David Harrison ALERT

This small missive has played an outsized role in boosting Latino voters in the highly contested states of Arizona and Nevada, where our movement gained narrow victories in 2022. Our over $20,000 in support for Mi Familia Vota paid for Spanish language radio ads in Nevada, where Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Mastro won by fewer than 8,000 votes.

Now we have an exceptional off-year investment we need to make. 

As we await the new Trump indictments, the best news of the day is that Mi Familia Vota is now expanding the states in which they work to North Carolina, where there are over a million Latinos. Because we lost by only 1.34% in 2020, these are electoral votes that we can win by investing in more intensive organizing right now. That’s exactly what Mi Familia Vota will be doing across the state.

Mi Familia Vota can receive 501(c)(3) charitable donations for allowable educational purposes. At this point, instead they most need political donations so they can go to the heart of the matter. Utilizing their flagship #Basta program, they will kick off their new efforts in North Carolina to engage progressive Latino voters with a communication campaign targeting extremist state legislators, especially those who have sponsored anti-immigrant bills. They are emphasizing the Congressional Districts where we have the best chance to pick up a seat. 

There is no better political investment to get ready for 2024 than to boost Mi Familia Vota in North Carolina. We have pledged to immediately raise $15,000 to give Mi Familia Vota a strong and immediate start. Can you help us today?

David Harrison

Bainbridge Island, Washington

#39: Ron DeSantis Doesn't Like You At All

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.

Ron DeSantis got it partly right. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for us, the part he got wrong means he won’t be nominated.

He correctly said that Donald Trump has permanently estranged himself from countless independent voters (especially suburban women) and that Republicans who want to win should be bent on nominating someone who has upside potential with those voters. Presumably that would be someone who was not an election results-denying, classified document-disclosing, mirror-loving, untruth-telling soon to be- felon. Republicans are spooked by the upcoming charges against Trump to be filed by Jack Smith and Fani Willis. DeSantis’ original claim that he would do better with independents resonated.

It might have continued to resonate if DeSantis hadn’t been so eager to scorn pretty much everyone besides himself. He hasn’t met you, but he is certain he wouldn’t like you if he did. He is the ultimate grievance cultivator. Seemingly, he is proud of tackling little old ladies on the way to get their COVID vaccines. His list of wrongs is huge, and new wrongs are invented and detailed every day. As he campaigns in Iowa, it is clear to him that every one of us is intent on upending every part of the life of the insurance agent in Keokuk or the farmer in Ottumwa. The more the Trump-rejecting suburban independents learn about DeSantis, the less appeal he has.

That’s why there is another “lane” in the Republican primary, and it’s not the one dominated by Chris Christie, belatedly and understandably paying Donald Trump back for past humiliations. It’s the lane of candidates who a) are not estranged from Trump, b) are not election deniers, and b) can project a positive vision of themselves and their country, even at Republican campaign rallies. Dominating this lane are two politicians from the same state, Senator Tim Scott, and former Governor Nikki Haley.

Their relative likability is especially important because all of the Republican candidates are saddled with minority minority positions on choice, assault weapons and international security. Neither Haley nor Scott has traction yet, but it is still early, Meanwhile, two sitting Governors are casting themselves as the “in an emergency, break this glass” candidates. The first, Georgia’s Brian Kemp will be vetoed by Trump for failing to commit election fraud. The second, Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, is out there seeking to keep his name in play. Don’t let him tell you he is not.

Weirdly, there are Governors waiting in the wings on the Democratic side too. It turns out that being a decent President with an outstanding legislative record does not keep your joints from getting stiff or otherwise exempt you from the inexorable process of aging. More than half of Democrats don’t want Joe Biden to run. This is because the risk is too great that he would suffer a catastrophic event during his campaign or early in his second term, or simply see his energy and/or his cognition deteriorate.

It is still possible that Biden will withdraw. If it happens by fall, it will not have wounded his party appreciably to watch Republican candidates attack each other all summer. Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania are all wannabees, and Wes Moore of Maryland is a future shining star. At this point, the party should go back to the Midwest and choose Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer has a proven record of attracting blue collar voters, which will be helpful in many states, including the must-have states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Democrats who are hoping that Joe Biden won’t run are reading the existing Biden campaign efforts as evidence that he will run. The truth is, Joe Biden would be campaigning and articulating his effective record to this same extent if he were just trying to keep himself from being a lame duck. There is still time for party leaders to intervene and for Joe and Jill Biden to think about this some more. Of course, that window will close by the end of the year.

