Reports are coming out that Harris is leading in Iowa.

So what does this mean for Iowa voters?

Iowa was red in 2020 and has historically been red. As someone who lives in AZ, a red state that is now a swing state, it is entirely possible to flip a state or at least make the Republican Party sweat. So if you are in Iowa and were considering not voting because “your vote won’t count in a red state anyways”, please get out and vote.

Obviously polls can be inaccurate, but how great would it be if we could flip a state that republicans considered an easy victory?

Iowa also allows same day in person registration!!! So if you are over 18 and a U.S. citizen who resides in Iowa it is not too late! Click here for info on voting in Iowa: https://voterready.iowa.gov/registertovote/

Link to article: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2024/11/02/iowa-poll-kamala-harris-leads-donald-trump-2024-presidential-race/75354033007/

My dream for the election is that it’s definitive. I want a 2012-style Election Day where everyone built it up beforehand to possibly be close but then the results start rolling in and it was like “Oh, nevermind. It’s obviously Obama. Everyone go to bed.”

I just want voters to put a stake right through the heart of Trumpism so that it crumbles to ash before our eyes. That’s the dream.

Friendly reminder to listen VERY VERY CRITICALLY if someone tries to convince you not to register for federal disaster assistance following a declared disaster. Helene is still moving north and I see the usual rants picking up steam already.

That person trying to win social commentary points online is not your friend. That person can’t give you funds for house repair or to restock on food and meds. And if they say they can - that is a scammer and not someone you can trust.

Scammers and developers trying to take advantage after a disaster intentionally spread rumors/misinformation to convince survivors not to apply for federal disaster assistance. Many well meaning people pick this misinformation up and spread it further without understanding how the assistance process works. It’s happened more and more over the years and it will happen with Helene.

If you do not apply for assistance, you lose the chance to receive federal funds. APPLY APPLY APPLY. This doesn’t guarantee you will meet eligibility requirements, but you definitely can’t meet them if you don’t apply. The application process isn’t perfect but it continues to be updated - and was updated in 2024!! - to try and make it easier for survivors. If you have damages or lost power for an extended time, APPLY.

You can check on FEMA.gov or with local news to see when disaster recovery centers will open, how long the application period will last, and what information you’ll need when applying.

OP mentioned this but I want to highlight it: Biden changed some of the rules for FEMA eligibility to make it more accessible to middle-and-low-income people. They did a bunch of things to reduce red tape and make the assistance more flexible so you can use it for more things. The rule change took effect in March of 2024; this is the first major disaster under the new rules. So advice from people who have been through the FEMA wringer before might not be applicable.

The changes included things like streamlining the application process and also the appeals process.

The changes ALSO introduced help for immediate housing needs for people who have been displaced--that's a new thing! If you can't go home, there's a good chance FEMA can give you money to spend on housing in the short term!

The changes ALSO broaden the types of housing that FEMA will fund repairs to! It used to be that they would only fund repairs for stuff that had been fully functional before the disaster. So if you had a leaky roof before the storm, and the storm blew the roof off, they would only pay to replace the part of the roof that hadn't been leaky before the storm. Biden changed that; now they'll just replace the whole thing. And if you want to use part of the money to make your home more accessible than it used to be, that's allowed now, too.

Basically, there's a bunch of things that were changed to make FEMA better and more helpful to ordinary people, and those changes are all new enough that advice from previous disasters probably won't apply.

The newly added "Flexible Funding" category that includes short-term housing aid, as mentioned above, also includes aid to pay for "food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies."

ALERT: @wilwheaton has answered the call!!

RSVP for free: https://geeks.forharris.org/

[Image: A poster advertising a Harris/Walz event; it's styled like an old-fashioned sci-fi novel cover or poster, and the name Harris is in NASA-style script. Transcript follows.]

