#51: Do This Important Work Daily, and Hit Your Piggy Bank With a Hammer

Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends, if you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.

First, find your equilibrium, even as you harbor big dreams for November 6th. 

Then, eliminate political distractions. Checking Real Clear Politics or other sites is fine, but you must know it doesn’t count as actual campaigning for a candidate. Put aside silly discussions which have been the trend of late, like “We in the resistance should be less civil than we have been!” What is that even about? This week and every week, tell the truth, oppose Donald Trump with everything you’ve got, work hard and try to make the country and its politics better. Exchanges about whether you should be more personally unpleasant or a bit thuggish are not worth your time. 

Stop even thinking about which of Trump’s offenses are impeachable, at least for now. Put aside your solid arguments about the political unfairness of the Electoral College. Instead, in the next three weeks, in the time you can allot to politics, spend every bit of it on winning on the 6th.

Think about how you could feel waking up on the 7th. Imagine hearing that 15 or so Congressional races and countless local elections were decided by less than 2% of the vote. Most certainly, this is what will happen. Even with your considerable efforts between now and election day, what if you end up wishing that you had put it all on the table, and that you had worked even harder or donated even more? There won’t be any going back, no do-overs.

So, whatever you would end up wishing you had done, do it now. Maybe you have stopped and wondered what one person alone can do. But you are not alone. You are a part of a movement of millions of people who said two years ago, “No, this will not stand.” This movement depends on all of us knowing that others are by our side every single time we ring a doorbell, send a postcard, or make a donation. Revel in that and contribute to that. Rather than the presence of all of us causing you to decide to do less, make sure it motivates you to do more.

If you find yourself a little lost emotionally, listen to Robert Reich about the nature of his hopefulness. Feed off of the energy of others. Motivate yourself by talking to any unflinching, tireless friends or become unflinching or tireless yourself. 

We are not what Thomas Paine called “summer soldiers” or “sunshine patriots”, who eventually demonstrate that their commitment is thin. We are at this every day, and because we are, the nation will reap rewards. When Paine talked about the “times that try men’s souls” he was battling against a tyranny much greater than Trump’s, but it doesn’t hurt to remember the rest. After he warned that summer soldiers “will in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country” he insisted that one who “stands by it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman… the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” 

Donald Trump is arguing that we should see his two years as a time of accomplishment. His argument would be stronger if you would take away his abdication of America’s global position, his mindless incuriosity and willingness to assume any random tweet as the truth, his obsession with himself rather than We the People, his attempt to destroy access to health care for many millions of people for whom health care is essential, his insults to leaders of countries who have stood by our side during the most dangerous of times, his refusal to recognize the huge global environmental threat of climate change, his delight in passing a tax bill to comfort the comfortable, his bullying of others and his fanning of flames of hatred toward people who are vulnerable, his “love” for Chairman Kim and any other dictator who writes him nice letters and his eagerness to separate those who seek asylum from their children.

There won’t be any more legislating until after the election, when there will be a dangerous “lame duck” session in which Paul Ryan will try to advance his agenda one more time. By now it has been stripped of any semblance of a Paul Ryan idea. Like Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan made a choice to mute his objections to Trump’s innumerable excesses. Both will argue that they were able to shape what has emerged to our collective advantage, that they made things better than they would have been. But it will be their ultimate participation in Trump’s mean-spiritedness and assaults on democracy which will provide them their place in history.

It’s time to move forward with Paine’s “glorious triumph.” We’re done legislating, we are finishing up on registering, and we are now voting on a country’s future. Right now, in the House races, the news is good. Polls on the “generic” Congressional vote (which asks which party’s candidate you are intending to vote for) are showing a 10%+ Democratic advantage). We need to win back 24 seats to control the House. These kinds of polls signal that we can win 40 if we don’t hold anything back, as signaled by Five Thirty Eight. Unlike the Senate election map (where most of the contested elections are in red states) 58 of the 70 House races in play are in blue states, many in suburban districts previously dominated by Republicans. Here is where the gigantic gender gap is playing to our greatest advantage.

Even after the Kavanagh debacle focused our voters and some of Trump’s, we have an enthusiasm advantage, where our movement is more likely to get people to the polls. Now is the time for the doorbelling, the calls, and the attention to turnout that will give us the blue wave we seek. Many of us live in such an intense political environment that it is difficult to remember that more than a third of Americans identify as Independents. More than half of those registered have fallen out of the habit of voting regularly. Please find these people today, and every day until November 6, and please do these three things:

