If I had only one sentence to share widely among Democratic Party activists and our allies it would be this one:
We may not agree on everything — but we can agree to take this action together.
And, if I had only one related word to share it would be this one: solidarity.
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I’ve been meaning to write a few follow-ups to my recent posts, but events have made some of those drafts quaint, and others simply outdated.
So, instead of writing a topical post on current events, I thought instead I would put my cards on the table and sketch out a very high-level blueprint of where we are at, what we need to do, and where we go from here.
It’s more of a vibe, but it says what I think needs to be said.
Think of it as a start.
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Here’s one thing I do know cold:
This is not a new fight.
But it’s a massive fight.
And because of that, this fight is going to shake and challenge us to our core.
This fight is not optional, there’s no alternative, and no sidelines.
And, yeah, this fight is being forced on us.
And that stinks.
(That being said, on the upside, I’m pretty sure that at the end of this fight we’re going to have a new Democratic Party.)
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What do I mean this is not a new fight?
I mean this fight is a kind of fight that’s as old as the hills.
This is a boss fight.
While, yes, Donald Trump currently plays the boss on our screens.
(What a stereotypical boss: incompetent, boorish, chaotic, surrounded by lackeys and yes men.)
This fight is not really about Donald Trump.
Ultimately this fight is about who has power in this country, and who does not.
It’s that simple.
And when the other side is so committed to forcing the issue, to seizing on political flash points, pushing our laws, our culture, and our Constitution past all breaking points in the pursuit of raw power, the question rises for our side, whether we are ready or not:
What are we going to do about it?
Because the balance of power impacts us in every aspect of our lives.
The balance of power in our society impacts our taxes, our communities, our work, our bodies, our children, their education, our healthcare, our rights, our dignity.
The balance of power in our society impacts us in the simplest daily actions, like how it feels to step out on our front porch in the morning, how it feels to commute to work, how it feels to share our thoughts with a coworker, or how it feels to stand up for ourselves and our families, how it feels to assert our equal rights in a society and economy that is rigged for the few, the privileged, and the powerful.
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And that’s where I come back to the core of this post.
This is about more than resisting, or social posts, or an upcoming election or two.
This is about making a fundamental change in America, every single day.
We will have to do new things, in new ways, and increasingly, we will have to take action together.
Struggle by struggle, fight by fight, step by step, we must fight forward; and in the process we are going to build a new Democratic coalition.
We have to.
And we can’t plan this out.
There’s not time for months of data-driven strategy maps, deep polls, and A/B testing.
It’s too late for that.
Now is a time for all Democrats to take action.
This is the time for us to come together.
It’s simple.
If we are going to build a movement to defeat Donald Trump and his agenda, first we have to move.
This is how it has always worked, through our shared history.
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So, what do I mean by “We may not agree on everything — but we can agree to take this action together.”
Well, first, I mean, and, please forgive my poor french:
As a political party and its activist base we need to “WAKE THE FUCK UP!”
We currently do not have the luxury of being picky choosy about anything.
That means we can’t be picky about our allies, about the particular flavors of our politics, about optics, tactics, networks, terminology, past disagreements, or any of the kind of stuff we’ve been bickering about for decades.
That has to be sidelined.
Importantly, however, that does not mean any of us have to sideline what is essential to our values and ourselves, we hold on to that, and that’s part of this, too. (More on that at the end of this post.)
However, in place of the pro forma MSNBC politics that we may have become accustomed to, and even comfortable with, the well-worn ruts of our pet causes, our social media, our favorite TV host’s anger or our politicians’ droning references to ‘the middle class’, we must now learn a deeper, and more powerful solidarity.
A solidarity that reaches out to new people.
A solidarity that reaches across lines.
A solidarity especially for those bearing the brunt of Trump’s regime, whomever they voted for, and whether they voted or not.
A solidarity that gets us off the couch, and out of our comfort zone.
And we have to practice that solidarity.
And put it into action across class and race and regional lines.
