#36: Fox Found Lodging in Chicken Coop

This is the next of a new series of missives on our unfinished work to restore the promise of our country and its government. Each will focus on a single element of the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Each will provide three steps we can all take to build upon our huge victories winning back the House in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020. 

Please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, Our Unfinished Work, every three to four weeks.

Lachlan Murdoch, Co-Chair, Newscorp (owner of Fox News): 

“A news organization (1) has an obligation to report the news (2) without fear (3) or favor (4). And that is what Fox News has always (5) done and always will do. (6)”

(1) The term “news organization” is more correctly applied to organizations that do not knowingly lie about the outcome of a presidential election.

(2) Commonly the term “news” refers to things that have actually happened, not things that you are set on lying about, including your presentation on the “tourists” that overran the Capitol on January 6.

(3) The term” without fear” is compelling to be sure. Saying things you have admitted internally are crazy so that you won’t lose viewers to the right wing Newsmax shows that you acted with fear, not without it.

(4) Lachlan, it is stunning to say that you have acted without favor, since texts discovered in the Dominion lawsuit show that you concentrated every day on how to please Donald Trump.

(5) You should be saying never, not always.

(6) When do you expect what you always will do to begin?

William Randolph Hearst called Franklin Delano Roosevelt a “Socialist, Communist, and Bolshevik”. In our nation’s history, there are plenty of political rags or soapboxes masquerading as news organizations. It is harder to find one that has done more damage to this country than Fox News. Because of Fox News coverage and the pronouncements of their commentators, a third of Americans still think the 2020 election was stolen, even though Fox News (which convinced them it was so) itself did not believe it to be so!

The damage to American confidence in elections going forward is huge, and the monetary damages that Fox will owe Dominion Voting will be huge as well, despite Lachlan Murdoch’s ludicrous statement that Fox acted “without fear or favor”. There is little consolation that the Murdoch owned New York Post headlined Trump’s new bid for the Presidency “Florida Man Makes Announcement” and put it on page 26. Their new man is Ron DeSantis, who is already being afforded their brand of fearful favoritism.

The fact that for seven years Trump and Fox shared ownership of Trump and Fox has misled people into considerable misunderstanding of Trump’s future.

If you have been a Fox follower during this time, you are trained by endless, repetitive Fox stimuli that all media disclosures about Trump (no matter what conduct is being disclosed) is not evidence of any perfidy or iniquity but rather another of a series of attempts to unfairly wound or remove Trump. The rest of the nation wants these Trump supporters to say, “This time Donald Trump has just gone too far” by taking classified documents, or organizing or praising insurrectionists, or loving Putin and bribing Stormy Daniels, or pandering to Putin and loving Stormy Daniels. “Gone too far” are words that will never escape the lips of this cohort. There is no use wishing this will happen. Trump’s bad deeds and the resultant public criticism are their elixir.

As the preeminent narcissist of his time, all this makes Donald Trump happy, to have undying support among a third of Republicans. He could show up at 98 years old in a blizzard in Ashtabula and there would be a small crowd there waving MAGA signs and saying the blizzard was a media plot.

This makes Republican election officials very unhappy because what makes Donald Trump and MAGA loyalists’ lives complete are the very same acts that convince everyone else not to support him ever again. He is poison to independent voters and a proven guarantor of high Democratic turnout. He has gone too far to turn back, locking himself in as a permanent loser for himself and his party. Thus, Republican elected officials are divided into these four groups, now separately populated by one person, two people, dozens of people and the largest group, everyone else:

• Lindsay Graham, once John McCain’s best friend who has now reached an astonishing level of sycophancy. To be able to know in advance what the highest level of obsequiousness would be and to be able to regularly exceed that level is a rare talent. There is no school for this.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, who love their Twitter following and thus love Trump.
• Chris Sununu, Larry Hogan, Asa Hutchison, Chris Christie and others who know Trump is taking their party down with him and say so.
• All other Republican elected officials, who are afraid to make it clear for fear of retribution, but who desperately want Trump to withdraw from public life.

