Brain dump from America Votes Summit

Happy (?) spring, as we redouble (retriple?) our work to save our Democracy. You’ll receive some specific calls to action in Pennsylvania from Ann and I in the coming weeks, but first here's what I learned from the America Votes state summit in Washington, DC which gathered more than 2,000 activists from around the country to forge a path forward.

The Bad News

• Democrats lost in 2024 because we showed up only to ask for votes, rather than being part of voters’ lives year-round and learning what is important to them. (Note: We are working with local groups in PA that are doing exactly this type of year-round engagement.)

• The Democratic party is deeply unpopular and not trusted. We have to prove to voters that we care about and can help with the issues that matter to them. (See the first point, above, about the need to listen.) 

• We are more than a decade behind MAGA in building an alternative media ecosystem that reaches the less involved voters who elected Trump. This goes beyond social media to TikTok and even further into podcasts and even online chats about gaming, sports and fashion. (If this seems as alien to you as it does to me, that’s part of the problem. We urgently need some younger folks to teach us how to compete in this area.)

The Good News

• Trump’s policies are deeply unpopular and already hurting his poll numbers.

• We’ve already won legislative races in Iowa and Pennsylvania, and the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, and cut Republican win margins in Florida Congressional special elections.

• Republican candidates tend to do worse when Trump isn’t on the ticket. (Good potential news for the midterms!)

• The 2,000 organizers and funders at the America Votes conference are upbeat but honest, having the tough conversations about what we’ve done wrong and working together about how we can improve both our policies and messaging. 

What we will do with your help

Pave the way to winning flippable House seats next year in Pennsylvania Congressional Districts 7, 8 and 10 by: 

• Finding more local examples of how Trump is hurting Pennsylvanians and publicizing them, and how Democrats are helping or will help if elected.

• Telling our story more effectively in channels such as YouTube and TikTok.

• Talking to voters about this fall’s PA’s Supreme Court Supreme Court retention races soon via phone banks and other means.

Again, we’ll be in touch soon with details of how you can help. But if your hair is on fire now email Bob Scheier or Ann Eldridge and we can offer ways to join the growing, engaged and determined resistance.

The antidote to despair is, now more than ever, action.

Ann and Bob