Even when it hurts.
Every single day.
Even when it costs us money, pride, and especially, our patience.
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This is a crisis.
We need leaders.
(Good speech.)
This crisis is going to be shaped by brave, current day leaders like labor hero Crystal Lee Sutton (now gone), played by Sally Fields in the movie image from Norma Rae at the top of this post, who stood up at a particular time and place.
When Crystal Lee Sutton held up that sign under threat of termination, every worker on that shop floor had a choice to make, would they take the risk to shut their machine down in solidarity, or would they drone on and ignore her?
But they all choose to act, they stood together, and they won their union vote.
Solidarity means that when present day leaders emerge, young or old, when they stand up and fight back, we are absolutely going to have to have their backs.
We are all going to have that choice, multiple times over, in the coming days and months.
To be honest, that’s something to look forward to.
How will we measure up?
How will I measure up?
And, as part of that, we should always be on the lookout for new leaders, for voices of courage and hope.
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But I can hear you.
What do I really mean by “We may not agree on everything — but we can agree to take this action together.”
How specifically will it hurt?
We need to learn operational and strategic flexibility.
(For many of us, especially leaders stuck in a DC, and especially, I think, a DC progressive, mindset, that may hurt even more.)
Let me put it simply and clearly.
We are going to have to trust and empower local people to win local victories.
We are going to be a coalition of diverse local actors with regional leadership and multi-focal centers of power.
There is no other way.
Operational flexibility means that when leaders stand up in new places, and from unexpected quarters, that we will especially have to do our best to find common ground, and lend a hand as a first recourse, not as an afterthought.
And while it is guaranteed that we won’t agree on everything, we can always at least endeavor to find a way to make common cause.
This 100% will mean a broader Democratic party and coalition in terms of ideology, and in terms of region, and in terms of policy outcomes. Expect more Dan Osborns.
And, yes, we in the netroots, on the blogs, we know how this may hurt because we have been front row in the long fight to make our party truly progressive. We’ve been to this rodeo. (Or, you could call it a “blue dog park,” if you will pardon a bad pun.)
Given that, let me say at the outset that I am confident that there will be US Senate candidates, and House candidates, and even Mayors and Governors that we are going to have to embrace and support who are not going to always hug us back.
And that will have to be okay.
Because at those times, all of the rest of us in our coalition are going to have to have each others’ backs.
We have to promise each other that we will judge the leaders who emerge by the quality of their leadership, by the inclusiveness of their vision in practice, by the effectiveness of their decision making and tactics, and by the measure of their votes in relationship to their districts, communities, and states.
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When I say “we may not agree on everything” I want to be clear that we all have our non negotiable cores. That’s part of what makes us who we are. And that’s part of this strategy. We will have caucuses and factions and disagreements. And that is fundamentally okay.
The point of solidarity is to find a way forward together.
The point of solidarity is to find an action that we can take together, with respect and agreement.
I’ve seen it time and again in union meetings, coworkers whose only thing in common might seem to be their workplace and employer, nevertheless put aside their differences to find a way forward.
And, yes, I want to say this specifically because of the ugly and brutal homophobic hate of the 2024 campaign, solidarity does not mean leaving our LGBTQ+ sisters and brothers to the side because it’s politically convenient.
Solidarity specifically means standing side-by-side with those that others are putting down or leaving out in the name of political expedience.
It means we all have to show up, and find our way forward as a group, as true equals, with equal rights and respect for all.
We may disagree, but we can also all agree, at a minimum, to stick together and have each others’ backs.
Solidarity, specifically, means standing WITH our sisters and brothers.
It means showing up.
It means taking action and expressing hope even if the outcome is not certain.
It’s not a one time thing.
It’s not a scene from a movie.
It’s not something that only happens in Blue States.
It’s especially not something that is going to be convenient for any of us.
However, I am convinced that the active solidarity that I am describing lies at the core of the way forward to defeat Donald Trump and his agenda.