Watching these elected officials is a lot like viewing Odysseus trying to get past Scylla, scary for the rest of us to know about, but epic, nonetheless. It shouldn’t keep us from doing these three things:

1) Enroll in Media Matters
	Finally, a nonprofit has emerged to relentlessly monitor and expose Fox News and other conservative media. Their analyses of what is being said and what is being purposely ignored is invaluable. Their latest reports include how the media is ignoring the background of the federal judge who is a about to rule on the abortion pill, and how Fox News has ignored Trump’s engendering threats against Prosecutor Alvin Bragg. Connecting with Media Matters does not itself represent political action, but it is the necessary underpinning. Get on the list and/or offer support at https://www.mediamatters.org/.
2) Understand What is Happening on Choice at the Local Level
	The 2022 Congressional elections and successful battles in several state legislatures in Michigan, North Carolina and elsewhere demonstrate that post-Dobbs choice activism is very strong. In addition to supporting such national political powerhouses as NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, activists need to focus on strengthening support networks for women and grassroots political action in states that have criminalized abortion. Now from the National Network of Abortion Funds comes this very complete list of organizations gathering resources for local support.
3) Start Now to Beat Lauren Boebert
	In 2022, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz won re-election by sizable margins in very conservative districts. Nearly equally destructive Lauren Boebert barely squeaked by in Colorado’s 3rd District, beating City Councilman Adam Frisch by 563 votes. Boebert calls for more “grace” in government. Her demonstration of grace is toting a gun on Capitol Hill and shouting at Joe Biden while he was trying to deliver the State of the Union. Adam Frisch has already launched his 2024 campaign. If you aren’t ready to donate, leave a message on Lauren Boebert’s office phone 202-225-4761 saying that graceful people eschew shouting during the State of the Union. If you want to boost Adam Frisch, there is no time like the present.

It seems like the course of events in America means activists are called upon to enter the fray every single week. That’s the way it is going to be. There isn’t any alternative, and the rewards are plentiful.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#35: Trump Derails, Causes Toxic Incident

This is the next of our series of missives on our unfinished work to restore the promise of our country and its government. Each will focus on a single element of the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Each will provide three steps we can all take to build upon our huge victories winning back the House in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020. 

If you are not already on out mailing list, please click here to be added. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, Our Unfinished Work, every three to four weeks.

In 2018, Donald Trump took apart the Obama administration rules that required advanced braking technology for trains carrying hazardous materials, which might well have prevented the train crash in East Palestine, Ohio. 

This is not the first time that he has derailed things and generated toxic outcomes in America, and not the first time that he has disavowed any responsibility. He has derailed a lot more than 34 cars, most notably trust in the American election process.

Happily, even before his imminent multiple indictments for massive election fraud, only 42% of Republicans want him to run again, according to a Fox News poll. What a piece of work, that man. It turns out that the Fox anchors who were mocking liberals for having “Trump derangement syndrome” were displaying those symptoms themselves in January 2022 as Trump’s efforts to undermine the democracy were at full tilt. 

As the Dominion lawsuit has established, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity and Rupert Murdoch himself thought that Trump lawyer Sidney Powell was crazy. Behind the scenes, Carlson said that Powell was lying about Dominion voting machines. On the air, he stressed that he was witnessing “the greatest crime in American history.” He knew that he was betraying the trust of his viewers in doing so, but told colleagues that Trump was “a demonic force” who could “destroy us”. Murdoch even suggested that Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham go on the air together to declare the election over. It didn’t happen because they all thought the small competitor Newsmax would take their viewers.

To this day, over half of Republicans remain suckered by Trump’s big lie, but a quarter have concluded his election denial has “threatened democracy”. Joe Biden’s national speech on the rending of democracy and the assault on Paul Pelosi helped Democrats keep the Senate and narrow the expected margin in the House.

Ironically, the reason why many Republicans don’t want Trump to run again is not that he inspired an insurrection or sought to block the peaceable transfer of power through election fraud. It is not that he is malevolent. It is because they believe they are less likely to win elections when he is their leader. Wherever would they get such an idea! They are just now understanding that they were disadvantaged by Trump in the elections of 2018, 2020, and 2022 and will be in every election where they hand him the microphone. Trump has insisted on picking candidates who themselves are election denialists, turning independent voters away. In addition, he is a major force in helping Democrats get out their vote.

One would think that Republicans would be weary of Trump labeling every Republican elected official who fails to genuflect to him a Republican in Name Only (RINO). Apparently, he thinks he re-invented the party of Lincoln. Wait, he did! So now they must figure out how to keep Trump from running while not triggering his vicious and relentless attacks on whomever prevails as their candidate.

