Indivisibles,

Quick update to Ezra’s email (below) from Wednesday:

President Biden is on board with fixing the filibuster! As he might himself say... This is a big fucking deal.

Last night at a CNN town hall, President Biden said he supported scrapping the filibuster to pass voting rights (you can bet I screenshotted this as fast as I could hit the button):

That means that our pressure is working. And with the leader of the Democratic Party on board, now is the time to get this done. That’s why we need your help. Two things you can do right now: (1) call your senators and tell them to fix the filibuster and pass democracy reforms right now and then (2) make a donation of $5 or $10 to make sure we have the resources to keep up the pressure (and support all we do).

If you want more info on the details of where we are on the filibuster and voting rights, check out Ezra’s email below. And if you’re as excited about this as I am, you can order a “no filibuster” sticker here (we’ll send you a two-pack, so you can share with a friend!)

In solidarity,
Meagan Hatcher-Mays
Director of Democracy Policy
Indivisible

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ezra Levin
Date: Wed, Oct 20, 2021
Subject: The endgame for democracy is nearly here. What’s next?

Indivisibles,

Ezra here with some breaking news and an update on what comes next. All fifty Senate Democrats (including Manchin and Sinema!) supported beginning debate on the Freedom to Vote Act -- the current version of the big democracy reform bill that we’ve been fighting for all year. As expected, McConnell and his GOP allies filibustered to prevent that debate. So now I’m emailing you to talk about what this means and what’s next -- and, yes, also to ask for a little extra money to power the fight. Read on.

Why did we need yet another failed vote on democracy reform?

Answer: For Manchin.

The previous version of this democracy bill tacitly had Manchin’s support, but he wasn’t fully bought in. The Freedom to Vote Act is the compromise democracy bill -- he helped write it, making it worse in some ways and better in others. Overall, what we got is an imperfect bill that is still pretty darn good -- it ends gerrymandering, helps get money out of politics, makes voting day a national holiday, and rolls back the voter suppression and election subversion bills that have been making their way through GOP states this year from Arizona to Texas to Georgia to New Hampshire. The debate is no longer about bill substance -- it’s about whether we will force a vote on the bill by amending the filibuster.

What does this failed vote do to move the ball forward?

Answer: It demonstrated Democratic unity and GOP opposition.

There were two goals of going through this process of creating a new version of the democracy bill. First, we needed Manchin fully bought in. This is now the “Manchin” democracy bill, with the full support of every single Democratic senator. Second, we needed to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt the the GOP would uniformly oppose any compromise bill. I know, I know -- that seems like it should have been obvious to anybody with a passing acquaintance with the legislative Grim Reaper, Mitch McConnell, right? Well, Manchin needed convincing on this point. Manchin was given latitude to try to find any Republicans to support it. He got nada, nothing, zilch. Without a single Republican, let alone ten, it’s clear to everyone now that the only way this bill gets a vote is if Senate Democrats act to reform the filibuster.

What will the endgame look like?

Answer: A successful end to reconciliation followed by a showdown on the filibuster.

We need Biden throwing his weight behind this fight, and that could be coming soon. Democracy reform has always had Biden’s support, but it’s never been his top priority. His top priority has always been infrastructure and the Build Back Better economic agenda. As long as Congress is still negotiating that “reconciliation” bill with Manchin and Sinema, Biden will not be throwing his full weight getting those two senators onboard with filibuster reform.

But the endgame is now coming into focus. Once the reconciliation fight is over -- which could come as soon as the coming weeks -- that frees up the legislative calendar and President Biden’s time. In the time period between the completion of the reconciliation legislative fight and the end of the year, we will have a brief window of opportunity to call the question on the filibuster. Down one path is a vote to reform the filibuster and save democracy. Down the other path is a vote against any changes to the filibuster -- a vote that will allow McConnell to kill the Freedom to Vote Act. It is our job to make that choice as stark as possible.

Why are you asking me for money?

Answer: Glad you asked. We want to finish this fight, and it costs money to do that.

Indivisible had long planned to make the fight for democracy our top priority this year. That’s why we wrote a book on democracy after Trump and directed the entirety of the book’s royalties to this democracy campaign. It’s why we held a national convening back in 2019 to focus on the filibuster and democracy reform. And it’s why we’ve trying to leave it all on the field this year.

But let me be honest: this has dragged on a lot longer than any of us wanted or expected. And we have a budget gap we need to fill if we’re going to do everything we can to finish this fight.

We have big things planned! We’re working with our partners right now on a massive nationwide action to show senators that we won’t accept any more delays -- it’s time to act on democracy and eliminate the filibuster to do it. We have ads we want to run in Arizona (and around the country -- to the tune of $200k!) and swag we want to send to activists in West Virginia. We want to drive calls to key senators and holdouts. And we want to get a massive amount of press coverage so that congressional leadership and President Biden feel the pressure and support to get this done. Our allies in the Senate advise us that this is EXACTLY what we need to do to create the space for a deal to be reached.

Some of this stuff we can do on the cheap, but much of it costs money. You know Indivisible doesn’t take money from corporations or political figures. Grassroots donations like yours are our single largest source of support. So when we face a budget gap like this, it’s my job to level with you directly and ask if you have a few extra bucks to help us close the gap and finish this fight. So let me level with you directly and ask: do you have a few extra bucks to help us close the gap and finish this fight?

If so, click here to throw us a special one-time $10 donation to help us finish the fight for our democracy in 2021. Or if you want, use one of these handy one-click donation links:

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

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This is it. We’ve got this narrow -- and narrowing -- path to victory on democracy reform. We here at Indivisible National will do everything we can to get us there. And whether you can donate to help fuel our fire, show up at events in your hometown to push your holdout senators, or make calls from afar -- it’s an honor to be standing together with you in this fight for our republic.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-founder, Indivisible