What we need to be attending to now is how to take full advantage of the pro-choice groundswell, the two next Trump indictments and the unabated Republican internal battles to put more states in play for the 2024 elections.

While we consider which states to strive to add to our column in the 2024 presidential elections, let’s remember where we need to hold onto to states that we narrowly won. These include Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. In each of these states, Donald Trump got more than 47% of the vote.

States that Democrats could put back in play are difficult but intriguing. 

• In North Carolina we just missed picking up a Senate seat with former State Supreme Court justice Cheri Beasley as well as almost securing the electoral vote for Joe Biden. Barack Obama won North Carolina in 2008 and we have lost narrowly ever since. The state’s demographics are changing to our advantage, as is the intense battle over choice, where Republican legislators have overridden Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of their restrictive law.
• In Ohio, we have suffered an impermanent shift in what was once a major swing state. What is providing new opportunity is the battle over choice. Ohioans for Reproductive Rights are certain to get a pro-choice initiative on the ballot in November. The Republican controlled State Legislature is trying to stack the deck in putting up an initiative in August to require the November vote pass with 60% rather than 50%. That sudden change of view of Republicans on protecting the sanctity of the initiative process is likely to fail.
• Florida is not nearly the Republican stronghold that DeSantis wants you to believe. He beat the waning Charlie Crist handily, but Joe Biden got 47.9% of the presidential vote. Republicans have since overplayed their hands in their bizarre whatever-DeSantis-proposes legislative agenda.
• Texas has promise. The renewed effort to beat Ted Cruz is attracting good candidates, political organizers, and money. Here demographics are also in Democrat’s favor. In the last twenty years, Texas’ population has increased by 8.3 million people, and 7.6 million of those are non-white.

With all that incentive to seize the day, let’s do these three things.

1) Target North Carolina with Mi Familia Vota
	In recent elections, Mi Familia Vota has played an enormous role in mobilizing Latino voters in such highly contested states as Arizona and Nevada, where readers of this missive extended them over $20,000 in extra support in 2022. It is very exciting news that they are now expanding their efforts to North Carolina, where there are over a million Latinos. Because we lost by only 1.34% in 2020, these are electoral votes that we can win by investing in more intensive organizing right now. Mi Familia Vota can receive 501(c)(3) charitable donations for allowable educational purposes. At this point, instead they most need political donations so they can go to the heart of the matter. Utilizing their flagship #Basta program, they will kick off their new efforts in North Carolina to engage progressive Latino voters with a communication campaign targeting extremist state legislators, especially those who have sponsored anti-immigrant bills. They are emphasizing the Congressional Districts where we have the best chance to pick up a seat. There is no better political investment to get ready for 2024 than to boost Mi Familia Vota in North Carolina. In this missive, we pledge to immediately raise $15,000 to give Mi Familia Vota a strong and immediate boost, please click here to add your contribution. We have already secured the first $500 donation!
2) Lose Cruz
	The Lose Cruz PAC to defeat Ted Cruz has already launched, aiming to take advantage of Cruz’ trip to Cancun during Texas’ epic storm, among other things. The advantage of giving to a PAC early is it allows for campaign advertising well in advance of when the Democratic Senatorial candidate is selected. Learn more about this PAC here. A strong candidate for Senator will also be helpful in our effort to win the Presidential electoral votes.
3) Pitch in For Ohio
	It isn’t too late to write postcards to entreat voters to reject Ohio’s effort to increase from 50% to 60% the percentage of voters needed to approve an initiative. This effort is the worst sort of politics, since the Republican Party would be dead set against this plan were it not for the chance to restrict a woman’s right to choose. Get your postcard list from the Blue Wave Postcard Movement, which has sent over 5 million personalized postcards since its inception.

If you are taking the summer off from America’s political challenges, please reconsider the consequences.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#38: America Flipped Off by DeSantis, Flipped Out by Trump

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 this by email, 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 Wall Street Journal says that Ron DeSantis needs a self-deprecating sense of humor. Obviously, a complete personality transplant would be in order if modern medicine would only offer it. What a relentlessly unpleasant and meanspirited man DeSantis is. It is almost like he is modeling himself after a former President who would already have patented such behavior if it made him a dollar.