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have separate approaches on this. DeSantis is staying out of Trump’s way, and instead is betting his ranch on whatever cultural wars he can magnify or invent. He is banking on Trump’s upcoming indictments impeding his candidacy. It has been said that Nikki Haley “can’t decide” whether she is with Trump or not. Of course, she can. She doesn’t choose to do so because exclusively choosing either path would destroy her candidacy. Her argument that the presidency needs a generational shift is intended to catch Trump in the health and age disqualifiers that Republicans have placed on Joe Biden.

The other dilemma besides having Donald Trump on their side is that Republicans hold minority positions on election integrity, the right to choose, the need to ban assault weapons, and the government’s obligation to raise the debt ceiling. Plus, their right wing is pushing a Putin protection plan for Ukraine. No wonder DeSantis is focusing on third grade classrooms.

Joe Biden is better off being the President rather than being the President and an announced candidate at the same time. He is continuing to build his voter approval and is guarding against being thought of as a lame duck. But running at 82 is still a bad idea, since at age 82-86 the body’s weakening is inevitable, the oath of office notwithstanding. He may decide not to run. 

So, we aren’t talking about Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore. J.B. Pritzker, or any other fresh candidates for President, to say nothing about solid candidates left over from 2020. That gives us the extra opportunity to work harder on these three things: 

1) Refocus on Ranked Voice Voting
	There have been countless distractions that keep us all from thinking about ranked choice voting. The argument in its favor is that it makes a voter’s choices more consequential and can help detoxify one on one campaigns. In 2022, members of Congress Jared Golden of Maine and Mary Peltola of Alaska were elected through ranked choice processes, which have also been adopted by numerous cities and towns. Time to find out more. The national organization Fair Vote is the best place to go to figure out what is happening in each state and decide whether this is a commitment you want to make.
2) Make a Tax-Exempt Off Year Investment
	It seems a relief to not get a hundred appeals a week from candidates and political organizations. One could let one’s bank account recover. This respite could allow those with the resources to think about nonprofits who are doing important work protecting democracy and to whom charitable tax-exempt donations can be made. Here are three organizations who qualify and who could use a boost. In addition to itemized contributions, they accept Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) from retirement accounts. The Brennan Center for Justice continues to be one of the premier organizations in the country fighting against voter suppression. The Mi Familia Vota Education Fund promotes Latino citizen participation in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas.  It is the sister organization of the political advocacy organization Mi Familia Vota, which has been strongly supported by followers of this missive. In only a few years, Common Power (formerly Common Purpose) has emerged as one of the nation’s leading advocates for a just and inclusive democracy. Its tax-exempt educational wing is Common Power Futures.
3) Read a Poem
	It wouldn’t be incorrect to time the political movement we are all in from June 15, 2015, when Donald Trump sullied the value of escalators everywhere by using one to descend into his announcement for the presidency. Given the toll that Trump has exacted, it’s a good idea to restore oneself through poetry. The writer of this missive had the opportunity to do so, blessedly receiving this affirmation from the dear Janet Knox. When day darkened you found a small trail at the corner of the field, trod by light of foot. You brought back the light. In spring, a small strawberry between the teeth. When leaves thin to gold and fall, crouch low now leap to grab a last red apple. Sweet small things so sweet.  You wrote such truth and truth it was not rote.

In November 2016, we found ourselves in a big hole. It took years of effort to climb out. Let’s keep on moving further away from the edge.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#34: Dear Joe Biden, Please Don’t Run for Re-election

This is the next of our series of missives on our unfinished work to restore the promise of our country and its government. Each will focus on a single element of the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Each will provide three steps we can all take to build upon our huge victories winning back the House in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020. 

Please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, Our Unfinished Work, every three to four weeks.

Dear President Joe Biden,

First, I want to thank you for being President of the United States. You took office at an extraordinarily difficult time, beating a candidate who sought to overthrow our government. You have restored the NATO alliance and led the international effort to defend Ukraine from Russia and Vladimir Putin. Working with the narrowest of margins in the House and the Senate, you secured the enactment of consequential new programs to rebuild our infrastructure, fight climate change, increase international competitiveness, and reduce child poverty. It was the most successful legislative session since the New Deal, and it would not have happened without you.

I am writing today to ask you not to seek re-election. Undoubtedly this is a difficult decision for you. You have had a fifty-year career in American politics because you are always ready for the next challenge. You are ready to go today, and you would relish a rematch with Donald Trump.

However, Donald Trump is not going to be the Republican candidate. He will be indicted by the Justice Department. His support will continue to fall away. Instead, Republicans will nominate someone at least a generation younger. The Democratic Party should do that too. 

