Democrats. Democrats, Everywhere

The numbers differ. Some say 5.2 million. Others more like 3 million.

But everyone can agree that on Saturday millions and millions of people poured out into the streets to scream and stomp and gnash their collective teeth.

There were photos of folks in Oregon, and California, and Washington, and New York. Chicago, and Boston.

Meaningful, absolutely. Motivating, truly.

But what struck me most were the photos of the people who turned out in places you might not expect. The people who turned out in places where there’s a high cost to protest.

Hundreds of people came out in St. Joseph, Missouri. And Kearney, Nebraska. And Pierre, South Dakota.

Folks protested in Winchester, Tennessee (population 9,978). And Corydon, Indiana (population 3,168). And Athens, Ohio (with a non-student population of 5,080).

Around four hundred protesters took to the streets in Sheridan, Wyoming (population 19,000). The sidewalk was lined with protesters as far as you could see in Elko, Nevada (population 20,000).

Dozens turned out in Bluff, Utah (population 245 – that’s not a typo).

The Downballot created this incredible interactive map that links to images and videos from protests all over the country. Take five minutes and choose a red state or two. Click on five or ten dots.

I promise that you’ll be inspired by what you see. You’ll be inspired by who you see.

Democrats. Democrats, everywhere.

It’s inspiring – but also likely surprising. Red State Democrats are used to being underestimated and undercounted. You know the old saying: you don’t see what you don’t look for. And too often, folks don’t look for Democrats in Red States.

Well, this weekend a whole lot of Red State Democrats made it impossible to miss them.

That these Red State Democrats actually wanted to be seen is frankly remarkable. Because while we may live in a country where our right to protest is guaranteed (at least in theory), if you’ve never protested in a Red State, you need to understand that there’s a cost to doing so.

Jess Piper shared the story of a friend who showed up at the Hands Off protest in St. Joseph, Missouri with her Vietnam Veteran husband. They stood in the rain – him wearing a black jacket with bright yellow VIETNAM VETERAN emblazoned across his chest – holding signs asking that the government keep its hands off Agent Orange and Burn Pit funding.

A young MAGA man drove around them in his pickup truck, yelling at them.

Image Credit: @piperformissouri.bsky.social

Recently a state legislative nominee that we supported in Ohio sent photos of some yard signs and postcards that Democrats in her area were distributing. She was so excited they were going to put the signs in people’s actual yards, as opposed to public property.

She said that last cycle she could only get a handful of Democrats to put her campaign sign out on their lawns. The reason? “It was too dangerous.”

Read that again.

It was too dangerous.

In the reddest areas of this country, there’s a cost to running, a cost to supporting, and a cost to even showing up.

It’s one of the reasons why I believe so strongly in supporting the people who are willing to not just go to a protest – but to put their name on the ballot and stand up for their community.

I don’t know if you realize just how much grit it takes to run in a race you are 99.9% sure you’re going to lose because you can’t stand the thought of your MAGA state legislator running uncontested again. How much tenacity and love for your community it takes to drive 20 minutes down a gravel road to knock on one door. How much creativity it takes to run in a place that’s not seen a Democratic nominee in so long that running there is like a blank slate.

The Democrats organizing and protesting and running in the reddest places in the country truly inspire the hell out of me.

So I’m glad so many people got to witness their work this weekend.

Now I hope folks will take the next step, and help them keep going.

After protests like these, I see folks comment that protests don’t win elections. I understand that’s intended to encourage people who have taken that first action step to take the next one. Grabbing someone’s extended hand is a good instinct, and I’m here for it.

But there’s a distinction. If you’re in Chicago or Boston or Seattle or NYC, once you put down your protest sign you have literally hundreds of organizations and campaigns to choose from to plug into.

That’s often not true in Red America, and especially not in the most rural parts.

Of course there are amazing people doing wonderful things in every state – and as I often say, Red State state parties have one of the toughest jobs in politics. They are overworked and underpaid, and have the highest of expectations placed upon them – along with none of the resources they’d need to deliver.

But it’s also true that Democrats have not invested in long-term systems and structures in Red States for more than 20 years. Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy (that supported state parties, see above) was dismantled in 2008, and in the 2010 elections the GOP’s Operation RedMap wiped out plenty of Democratic state legislative majorities (and power). That one-two punch hit Red States especially hard.

We fought back with a strategy focused on gaining suburban votes – which meant we focused on battleground states and battleground districts within those states. We’ve been using that strategy ever since, going deeper and deeper into the red in rural America.

I’ll let you decide for yourself how you think that strategy has fared.

Personally, I think it’s time for a change.

When I talk to people about this moment, I often describe it as energy sloshing around – and that we’re all just looking for a way to capture it. But that’s not quite right – because we don’t need a container to bottle the energy and put it on a shelf. That would waste it.

