Indivisible

Indivisibles,

We’re heading into our 8th year of organizing against Trump and MAGA. How can time pass so quickly and also so interminably? We started as a Google Doc in our living room shortly after the 2016 election, and we’ve been organizing against the forces of fascism ever since. All the twists and turns have brought us here, on the precipice of 2024, which promises to be the most determinative year for our democracy in modern American history. One way or another, things are finally coming to a head.

Is this starting to feel repetitive? Every election people say, “this is the most important election of our lifetime!” Every election we say, “well it’s really true this time!” Regardless of how committed you are, I’m sure this grates on you. It grates on me.

Zeke, our three-year-old, has recently gotten very focused on the story of The Boy who Cried Wolf. And I have to say, sometimes when I’m talking about how important the next election is, I start to feel a bit like the shepherd boy, running into town and claiming that there are wolves in the pasture.

Except in our real-world version of this story, there really are wolves, every time, all around us.

It’s a real challenge for me as a political communicator and organizer. We need to rally the townspeople! How do we talk about the threat, and the stakes, without sounding like a broken record? How do we prevent the cry of “WOLVES!” from losing its punch in its eighth year?

I got into this by writing a strategic guide to resisting Trump, so my version of shouting “WOLVES!” is to spell out my own strategic thinking and hope it resonates. Describing what the wolves look like, what their weaknesses are, and how we can repel them this next time. So in that spirit, here are…

Three things I believe about 2024. Here is what I believe about these wolves based on everything I’ve learned these past several years organizing against MAGA:

MAGAs are political losers. Trump’s brand of extremism is an electoral loser. Since 2016, MAGA has repeatedly lost at the ballot box because MAGA extremism is seriously unpopular. In red, blue, and purple states, running against these anti-democracy, anti-choice zealots has proven extraordinarily effective. This has only become more dramatic since the Dobbs decision, which brought home in painfully personal terms the gravity of the MAGA threat.
Nobody else is saving us from Trump. No outside force -- not the courts, his party, his followers, or the media -- will rein Trump in and prevent him from becoming the Republican nominee for president. I know there’s some hope that the Supreme Court may prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot, or Trump’s inevitable felony conviction will ruin him politically. I remember when Mueller was going to save us. I remember when the fever was supposed to break after we won the House, or after we defeated him the first time. If some deus ex machina appears, then we’ll celebrate. But I will not count on it -- I no longer believe in the system to correct itself.
The grassroots is essential to winning this. If Trump had flipped 44,000 votes across three states in 2020, he’d have won. It’s no secret that Biden faces an uphill battle next year to hold onto those votes. But Biden and the Democratic Party cannot do this on their own. We’re going to need to drive enthusiasm from the bottom up -- and that means real people, talking to their neighbors about the stakes of this election and what we can win if we vote. For that message to be credible, it needs to come not just from the Biden campaign but from trusted messengers in every community. That’s us. That’s how we win.

My 2024 New Year’s resolution is simple: Every week of 2024, I’m going to take specific, practical steps to increase the likelihood Trump and his MAGA movement suffer a massive electoral defeat next year.

As a leader of Indivisible, that means marshaling as much support as possible to win in Arizona, to protect Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester, and to defeat Trump-supporting Republicans in vulnerable congressional districts. It means trainings, and clipboards, and cutting voter contact lists, and reimbursing local groups for canvass kickoffs, and paying for texts and postcards and data. It means doing the nuts-and-bolts of making sure our voter turnout operation matches or exceeds what we did in 2020.

You too are part of this. If you’re in a key district or state, you can rally the townspeople in your own community. If you’re not in one of those key districts or states, you can work with Indivisible to reach out to voters and volunteers throughout next year. And regardless of where you are, you can help contribute to this grassroots effort for democracy -- because while money isn’t the most important thing, it is one very important thing.

Good news, bad news. It’s an end-of-year email, so of course you were gonna get asked for some money. Forgive me, it’s my job. We’re grassroots-fueled -- it’s how we’re able to pay for the things we do to defeat Trump. No corporate sponsors, no politicians behind us. Our biggest source of support is you, and so you get occasional annoying requests like this.

There’s an old joke I’m reminded of, about a pastor giving a speech to his congregation. “The good news is we have the money to fix the leaky roof! The bad news is…the money is in your pockets.” We’ve got the money in this movement to defeat Trump next year. Unfortunately, it’s in your pockets. If you can find your way to throwing some money in the hat, we’ll put it to good use immediately. We’re not saving anything for a rainy day -- 2024 is guaranteed to be a rainy year.

If you've saved your information with ActBlue Express Lane, your donation to Indivisible Action will go through immediately:

Contribute Monthly >>

And regardless of the money stuff, I hope you’ll make your own resolution: Next year is the year we defeat Trump and MAGA. We’re going to do it by rallying ourselves and the townspeople. We’re going to do the work. And we’re going to win.

In solidarity,
Ezra

Ezra Levin

Co-Executive Director

Pronouns: He/him

Paid for by Indivisible Action (indivisible.org). Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Indivisible Action is a Hybrid Political Action Committee fueled by the grassroots movement to win elections and build local, independent progressive power nationwide. Read more about the formation of our PAC here.

Grassroots donations, not foundations or large gifts, are our single largest source of funding. That means we’re accountable to, and fueled by, Indivisibles on the ground. Chip in $7 or whatever you can to keep fueling our movement.

Chip in >>

To give by mail, send a check to Indivisible Action, PO Box 43135, Washington, DC 20010.

Contributions to Indivisible Action are not tax-deductible.

Click here to view this email in your browser or here to forward this email to a friend. This email was sent to [email protected] at zip code xxxxxx. Update your contact information here. You may unsubscribe at any time.