Mr. President, if you were to win, you would be 82 years old when you started your second term and 86 at the end. That means there are two huge risks for us related to your prospective candidacy. First, we run the risk that our citizens will be so concerned about your health and longevity that they will be unwilling to elect you. Second, if you were to be elected, the odds are considerable that you would be unable to serve with the focus or energy that the job requires. Not even presidents are exempt from the inescapable truths of aging.

Perhaps it is the hardest job in the world from which to walk away. Nonetheless, we need you to hold your head high and do exactly that. It is that time in American history that we can’t afford to lose the presidency or have a president who is not fully capable of serving.

Once we lost the House (albeit narrowly) and Kevin McCarthy sold every bit of his soul to the “Freedom” Caucus, the dangers of serving as a lame duck diminished. You will be able to do your international work relatively free from McCarthy’s puppet masters, who won’t be able to alter the efforts to help Ukraine. On domestic issues, you will be playing defense the whole two years, whether you are a lame duck or not. You can use your considerable skills in working across the aisle to get a budget deal and avoid a government shutdown.

We are not shying away from you. You can help spur the younger talent that is emerging, especially among American governors. All the potential candidates are your political children. Amy Klobuchar is 62, and Michelle Obama is just turning 60. The compelling new Maryland governor Wes Moore is 44 and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer is 51. Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro is 48, Gavin Newsom 55, and the eloquent Cory Booker is 53. Kamala Harris is 62 and Pete Buttigieg is the youngster at 40.

We can win with a new generation of leaders. Please walk out the door proudly and help us get this done. In the meantime, we will do all that we can to help you, while Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries deal with the dumpster fire which is the House Republican caucus.

Thanks for all your hard work on our behalf.

David Harrison

Bainbridge Island, Washington

And furthermore…

While Joe Biden is considering what activists across the country would or would not prefer for him to do, we have before us the challenges presented by a House of Representatives uncommonly steered by its worst members. Even with his distressing concessions (and those we don’t know about) the way the House works will automatically make McCarthy a powerful figure. This is because the speaker has a huge impact on what gets put before the House, how it is framed and debated, and what amendments will be entertained.

True, McCarthy sacrificed some of his flexibility on this front, notably with regard to the upcoming battle over the debt ceiling, in which he promised framing that will make it much more difficult to avoid government closure. But it is not clear that he had any other path. There are hardly any moderates, just conservatives that differ as to tactics, their support of the Defense budget, and whether they have any regard for Congress as an institution. There is a misconception that the non-maniacal members of the Caucus could have banded with 10 Democrats to elect McCarthy speaker and avoid all the concessions. That could never have happened, because it would have cost McCarthy fifty Republican votes from members who would have been horrified at such a thing.

There’s plenty to do in preparing for the 2024 election, in which we will be electing a President, taking back the House and defending a number of swing district Democratic Senators, like Jon Tester in Montana and (yes) Joe Manchin in West Virginia. What to do now about House Republicans, besides watching Jim Jordan overreach and thus offer us some campaign themes for 2024? Here are three non-spendy things to take care of well in advance of supporting campaigns.

1) Talk to Your Realtor Today
	Accountable has done an excellent job of identifying companies who continue to support election deniers. Surprisingly, the top giver to deniers in this election cycle was the National Association of Realtors, which sent $821,000 to members of Congress who continue to promote the big lie. This is not a distant organization unfamiliar to your favorite local realtor. With a million and half members, it is your local realtor! Call one or more who you know and see if they know what their national organization is doing. Send your realtor friend this handy contact form so they can contact NAR with ease.
2) Exhort the Problem Solvers Caucus
	It would be inaccurate to say that the process for selecting the Speaker of the House de-fanged the bi-partisan Problem Solvers Caucus because they were never fanged in the first place. Nonetheless, those who signed up for this organization of 28 Republican and 28 Democratic House Members openly consort with each other on policy issues! You could elect to get their news alerts just to see what they are addressing. An even more focused approach would be to write Republican co-chair Brian Fitzpatrick and urge him to be everywhere in resolving the upcoming debt limit crisis. He has already said that defaulting on any part of the debt is unthinkable, so let him know you are with him. Here’s his handy contact form which does not disqualify you if you aren’t from Pennsylvania.
3) Protect Medicare
	Whether or not you are a beneficiary, you want the upcoming debt ceiling battle to protect Medicare, which is a key element of the social safety net with Medicaid and Social Security. Many House Republicans want to put Medicare on the table as a part of the debt ceiling discussions. At the same time, they want to cut the new Internal Revenue Service positions which will generate $110 billion in new revenue. Ways and Means Committee Republican member and conservative Drew Ferguson of Georgia says Medicare ought to be protected. Call his district office at 770-683-2033 and tell them he is right about that.

