John, listen to this:

“Red States” has been trending on Twitter lately, and it’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect: A lot of really bad news about Republican politicians ripping away all kinds of people’s rights.

But it’s also trending for another reason, and that’s why we’re writing to you today:

It’s trending because people who live in red states are asking for help, while people in blue states are fighting over whether we should just abandon the red states already … if not officially, then at least by encouraging progressives to vote with their feet and move out of states with Republican-controlled legislatures.

Look, we get how tempting it is to write states like Florida and Texas off – to daydream about a life where we don’t have to see the likes of Ron DeSantis and Ted Cruz on our TVs every day because they’re simply not our problem anymore. But here’s the thing: That would a be really, really terrible thing for us to do … for folks who live in red states, for our country, and for the whole world.

Here’s why:

1. Most red states aren’t actually as “red” as most people think they are; they’re just gerrymandered and voter suppressed. (Read up on “Project REDMAP” if you want to learn more.)

By writing those states off as lost causes, we’d be abandoning millions of folks who don’t even agree with the right-wing’s agenda to suffer under their rule – because the reality is, many of the people who would love to leave their “red” state to live in a blue one are the ones who can least afford it.

2. The way the Senate and Electoral College are structured, low-population “red” states are given outsize influence over the power balance in Washington.

If we want to have any hope of preventing a total Republican takeover (short of a civil war), we should be encouraging progressives in red states to stay and fight! … and we should be helping them do it.

3. Even in a fantasy scenario where every non-Right-winger in every red state was able to find housing and employment in a blue state and get out, the Right-wing people left behind would still make babies (probably lots of them, since abortion and birth control would likely be outlawed).

Those kids won’t have a choice like their parents did – whether they’re gay, or trans, or differently abled, or just don’t like living in a religion-based totalitarian state, they’ll be stuck living under its rules. Are we really prepared to live in a country where our human rights depend on our zip code?

4. “United we stand, divided we fall” – it’s not just a saying, it’s the truth. Last time we found ourselves in a situation where half the country was committing human rights violations on a massive scale while the other half watched in horror, we ended up in a civil war. Do we really want to polarize things more than they already are?

So, if we can’t just write the red states off as hopeless, what’s the answer?

We are … meaning you John and every other supporter of No Dem Left Behind.

No Dem Left Behind exists because we believe that rural and working-class Americans aren’t a lost cause, and that they deserve quality representation by champions who will show up for them, fight for them, and never talk down to them.

We’re working hard to elect candidates who will fight to restore rural and working-class Americans’ right to choose … protect their voting rights … and stop the billionaire class from exploiting them, abusing them, and cheating them out of fair compensation for the labor that their own corporate riches are built on.

Please, chip in what you can today to help us make a difference and continue to flip red seats BLUE

John, we can’t do it without your help. Let’s show our red-state brothers and sisters that we won’t hand them over to the Radical Right without a fight!

Unity and solidarity,
--The No Dem Left Behind team