John, the choice before us is simple. Either we end the Senate filibuster -- or watch as our democracy is taken away from us.
You see, this week confirmed that we have 50 votes, plus Vice President Harris’s tiebreaker, to pass the urgently needed response to far-right voter suppression and gerrymandering -- the Freedom to Vote Act.
But unless we act, this transformative bill can’t reach President Biden’s desk -- because too many senators are STILL willing to let Mitch McConnell block it from even getting a fair vote.
It’s not just voting rights and democracy reform being held up either. Climate action, immigrant justice, workers’ rights -- causes that millions of Americans turned out to vote for last year -- will die on the Senate floor so long as Mitch McConnell’s minority is allowed to effectively veto them.
But the Senate’s vote this week -- where every GOP senator voted to block bipartisan solutions like vote-by-mail, banning gerrymandering, and making secret money groups disclose their donors -- should show that there’s no path forward without fixing the filibuster.
There’s only a few short months left if we want to have these reforms in place for 2022 -- and the upcoming midterm campaign season could mean that the next few weeks are likely our final chance to enable meaningful legislation from the 117th Congress.
So we’re pulling out all the stops with our Emergency Mobilization -- calling voters in key states like West Virginia and Arizona to connect them with their senators, while we build a major public pressure campaign to make it perfectly clear what the cost of inaction would be.
Momentum is on our side -- this week, President Biden, who spent decades in the Senate and has defended the filibuster in the past, even said that "we’re going to have to move to the point where we fundamentally alter the filibuster."
This is the moment we’ve been preparing for. The entrenched special interests will fight back with unprecedented force because their position of power, profit, and privilege will be threatened like never before.
John, I know some of the news out of Washington, D.C., can be discouraging -- and that it sometimes feels like some lawmakers just don’t understand the direct threat that our democracy is facing -- or even recognize reality itself.
But here’s something I’ve learned over the years I’ve spent advocating for the people: things can change much more quickly than you’d think.
Behind the scenes, we’re having productive conversations -- even with high-profile holdouts. And, I’m seeing firsthand the influence of the day-in, day-out constituent pressure that you are making possible with your action and support.
That’s why it’s so important right now that you help power us through this critical final stretch. Can you rush a contribution of $3 or more for our Emergency Mobilization -- and help ensure our down-to-the-wire fight to save democracy succeeds?
There’s no question that we’ll face powerful opposition from the entrenched politicians and special interests who will selfishly seek to protect their power and privilege at the expense of democracy.
With your help, John, I believe we can prevail.
Thank you for all you do,
Jesse Littlewood, Vice President of Campaigns
and the team at Common Cause
