{Thank you for all warm “welcome backs” for my last diary. I appreciate your words and your diverse and thoughtful opinions.}
Obviously, the last week has been traumatic, most of all for the victims of this administration’s assault on the most vulnerable.
Like many of you, my wife and I donated to immigrant rights organizations and plan to attend a local protest on June 30th in support of justice for families and the passage of comprehensive immigration reform.
We also doubled down on our political donations, expanding our list, which means that I have another list to share with you.
I also have some thoughts about our current political situation, too.
First, the list.
1. Elected officials write the law. Let’s elect more and better Democrats.
Take a look at Abigail Spanberger in VA-07 and Jennifer Wexton in VA-10’s Twitter feeds and you’ll see why beyond their status as nominees working to eliminate vulnerable GOP Trump enablers, these Democrats get it and will serve the country well.
My wife and I decided to put our financial support behind Josh Harder in CA-10 and Katie Hill in CA-25, and for good reason, they both will need it. These emerging Democrats will have to knock out established Republican incumbents and they will need every early dollar they can get.
Like many of you, we donated to a young Democrat seeking to topple an established Democrat who has lost touch with NY-14. We support Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez because a Democratic primary in a safe district is exactly the place for an exciting candidate to challenge the status quo. And by focusing on issues the community cares about Ocasio-Cortez, win or lose, has created a template for how locally-rooted, progressive challengers can change the face of our party, and the laws our majority will pass in Washington D.C.
We support Cindy Axne in IA-03. We were impressed with the strength of her campaign, her approach to the district, and the fact that she has covered the ground in rural IA and is eager to serve on the Ag Committee. Trump’s reckless trade policies have farmers paying attention, Axne will not miss this opportunity.
When we looked at Jared Golden in ME-02, we loved his personal story and appreciated his service in the Marines. The more we looked, however, the more we respected the fact that this promising candidate has a track record winning local elections in Maine, serving in the Maine House and even winning Democratic Assistant Majority Leader. We think he’s got the right mix to take down GOP dinosaur Bruce Poliquin.
Speaking of respect, we think when you take a look at Lisa Brown in WA-05 you will see you why we think she has the ability to knock Cathy McMorris Rodgers out of Congress. An experienced elected official, who has run and won in the district, we need Brown in the U.S. Congress where her “Gets it done” attitude will help us deliver the goods for Eastern Washington state and regular folks nationwide.
Finally, we donated to Andy Kim in NJ-03. While it’s up to New Jersey voters to kick GOP’er Tom Macarthur and his Paul Ryan priorities out of Congress, we think Andy Kim’s campaign is on the right track to take down an incumbent who can’t seem to be bothered to fight all that hard for his district or to keep his seat.
So, there you go, nine more candidates for your consideration. Add some more of your own in the comments section. But first, spare me one more minute for a quick thought.
2. The empowerment mindset
When I worked a labor organizer, I did the normal things organizers do on campaigns. A core component of which is to encourage workers to hold, attend and lead organizing meetings.
That’s not always easy.
Sometimes when things got rough I would ask the leaders to look around their workplace. Specifically, I’d ask them to look at how managers spend their days.
“Going to meetings and holding clipboards.”
Yep.
In fact, every day, almost all day, managers attend meetings, make plans, track the progress of those plans, and measure their effectiveness, all in an effort to shape and direct and lead your place of work.
Our meetings, I would say, the meetings workers lead, are your chance to decide how you want your workplace to be, what your plans are, and to track and measure your steps for getting there.
I have personally seen the power of a workplace leader who understands this. (Not because I told them, but because they knew it and put it into practice every day.)
That insight flips the script.
Instead of always reacting. (Ahem, social media addicts!) Instead of falling prey to the daily ins and outs of bad management. (Cough, cough, Donald Trump.) Instead of getting caught in the whirlpool of “good cop, bad cop.” (Nice try, Paul Ryan.) Instead of simply seeking power with no common end goal in mind. (Too often, our very own Democratic party.)
Something fundamental changes.
The empowerment mindset let’s people build power from below based on a shared vision for how we want things to be.
That doesn’t mean we always win, but it does mean that we are always striving to achieve our collective vision, our shared road map.
Donating to the above candidates, or the ones I highlighted in my last post, won’t get us there all by itself. That’s too simple.
But a fundamental shift in how progressives operate can.
And if I could choose one core change, especially for progressives, it would be for us to embrace the empowerment mindset.
We have laws to pass. We have a just society to build.
We need to keep our eyes on the prize: passing legislation.
The coalition we build to get there will have to be flexible and strong. We will have to withstand all sorts of nonsense. We will have to work with our neighbors. We will have to build from the bottom up.
We will have to organize. We have to organize locally.
If we do this, if we understand that we are always, every day, building a society that works for every last person, we will win victories large and small.
We have won major legislative victories before, and we will again.
We are not done yet. There’s a world to win.