Let's hold off on a postmortem + little wins

Maybe we can't answer what went wrong just yet because it's been five seconds

Welcome back to Hot Tip, the newsletter for people who know ALL CAPS BEGGING is not an effective way to text literally anyone asking for money — looking at you, DNC!!!

But is this effective? I’m offering a 30% discount on monthly + annual subscriptions to Hot Tip right now because this weeks sucks and funny takes on our bleak reality will continue to be a thing we need for four more years or forever!

Please consider joining the club if you’re enjoying Hot Tip and my work here.

Tiny wins. There isn’t much to celebrate, but a few bits and pieces to start on a less depressing note:

Sarah McBride of Delaware will become the first openly transgender member of Congress and Democrat Josh Stein will be North Carolina’s first Jewish governor. And for the first time, two Black women will serve in the Senate at the same time — Senators-Elect Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks.

Black women (92%) and Jewish women (88%) were the top two demographics voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Somehow, Trump’s efforts to sway Jews by saying he would blame us if he lost didn’t work. Stay tuned to find out how he turns on us for turning on him!!! (Also, Jews historically vote overwhelmingly Democratic, so this was never going to work.)

Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York voted to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions. (Of course, some of those states also voted for the president who took abortion away, but I digress.)

And for anyone living where lack of abortion access will continue to endanger their lives:

plancpills

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SO what happened?!? I’m down to discuss a few possibilities we will have to explore, but we need to wait to talk definitively because it’s only been two days and I’ve got a pimple older than this election. (Yes, I popped it and it’s worse now. Much like America, I never learn.)

Here’s my two cents: Trying to figure it out immediately what happened doesn’t change the outcome. I say this as a person with OCD who’s been in therapy for a long time to learn you can’t think your way out of suboptimal situations. And suboptimal is the nicest way I can personally think to describe this clusterfuck. It sucks, pals!!! But for right now, it is. The inauguration will happen, Democrats won’t storm the Capitol, and Trump will build a McDonalds in the White House.

So if you need a break, I get that. This week I’ve gone to a comedy show, trivia night, and the driving range (you don’t have to be good to enjoy repeatedly hitting something into the abyss) as forms of distraction. Do whatever you need. Because all you’ll see on the news right now is this:

White men insisting they knew this would happen and why

Am I personally listening to Ezra Klein and Pod Save America and watching MSNBC like it’s Love Island? Yes, I am. But that’s because my weirdo brain also needs that in moments like this. For many people, I recognize that isn’t the case.

And we will have time to talk about it: Elon Musk spent hundreds of millions on misinformation. He bought the presidency, in some ways. What do we do about that? I’m not sure yet. Of course, you can quit Twitter, which I did years ago, and you can stop buying the world’s ugliest car, which looks like it was designed by a focus group of men who really just needed a hug.

It was a media failure, a Joe Biden failure, a Merrick Garland failure, a DNC failure, etc. etc. etc!!! There’s a lot to unpack, and we don’t have to do it now.

One thing I will say I’ve been thinking about is that we (the royal we) wait until campaign season to get in touch with voters. And yes, campaign season is waaaayy too fucking long, but the Dems need to be engaging with people on the ground, like, next week. You can’t just show up at the end of the semester and ask your teacher to consider changing your grade. I’ve tried. It’s how I got an 89 in AP Lang.

Our efforts need to be constant. Outreach cannot just be limited to door knocking and phone calls in the last few months. And take it from me, most people haaaaate those calls. A third of eligible voters don’t even participate in American elections. How do we reach those people? Why do they sit out? Can we engage them without illegally offering them a million dollars? These are some of the things I’ll be thinking about, as well as reminding the DNC that their emails suck.

Wherever you’re at emotionally, whether it’s watching and listening to everything or smashing your phone to bits, I’m with ya. Buy flowers, bake cookies, and be with friends right now. And also, watch this video of a 98-year-old grandma doing pong trick shots like it’s pledge week.

rosssmith

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If you’ve still got it in you, Dems are making calls to voters to try to cure ballots in order to maybe save the House of Representatives from going red. You can make those calls in Arizona, in California, in Nevada, in Ohio, and in Pennsylvania.

~Otherwise~

The Great British Baking Show is, thank god, back with a new episode today on Netflix. A Real Pain (directed by Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and impending Oscar winner Kieran Culkin) is out in theaters. Beyonce, Charli XCX, and Billie Eilish are among this year’s Grammy nominees. Bonne Maman is back with their tiny jam advent calendar. And actress Olivia Colman was more excited about receiving something called a “Blue Peter Badge” than she was about winning her Oscar. It’s a joy to watch.

cbbc

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thanks for reading, pals. i hope you’re taking care of yourselves. back soon with more. xoxo, alex