It's time to start looking forward to 2018 and the good we commit to doing in the world. Before plunging ahead, it seems worth taking a moment to look back on the year in politics for inspiration.
Here's a quick review of what Republicans dedicated the entirety of 2017 to trying to accomplish while they were in sole control of the government: killing health care access for tens of millions of Americans; protecting Donald Trump from the investigation into his ties with Russia; supercharging the nation's income inequality with a massive tax cut for millionaires and billionaires; depriving America's neediest kids of health care; ripping apart the families of undocumented immigrants; scrapping regulatory protections for consumers; accelerating climate change; and enriching themselves and their most prolific donors.
And this list is really just a brief overview of the truly amoral, harmful, and repugnant agenda Republicans tried, and in some cases, succeeded in foisting on the American people.
If that makes you angry, if that frightens you for our future, now is the time to commit to helping to put the first major nail in the coffin of Donald Trump's presidency—putting sane, responsible lawmakers back in control of the House of Representatives.
Democrats need to flip 24 seats in order to achieve that goal and all indications suggest we may be headed toward a blue wave election next year. But we can't take anything for granted: let's make sure we all put in the effort necessary to accomplish this goal.
The best way to flip those 24 seats is for voters across America to commit to helping elect a Democrat to office specifically in a district that is now held by a Republican. In short, commit to a candidate or a district. What that entails is relatively simple—you could end up doing anything from donating money to someone to phone banking or canvassing for them or even bussing from out of town to canvass for them.
The important thing is that we all take an interest in an election either near or dear to us—in our state or perhaps one in the region where we grew up (i.e. wherever you feel invested and think you can make a difference).
Everyone can find someone/somewhere to focus their energy on, even if it's still unclear which Democrat will actually be running for a certain seat. Or perhaps you have a Democratic candidate you already wholeheartedly believe in and want to support them through the primary process. That's good too.
Here are a few tools you can use to identify a GOP seat you hope to have a hand in flipping: Cook Political Report's list of Republican toss ups and GOP leaning districts, or Daily Kos' own 2018 House Vulnerability Index.
There are also the 30-some House GOP lawmakers who voted for the tax bill, still plan on running for re-election, and represent a district where Republicans only have a Partisan Voter Index (PVI) advantage of R+4 (as compared to Democrats having a generic ballot advantage of +13). On the other end of the spectrum are the 12 Republicans who knew this tax bill would be an albatross around their neck next year and voted against it (good luck escaping that!).
Let’s make 2018 a year to remember, a step toward getting our country back, and a victory for common decency and the rule of law. Pick one seat and stick with it. Let’s flip the House!