DeSantis is running to the right of Trump! If Trump mentions firearms, DeSantis will get his toadies in the Florida State Legislature to pass a law forcing all Floridians over age 12 to accept the gift of a gun and require them to brandish it. If Trump mentions COVID, DeSantis will say he has personally ripped masks off the faces of the elderly. If Trump is associated with anti-choice legislation, DeSantis will advance a state law that jails pregnant women and their doctors. DeSantis will excuse Putin, pardon insurrectionists, including Trump, and stomp on both Mickey and Minnie Mouse until their wee little mouse bodies are broken.

Why would this be DeSantis’ approach? Fresh from his Florida victory over a fully spent Charlie Crist, DeSantis could have chosen any Republican lane to the right of moderate New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu. He selected his furthest right lane because of the present and anticipated prosecutions of Trump by Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and Letitia James. He thinks they will prevail, and that he will win the MAGA core after Trump’s demise. He would rather have most of Trump’s core than any other Republican cohort. His attacks on Trump are fashioned with that goal in mind, though after Trump's relentless assaults, the DeSantis gloves are starting to come off. DeSantis’ careful position is continually expressed: This is not the same Trump as 2016. 

Former Republican presidential speech writer Peggy Noonan said DeSantis’ vibe “makes you feel he might unplug your life support to recharge his cell phone.” 

It makes one wonder who will emerge as the Republican alternative to this tiny man after a series of indictments drags Trump out of the picture. Certainly not Mike Pence, a man without a following. Not Asa Hutchison, with no base to build upon. Not Tim Scott, a conservative whose x-rays reveal the possible presence of a heart and brain. Nikki Haley? 

More likely, the alternative will be Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, sitting and waiting in the wings, watching the carnage. Of the wannabees, Youngkin is the most able to appeal to independent voters, currently being flipped off by DeSantis and flipped out by Trump. Youngkin has kept his eye on his education agenda, including recovery from COVID-driven declines in reading and math. Former CEO of a private equity firm, he is being characterized as “neither never-Trump nor Trump-lite”.

Also watching are a dozen Democratic presidential aspirants, still not fully believing that understandably weary Joe Biden is running for President. Democrats wary of having an 82-year-old candidate are muting themselves, not wanting to offend Biden or diminish their November 2024 prospects. Earnest and adamant private discussions are needed. 

Now is the time for Barack Obama and Hillary and Bill Clinton and Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to convince Joe Biden he is putting his party at great risk. The fact that the Republicans are tacking even further to the right gives Democrats a huge opportunity to keep the Presidency, take back the House, and defend the Senate. That advantage will be lost if Joe Biden runs for re-election. This is not because of his performance or policies, but because Americans don’t know any 80+ year olds who have the mental acuity and physical stamina and boundless energy the Presidency requires. Fears that Biden would not survive the second term are realistic.

But for now, Joe Biden being the candidate is helpful. His skills are as advertised. With divided government, a narrow majority in the House and a narrow minority in the Senate, this President works across the aisle better than any since Lyndon Johnson. His approval levels are up. With Biden the announced candidate, Democratic candidates can develop their plans and stay out of the line of fire. Any incoming criticism will be soaked up by Biden. If the aspiring candidates are Governors (such as J.B. Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Gavin Newsom, or Wes Moore) currently they can be seen running their states and protecting a women’s right to choose. 

In no way is it Joe Biden’s fault that the debt ceiling debate turned into a bizarre ritualistic game of chicken. Already pledged to avoid default, Kevin McCarthy did what he could to get spending changes without getting so close to default that he and his party could get blamed for a stock market plunge. For his part, Joe Biden pushed the next debt ceiling battle until after the November 2024 elections, itself hugely consequential. He protected his legislative achievements, including carbon reduction incentives and huge infrastructure investments. He kept Medicare off the table and saved the jobs of 77,000 new IRS agents. 