1) Take a Final Pass at Getting People Registered
	There are any number of people who are out there intending to get themselves registered, and not necessarily understanding how easy it is, and not understanding that deadlines are looming. Can you or your friends or your voting age children find more folks to get registered? For a certain younger cohort that votes in insufficient numbers, it’s a matter of finding a clever cure for electile dysfunction. The good news is that some analysts are rejecting the notion that we are facing the typical lower than average mid-term election turnout from younger voters.  Please remember to vote as early as you can. The earlier you vote, the more you will help feed the narrative of a high turnout election, and the more others will follow your lead.
2) Make Your Final Decision on How You Can Help During the Final Two Weeks
	Many of us have already made our decision as to where and how we can boost one or more candidates. If you have found a candidate whose staff knows how to deploy you, go for it! Some of us have participated in an independent group of activists, a Democratic Party organization, or an Indivisible cell. Indivisible still has events you can support or phone banks to join. Or, see what Swing Left has in mind. And then in the perfect way to work together, 22 organizations have combined their efforts to make the last weekend before the election the biggest get out the vote drive possible. You wouldn’t want to be hanging out at home on November 3 and 4, would you?
3) Hit the Piggy Bank With a Hammer
	Previous missives have noted that taking back the Senate is a much more difficult task. Even if we fall short and “only” take back the House, we will be in far, far better position to protect America and the world from Donald Trump than is presently case. Ironically, the reason why the Senate map is so difficult (with almost all the key races in red states) is that we did so well in winning those close races in 2012. That’s why Democrats like Jon Tester, Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Donnelly and Claire McCaskill are there in the first place. There is an ideal place to send one last check. In Nevada, Democratic Congresswoman Jacky Rosen is running even with Republican Dean Heller. This is a winnable race in a smaller state. The margin of victory will be small. Dean Heller went from having an independent voice to being enthralled by Donald Trump. Go figure. Just think how it would boost each of us if we were to click and donate to Jacky Rosen today.

It is difficult to keep focus over 24 months. It’s hard not to begin thinking of Donald Trump’s malevolence as business as usual. One could be tempted to shut it all out and try to go on with life without having to shoulder the worries about a nation at risk. But we are not going to do that. As Thomas Paine said, you deserve our love and thanks for all the work you have undertaken.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#50: Help Accelerate Donald Trump’s Downfall

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Some things about politics and government are complex. Legislative processes are arcane, and they are intentionally built to slow things down, not speed them up. And, as much as they may seem like a contest of television advertising, close Congressional races and the strategies it takes to win them can be complicated too, as strategies are devised, deployed and parried.

Having an election just over thirty days away has the effect of making everything that counts simpler, more obvious and more immediate. So much of what we as resisters have worked for is within our grasp if we tighten our grip now. Right around the corner is a dramatic change to our fortunes, which fell off the precipice in November of 2016. Just over four weeks from now, as we take back the House, win back several Governorships, and contend for the Senate, we can block much Donald Trump's nation-rending.

After we take back the House, Adam Schiff will be coordinating the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian election meddling, not the head sycophant Devin Nunes. There will be new ways to stymie the destruction of environmental regulations, protect refugees, energize criminal justice reform, block further tax giveaways, and prevent the walling off of Mexico. As importantly, the Democratic leadership of House committees will be able to use subpoena power to explore and expose any number of Trump cons and misdeeds to which the American people continue to be subjected.

With these stakes, our usual luxuries and habits must be set aside. Tweet-generated despair must be followed with an immediate rebound, not an extended period of mourning. Existential discussions of Trump, tittering about Trump gaffes, and exchanges of YouTube videos must all be dispensed with in favor of the real and immediate work before us. It takes just one question to motivate. Do you remember how awful you felt on November 8, 2016, how you would have done anything to take away the shame and the dismay and the worry and the fear? Now we have that chance.

Keeping the Affordable Care Act alive was splendid, as was forcing a reversal of Trump’s policy of separating children from their parents at the border. But, those were just a modest preview of what is to come if the blue wave brings us 40, 50 or even more House seats. 

Achieving that outcome isn’t just about the excellence of our candidate slate or the last month campaign efforts they are devising. This is about how many of us are standing with these candidates and how tall each of us stands. We must not and will not let ourselves get distracted when the focus on getting this done should be the sharpest. Whether or not you live in an enclave of like-minded people (sometimes making the election seem distant) or whether it is around you every day, you are in a position to do more than you have been planning to do! In fact, in some cases you are in a position to do MUCH MUCH more than you are presently planning to do. Since you felt badly in November 2016 and you have felt Trump-despair many times hence, then it’s time for you to take a specific pledge to upgrade your October activities. Among the seven deadly sins that could diminish the blue wave are distraction, overconfidence, misdirection (doing work that is less productive), and procrastination.

We can absolve ourselves of all sins by taking seven steps that characterize the finest resisters. Pledge to yourself today that you will get these things done.

First, be a part of the last wave of postcard sending through many of your local Indivisible cells or through the postcard maniac, Tony the Democrat. We have sent millions of colorful, compelling customized postcards. If you haven’t already done this, you surely wouldn’t want the election to be over without sending a hundred or so yourself.

Second, go to a rally. The closer we get to the election, the more we will collect in large numbers to signify that American is about to change. Large rallies attract attention and thus help get out the vote. Going to hear one of leaders speak will help you feed off the collective energy that is being generated.

Third, however much money you have donated so far, write at least one more check and send it just as soon as you can, since final campaign plans are being formulated. Give up something--- an evening out, a weekend trip, and write a check you never intended to write.

Fourth, find a campaign near or far that needs you there in person. As this missive has emphasized, pick a campaign that has already demonstrated that it is adept in deploying volunteers. Honor them with your presence, at least for a weekend.

