jump off a cliff just because your friends were?\u201d It\u2019s just that people I know and trust inform and inspire me. They provide good company, hold me accountable, and make me a better person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turns out I\u2019m not alone, and that this has big ramifications for voter turnout. Research shows that the best way to get somebody to vote is when someone they know reminds them. Call it a helpful nudge, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), or benevolent peer pressure–it works! That\u2019s why one of my very favorite acts of political work this season has been Friend-to-Friend Voter Outreach<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a simple and fun organic way of growing a network of voters not from campaign lists but from within our personal circles. All it takes is asking three people you know in battleground states and districts who share your views to vote, and to ask them to ask three more people. Follow-up with a couple of pre-election reminders, and that\u2019s it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, if you\u2019re an overachiever, you can ask more than three people\u2014I\u2019ve cast a wide net, and have also asked people not<\/em> in battleground states but with roots there to participate. \u00a0But three is a perfect number\u2014not too much to ask of anyone (including yourself!), and enough to make a real difference. It\u2019s also a nice way to catch up with friends and relatives where contact might not extend much beyond birthday and holiday cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had some lovely exchanges with far-flung cousins, Facebook friends, and my daughter\u2019s college roommate. My husband\u2019s best friend, not normally political, agreed to contact his mother and all his high school friends in Cleveland. I\u2019ve never in my life participated in a single chain letter, but this is a chain I love to build, link by link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please join me. Use the resources below, have fun, and let me know how it goes.  Let\u2019s win big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– A good step-by-step guide<\/a> (you don’t have to attend the ongoing workshops offered by the organizer, though you’re welcome to contact him for next date if you like)<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–If anyone needs voting information, iwillvote.com is a great state-by-state resource<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Here’s a handy chart for voter registration deadlines. Note that several have passed, but many states offer ways to register and vote after the deadline:<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-A good read<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Stress-buster:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know what motivates me more than almost anything? When someone I know and trust asks me to do something! I joined Weight Watchers with a friend. I took a job I wasn\u2019t looking for because my friend recruited me. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[553,743,744],"class_list":["post-2534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","category-personal","tag-voter-turnout","tag-friend-to-friend-voter-outreach","tag-relational-organizing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2F8Ch-ES","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2534"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2547,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2534\/revisions\/2547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}