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Dear friend,
For the time being at least, we are substituting a monthly email blast for our regular missives entitled "Our Unfinished Work." For the writer of this missive, the recent election results generated even more agony and despair than had materialized in 2016. That's because our own unenforced errors were dominant. Whoever abetted Joe Biden in the fall of 2023 in his thinking that he ought to run for President as his cognitive and physical skills deteriorated put our nation at risk with their self-indulgent games. It is appropriate to permit the anger at Biden's decision to recede only slowly. The idea for him was to read about tragic Shakespearean characters, not to emulate them.
There are twenty lessons to learn from the election results, and none of them are gospel. The Democratic party showed its imperfections and frayed coalitions. Each will require repair work that must be done, but there are none that would prevent taking back the House in 2026 and the Presidency in 2028. A populist is a man of the people. Trump and Musk and his buddies hanging out at Mar-a-Lago and standing for the rights and needs of middle America or blue collar America or people who need a boost is a monstrous con. With our own problems, we were not able to pull the voter back from this bizarre hoax. They could not accept that Trump worships only at the church of his very own self.
There is no better place to seek solace over this outcome than the words of Frederik Douglass, himself agonizing over the steps back during Reconstruction.
Some pundits may say that the resistance has fallen asleep, but they are clueless. As in 2017, the resistance will emerge organically and grow exponentially. There will be several state attorneys general in the courtroom to impede any Trump overreach of executive authority, and Republican Senators blocking two more cabinet appointments. The filibuster rule will stand and with it important protection. The American people will hit the streets in defense of reproductive rights and to fight for immigrant justice. Because Trump is Trump. Our work will be clear and there will be plenty to do.
Even with these defenses, it still will be awful, with Trump's malevolence on daily display and his international efforts embarrassing and dangerous. As effective as Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer can be, we need additional communicators who can articulate where we are heading, not just how to play defense. However, we can take advantage of the filibuster rule and use the upcoming renewal of the tax code as the best example of who is looking out for the working woman and man. The differences between the two party's tax proposals should be monumental, and clear.
There will be the usual assaults on reproductive freedom that will grow our ranks. And just in time, two elections will appear that will require massive deployment of volunteer efforts. Just a year from now in Virginia, there will be a race for an open governor's seat as Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is term-limited. By that time the battle will have been joined over the Florida Senate seat vacated by Marco Rubio. In November of 2026 whatever Trump-lackey Ron DeSantis has appointed to the Florida Senate seat, will be up for his/her first full term and will be vulnerable.
The narrow 220-213 majority held by House Republicans is a clear invitation for us to take back the House in 2026 and put all new obstacles in Trump's way. This is what happens in off year elections, and it is what we can do less than two years from now.
While we are rebuilding this movement, we can start building a better base by taking advantage of the meaningful role that charitable organizations (501c3) play in protecting reproductive freedom, rejecting voter suppression, and advancing justice in America,
Open the attachment below to find six organizations which are getting the work done right now. Not only do they need your charitable donations, they badly need you to get the word out. When you pass this flyer on to a group of your friends, will you please send this missive a note and let us know you have done so? That would make an excellent holiday present to our country.
Warm regards,
David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington
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