Fifth, figure out everyone you know between 18 and 30 and email or text them to remind them that you can still register online in many states, and that they should pass the word. Rock the Vote will tell you and them everything you need to know. 

Sixth, in states accepting early ballots, send a message to like-minded friends asking them to vote as early as possible. The media will be following the early casting of ballots. They will interpret any uncommonly large early pile as supporting a blue wave, which itself will help generate a blue wave.

Seventh, find something you can do on election day that will be helpful to our cause. This could be last minute calling, taking people to the polls, or even holding a campaign sign in a public place.

There may be as many as 20 Congressional races decided by 2% or less. Take the pledge. Do some things you hadn’t expected to. Don’t be a bystander. Surprise yourself at how much you can get done. Help start the beginning of the end of Donald Trump’s assault on America.

And, since that isn’t quite enough, please do these three things:

1) Fight Against the Trump Refugee Cap
	Emma Lazarus said “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and we made the Statue of Liberty a beacon for refugees. With 25 million people in refugee camps worldwide, Donald Trump has set the United States refugee quota at 30,000 for 2018, the lowest level since the current refugee resettlement program was established in 1980.  Mike Pompeo opposed that decision. When he announced the number, he said it wasn’t indicative of the treatment of vulnerable persons by the United States. Of course, the problem with that heartening sentiment is that it is untrue. Call the majority staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration at 202-224-7840. They won’t necessarily be expecting your call, which will give it even more resonance. Tell them that it is up to them to make sure the beacon is still there.
2) Check Out Initiatives in Your State
	There are 154 Initiatives on the ballot in 38 states. 20 of these are focused on voter access, campaign finance, redistricting methods and other elements of fair and free elections. Find out what is happening in your state. Make certain to continue the fight against voter suppression and for the highest level of citizen participation.
3) Go for Beto O’Rourke, One More Time
	There are all sorts of Democratic Senatorial Candidates that need your support--- Bredesen in Tennessee, Nelson in Florida, Heitkamp in North Dakota. But none will strike the fancy more than the quixotic, exotic effort of Beto O’Rourke to beat Ted Cruz by being a smart, open, idealistic, energetic candidate. He’s not taking PAC money, and he needs our help. $25 each from donors across the country adds up nicely. Beto O’Rourke says that “Texas deserves better” than Ted Cruz. That is a thought that is easy to endorse.

As the months wore on after the 2016 election, it seemed like the day would never come in which we would have our first rebound opportunity. Now it is here. Let’s seize every opportunity it offers, please.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#49: How Will We Attend to the Repairs?

Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends, if you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.

After a pointed, obsessively researched take down of Donald Trump, Bob Woodward said Americans should "wake up", though he later said it would be helpful if some would "calm down".

Should we calm down? Yes, and no. Yes, we should remember that the republic for which we stand has been diminished but has not been dissolved. Yes, it is necessary for us to maintain some equilibrium. And, no we will never make light of what Donald Trump represents. 

Our nation was flawed before he began his nasty deeds. Wealth inequality was huge and growing before he grew it much further. We were slow on climate change and too comfortable with doing business with undemocratic foreign leaders. Our anti-poverty efforts were patchy and innsufficient.

In every area he has touched, he has made things worse. With gall, he's pulled up apart with profound disrespect for democratic institutions and monumental unearned personal self-regard.

Starting with November 6, we will win the country back one election, one plea bargain and one legislative victory at a time. Not only does Donald Trump not have a way out of the hole he has excavated, he can't help but keep on digging. What a foolish man.

As we usher him out, in what specific ways will we attend to repairs? Outside of how we address the great policy issues of our time, how will we answer what underlies all of them--- Who is going to play a part in doing the addressing? Who is welcomed into the political process, not just during elections, but in the whole democratic experiment? Who feels a part now? Who will be enabled to join us, and what are the rules that will keep their participation from being suppressed? Who can come here tomorrow, like we and our generations of families did yesterday?

This is the larger post-Trump restoration. It will be the re-invention or resurgence of how we do things with and for each other in this country. How can we guarantee that all of us together will take this on?

Donald Trump is 71, all the evidence that you need that age does not always bring wisdom. Either we ourselves are that age or older, or we have friends or family that are. Wouldn't it be delicious if Trump's age cohort was indispensable in rebuilding American political systems?

If these folks have individual retirement accounts or a 401k, they are obligated at age 70 1/2 to start to take an annual Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Many do not know that (if their finances permit) all or a portion of their RMD can be transferred to a qualified non-profit. This will keep the distribution from being a taxable event AND help in the long-term retooling of America, all at the same time.

Required minimum distributions can fight against white nationalism through the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Morris Dees' splendid organization has been in the vanguard against intolerance for decades.

Long term investments including RMDs and other charitable contributions can underpin our push back against voter suppression. The eligible organization that stands out for the quality of its work and its rich understanding of the threats we case is the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University 

We must also make a long-term commitment to welcoming lovers of democracy from around the world. Will we really countenance the shutting of the door that most of our own families walked through? Here the RMD should go to your local or regional charitable organization that provides free legal assistance to immigrants facing deportation or other legal proceedings.

