I am now publishing Where To Give Now as a Substack newsletter. Read and subscribe!
Here’s a sneak peak:
The most frequent question I get these days is, “How are you feeling?” And my answer of late has been, “Not awesome.”
The gut punches of the last few weeks have hurt. The Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act and Southern states responded swiftly to eliminate majority-Black districts in the name of partisan (but definitely not at all racial, no sir-ree) gerrymandering. I likened this to the feelings we had after the Dobbs decision -- the highest court in the land said a huge segment of the country is less than. Sadly, it’s a feeling Black voters are all too familiar with.
Then the Virginia Supreme Court overruled the will of the voters and invalidated their new map and voters in Indiana supported Trump-backed five primary challengers to a handful of state legislators who dared to defy him on redistricting. It’s hard to rally in the face of these setbacks. I may have had a good cry over a few glasses of wine on Saturday night. But rally we must -- and we must keep the long game in perspective.
Democrats are in an excellent position for a blue wave in November. But blue waves do not just happen; they need to be nurtured and funded. The Democratic brand is still dismal with voters and leadership has yet to put forward a proactive agenda. But Trump’s declining poll numbers present an opportunity to reclaim power. As we saw with the primaries in Texas and North Carolina last week and with special elections since Trump 2.0, Democrats want to win and are willing to toss aside establishment candidates to do so. We need candidates who meet the moment.
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We won stuff! 2025 take-aways, lessons for 2026, and more.
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Happy June. I hope everyone is taking some time this month to celebrate Pride & Juneteenth. We need all the joy we can get.
This weekend demonstrated the stark contrast between the politics of authoritarianism and the politics of the people. We saw our own government send troops to Los Angeles to quell peaceful protests, a United States Senator wrestled to the ground and handcuffed, and our military used as a prop for a birthday parade. And we saw political violence take the life of a beloved state legislator, as the assassin targeted other politicians and abortion rights advocates. But we also saw millions of people peacefully take to the streets to say, No Kings! and denounce the current administration.
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