Greetings, friends! Deanna the Sidekick here to report in on some great activities that have come across our path in the last few months. I’ve been participating in some remarkable discussions and actions that are lifting up the rural voices in this country, and that are engaging rural voters’ participation in a system that, frankly, hasn’t treated them too well for a long, long time. The work happening out in the countryside and in small towns by everyday progressive populists has been making my heart burst with joy on a regular basis, and I wanted to take a quick second to bring you all along for some of this ride.

My enthusiasm and energy for this work was exponentially magnified by attending my first Farm Aid last weekend. You may think of Farm Aid as that famous concert with Willie Nelson and his pals, but more than just the incredible music, it’s a festival of ideas and concrete actions for revitalizing the culture in agriculture. Hightower and I co-emceed the afternoon session of the Farmer Forum, which you can still watch here:

Follow along with Farm Aid’s advocacy and program work, and stay tuned for more collaborations with them down the road.

Host or Attend a VP Debate Watch Party

We’re big fans of Tim Walz, with Hightower having campaigned for his first congressional run back in 2006. And we’re clearly not big fans of JD Vance, aka Silicon Valley’s Pet Redneck, so we can’t wait to see them debate each other on Tuesday, October 1st. As a general rule, we’ll make up any excuse to attend a good party, so the debate watch parties that folks are organizing are right up our alley.

If you live in a rural area, and want to host a watch party, use this button to share your party with the campaign!

Create a RURAL watch party here

It doesn’t have to be public, either—even if you plan to watch at home with a few friends, go ahead and tell them about it, and mark it as private. What this does is signal to the Democrats that rural voters are loud and proud, and that can make it easier for advocates like Hightower and others to show them that the rural agenda is critical to taking America forward, no matter what happens this election cycle.

If you’re not up for hosting, but are looking for a party to attend near you, you can check out this full list of watch parties here.

Rural Voters Talking to Rural Voters

We’re always on the lookout for actions that don’t involve the usual suspects that we often see, especially during big election cycles. We love the idea of rural people talking to each other about candidates and issues, and have seen the powerful effects that happen when people who share cultural and geographic backgrounds talk with one another. That’s why I’m excited to share an effort from our friends at the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative have launched: Let’s Hear Rural Voices.

They’re building an army of rural people who are willing to write letters to the editor of local papers and post on social media about issues facing rural America, and how candidates will make a difference in our lives. They’ll help you develop talking points and share how good federal investments paired with solid policies have supported rural areas. Additionally, they’re partnering with our friends at Rural for Harris, where I’ve been volunteering, on getting phone banks together for rural people to talk to each other about the presidential election. Sign up here to be connected with RUBI.

And if you’re not in a rural area, but are still looking for ways to participate in the election, check out some of these organizations that we’ve profiled before:

• Movement Voter Project

• Seed the Vote

Your turn!

What are some other great rural voting actions that you’re seeing out there? Let us know in the comments so we can help get the word out. Happy Friday, y’all!

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