A few months back, some pundits who have spent decades and made millions advising Democrats told us all that we needed to settle down, step back, and “play dead.”
We needed to stop worrying our pretty little heads about the incoming destruction, step to the side, “let” Trump fail – allow the GOP to defeat itself with its own cruelty, and gather up the broken pieces after the fact.
While those pundits (and the politicians they advised) averted their eyes, activists on the ground got fed up, and got busy.
The vacuum of leadership at the top meant that the grassroots swelled from below, filling in the cracks, expanding them, exploiting them.
Some leaders – perhaps stunned both by the country’s rapid descent and the grassroots community’s passion for anyone who shows a willingness to stand up for them – have stepped up. Cory Booker’s 25-hour filibuster comes to mind. Bernie and AOC have criss-crossed the country with their Oligarchy Tour. Senator Chris Murphy has taken to social media, as he often does; his friend and fellow Senator Brian Schatz has thrown up some helpful procedural roadblocks.
But last weekend a Democratic leader stepped forward and truly gave voice to this moment – the morality, the urgency, the conviction, the alarm.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker stood before a crowd in New Hampshire and spoke to this moment in a way that no Democrat has up to this point.
He referenced those pundits who had advised us to wait to pick up the pieces – aptly labeling them “do nothing” Democrats. And he called on us to disregard their strategy – “to abandon the culture of incrementalism that has led us to swallow the cruelty and the callousness with barely a cowardly croak.”
The answer is not to sit passively by, he said. It’s to fight.
“Fight—Everywhere, and all at once.”
Watching the video in my office, I literally applauded.
This concept – of fighting for everything and everyone everywhere and not picking and choosing battles based upon some special criteria – is somewhat unfamiliar territory for Democrats. We see the disconnect in the strategies we employ and in the races we support – and even in the advice we give to fellow activists.
I recall a jam-packed Democratic meeting in early 2017 when a seasoned activist advised everyone to stop following everything so closely. She said folks should pick an issue that they care most deeply about to focus on – and let the rest be someone else’s priority.
“But the problem is that everything is on fire,” I responded. “How can we fight back when we’re not fighting together?”
Nobody answered my question.
It’s not that she was giving bad advice. It’s just advice for a political era that no longer exists.
Because we are no longer debating the finer points of energy policy or tax implications with political opponents who are negotiating in good faith and looking for solid policy.
We’re fighting for the very existence of democracy against people who are rightly labeled fascists and who applaud the deportation of legal residents to an El Salvadorian gulag without being given the chance to defend themselves in court.
We’re no longer talking about policy. We’re talking about basic security, safety, and constitutional rights.
We simply can’t keep up with their cruelty, and siloing ourselves into interest groups to tackle individual issues only serves to splinter our energy.
They have weaponized our focus.
We need to broaden our gaze.
Our hyper-focus on efficiency – on using our own personal and community-wide resources “strategically” – has hurt us.
On the bare-knuckled political side, focusing only on “flippable” races in “flippable” states has led to a catastrophic implosion of Democratic infrastructure in gerrymandered, red, rural spaces. In 2024, Democrats left 19% of state legislative races uncontested – one in five. But that already abysmal national number obscures the even more lopsided regional and policy impact.
Upwards of 50% (that’s not a typo) of state legislative seats in states like South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Mississippi go completely uncontested by Democrats. South Dakota gave us Kristi Noem. Oklahoma gave us two cases that will be heard by the Supreme Court that could force states to use public funding for religious charter schools. Mississippi gave us Dobbs.
In other words, what plays in Red States does not stay in Red States. Republicans take their show on the road.
We’ve taken the do-nothing Democratic strategy of sitting back and “playing dead” to heart – intentionally leaving races uncontested and entire states un/under-supported in the name of efficiency and strategy.
Unfortunately, after decades of literally telling people that we won’t invest in races we don’t think are “winnable,” we have taught Republicans (and the people who live in Red States) that we will give up in advance. We’ve laid out our strategy of submission, and now have to dig ourselves out of a massive hole.
We can do that. Heck, we’ve done it before so we even have the playbook.
In fact, some of the very same do-nothing Democrats that advised us in February to roll over and play dead advised Democrats to disband the strategy of fighting everywhere that was working back in the ‘aughts.
You may recall that in the mid-2000s, then-DNC Chair Howard Dean implemented a so-called 50 State Strategy at the DNC, providing funding for all state parties – including the red ones – to ensure they had the resources and the know-how to operate effectively. Critics of the plan, which included DCCC Chair (and eventual Obama Chief of Staff) Rahm Emmanuel, complained that the funding used to boost state parties should have been thrown to flippable districts – arguing that gains in flippable districts would have been greater.
So, after the 2008 election the 50 State Strategy was scrapped, and we’ve been operating under the flippable district strategy ever since. The results speak for themselves.
In 2013, there was an analysis of the electoral results in 20 red states (AL, AK, AR, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MS, MT, NE, ND, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV and WY).
In those 20 states, during the 50 State Strategy years (between 2005 and 2008) Democrats gained 39 state house seats, 2 state senate seats, and 3 US House seats.
