Yesterday, I found
myself standing on
the UNC campus while
a student organizer
yelled into a
bullhorn at her
fellow students as
they walked by:
“Hey - who wants
to meet Jeff
Jackson? The
congressman from
social media! You
knoooow hiiiimmmm.
He’s right here. Who
wants to meet Jeff
Jackson?”
A few heads swiveled.
We already had a
good crowd of
students for our
event, but she
wanted to grab a few
more passers-by. And
it worked. Our crowd
grew.
We had a great
conversation. Folks
asked whether I was
exhausted from
running a statewide
campaign (“Nope -
marching right along”),
what my top priority
would be as Attorney
General (“Day One
has to be about
combating the
fentanyl epidemic”),
and whether I had
any funny stories
about serving with
George Santos (I did).
I had started the
afternoon in Durham
to help launch a
canvassing event
with a room full of
energetic volunteers.
My message to them
was that most people
won’t read the
handouts you give
them, but
they’ll read you. Your
message is mostly
about being a kind
person. That’s what
people will remember,
so don’t lose sight
of that when talking
politics with folks
on their doorstep.
I finished the day
in Raleigh with an
event for a number
of local and
statewide
candidates. The vibe
was strongly
positive, people
were fired up, lots
of good energy.
My message: Let’s
spend a little time
thinking about after the
election. We need to
find ways to bring
the country back
together, and that
means not treating
politics as a
constant source of
outrage. Civility,
honesty, decency,
competence - that’s
what politics should
really be about, and
it’s an approach
most people can get
behind.
Now I’m heading home
to see the kids for
a few hours, then
out the door again.
Gotta keep up the
pace.
Our internal polling
still has our race
basically tied. One
of the things I can
still control is how
much effort I put
forth in the last
week, so I’m going
all out.
We’re going to win,
but it’s going to be very
close.
Campaign
update - good news/bad
news
I’m proud of our
last TV ad.
In a time of
wall-to-wall
negativity, we
wanted to end on a
positive note.
You can watch it here:
That’s the good news.
We’ve got a strong
closing argument.
The bad news is… $14
million in attack
ads against us are
hitting on TV.
That’s more than 7x
what was spent
against our current
Attorney General in
2020. And that race
came down to just
0.2%.
We’re trying to beat
them back but we’re
not quite fully
funded in all six
media markets in NC.
Going dark in some
of those markets -
while dishonest
attack ads against
me are blazing
across all six of
them - would be an
easy way to lose a
tied race.
I think you can tell
just by looking at a
calendar that I
won’t get too many
more chances to ask
for your support.
That’s why I’m being
very straightforward.
We are writing our
last check to the TV
stations tomorrow.
Everything we raise
with this email will
go to making that
check bigger, which
means we can run
more spots on Wheel
of Fortune, Jeopardy,
Law & Order, etc. -
which is, by far,
the biggest way we
reach undecided
voters.
There isn’t a more
powerful lever to
win this election
than the one I’m
giving you right now,
and I hope you’ll
pull it as hard as
you can.
You can do that here (ActBlue)
or here (non-ActBlue).
Thank you - and
we’re almost home,
folks.
Best,
Jeff