Stacey Abrams, Yvette Nicole Brown, Levar Burton, Misha Collins, Jon Cryer, Felicia Day, Jonathan Frakes, Patty Jenkins, Matthew Modine, Bill Nye, Robert Picardo, Anthony Rapp, Tim Russ, Jeri Ryan, George Takei, Mary Trump's Nerd Avengers, Wil Wheaton, and more special guests to be announced [for]

Geeks & Nerds for Harris

Hosted by Lynda Carter with Fan Activist Sabrina Cartan

Tuesday, September 24 8 PM ET (5 PM PT)

RSVP for our free livestream at Geeks.ForHarris.org

made a beautiful google slides infographic in 60 seconds on why u should Fucking Vote

This whole Kamala Harris debacle has shown me how many leftist talking points are coming from privileged people whose only connection to politics is the (usually surface level) theory they’ve looked up.

So last night at the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris pulled off, in my opinion, the most glorious flex in all of American politics. It was petty as fuck and I am here for it:

Harris, in a Show of Force, Holds a Large Rally 80 Miles From Her Convention

Someone on Reddit then linked to the Kamala HQ video of her brief Coming To You Live From My Rival’s Venue acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination. And Redditors pointed out that you could actually see the juxtaposition, and the sold-out crowds could see each other, and it was beautiful.

Posters on r/politics constantly say to any positive discussion, “None of this matters if you don’t vote.” While this is true, the constant doomer nihilism of “None of this matters” pisses me off. I know they’re afraid people will get complacent. They’re afraid people will see, for example, pictures of these massive crowds and think, I don’t have to leave the house. I don’t have to vote. Everyone else will get this. But that’s not what I think when I see news like this. It DOES matter. I was always going to drag my carcass out to my polling station in a blood-red state, whether I have to use a cane or not, whether the Electoral College even gives a shit about my vote or not, but this is exciting. Whenever I see Kamala’s packed, enthusiastic crowds, I think, This is a movement forward and I get to be part of it. We are gonna run up the popular vote as a statement that will make bad-faith actors think twice before meddling, and we are gonna flip some battleground states. We are gonna nail down the electoral votes, and I am going to sit there and watch on TV as they certify the electors in December, and then I am going to sit there and watch them officially count it out like they did on January 6, 2021, and I am going to know that I was part of that.

It’s not about getting complacent. It’s about feeling the agency and possibility that we can actually get this done. It’s about saying, I get to do this, even if it’s just one ballot, one I Voted sticker, one day. We’re gonna get our first female, first South Asian American, and second Black president into that office. The enthusiasm is our running rebuke to that fucking guy, and we’re gonna get the numbers as even Republican politicians turn on him and support Kamala Harris. And any time someone tells you that being hopeful is getting complacent, come back and look at those crowds. Or better yet, get hyped up by Michelle Obama:

Hope is energy, not complacency. We can do this.

Meanwhile, if you're wondering how things are going in Trumpland (even before they literally played "My Heart Will Go On," famously the theme song about a sinking ship, at his Montana rally last night), it's apparently edging into the realm of possibility that picking JD Vance, senator from the state of Ohio, could cost Trump the state of Ohio.

Delicious.

Celine Dion's team has responded:

“My vote doesn’t matter (so I’m gonna sit it out/vote third party/put a write-in protest vote)!”

Unfriendly reminder that Al Gore only lost Florida (and subsequently the entire 2000 election) by only 537 votes. Your vote absolutely fucking matters.

If y’all really, truly don’t want Trump/Republicans back in control than you better get out and vote down the ballot, especially if you live in an even remotely purple/swing state.

The MAGA voters will absolutely get out and vote, don’t let them out-do you.

KELLY KELLY KELLY KELLY!!!

Kelly is former military (naval aviator), a former astronaut, AND super down with gun control, since his wife, Gabby Giffords, was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011. (she was a congresswoman at the time) SHE WAS SHOT IN THE HEAD, not the ear. And lived.

I would vote for this pairing SO HARD.