Don’t let these be the dog days of political activism. The turmoil is in the Republican Party, and it isn’t going away any time soon. Let’s take advantage.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#33: Our Seven Non-Perishable Holiday Gifts to America

This is the next of our series of missives on our unfinished work to restore the promise of our country and its government. Each will focus on a single element of the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Each will provide three steps we can all take to build upon our huge victories winning back the House in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020. 

If you are not already receiving our email blasts, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, Our Unfinished Work, every three to four weeks.

The future is promising, for all sorts of reasons. Republicans are split in at least three ways, with pro-Trump and non-Trump MAGA-its and those who don’t want MAGA to be the definer. There is every reason to believe their conflicts will intensify, including in the House of Representatives. Joe Biden just achieved the most successful two-year legislative record since The New Deal. Independents are estranged from Republican candidates. A woman’s right to choose will be with us aas a driver of votes until that right is again guaranteed. Inflation is abating and gas prices are lower. Biden has created and sustained an impressive international coalition to protect Ukraine. 

There is little chance that Donald Trump will be nominated and no chance he will be elected to the Presidency in 2024. There is a distinct advantage to Democrats anytime Donald Trump does or says anything. It is a huge understatement to say the release of his tax returns and his impending criminal charges have worsened his situation. That doesn’t reverse the huge damage he has caused democratic systems, nor eliminate further threats to election integrity. Nonetheless, it is not lost upon Republicans that continuing to lie about the 2020 presidential election is to their great disadvantage. What a gift to Katie Hobbs, Gretchen Whitmer, Raphael Warnock, and countless others.

On the Democratic side, Joe Biden will decide not to run for re-election, because he knows even better than you that he will not have the stamina at age 82 to run and serve. This means the monumental movement to win back America that has had great success from 2018 on will have to generate its energy while multiple candidates seek to become its leader.

We are up to the challenge. Whatever “woke” could possibly mean, we are wide awake. We are aware and proud of what we have accomplished and are not even close to satisfied. We wouldn’t mind at least a temporary decrease in requests for money from candidates, but we are otherwise ready to do everything we can in 2023 to make certain we get the right results in 2024. Here’s the list of seven things we could pin on the refrigerator or next to the nightstand.

1) Attend to Your Community
	Perhaps you live someplace where the attention to the Bill of Rights seems unabated and where elected officials are continually exploring what government can or should do with and for the people. Even in those places, the need for vigilance is ever present. Are local governments reaching out to citizens, or creating antipathy? Are books protected in the library, and patients and their choices protected in the hospital? Are good candidates emerging for local positions? Should you be considering running for local office, or recruiting a candidate?
2) Maintain Voter Registration Efforts
	For a long time, you have been meaning to examine the extent to which young people turning 18 are registering to vote, and whether there are systems to connect with people who have not done so? Are local high schools, community colleges and four-year colleges administering programs that register people as they become 18? Which of any partners are engaged? Check and see if the League of Women Voters is active or start your own voter registration group. It would not be difficult to do your own “audit” or what is happening in your area. Get on the mailing list of the national organization When We All Vote, to which Michelle Obama has devoted her time. As important, check to make sure your own legislators support easy registration and voting by mail. The National Vote at Home Institute keeps a scorecard of state practices. You can examine it and/or offer to help.
3) Boost Underrepresented Groups
	Organizations bent on improving Latino registration and voting had an enormous impact on the positive outcomes in Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and New Mexico. One premier organization is Mi Familia Vota, which for years has used energy and inventiveness to have an outsized impact. You can make charitable contributions to the Mi Familia Vota Education Fund If you are 72 or older, you can send them part or all of the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your Individual Retirement Account.