What we need is an engine – a vehicle to harness and feed the passion in front of us, to channel the power and work and energy from every single one of those blue dots – and drive us into the future.

It’s been my literal dream to build communities of people like you and me that support the Democrats running in the reddest places in the country – a sort of cheerleading team of activists and fundraisers and doers. I like to that’s what we’ve built at Every State Blue. A structure, a community, an engine that supports the people doing the toughest work in the toughest places – and supports each other in the process.

I’ve been doing this work since 2017 – and specifically supporting underfunded nominees since the 2022 cycle.

I’ll be honest that the first few years I saw a lot of smirks. Plenty of side-eye. A lot of unsolicited advice. Even a few eye rolls.

But now it’s different. Now I feel like there’s a tide turning – a focus shift. It’s as if suddenly everyone can see the sea of Democratic voters that have been hiding in plain sight all along, just waiting for someone to turn in their direction, give them some encouragement, show them some support.

I think folks can finally see the Democrats. Democrats, everywhere.

I hope I’m right.

Let’s get to work.

Actions for the Week of April 8, 2025

Friend, things may be heavy – but you can lighten that load by doing something small – a “small deed” – to bring about the world that you want to see. In doing so we tell the world, the universe, our leaders – and most importantly, ourselves – that we will not go quietly into that good night.

I call it Action Therapy.

That’s why in each Tuesday post I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. My intention here is to give you actions you can tuck into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.

Join me in doing so. It matters.

Small Action to Take:

Of course, if after reading this you’re motivated and inspired to support Red State Democrats, I’m here for it! At Every State Blue (https://everystateblue.org/), we crowdfund support for underfunded Democrats – and have state-level projects in Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. You can support our work here, or join one of our state projects (Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee). P.S. Please help us spread the word!

Small Call to Make: Call Out Your Senators on Tariffs

Imagine you’re a Republican elected official right now. You just saw mass protests across the country. Your own personal investments are tanking. You’re fielding calls from business titans, from your own donors, about their losses.

That withering, demoralizing, agonizing pressure? Yeah. This is the kind of pressure we need to keep up.

So get out your phone!

Rogan’s List (an excellent daily action list that you should subscribe to, if you’re not already!) posted this great explainer and script for contacting your Senators/Representative about the tariffs. It’s got hyperlinks to all the information that you might want to have before calling your Senator or Congressperson.

And Jessica Craven from Chop Wood Carry Water tipped me off to this incredible Unrig Our Economy tool that you really need to check out. https://unrigoureconomy.com/tariff-tracking

Not only does it include information about the total tariff for each country, but it also tracks prices. This is one to bookmark for sure.

Again, Rogan’s list (above) has a great and comprehensive script. But truly, you don’t need to make this call complicated. Just dial the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, tell them where you live, and they’ll connect you with the office. Then you can give your comment to a staffer or leave a message. They do log them, so don’t forget to leave your zip code and your name so that you’re counted in the day’s results.

Small Thing to Read: Trump v. J.G.G. and Analysis

Backdrop: Last night the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the deportation case about the planeloads of people who were sent – without due process – to a vicious prison in El Salvador. The administration sent those people to El Salvador by invoking the “Alien Enemies Act.” First, Trump invoked the Act in an Executive Order and said that any members of “Tren de Aragua” were subject to detention and removal. Then some people were segregated out as members of TdA, loaded onto planes, and deported (over the injunction of a district court, I may add). They had no advance warning, no counsel, and no judicial process that certified their affiliation with TdA.

Again, their supposed TdA gang affiliation is the entire premise upon which the administration deported these people to a horrific prison from which their chance of ever getting out is very slim. Subsequent investigations have shown that as many as 75% of the people on those planes have no criminal records at all.

Last night, the Supreme Court ruled that the individuals were entitled to due process (critical, important point!) – but that they should have challenged their removal via habeas rather than via the Administrative Procedure Act. That matters because of where the cases will be heard. (Which lawyers refer to as “venue.”)

If under the APA they can all be heard in DC; if under habeas, the cases will need to be filed where any individual person is detained. You can see how using a process that would allow all cases across the nation to be heard in one court would be critical under these circumstances, with this administration.

We’ve all gotten used to Republicans finding ways to make process difficult enough to erode substantive rights. This feels similar.

This is a slightly wonky situation, I’ll admit. But I also think it’s important. So I wanted to share both the decision and a great analysis of it by Georgetown University Law Professor Steve Vladeck.

You can read the decision in its entirety here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a931_2c83.pdf. At 25 skinny pages with lots of white space, it’s not long, and I especially recommend Justice Sotomayor’s dissent.

And here is Professor Vladeck’s excellent discussion of the case and why it’s so problematic – even though the Court does find that people are entitled to due process.

Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! You’re making a difference, I promise.

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