As we address these long term necessities, we aren't forgetting that November 6 must be depended on to give us a huge initial lift, There's a lot of work to be done between now and then. Let's start with these three things:

1) Make Certain Senator Debbie Stabenow Will Prevail
	In the Farm Bill now under consideration, the Republican leadership has implanted new work rules that would result in denying Food Stamps to as many as 1.5 million present participants. They are inventive enough to give a trillion dollars or so of tax breaks to the very wealthy, but they have not quite figured out how to give a loaf of bread to someone who otherwise would have none. Luckily, they need 60 votes in the Senate and Debbie Stabenow (the ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee) is standing in the way. Make sure the Democrats on the Agriculture Committee stay with her: Tina Smith of Minnesota (202) 224-5641 Sherrod Brown of Ohio (202) 224-2315 Bob Casey of Pennsylvania (202) 224-6324 Insist there be no Farm Bill if it includes the new draconian rules.
2) Boost Michelle Obama's New Project
	As this missive has previously emphasized, getting people registered so they can vote on November 6 is the current number one job of resisters. September 22nd through 29th will be the biggest week of the year in terms of meeting that goal as When We All Vote holds a series of events.  It's not too late to help Michelle Obama, Lin-Michael Miranda, Tom Hanks and others get us focused.
3) Bring Florida a Democratic Governor
	With all the talk of the Senate and House, we are at risk of forgetting to take back several governor-ships. We would (perish the thought) fail to take advantage of the gifts Donald Trump has made available by his support of the most right wing (and less electable) candidate in several races. He has put us ahead in Florida though his support of Jim Desantis. Take a chance on Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, who has an excellent chance of becoming the next Governor, and the first African-American Governor of that state.

This is not a mysterious thing. We know exactly what needs to be done by November 6, and we know exactly how to do it. Now that we've heard what's in Bob Woodward's book we know that a nation hangs in the balance.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#48: We Won't Stand Down, We Won't Stand Aside and We Won't Stand For It

Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends, if you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.

Last week was about John McCain, but it wasn’t just about John McCain. Of course, we like to know that someone around us is larger than life in the way McCain was. But, it is the contrast to Trump and his smallness that gave the week its resonance. Susan Glasser of the New Yorker called the McCain funeral “the biggest resistance meeting yet.”

There was some audience approval when Megan McCain said her dad was a great man. “We gather to mourn the passing of American greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice.” Isn’t it a sad thing that we know exactly who she was referring to?
Now comes the hard part. What are we to do upon seeing hundreds of elected officials of both parties honoring someone with a conservative voting record for having values, being willing to be self-critical, and for being averse to being strong armed by his party? When we hear such things, and we see all that heartfelt honoring is going on, can’t we start expecting such behavior from the mourners? If these behaviors caught on, rather than McCain being the last of an era, he could be the first of the new era.

This project will take some time. It does seem clear that the quality of congressional deliberation shifts from decade to decade. We are right to dismiss any notion that Senators kowtowing to Trump is an inevitable thing, even though it seems endless when the kowtows are in progress. It certainly isn’t a certain outcome. Republicans Jacob Javits and Hugh Scott and Margaret Chase Smith were pivotal in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As late as 2013, three Democrats seeking meaningful immigration reform were joined by three Republican Senators in making a major proposal--- Lindsay Graham, John McCain (unsurprisingly) and Marco Rubio (surprisingly)

Absolutely, there should be better Democrats, but let’s stay with Republicans for a while. With McCain’s passing, there are temporarily just 50 Republican Senators. How many do you suppose agree with Trump’s daily evisceration of the Department of Justice and the FBI? How many think Canada should be dragged into the mud, week after week? How many are happy that Trump trashes NATO, threatens to walk away from the World Trade Organization, and calls the press the enemy of the people?

The Senators who are true Trump acolytes are a very small number. The rest understand that he’s a bad president, and they have stories that they can tell in secret. But so far there is no queueing up to display political courage or principle. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski count precious few brave, principled moments, and they will now buy into a charade that Brett Kavanaugh has no antipathy to Roe v. Wade. For the most part, Bob Corker and Jeff Flake saved their eloquent dismay about Trump until after they decided not to run for office. Lindsay Graham will tell you every week that Donald Trump said something troubling, but he will do nothing to Trump that will risk his Senatorial nomination in 2020. Lamar Alexander, once a notable moderate, must avoid glancing in the mirror in the morning given the way he has let Trump knock him around. They know he won’t bolt, so they don’t defer to him.

When one is counting Republican Senatorial heroes, it is difficult to get to a higher number than two. Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Richard Burr is a hero for protecting Robert Mueller and Rod Rosenstein. He has formed a meaningful partnership with the ranking minority member, Mark Warner of Virginia. Beyond that, the man with McCain-like fortitude is Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who is up for election in 2020. He has said that Trump has no “core principles.” He is a reliable Republican vote, but thus far has avoided Graham’s obsequiousness. He might be preparing a 2020 presidential bid, and so might John Kasich. Either way it is nice to see Sasse’s wit and intellect in play. He said that instead of watching Trump at the nominating convention he would “take his kids to see some dumpster fires.”