4) Defeat the Deniers
	Election deniers were themselves denied on November 8. Four Republican candidates for Secretary of State in swing states (Michigan, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada) featured their rejection of the 2020 presidential election results, even though these positions include the supervision of elections! All four were defeated. Our movement needs to stay on this path by blocking corporate contributions to the 147 members of the House of Representatives who sought to block certification of the presidential election in 2020. The excellent organization Accountable US which monitors uneven and sometimes sordid corporate behavior is an outstanding resource for you or your organization to hold companies responsible. After promising after the insurrection not to support these members of Congress, several well known technology companies have forgotten their pledge. You can use Accountable US to keep you informed or to figure out how to put some pressure on individual companies.
5) Keep Choice in the Forefront
	Six states had choice on the ballot in November, and the pro-choice position prevailed in all six. Pro-choice forces are already evaluating which states to emphasize for ballot initiatives in 2024, since some states have statutes that limit initiatives and referenda, and others may have a legislative or legal path to victory before then.  Initiatives have already been filed in South Dakota and Oklahoma! It's time to use NARAL Pro-Choice America to understand where your state stands and time to provide some new energy if initiatives and referenda are permitted in your state.
6) Fight Voter Suppression
	There is a myth that there was no voter suppression in Georgia since there was a record turnout that re-elected Senator Raphael Warnock. Even otherwise commendable Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger has maintained the position. However, as Senator Warnock has emphasized, if restricted Saturday voting (meant to reduce the African-American vote) means that voters have to stand in line for hours, it is still suppression, it just wasn’t entirely successful. We can stay focused by making sure we receive updates and alerts from the anti-suppression efforts of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

7) Recharge Reluctant Republicans

The weaker Donald Trump gets, the more Republicans show up to say things like they can’t understand why their party isn’t more intent on getting their supporters to vote by mail. How could that possibly have happened? We might want to stay on the alert for the Republicans who pretend they are in the forefront in protecting the Constitution when they are still peeking out from behind the curtain. But it is still good to recognize that there is a home in the House for Republicans who would not themselves storm the capitol. This is the Republican Governance Group (RGG) of 40 or so members, some of which are moderates. They plan to serve as a counterpoint to the Freedom Caucus, but time is about to tell whether they have what it takes. RGG member Nancy Mace of South Carolina has passed the test. She had the courage to decry Trump’s role in the insurrection. She was subsequently challenged in the Republican primary by a Trump endorsed candidate and won. Use this handy form and ask her to use the Republican Party’s bare four seat majority as a reason for her to expand her reach across the aisle.

It isn’t besmirching you as a part of the movement to protect America to say that around now after six years your energies start to flag. This has been a long haul. Please keep it up.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#32: They’d Take Your Soul if You Let Them

This is the next of a new series of missives on our unfinished work to restore the promise of our country and its government. Each will focus on a single element of the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Each will provide three steps we can all take to build upon our huge victories winning back the House in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020. 

If you are not already receiving our email blasts, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, Our Unfinished Work, every three to four weeks.

Nothing wrong with a little reveling and joy-jumping that there was no Republican surge. When someone is trying to drive a stake through the heart of Lady Liberty, it is a delight to help make them miss. It is an obligation too, which we have fulfilled in 2018, 2020 and now 2022. Each of those three election cycles, we have generated a historically impressive voter turnout. We are part of a huge resistance movement, and we demonstrate the necessary energy and commitment every week. And we will be right where we need to be in 2024 as well.

With pending indictments and dispiriting November 8 results, the con man known as Donald Trump is sliding downhill, but not as fast as many Republicans would like. The Republican leaders like Chris Christie and Asa Hutchison and Pat Toomey who are criticizing him now are still selected from the ranks of those he can’t execute.

By now it is obvious to most sitting Republican Senators and Governors that if Trump stays around until 2024, he will select their awful candidates, rally Democratic voters, deny election results, and display relentless, intense, voter repelling self-admiration. They know that the very approaches he deploys to win the allegiance of his declining base are the strategies that drive independent voters away. But they can’t quit him. They still fear that an open break with him would cause him to burn their houses down, perhaps only metaphorically.

