John,

Before I get into any new information or thoughts, I want to let you know: Your message has been received loud and clear. I have heard you, and I am writing this letter to address the thousands of messages I have received since last week’s tragic ruling.

Look, it’s important for us as Democrats to come together, acknowledge the situation we’re in, and express our anger … but it’s even more important to address our realistic options moving forward so we can fix this problem.

Unfortunately, some of the “solutions” folks are clamoring for just aren’t realistic at all.

For one thing, the President simply doesn’t have the constitutional authority to overrule the Supreme Court.

Remember 8th grade civics class? Separation of powers. Congress makes the laws, the Executive Branch enforces them, and the Supreme Court evaluates the laws to determine whether they’re constitutional. 

Obviously, on this one, we believe they got it dead wrong. When that happens, there are only a handful of legal remedies available, and Executive Orders aren’t on the list.

So, since I don’t enjoy tilting at windmills, I prefer to focus my efforts on realistic, concrete solutions that can actually bring change.

How do we fix this disaster, then?

We codify Roe.

Let me be frank with you: This won’t – it can’t – happen overnight. We don't have the votes right now to do it. I’m not here to sugarcoat anything. I have too much respect for you to do that.

I’ve always been a straight shooter – I tell it how it is, and I trust that you will come to the right conclusions once you have all the information.

The bottom line is that, realistically speaking, a few very specific things have to happen for us to codify Roe, and they need to happen in order:

1. We need to keep our House majority and expand our Senate majority by at least 2 seats in the upcoming midterms.
2. We need to get rid of the filibuster.
3. We need Congress to expand SCOTUS by 4 seats to neutralize the hard-right majority.
4. Then, and only then, can we codify Roe.

That means we have a little more than 4 months to channel all of this anger, rage, and determination into VOTES!

For those of you who say voting doesn't matter – I say voting is the only thing that matters. If we give up on democracy now, the other side has already won.

I’ll be honest with you, I got very little sleep this weekend. Each night, I laid awake worrying about the same thing: What if we lose seats in the midterms, what if we lose the majority … then what?

That’s a real fear of mine at this moment, and if it happens, I promise that within a few months after that, you won’t even recognize the America you’ve known your entire life.

Make no mistake: A Republican majority means an end to our civil rights and freedoms as Americans. They claim to be the “party of freedom,” but they want to control every aspect of our lives. The hypocrisy is astonishing.

They only get away with it because they have sealed up their voter base in a cult-like echo-chamber where lies are promoted as truth, and basic scientific and historical facts are smeared as “communist,” “socialist,” or “anti-God.” 

Meanwhile, their own states’ constituents are the ones most devastated by their regressive, authoritarian policies.

That’s why we here at No Dem Left Behind feel particularly devastated by this ruling …  because most of our work is in the red states that are – let's face it – the worst victims of this heinous decision.

Folks who live in red states are losing their rights – to choose, to be who they are, to love who they love, to vote – in horrifying numbers, and we are here to tell them that we will fight alongside them to our very last breaths.

We won’t leave anyone behind.

We will fight, we will campaign, we will increase our advocacy efforts, we will register more voters, we will knock on more doors, call more, write more, and not rest until the right to choose is unequivocally guaranteed to each and every person in this country.

If you have stepped up in recent days, thank you. If you haven't, then now is your chance … and it just might be our last chance.

This isn’t politics as usual, it’s a fight for our lives, and we must win it. We need your help, and we need it now!

Let's do this.

Sappers clear the way, Airborne all the way!

-- Richard