What’s at work for all of them is the political calculus. As reported in previous missives, if you are a Republican Senator, you not only know what the Trump wing can do to you if you rebel, you know what they will do to you. The Trump-ites don’t even have to be even close to a majority of voters. They just need to have a good chance of beating you in the primary after you refuse to tack far enough to Trump’s positions.

Of course, we resisters have the last word. In many of these states, these Senators will eventually see that we will unseat them if they continue to be a part of this dragging down of our country. At the very least we respond to their Trump-coddling by putting them in the Senate minority in 2020 if not in 2018. The rationale that some of them have developed is that in sometimes subtle ways, they are a defense against the worst that Trump could do. And maybe some of them are providing such a defense. Of course, their gains are minor while Trump’s transgressions are major. These Senators are enabling the diminishment of their country. There are no John McCains here, so far.

The Washington Post says that “winter is coming” in the form of the Mueller report and that Trump is not prepared. The Post/ABC poll shows disapproval at an all-time high with strong disapproval far outdistancing strong approval.This is a very good sign for November election turnout. 

And there is one more question about the behavior of Republican Senators. In the Atlantic, Eliot Cohen suggests that nearly all tyrants are ultimately abandoned, since their power has no grounding. As Shakespeare said of Macbeth, “Those he commands move only in command, nothing in love. Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe upon a dwarfish thief?“ It seems obvious that many Republicans are with Trump absent another viable path. At some inflection point, that support may dissipate, as it did with Republican Senators and Richard Nixon.

Short of ten Senators walking away from Trump we are still holding out some hope that these Republican Senators will take a glance at the Bill of Rights on their office wall. They might then be jolted into action with the sudden recognition that Trump would delete most or all of those rights if he could. As early as November of 2018, and no later than November of 2020, we will have the Senate majority. For now, as we work to make that so, let’s ask Republican Senators to do these three things:

1) Protect the Justice Department from the President
	What would Republican Senators have done if Barack Obama had tweeted regularly that the Justice Department was failing to protect his political interests? They would have formed a vanguard to protect the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There has not been single president (until now) whose daily savaging of these agencies would have been permitted. This has to be taking its toll on these public servants. Let’s go to the subcommittee level, to the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which up to this point had proudly guaranteed that the FBI and the Criminal Division of the Justice Department would get the support they needed to do their job. Now they have been relegated to the position of wishing and hoping that the President would stop tweeting.  Call Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, the subcommittee member who months ago derailed a Trump nominee for the federal bench for lack of qualifications. Tell John Kennedy that he should be protecting the department from political attacks. Phone his office at 202-224-4623. While you are at it, call the subcommittee’s Majority staff (who are less accustomed to hearing from citizens) and ask them to stand up for Justice. They can be reached at 202-224-5972. They can be asked to take heed of the aforementioned Ben Sasse. When Donald Trump criticized the insider trading and fraudulent campaign spending charges against two Republican members of Congress, Senator Sasse said: “The United States is not some banana republic with a two-tiered system of justice--- one for the majority party and one for the minority party.”
2) Insist that the Senate Stand Up for Canada
	As Trump picks other countries to attack for bad behavior, he has hit upon unloading on our best national friend and number one trading partner, Canada. At an earlier juncture, Trump was making up things about Justin Trudeau, but privately confiding that he had no knowledge of any existing trade imbalance. With any previous president, that may have seemed a surprise, but no one picked up on Trump’s admission. After Trump attacked Trudeau, Bob Corker and some other Senators from the Foreign Relations Committee held a meeting with the Canadian Ambassador to apologize for the President’s behavior. It’s time to recognize that apologizing is insufficient. There are at least two Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who are intent on courting independent voters. Call Rob Portman of Ohio at 202-224-3353 and Cory Gardner of Colorado at 202-224-5941 and tell them they should be remembering how much Canada means and has meant to the United States. Tell them you think it is their responsibility to do something in response to Trump’s actions.
3) Make Sure Claire McCaskill Gets Back to Washington
	In 2012, Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill was fortunate to be opposed by Todd Akin, who had said that women could not get pregnant through a “legitimate rape” because the body will prevent it. Six years later she has a serious opponent in a state whose citizens are still harboring their affections for Donald Trump. It could well turn out that the Senate majority will be riding on this race. Claire McCaskill is a fighter. Can you imagine how difficult it is to be a Democratic Senator in a state as red as is Missouri? You can make it just a tiny bit easier by making sure she has the funding to defend her seat. You can join “Team Claire” here and effortlessly use that magic card in your wallet to give her a boost.

It isn’t true Donald Trump will be automatically turned away if he does surreal things, or nasty, ill-informed things, or takes actions that deprive people of their constitutional rights, or lies or bullies or threatens, or subverts or attacks the underpinnings of democracy. This is not automatic. Instead, we must be part of a fierce, unrelenting effort. We won’t stand aside, we won’t stand down, and we won’t stand for it. Because we are doing the work that needs to be done, the voters will give us a very favorable progress report on November 6.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#47: Trump Has Underestimated Our Response to His Perfidy

Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends, if you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.

Just because all of this has become one of the most bizarre episodes in American political history doesn’t mean we can’t handle it and fix it.

Donald Trump’s removal of John Brennan’s security clearance would otherwise be seen as miscalculation, but Trump is not necessarily a calculator. Instead, the party he has taken over has permitted him to select his enemies almost randomly. Omarosa Manigault is a “dog”, no longer a “wonderful” person. Jeff Sessions is “scared stiff and missing in action” now, but before he was a man of “integrity, principle, and great resolve.” Justin Trudeau, Teresa May and Angela Merkel hardly know what to expect anymore, except that they will be meeting with someone who has no business being the President of the United States. The lashing out is now unrelenting. Lebron James? Jimmy Fallon? New Congressman Conor Lamb, now called “Lamb the sham.” Here are his 487 primary insults thus far. 

There is a reason his customary levels of anger and retribution are accelerating. His party is about to lose control of the House and might possibly (a longer shot) lose the Senate. He is not that astute at understanding the details of Senate and House rules, but he knows that Democrats controlling the House means that his powers will be diminished. Nothing close to the awful 2017 tax bill would have been passed if the House had been under Democratic control. Worse for Trump, as we win the House, the Chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee will no longer be the toadying, unprincipled Devin Nunes. It will be Adam Schiff, relentlessly focused on Trump’s Russian ties. And House Committees have clear, protected powers to issue subpoenas to administration witnesses.

So, you can make it so that his good times are all gone, and maybe get him thinking that it’s time for moving on. His presence as president is anomalous, not the beginning of a movement that will rend the Constitution for decades. Instead, we will spend those decades re-joining the world community, re-invigorating our love for democracy, reversing the worst of his “make the rich richer” policies, and re-establishing environmental protections.

There are arguments out there that the blue wave might not end up as strong as is being predicted, but the recent primaries have been nothing but supportive of the claim that the wave will be big. As is often the case with off-year elections, this is all about turnout and using new voter registrations to boost our turnout advantage even further. The most recent primaries show it is working. To make matters even better, Republican retirements have left an unprecedented number of open seats. 

In Washington State, where CBS news tracking has seen only one Republican seat as competitive, impressive Democratic turnout revealed that there are three. For all that has been said about Republican loyalty to Trump, there are a declining number of Republicans. In the past year, there has been a 5% drop in the number of people who identify themselves as Republican or leaning Republican.

This wave is still there for us to produce. No distractions, no excuses. By now, it is necessary for this movement to have each of us be a fully engaged member of the resistance. Can we check all ten of these boxes?


□ You have made it a point to learn the specific ways in which actions by Trump and Congressional Republicans have diminished America, beyond the lies and the bullying. You can choose among your favorites when you underscore these matters to others. These include the further maldistribution of wealth through the tax bill; the pushing of millions of Americans away from the health care they need; the systematic attacks on environmental statutes; and the weakening of the coalition of Western democracies.

□ You have placed yourself in a circle of like-minded people who either get together to work, or who even without getting together empower each other regularly with new actionable information. Postcards are produced, calls made, complex matters sorted, resolve strengthened.

□ You have identified reliable external sources of news and information which will sharpen your personal campaign efforts, and you consult them regularly. You have avoided letting these sources swamp your day.

□ You shrug off distractions. You don’t know what Donald Trump thinks of John Bolton’s mustache. You don’t even care. You spend more time on campaigning, almost none on You Tube parodies. What’s the point of those? How hard is it to make fun of Donald Trump? When you are laughing, isn’t the joke on us, at least a little bit?

□ You rise above despair that someone is crumpling your Constitution and you relish that emerging from this dysfunctional government is within our capacity. You already are imagining what party you want to go to on November 6, but you remember that we have to produce the results before you celebrate them.

□ You have picked one or more promising campaigns to support. You know what that support entails, and so does the candidate and her or his staff. You feel good about the choices you are making,

□ You are actively trafficking in online voter registration links and are trying to find and motivate unregistered voters. If you are older, you are unafraid of connecting with millennials on this critical matter, to the point of making yourself annoying if necessary.

□ You are actively deploying your checkbook. Within your means, you have made yourself an investor in our future. You are making careful choices about where you are putting your money. You understand that the earlier you give, the better.

□ You continue to contact members of Congress as you find new ways to give them guidance. You know what actions they need to take between now and November (including passing a budget and fixing the DACA separations) and you intend to weigh in.

□ You allow yourself to dream about how this country will re-emerge. Rather than petrifying yourself with the worst possible news, you are embracing the best possible news and endeavoring to make it so.

Right now, while we are carrying on all of the above campaign activities, let’s do some fixing in areas where Trump has done damage and open up some new fronts.

1) Bring Immigrant Families Back Together
	There are numerous refugee advocacy organizations, and refugee resettlement centers for those whose legal status is not being challenged. It would be good to find out and support those who do that work. One could also support one of the many excellent organizations who are advocates or who offer legal assistance to undocumented persons, including those seeking asylum. Notably, there is a small, new, spirited organization which is determined to offer specific assistance to individual families which are in the slow process of being reunited, who are spread across the country and whose need is great. This is Immigrant Families Together  They have set up crowd funding accounts to meet the very real and detailed needs of refugee moms who are seeking to care for their children. You can click and support. Or you can get wonderfully focused and set up a “registry” to allow you and your friends to all boost the same mom.
2) Take Some Personal Action to Protect the Environment
	It is going to take a long time to put back in place the Environmental Protection Agency rules promulgated by Barack Obama and pulverized by Donald Trump. Right now, the best thing we can do toward that end is make the blue wave happen. We can also commit ourselves to personal action. Shaking our heads as the television shows us miles of plastics in the ocean does not turn out to be an effective strategy, and certainly Trump is not preparing to offer one. So, let’s look at a couple of pledges that force us to modify our own activity. OneLessStraw is taking pledges from individuals, businesses and schools to give up plastic straws, which we certainly don’t need. The Million Bottle Project needs your pledge to keep 20 million plastic bottles out of landfills by 2020.
3) Accept it is Time to Get All the Way Behind Beto O’Rourke
	Beto O’Rourke is trying to unseat Ted Cruz in Texas, which would be such a wonderful thing that one can barely permit oneself to dream of it. And he may be 6 points behind. But he does have a bit of a chance and does represent the kind of principled hugely energetic and imaginative candidate we long for. He has raised twice as much money as Cruz at this point by eschewing PAC donations and getting small donations from around the country. We’re from around the country so let’s give him some small gifts.

So, Rudy Giuliani has argued that truth isn’t truth. That got the expected single news cycle push back, and we moved on to the Manafort conviction and the Cohen plea. But it was a moment worth dwelling upon because it demonstrates the path that Trump has put us on. At any time, truth is whatever he says it is. If the whole world was a courtroom every one of his uttered sentences would be a perjury trap. The New York Times has fact-checked 250 statements Trump has made about Russia and the Mueller investigation. The man will say anything and immediately thereafter, he will believe it is true because he remembers he said it. Stay focused and he will find that he has underestimated our response to his perfidy.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#46: We Intend to Go Out and Win an Election

Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends, if you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.

At least we don’t need to devote our precious time examining the pros and cons of supporting the sitting President. There are no pros. This is a dumpster fire in the White House. The occupant of the position is intentionally rejecting what it even means to be a president. We will never, ever let this stand.

How we collectively spend our time and money between now and November 6 could not be more important. Now that Trump has again called the press “the enemy of the people” it is not overreaching to say that the ink on the Bill of Rights is getting a little blurry. And there is so much more--- threats to the existence of a bloc of democracies that together attend to global security; the declining access by many Americans to health care; and Trump’s aversion to the opportunity for people of all races to be a part of one nation. 

Now we have been treated to Trump’s “everybody does it” tweeted defense about his son and other campaign officials seeking dirt on Hillary Clinton from people connected to a hostile foreign government. This is the same meeting that Trump had previously claimed was about adoption. Trump didn’t know about the meeting, and if he did, it wouldn’t have been collusion, and if it was collusion, it wouldn’t have been illegal, and he is tougher on Russia than anyone. That’s the story for now.

The terrifying and glorious thing is that we don’t have to wait the interminable 27 months until the 2020 presidential elections to stop much of this. What happens next isn’t just up to him, it is up to us. We’re writing this story too. All the more reason for us to do the things now that are most likely to matter on November 6, 2018. The less we waste energy and dollars between now and then, the bigger the blue wave.

Each of us has already been investing time and money in this outcome. This resistance is the largest political movement since the 1960’s. Collectively, we are spending a staggering amount of time on supporting individual candidates, registering voters, and writing checks. The giving intermediary Act Blue alone will channel over $1.5 billion to Democratic candidates and causes this year, over twice the amount in 2016.  

How are we doing in the choices we are making? The extent to which we generate the blue wave depends not just on energy and tenacity, but on devoting our considerable efforts to where they will have the greatest impact. These are seven steps that will guarantee that we will do our very best:

We don’t buy into the narrative that the policy debates within the Democratic Party are going to impair us. Instead, we will see the vigorous exchanges among liberals and progressives on health care and economic justice as what we should be doing if we want to stand for something in addition to being against Donald Trump. (Although being against Donald Trump is a hugely powerful cohesive force, no?)

We remember that it isn’t just about Congress. It’s about taking back state houses and state legislatures. This is even more the case because it is in state capitols that battles against voter suppression by Republicans will be fought. It is also where redistricting plans will be developed after the 2020 census.

We don’t allow ourselves to be distracted by Paul Manafort’s ostrich coat, or Ivanka Trump’s fashion line, or Alan Dershowitz’ arguments with former friends, or even whether Melania Trump watches CNN, though it is a delicious thought that she does.