A seat Republicans lost in Southwest Washington tells everything one needs to know. In the primary, Republicans threw out their member of Congress, Jamie Herrera Butler. She had not only voted to impeach Trump, but she had sinned by disclosing what Trump said to Kevin McCarthy. Pleading with Trump to send troops, McCarthy told him that the insurrectionists were “F---ing trying to kill me! Trump said “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”

The Trump led forces offered up a candidate who hired one of the Proud Boys as a campaign consultant, pledged to investigate the FBI, and called for Anthony Fauci to be charged with murder. So small business owner and Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez won, to the surprise of the New York Times and the Cook Report. On election night, stories like this played out across America. Republicans proved that they’d take your soul if you let them, so don’t you let them. (Carole King, You’ve Got a Friend)

Other than the astonishing round of candidates kissing at least the hem of Trump’s robe, these things happened of special note:

• The post-Roe pro-choice vote emerged. It was high in virtually all the swing states, and huge in states like Michigan where a pro-choice constitutional amendment won 57-43%. Michigan Democrats hold the Governorship and both houses of the State Legislature for the first time in 40 years. Pro-choice measures also won in every other place they were on the ballot, including Montana, Kentucky, California, and Vermont.
• Joe Biden’s last-minute reminders that democracy was on the ballot resonated, especially in light of the attack on Paul Pelosi. The pre-election worry was that Republican candidates who denied Biden’s 2020 election would win their races for Secretary of State and thus manage future elections in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, and New Mexico. All four of these candidates found denial was the path to defeat.
• The media got overly fond of the narrative that inflation concerns were prevailing and presaging a Republican surge. David Brooks and Chuck Todd were flat out suckered by Republican affiliated polls that pushed the anticipated Republican advantage in the generic Congressional vote to 3%. In the average of non-partisan polls, Democrats and Republicans were tied.

The monumental legislation that Joe Biden secured in the past year included the largest climate protection, infrastructure investment and child poverty reduction efforts ever. During the lame duck session, they will get a bi-partisan coalition to codify and thus protect gay marriage and sharpen the election certification process. 

After that, the bare Republican majority in the House will make everything more difficult. The good news and the bad news is that Kevin McCarthy will look for red meat for his House members by trying to close down the government over fiscal issues. As usual, their efforts will include overreaching that will play to the Democrat’s longer-term advantage.

Beyond ultimately passing budgets and raising the debt ceiling, the next two years will be about securing judicial appointments (which require only a bare Senate majority), defending Ukraine, and setting up for the 2024 election. At 82, Joe Biden will end up not being a candidate, and there will thus be a generational shift.

Let’s make some more momentum by doing these three things:

1) Win With Warnock
	We are not out of time to help Revered Raphael Warnock. Even though we already have the majority, Rev. Warnock winning will decrease Joe Manchin’s influence and give us a head start toward 2024, when we will be defending 23 of the 34 seats up for election. Rev. Warnock winning will keep us from having to adjudicate Herschel Walker’s findings on whether a werewolf would defeat a vampire. Postcard-senders, time to redouble! There is also a way to make a donation that will fund critical campaign efforts immediately. Georgia’s population includes one million Latinos!  Our extraordinary success in Arizona and Nevada has been hugely dependent on Mi Familia Vota and other Latino political organizers. Mi Familia Vota has the proven infrastructure in place in order to make a tangible difference and turn out the votes in critical elections like this because their presence in Latino communities is year-round, not just when elections happen. In Georgia, they are already knocking on 20,000 progressive Latino doors to get out the vote. Paired with a comprehensive 300,000 phone calls, 300,000 texts, TV, radio, and digital program (in English and Spanish!) – they are ready. Making certain they have all the resources they need is a gift to our country.  And here is the handy link.
2) Talk to Nicki Haley About Lowering the Temperature
	During the final days before the November 8 election, former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said Raphael Warnock “should be deported” over her differences with him on immigration issues. Raphael Warnock was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1969, the eleventh of twelve children of two Pentecostal preachers. Nikki Haley, herself the children of immigrants, knows better than this.  This is a contact form for Nikki Haley’s Stand for America. Please fill it out and calmly tell her what you think about her offensive statement.
3) Focus on One More December Runoff
	Activist Bill McClain emphasizes that there is a second consequential runoff going on in December. The battle to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increase renewable energy has reached the Louisiana Public Service Commission. The runoff between Devante Adams and fossil fuel advocate Lambert Boissiere will be close, and even a small check now would boost Adams. The Commission has enormous power to approve energy projects. If Adams wins, renewable energy advocates will have the majority of the five-member Commission. If you are wondering what little thing you could do on climate change could turn out to be a big thing, this is it.

We have been at this since 2016. The unexpected results of November 8 have lifted us, and we are ready to start fighting to retain the Presidency in 2024.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#31: Georgia on our Minds

There will be an Unfinished Work missive on the November 8 election next week. Meanwhile as Katie Hobbs defeats Kari Lake in Arizona, we revel that we defeated prominent election deniers across the country. 

