John --

Where do I even begin?

The easiest place is gratitude! Thank goodness all the pundits and press were wrong and there was no Red Wave... although who knows how much ketchup is on the walls at Mar-a-Lago? 

Joking aside, I couldn't have imagined writing the sentence above five years ago. I've been a conservative Republican my entire life -- I've always wanted my "team" to win... until they abandoned democracy, and sanity, and me.

Now, the team I want to win has nothing to do with party. We're Team Democracy. We're Team Freedom. We're Country First. These are the centering American values that showed their strength in this election, despite the challenging economic factors hurting most Americans right now. We did win. For that, I'm most grateful.

And while we did not vanquish from public office all of Trump's disciples -- and he's poised to announce his 2024 Presidential run next week -- we've halted their advance, we've repelled the attack on our Democracy. Now, will they be back? Of course. But we will be ready, and we will have activated millions more of the Reasonable Majority.

And for that I need your help, and it'll cost you nothing: Send this link to at least 10 people, and ask them to consider adding their name and voice to the Reasonable Majority: www.country1st.com/opportunity?recruiter_id=29853

Our Defenders of Democracy endorsement slate did very well.  We poured resources, volunteer power, money, texting, advertising, you name it into key races and had great results with the following endorsees elected:

• Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania (D)
• Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State (R)
• Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State (D)
• Steve Simon, Minnesota Secretary of State (D)

And while a few of our candidates didn't win, they all posted respectable numbers in very difficult races where the odds were really stacked against them from the beginning.  The fact that they ran anyway, and did so in such a dignified, respectable, and powerful way, is a testament to their characters and love of Country.

So where do we go from here? Onward, with great hope and enthusiasm that the American Dream can be reborn; that we can solve problems together; and that our democracy won't just survive, but thrive. 

Country First will do that by leading, inspiring, and growing.

• We'll continue leading in the pro-democracy and bridge-building spaces by convening organizations working toward the same goals to ensure efforts aren't duplicated and progress continues.
• We'll continue to cast a vision for all Americans of what's possible when we seek common ground around our centering ideals.
• And we'll continue growing by spreading the word, far and wide, that we don't have to let the extremes win -- and the Reasonable Majority will rise.

I don't pretend any of this will be easy. We'll have setbacks ahead, along with more victories like this week's. None of us knows what the future holds, but I can promise you this: It'll be worth it.

Country First,

Adam