There are defense and farm bills left to pass, but other than that the rest of Biden’s presidency is all about defending Ukraine, strengthening NATO, offending Putin, managing China, celebrating a decreasing inflation rate, and continuing to make progress at the border. Then we are on to the next great electoral adventure, requiring us to do these three things:

1) Put Your Eyes Back on Arizona
	Even after electing Katie Hobbs Governor and re-electing Mark Kelly Senator, there is no question that Arizona is a swing state. We need to do everything we can to secure Arizona for our 2024 presidential candidate, and not let Kristin Sinema’s defection cost us a Senate seat. The way to do that is to get the right to choose on the ballot in November of 2024, which will take over 300,000 signatures. As has been proven in Kansas, Kentucky, and Michigan, the fight for abortion rights is an exceptional way to increase voter turnout. Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom is gathering signatures right now and could use a boost. Also, we can start keeping an eye on South Dakota. Fresh from a successful state initiative expanding Medicaid coverage, activists at Dakotans for Health are aiming to put Roe v. Wade level protections on the state ballot.
2) Ask Joe Biden to Eschew Running for President
	Joe Biden is right to be a proud man. He should be praised for doing everything he can to get the most out of his presidency. The first two years of his term produced the most significant record of legislative achievement since Lyndon Johnson, who had a huge majority with which to work. It is more than a little ironic that an important thing to do is to call Joe Biden, thank him for his service and add your voice to the many who are asking him not to run. His comment line is open from 11 am to 3 pm Eastern time every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. You can call 202-456-1111.
3) Make Sure House Modernization Continues
	One of the small bipartisan victories in the Capitol has been the work of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. It was chaired by Representative Derek Kilmer of Washington State, and 45 of its recommendations were adopted. Now the committee has emerged in the McCarthy led house as a subcommittee of the Committee on House Administration. Those who are at least a tiny bit interested in Congress being more transparent and using 21st century technology can subscribe for free to the news put out by the organization Demand Progress.

It is difficult not to be beaten down by DeSantis and Trump. Their world is built upon being aggrieved. We have a strong chance of getting the country to move away from them.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#37: How Trump Got DeSantis to Punch Mickey Mouse

This is the next in 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 this by email, 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.

Donald Trump makes it a point every day to punch Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who he calls “DeSanctus” or “DeSanctimonious”. It may seem odd since they are of the same ilk, but DeSantis is trying to climb up to the rock that Trump has occupied for seven years and strongly feels is his own personal rock.

Meanwhile, Ron DeSantis is a combative guy and would love to punch Donald Trump back. However, he is betting that Trump will fall under the multiple federal and state indictments he is about to face. He wants to be there just after it happens so that he can say right away that the Republican Party needs a candidate who is not “distracted”. At that time, he will want the love of Trump supporters, so he can’t attack Trump forcefully now. Casting around for alternatives, he has chosen to punish a nearby mouse.

This spectacle will please Democrats every day that it is the Republican main event. The selection of a squeaky little rodent is based upon labored reasoning. Because Disney opposed DeSantis’ antediluvian “Don’t Say Gay” law, DeSantis identifies them as representative of an intolerable nationwide “wokeness”. At least ten independent voters have been drawn to DeSantis’ quest. The fact is, Mickey is more beloved than DeSantis, which is not setting the bar high.

The genuine policy disagreements between Trump and DeSantis are few. At this point, they are arguing about who has been more eager to leave us all vulnerable to a communicable disease that has killed 1,124,063 of our neighbors, friends, and relatives. Both have registered their Putin-preferences, making the invasion of Ukraine a “regional dispute” rather than an attack on a sovereign, democratic nation. Both are standing between a woman and her doctor on the right to choose. Both are climate denialists and AK-47 protectors. All these are losing positions with independent voters.

Now that he is an official candidate (whether he ends up running for President or not) Joe Biden’s assignment is to act presidential, lead on the world stage, reduce immigration problems, and whip inflation not now, but by November of 2024. He can do all those things. With Kevin McCarthy as speaker, there will be no more sweeping legislation, but Joe Biden got it when he could. In the next month or so, he will be avoiding a government shutdown and possible default while the rest of us watch the law catch up with Donald Trump, which it will do in short order.

Donald Trump will face two federal and one state felony indictments between now and the end of the summer. Courts have swept aside all manner of appeals. More than once, Trump appointed judges have been part of a unanimous decision rejecting Trump petitions at the federal appellate level. They have disallowed multiple claims of executive privilege. Almost all of Trump’s major aides have appeared before grand juries by now. Now this is to come:

• First, the jury will come to its decision in E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit. This is the case where Donald Trump gave an illuminating deposition. He said that E. Jean Carroll is “not my type” and then misidentified a picture of her as his ex-wife Marla Maples, who presumably was his type.

• Second, by late spring, federal special prosecutor Jack Smith will charge Trump with allowing others access to highly classified government documents, and feloniously keeping those documents in his possession. This is the case where Trump’s attorney Evan Corcoran certified there were no documents at Mar-A-Lago when there is security camera footage on the same day showing staff members moving the documents within the building. Evan Corcoran has now testified before the federal grand jury. His attorney-client privilege claim was denied due to evidence that it was being used to shield criminal activity.

• Third, by early summer, Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis will charge Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and several others with conspiracy to commit election fraud. This is the case where eight of the sixteen fraudulent electors have accepted immunity from charges in exchange for their testimony before the grand jury.

• Fourth, by later in the summer, Jack Smith’s other shoe will drop. The Department of Justice will charge Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States. As with Georgia, the focus will be on fraudulent electors and on related attempts to prevent states from reporting their results and the resultant electoral votes. This is the case in which former vice president Mike Pence spent a full day before the grand jury. Jack Smith has brought in several witnesses a second time and is thought to be wrapping up.

Both federal cases and the Georgia case will make it to trial unimpeded by appellate rulings. The trials may well all be held before spring of 2024. Two civil trials will also be held by then. The Stormy Daniels hush money case will likely be first. This is the case where the National Enquirer helped Trump win in 2016 by using their “catch and kill” method to keep Stormy Daniels’ story out of the news.

Around the same time will be the New York State Attorney General Letitia James $250 million business fraud suit. This is the case where Trump took the 5th amendment 400 times during the deposition, even though in such cases taking the 5th can permissibly give rise to an “adverse inference”.

The weight of the indictments and subsequent trials will take Donald Trump down. In the meantime, Republican state legislators are handing Democrats a political gift that keeps on giving. Not content with the Dobbs decision obliterating the right to choose, many are working mean-spiritedly across the country to remove exceptions permitting abortions in cases of rape, incest, and protecting the life of the mother. This delivers to Democrats the single most powerful tool in upcoming elections, as evidenced by the recent victory of Wisconsin State Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewics, who got a pro-choice electoral boost in the range of 10%. These three things come immediately to mind:

1) Yes, Virginia, There is an Election This Fall
	As we all remember, Virginia and New Jersey have odd election cycles, with their State Legislatures being up for election this fall. Virginia is one of ten states where control of the two legislative bodies is split. Democrats have a 21-19 margin in the Senate, and Republicans control the House 52-48. Expanding the Senate lead and taking over the House is well within our reach. It is necessary to block Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to kill Virginia’s protection of a woman’s right to choose to terminate her pregnancy in the first 26 weeks. One can be informed about who is running and why you should support them through the by now well established Sister District Project The best way to get money early to the candidates that need that dough is the new choice focused PAC that has cropped up in Virginia, the imaginatively named Roe Your Vote Virginia.
2) Use Initiatives and Referenda Wherever We Can
	When you are dealing with protecting or advancing a woman’s right to choose, there is nothing like a statewide vote, as has already been shown in Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky, California, and Vermont. Such measures capture voters who don’t get engaged in partisan elections. There are 23 states which have adopted initiative or referenda processes, or both. Pro-choice advocates understand that in addition to protecting choice, ballot measures increase the vote for pro-choice candidates in close races. There are already signature gathering efforts in Colorado, Montana, Florida, Arizona and Nevada and there will be more. If you are in a state that has a petition drive underway, call the ACLU to find out where to get one and how to circulate it. If you are in another state that permits initiatives, find out what is happening.
3) Next, Why Not Ohio
	It’s complicated, but there is a good chance that Ohioans will protect their right to choose in a statewide ballot this fall. Click here to support the coalition Protect Choice Ohio or to stay in contact with them. They have two hurdles. First, they need to get 400,000 signatures by July. Then they will have to contend with a possible August ballot in which duplicitous opponents will try to get state law changed to require initiatives to gain a supermajority of 60 percent rather than the current 50%.

You may not be one to watch the news, but there will be items of special interest this summer. Fulton County, Georgia and the United States Department of Justice are about to firmly establish that no one is above the law.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#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