Our eyes turn to Georgia, where Reverend Raphael Warnock needs all of our help to beat a man who is unqualified to be a United States Senator.

Please keep up your postcard-writing and all of your other efforts. And then help Mi Familia Vota expand their reach with the one million Latinos in Georgia!

Our extraordinary success in Arizona and Nevada has been hugely dependent on Mi Familia Vota and other Latino political organizers 

Mi Familia Vota has the proven infrastructure in place in order to make a tangible difference and turn out the votes in critical elections like this because their presence in Latino communities is year round, not just when elections happen. 

In Georgia, they are already knocking on 20,000 progressive Latino doors to get out the vote. Paired with a comprehensive 300,000 phone calls, 300,000 texts, TV, radio, and digital program (in English and Spanish!) – they are ready. Making certain they have all the resources they need is a gift to our country. 

And here is the handy link.

David Harrison 

Bainbridge Island, Washington 

#30: We're Not Going Away

This is the next of a new series of missives on our unfinished work to restore the promise of our country and its government. Each will focus on a single element of the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Each will provide steps we can all take to build upon our huge victories winning back the House in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020. 

Please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, Our Unfinished Work, every three to four weeks.

A lot of unusual things have happened in American politics and government. Donald Trump is not even our first ignoble insurrectionist. After nearly becoming President in 1800, Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in 1804. In 1807 he was tried for insurrection over a plot to take over much of the Southeastern United States. 

But Burr lost his following early. Is there anything more astounding politically that J.D. Vance and Ted Budd and Mehmet Oz declaring their deep and abiding love for Trump after he sought to prevent the peaceful transition of power? Not only have they done this, but they also know that they would not be the party’s nominee if they had not. At one time, spearheading an attempted coup or even supporting it would have been disqualifying. That this is not presently the case shames our country.

We have suffered some significant damage to our democracy. This damage does not come over deep divisions or strident views, but primarily from the discrediting of the means through which we select our leaders. Working our way back to where we were in 2016 will be difficult, to say nothing for building a society where our better angels are more visible.

What we need now is to be heading in the right direction, every month. It is self-evident that a considerable number of those who will be populating the halls of Congress in January don’t see it our way, and do not acknowledge the danger that is so vivid to us. Because we have the Presidency we will prevail, especially if we manage to keep it in 2024. However, it matters very much who controls the House and Senate, who has the majority and the gavel.

It is said that we have a good chance to maintain the majority in the Senate, and a considerably smaller chance to maintain our majority in the House. That we are this close in an off-year election is testimony to the quality of our candidates, the scale and relentlessness of our collective efforts, and the Supreme Court’s galvanizing overturning of Roe v. Wade.

At this point, it is not wise to view either leading or trailing in a race as the inevitable result. In the hugely significant polling on the “generic Congressional race” there was news a week ago that there had been a shift toward voting Republican. David Brooks reported this a bit too breathlessly. But since then, polls by Politico/Morning Consult and Gallup have called those findings into question or signaled a change from those polling periods. Midweek, the Politico polls showed Democrats at +5%. There will be final sand shifting even though ballots are already being cast.

Let’s have the election. Let’s keep our sights on every House member who is in play. Let’s focus on John Fetterman, Cheri Beasley, Tim Ryan, Val Demings and Mandela Barnes to take back a Senate seat and Raphael Warnock, Catherine Cortez-Mastro, Mark Kelly and Maggie Hassan to defend their seats. 

On the morning of November 9, there will be races that will be agonizingly close, where the winner has not been declared. What if we anticipated one of those races and jumped on the scale one more time, right now? Let’s do this one thing.

1) Support Mi Familia Vota Radio Ads in Nevada
	Ten days before the election, donors need to make sure that any support they provide can be put to immediate use. That is exactly the case in the extremely close Senate race in Nevada, where Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez-Mastro is polling even with the mean-spirited Adam Laxalt. It is difficult to believe this man is the affable Pete Domenici’s son. This apple fell far from the tree. Mi Familia Vota is running Spanish language radio ads in Nevada. The more we can help them, the better Catherine Cortez-Mastro’s chances. They are a proven organization which played a key role in Democrats winning in Arizona and in Nevada two years ago. The funds that are provided to them in the next three or four days will bolster this important advertising campaign, designed to influence the voter’s choices but also to get them to the polls. As one of the last things we are doing before voting, we can help win Nevada today, by clicking on this handy link!

There are many millions of us, and we aren’t going away.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington