John,
A few weeks ago, I asked you all if you had any questions about Leaders We Deserve, the Democratic Party, personal stuff — and I got hundreds of questions. Here’s just a few — some fun and some serious ones.
“I go to protests and most of them there’s just a lot of older people. Where are the younger people?”
This frustrates me too, but here’s what I've learned: When we give young people a representative like Zohran in NYC and show them somebody who actually understands the issues they're dealing with like the incredibly high cost of living and give them a clear solution, they do show up. When I was in NYC with Zohran, I’d never seen so many young people come up to a political candidate. They didn’t just know his name — they literally recited his platform back to him. That's the power of having younger candidates out there who actually do understand the lived experience of these young people. That's why Leaders We Deserve exists. We want to find the best young people we can in the country to help inspire a generation and wake them up to believe that democracy actually can work for them.
“What’s your favorite show?”
Better Call Saul.
“Cats or dogs?”
Dogs.
“How do you propose bringing the entire Democratic Party together with clear focused messaging that’ll appeal to a majority of Americans?”
For years, we’ve been obsessed with messaging. At this point, it’s a problem beyond messaging — it's a messenger problem. That’s what we’re trying to solve here at Leaders We Deserve. We need people on the frontlines of issues everyday Americans are facing that far too many members of Congress can only pretend to know. These issues that people like Congressman Maxwell Frost know all too well — when he was just a freshman member of Congress, he struggled to get housing because of the cost of running for office. Many members of Congress who've been there for decades don't even know what the cost of a gallon of milk is, let alone the average cost of rent. We need more people with those lived experiences in Congress. They’ll be on the frontline of fighting for those issues because they know the real challenges. That’s why Leaders We Deserve exists.
“What’s your favorite food?”
Anything my mom makes.
“How can we get corporate money out of the government and return our government to be in service of regular people’s lives?”
We received this question multiple times — and it’s exactly why we do this work. Our candidates don't take corporate money and that's because we know that if we're gonna reform the campaign system that has enabled the NRA, private prisons, and so many special interests actively harming millions of Americans, we cannot do that within a broken campaign finance system.
The way we’re gonna end up fixing this is electing young people who do not take corporate money, will be here for years to come, and are ready to fight the campaign finance system.
We back our candidates completely with support from over 200,000 individual donors across the country — your support makes it possible for us to win.
Right now is the best time to make an impact. This moment is critical — the groundwork we lay today will determine the outcome of next year’s midterms. And a recurring monthly donation of just $5-$10 goes a long way in our ability to recruit principled candidates who can go toe-to-toe with corporate PACs and out-of-touch incumbents.
If you’ve already supported us — thank you so much. Our work is only possible because of people like you.
In solidarity,
David Hogg
Co-founder, Leaders We Deserve
