How Philly Democrats will get out the vote in 2020 | Opinion

When he was leaving the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what sort of government the delegates had created.

His answer was: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

In the general election on Nov. 3, Philadelphia’s voters will decide whether our nation should stay a republic, or become an authoritarian dictatorship.

Therefore, I am forming a coordinated campaign to increase citizen empowerment through voter registration, education on issues that matter for working families, and Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts for November for the entire Democratic ticket.

The Philadelphia Democratic Party already has a GOTV infrastructure, with our 3,500 committeepeople. We will make it stronger and more effective. We are not waiting for the “traditional” start of the campaign season on Labor Day.

Organized labor has been a strong partner with the Philadelphia Democratic Party, putting its money and its man (and woman) power into the long battle for progress and decent living standards. Labor unions are the bedrock of the fight to replace Donald Trump.

Our goal is to bring together union energy with activists, people who have not previously been politically engaged but feel the urgency of this year’s election, all of the state and local Democratic candidates, and the Democratic Party to turn Pennsylvania blue in 2020. Former state representative and Philadelphia city controller Alan Butkovitz will chair this effort.

The coordinated campaign will create a stronger, more welcoming, and inclusive social media presence to allow new and emerging Democratic activists and volunteers, labor unions, and allied groups to work together to put their energy, organizing, and communications talents to our common task.

The coordinated campaign’s digital team will incorporate new ideas and techniques for organizing and communicating from the young and diverse group of activists and labor union members who are now spread out over a number of different campaigns in the primaries.

Anybody looking to help the digital team can contact the coordinated campaign at 215-241-7800. We will make sure that your voluntary, in-kind contributions are recognized and put to work for the common good.

The coordinated campaign will also be tasked with focusing the new and rising energy of individual voters, and those labor unions and allied groups already organizing around sets of important issues, on a common purpose — voting Trump out of office and saving our republic.

The coordinated campaign will be an information resource for voters looking for in-depth information about the policies the Democratic Party supports. We will use both traditional information distribution (flyers, mailers, lit drops, and paid advertising) as well as more targeted message delivery through the efforts of our digital team.

Finally, the coordinated campaign will allow the statewide and national campaigns to operate more efficiently, with less wasteful and duplicated efforts, in the mail-in ballot phase 50 days before the Nov. 3 election, and in increasing turnout on Election Day.

If you want to vote for Democrats in November, we will do everything we can to help you. If you want to volunteer, we welcome your help.

The coordinated campaign will be a force for unity and a resource for candidates and campaigns, individual voters, unions, and allied groups looking for ways to work together for the greater good of our nation.

The challenges facing us as a nation are too great for us to wait. We need to act now with a common purpose to save our republic.

Failure to adapt the way we operate as a political party is not an option. That is why we must make this effort work. Join us.

Bob Brady is the chairman of Philadelphia’s Democratic City Committee.