In those same 20 states, in the years after the 50 State Strategy was scrapped (between 2009 and 2013) Democrats lost 249 state house seats, 84 state senate seats, and 18 US House seats.
In 2005, Democrats controlled 13 legislative chambers in those 20 red states.
In 2013 Democrats controlled just three.
The Obama campaign’s impressive results in 2008 certainly contributed to the gains made during the 50 State Strategy years. The Republican Red Map effort in 2010, when Republicans concentrated their efforts on (successfully) flipping state legislatures, certainly contributed to the losses afterward.
Taken together, they’ve led to the terrible place we are in today.
But rather than correcting course and expanding our field of play, we doubled down – spending ever more energy, attention, and funding on a shrinking number of states and districts. That strategy didn’t just leave huge swaths of the country uncontested and under-supported.
It left those places without someone to share a Democratic message.
And without someone to show the people living in those places that we see them, we hear them, and we care about them.
We are feeling the reverberations today.
“Cowardice comes at a cost,” Pritzker noted in the same New Hampshire speech over the weekend. “What we do and won’t do matters.”
We’ve seen the cost – both locally and nationally – of retaining a narrow focus. It’s up to us to decide what we will do – and what we won’t do – about it.
Broadening our gaze and expanding our coalition means we fight everywhere, for everyone – contesting and supporting races in every corner of the country, regardless of the “flippability” of the district.
But it also means getting in the way in every possible way. During Pritzker’s speech, he said (to extended applause): “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.”
It was a quote that’s been thrown into headlines and pulled out of context. But it’s refreshing to see a Democratic leader meeting the urgency of this moment with honesty – recognizing the need for all of us to rise up and stand in solidarity with one another, and calling upon all of us to do so.
Friend, if there ever was a moment to mobilize broadly, to expand our targets, and to widen our view – it’s this one.
In the wise words of Governor J.B. Pritzker: “Are you ready for the fight?”
Me too, friend. Me, too.
Let’s get to work.
Actions for the Week of April 29, 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(s) to Take: Support Underfunded Democrats and Watch the Speech!
First: In case it seems like I’m especially passionate about supporting Democratic nominees running in red, rural, gerrymandered races – it’s because I am! I am the Executive Director of Every State Blue, which creates communities that crowdfund for underfunded Democrats running in some of the reddest districts in the country. If supporting the underdogs who are on the front lines of the fight for democracy is your cup of tea, you are in good company! Learn more about ESB here (https://everystateblue.org/) and support our work here. I’d be most grateful.
Second: No doubt you’ve seen a number of clips from JB Pritzker’s speech, but the entire speech is worth watching. Trust me that it’s got so many pull quotes you’ll have scratch pads all over your computer. (No? Is that just me?) Here’s a link to the youtube extended version:
Small (Well, Hopefully BIG) Events to Attend: May Day!
This Thursday (May 1!) is May Day – also International Workers Day, and a big protest day. You can find an event here: https://maydaystrong.org/ or via Mobilize here: https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/
Also, hat tip to the always amazing Jess Craven for sharing a wonderful May Day toolkit which includes some great sample social media posts. Take a look and share!
Small Thing to Listen To: Jess Piper + Hot Dish!
I know this is an extra action this week, but my dear friend and colleague Jess Piper was on the Hot Dish podcast with Joel and Heidi Heitkamp and it was just glorious. Full of Jess’s signature spunk – and the message of why (and how) we fight everywhere.
Take a listen here.
Small Thing to Read: No Business As Usual Memo + David Pepper’s Ode to Energy
First: Brian Buetler, in his Substack Off Message, cited to and attached a memo ostensibly written by House staff. The memo is a playbook for how to – within proper parliamentary procedural rules – slow MAGA’s roll.
It’s a quick read, but the memo provides a number of ways in which House Democrats could use the same processes that have been used by Republicans in the past to slow the business of the House. As the memo says:
“[M]ost of these actions have been deployed by Republicans when in the minority. In fact, Republicans have deployed them for far less pressing reasons than those that face our country now. Efficient use of these tools and a member’s time will require dedicated non-leadership staff coordination. It’s hard to imagine a more important time to deploy these tools than when the executive branch is violating the rule of law with near impunity and the Congressional majority is refusing to defend its Article I authority to be a check on executive branch excesses.”
Check it out and read it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dx6G1axOaRf-R7zfJ_exHYzvFtmiKihy/view
Note: Special hat tip to Rogan’s List for citing to this memo in April 28th’s actions; I had missed it! Yet another reason I love this activist community.
Second: Former Ohio Democratic state party chair (and Blue Ohio colleague!) David Pepper wrote an excellent piece this week about the Big Energy we’re seeing across the country. He rightly questions why there’s so much focus on who is on the stage at rallies, and far less on who is in the crowd. (You! You are in the crowd!) It’s a great motivating piece and I think you’ll like it. Read it here. P.S. David’s substack Pepperspectives is fantastic and a must-subscribe.
Psst: Have a tip? A small deed to do? Please share so I can include it in next week’s actions! I appreciate it!
Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! You’re making a difference, I promise.
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Small Deeds Done 