Yang Gang Wisdom #15: The California Plan
“My job is to get the ball to California.” –Andrew Yang
Hey Yang Gang,
After all the anxiety around qualifying for the debates, we made it! It’s the second to last debate before the Iowa Caucus – and perhaps more importantly it’s right before the holidays. If the debate does happen, this will also be the smallest crowd of candidates yet and — as the only non-white candidate on stage — Andrew Yang will stick out like a sore thumb. The debate will be taking place in the nation’s biggest state – a state where Yang’s support is growing rapidly.
2000 Delegates
Now that we’ve qualified for every debate and raised millions of dollars, the next step is to win the actual game – and the name of the game is delegate count. We will not win every primary state, but what matters most is getting to 2000 delegates. We hit that number – we get the nomination. That’s the #MATH.
Andrew Yang + 2000 delegates = Democratic nominee
(The actual number is roughly 1900, but let’s stick with 2000 delegates to be safe and because it’s a nice, round, easy-to-remember number.)
What are delegates?
Think of delegates as points for wining primaries. The more votes we get in each primary state, the more delegates get added to our scorecard. There are a total of about 3,836 delegates in play (not including superdelegates) and we need more than half of them to win.
WTF are superdelegates?
Superdelegates are confusing and played a big part in screwing Bernie during the 2016 election. This time, the DNC have largely removed superdelegates from the picture and they won’t really matter unless we miss our 2000 delegate mark.
“In contrast to all previous election cycles, superdelegates will no longer have the right to cast decisive votes at the convention's first ballot for the presidential nomination” - Wikipedia
Tick Tock
It’s getting very close to game time. There’s only two debates left until Iowa – one this Thursday in Los Angeles, and another on January 14th in Des Moines.
By March 4th next year, over 1500 delegates will have been decided. In my unqualified opinion, at least 700 of those delegates need to go to Yang for us to have any chance of winning. We should prepare ourselves to win over every possible voter available.
Source
Why California matters
As a native Californian, I’ve never felt our state played any significant role in national elections. It’s always voted solidly Democrat in the general election and we always vote late in the primaries. In the primaries, timing matters because it shapes the perception of the rest of the country, which is why Iowa is so important – but Iowa is just the start. The real contest is gaining delegates.
California is the biggest state with by far the most points up for grabs – 495 delegates. In comparison with other key states: Iowa has 49 delegates, South Carolina has 63 delegates, and fellow Super Tuesday state Texas has 262 delegates. Taking a big chunk of California gets us very close to our 2000 delegate goal.
Delegate count and historical absence from the primaries show why California is hugely important, but that doesn’t take away from the importance of other states. Iowa is still massively important and so are Nevada, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Texas, etc. Our democracy works because everyone matters. They just matter at different times — as California has learned in past elections.
In 2016, California didn’t vote in the primaries until June. By that time, the race was mostly decided so our most populous state had potentially the least impact on our national election. This time, California is voting on Super Tuesday on March 3rd with 13 other states. Most people in the state are likely unaware of how much they matter this time. Our job is to make them aware.
This is a chance to make California a Yang stronghold. And California is ripe to be Yanged. Remember, this “hippie” state turned red in the 80s when it sent its Governor to the White House (Ronald Reagan). Then it elected the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger to be our Governator. Twice! (Fun fact: Schwarzenegger signature is on my college diploma). California is crazy.
Disaffected Voters
Every single vote in California matters.
“California allocates delegates based proportionally (not winner take all) based on results from each of its 53 congressional districts not on the statewide vote total.”
Coming from an immigrant neighborhood, no one has ever asked me or the people I grew up with to vote. This is true for millions of people across California – and the nation. If disaffected voters in the swing states gave Donald Trump the presidency, disaffected voters in California will give Andrew Yang the Democratic nomination.
It won’t be easy, but the Yang Gang is uniquely qualified to reach out to these underserved communities. The Yang Gang is vast and diverse. The Yang Gang is made up of every single community in the country. We can reach out to our friends, our family, and our neighbors. We can talk to the people other campaigns can’t talk to. We can go where they can’t follow.
Yang Gang can speak to three broad groups of people past campaigns never reached out to — those who would benefit most from the Freedom Dividend – the homeless, the urban poor, and the rural poor.
Homeless
California isn’t all Hollywood and pretty beaches. There is a huge homeless problem all over California, but especially in the richest cities – Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The Freedom Dividend would END HOMELESSNESS FOREVER.
Urban poor
Coming from a neighborhood in East Los Angeles made-up almost solely of immigrants, I know that hardly anyone ever votes in these communities — despite many being US citizens. Naturalized citizens like my mother had to prove their loyalty to the country – something native born Americans never have to do.
It’s not that they don’t want to vote, it’s more they were never asked. Mainstream media does not want you to know these people exist and can vote, but Yang Gang sees everybody.
If we want to win California, we must go to places like the San Gabriel Valley, South Central Los Angeles, Oakland, and Stockton because presidential campaigns never go there. These communities deserve a voice too, because many have been directly affected by Trump’s policy of locking children in cages for crossing the wrong line.
Rural poor
California isn’t all gangs and ghettos. There are also a lot of poor whites in rural areas who we cannot leave behind. Places like the Emerald Triangle suffer from poverty and violence just like the people living in Compton. If you didn’t know, I suggest you watch “Murder Mountain” on Netflix.
“Growing cannabis in The Emerald Triangle is considered a way of life, and the locals believe that everyone living in this region is either directly or indirectly reliant on the cannabis industry” – Wikipedia
These people will understand “MATH. MONEY. MARIJUANA.”
It’s not only Humboldt County, there are also millions of people living in Riverside and giant swathes of land outside of the major cities that would benefit tremendously from an extra $1,000 a month. These are all free and largely uncontested votes. We just have to go and talk to them. We need voting booths full of homeless and poor people of every color to vote Andrew Yang into the White House.
Happy Holidays!
I’ll be taking a two week break for the holidays, but on December 30th, Arthur the Editor will send out a year-end recap. Until then, I hope you all have a great time celebrating the holidays with your friends and family. I am so excited and ready to win this election. I hope you are too!
See you in the New Year!
-Ki Chong Tran
Who is the Yang Gang?
I will be back on January 6th, but in the meantime, we are pushing out our “Who is the Yang Gang?” survey for an update. In the last results we found out where the Yang Gang was lacking – Blacks, Hispanics, older people, and people without college degrees. Since our last update, the Yang Gang has also grown tremendously. By sharing these surveys widely on different platforms, we can more accurately find out who we are, how we’ve grown, and where we should go next.
Best of the Yang Gang
Quote
“It is not Yang Gang women’s job to take one for the team and suffer in silence. Women who come forward are not trying to take Yang out, they are trying to let the sunlight in to disinfect the rot.” –Women for Yang
#DanceForYang
As a terrible dancer, I’m skeptical of dancing, but Yang Gang set off the #DanceForYang trend and I am no longer skeptical. If we can make dancing on Twitter cool, we can do anything.
Cowbell Banking
Hot Apple Cider Banking
Fashion Banking
Pen Pal Banking
2-Question Banking
Dad Joke
Shareable to non-Yang Gang
Thanks for reading! Did you know Bernie has an official campaign newsletter with THOUSANDS of subscribers? We don’t get paid to work on this content or promote it, but beating Bernie’s newsletter in subscribers would be highly satisfying. Help us out by subscribing, sharing, and spreading the word about Yang Gang Wisdom!