We pick our targeted races carefully, now that the primaries are ending. Swing Left has identified the 78 House races where we have the best chance to take back seats. There are other such lists, and there are analyses like the Cook Report which would claim that only 40 or so such seats are truly competitive. We should stay with the higher number, and believe in what we can do, so we will not leave behind a candidate who could have won. However, we should not be spending any amount of our time and money on any House race outside the 78 unless (in the uncommon case) we can verify with independent polls or other concrete evidence that the race should be targeted because it has become winnable.

We remember that the Senate is in play, too. It is all about Joe Manchin and Jon Tester winning in West Virginia and Montana, and then Democrats winning 6 of the 7 states that Real Clear Politics rates as toss up states. Mitch McConnell isn’t wrong when he says that it might all come down to whether Democrat Heidi Heitkamp will survive in North Dakota, where Trump retains inexplicable popularity. That’s why Trump was so mad at the global Koch brothers for boosting Heitkamp by withholding their financial support from her opponent Kevin Cramer. (The Koch brothers! Oh, the company we keep…)

We don’t forget that it is a turnout election. Right now, there is an enthusiasm gap which means that Democrats and Democrat-leaning Independents are more excited about voting in the fall than Republicans. We need to continue to fan that enthusiasm. Talking about the blue wave as an unusual phenomenon of which voters want to be a part is a good strategy.

And even after we remember all of these things, we still won’t be done. If we are donating money, we must understand how our chosen candidate is fairing in raising money and what her/his plan is between now and November. If we have any choice in the matter, we will give money now (since campaign treasuries have been depleted during the primaries) rather than waiting until October.

If we are doing postcards or calls from a distance, we will remember to expect a quality effort from the targeted campaign, or the intermediary that is providing the names. We expect to know what our preferred message is and any other information on the approach we are expected to take. We must be given information on what kind of voter names we are being provided so we can do our best job.

It is a good thing to travel to a neighboring Congressional district or even another state to help, but only if we know in advance how we are going to be deployed. Campaigns have a difficult time managing rapid increases in volunteers. Talking to one of the campaign’s volunteer coordinators is essential. We need to know that the campaign we select has figured out these matters so won’t be the seventh volunteer in a week to deliver campaign materials to a household.

Volunteering and donating go hand in hand. Modest sums matter, especially at this point when our candidates are looking to broaden their support. Here are three things we can do today:

1) Find the Intermediary Organization that Works for You
	Sorting out races is difficult. Depending on how much time you want to spend, it isn’t such a bad idea to get a little help from people who work on this every day. Who does a good job of collecting and distributing funds to carefully selected candidates? Swing Left, an upstart from the beginning, continues to impress with its “district funds” project, distributing funds to the most competitive candidates. If you like the idea of proximity, they will help you find the swing district closest to you. Years ago, Emily’s List was an upstart too, and now they are a veteran funder helping sway elections on behalf of pro-choice Democratic women.  There are also inventive projects that help activists in Democratic enclaves find and support state legislative candidates in other districts. Sister Districts is looking for money for these candidates, but they are also looking for volunteer help. They have organized working teams in several areas. It is not too late to search and find some kindred spirits with whom you can work.
2) If You Donate to Just One Candidate, Let it Be Heidi Heitkamp
	We could beat Dean Heller in Nevada and pick up the open seats in Arizona and Tennessee. We could defend Joe Donnelly’s Senate seat in Indiana, and Claire McCaskill’s seat in Missouri. A lot of good things can happen, but we could still fall just short of taking back the Senate majority if we lose Heidi Heitkamp’s very tight race in North Dakota. She won by 3,000 votes in 2012 in a state where Barack Obama was losing to Mitt Romney by 60,000 votes, so has proven herself to be an able campaigner. Yes, this is a race that will attract donors from across the country. But, yes, we still need to send Heidi Heitkamp our $50 or whatever we can put together. She is giving it everything she has, so let’s give her something that we have.  If thinking about the small but real chance we have to win back the Senate is capturing your undivided attention, it certainly would not hurt at all to send some money to Claire McCaskill too.
3) Sign Up to Back Up Michelle Obama
	As reviewed in a previous missive, Michelle Obama has a massive new project to register voters, called When We All Vote. She is backed up by everyone from Lin Manuel Miranda to Tom Hanks, and now she needs to be backed up by all of us.  When We All Vote is sponsoring a huge Week of Action from September 22 to 29. They need event sponsors and volunteers. It’s time to sign up to see what’s going on and see how we can help.  It is important to remember that in taking this on as her singular project during election season, Michelle Obama is setting a different course than what was advocated by Democratic campaign strategists. They have seen voter registration and even get out the vote efforts as the sideshow, not the show. They would rather have the former First Lady endorsing candidates and participating in campaign rallies. What she knows is this year is different. Her organization, and Rock the Vote, and the League of Women Voters, and scores of other efforts could make an exceptional difference in districts that heretofore have been Republican-leaning. Many of these have lower Trump approval ratings but nonetheless need a jolt to the voter base.

Donald Trump is going to spend from now until November 6 doing rallies for mean-spirited candidates and making things up. Robert Mueller will file a hugely consequential report. For our part, we intend to go out and win an election.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington