On The Necessity Of Dems Getting A Clear Mandate From Voters This November - Revisiting My Conversation With Hardy Merriman

I've been thinking a lot about this conversation I had with Hardy Merriman a few months ago.....

Happy Sunday all. As Trump has made his illiberal designs clearer in recent weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about a conversation I had with human rights and democracy expert Hardy Merriman a few months ago.

Here’s the portion of the interview I want to focus on today. The clip is a little less than two minutes long:

Here’s a transcript of this section of the interview:  

“What we found internationally is that people expect pretty quick results after a transition out of sort of democratic backsliding or democratic breakdown, which is really hard to do because the party that comes into power, of course, inherits a system that is in bad as bad of shape as it’s ever been.  The media consolidation is higher than before. Corruption is worse than ever, yet now they’re expected to deliver.  And when voters have low confidence, they usually want to see results in two to four years.  So, when folks focus so much on, we’ve gotta just counter the authoritarian threat, and then we’ll figure out what happens afterwards…  the problem is what happens afterwards is they don’t have a lot of options unless they built a big mandate.  You have to fight to build a big mandate so that you have options. You have real options afterwards to do some major political reform.

 “Once you get in, voters want you to deliver. Whatever you’ve primed and promised on the campaign trail is what they’re going to expect. So this is why I think it’s very important to build that mandate.  And understand, when you start making changes to the political system, the party that is out of power now will say, “You’re changing the political system,” and they will accuse you of being authoritarian.  Even if your only goal is to de-corrupt the system and un-rig it, and actually undo certain authoritarian practices that they have tried to embed, certain structural advantages that they tried to embed, you tried to undo, they will claim you’re manipulating the political system now, and now you’re authoritarian.  What protects you as a politician and leader from that accusation is to say, I campaigned on it. I got voted in on big margins, and now I’m delivering on the thing that the people voted for, and I’m going to do it.”

For context here is how Hardy describes his decades of work promoting democracy across the world:

I work to support movements that advance human rights, freedom, and justice around the world. In particular, I focus on the use of civil resistance—including tactics such as strikes, boycotts, protests, acts of noncooperation, and many other nonviolent methods—to counter authoritarian rule.

A growing body of research finds that civil resistance movements are one of the most powerful drivers of democratic change over the last century. I present, write, research, and develop programs that advance education, advocacy, and practice in this field.

In the conversation I had with Alex Wagner we talked about Hardy’s important advice to the pro-democracy movement here in the US. Here is how I channeled Hardy in yesterday’s post:

National Democrats - Schumer, Jeffries, The Governors, The AGs, DNC/State Parties, Marc Elias, other democracy groups - should come together and create a unified front to defend our elections and our democracy. Right now our leaders are working in silos and it just isn’t enough given the gravity of what Trump is attempting. They should speak with one voice to educate and prepare the American people for what is to come, and build an integrated coordinating council or war room to counter it all - for we are stronger together than apart.

As part of that effort Democrats should announce a simple agenda to let voters know what we will do when back in power. We’ve offered some ideas for can be in a national agenda in our evolving Agenda Project. Whatever our leaders come up with it is essential they offer a clearly articulated accountability and renewing democracy agenda as part of this broader agenda. For as Hardy Merriman told us a few months ago the global democracy movement has learned that those parties attempting to enact far reaching accountability and democratic reforms fair far better when they’ve campaigned on the reforms and earned a clear mandate from voters. And we also know from polling that voters want us to be talking about us preserving their rights and freedoms (No Kings) and not just “kitchen table issues” and that there is nothing more intrinsically American than fighting for freedom and democracy.

We also know from polling, lots and lots of polling, that voters believe that our hearts are in right place but question our toughness, and whether we are strong enough to be able to fight and deliver for them. So we should see this fight for our rights and liberties as a real test of our character, resolve, “toughness to govern” and the ability do hard things - one we simply must pass. For truly beating MAGA, truly creating accountability, truly restoring our democracy, and truly giving the American people a better tomorrow will be the hardest thing our leaders - and all of us - have ever done; there is no easy path ahead; and we need to get on with it now.

In my new memo, The Importance Of Character And Virtue In The 2026 Elections, I show that current polling finds - definitively - that voters want us leaning into and fighting hard against Trump’s corruption and threats to our democracy (No Kings). Here’s fresh confirming data from the GOP pollster Echelon we got this week:

Getting this mandate for the reform/accountability part of our agenda will be particularly important this fall. For the Trump regime will still be in power for the next two years and the only part of our broader agenda we may be able to implement in Congress is the accountability part, through aggressive use of Congressional oversight and the work of blue state AGs and other allies like Marc Elias. Cue Rep. Robert Garcia!!!!!!

To help our community get smarter and counter about all the ways Trump and Greater MAGA may attempt to rig the 2026 elections and prevent a peaceful transfer of power next year we’ve launched a new project here at Hopium called Understanding And Winning In Evolving Political Field. My conversation with Hardy is part of that series, and you can click on the link below and find new compelling new conversations with Heather Cox Richardson, Marc Elias, Brian Tyler Cohen and other related material.

Understanding And Winning In An Evolving Political Battlefield

Spend time with Hardy’s advice to us today, let’s keep lobbying our leaders to lay out a clear agenda this fall that includes ambitious accountability/renewing democracy planks, and now, yes, it’s………

Time To Get To Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The House and Senate In 2026

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign - $980,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal - Donate | Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with a single contribution split twelve ways | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Jonathan Nez (AZ-02), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews.

Friends, if these twelve courageous candidates win, the House will flip, even with Callais and their rancid mid-decade redistricting. So eyes on the prize here everyone!

Winning The House - The Second Wave Fund - $182,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | We’ve launched a second House fund, one targeting candidates who’ve recently emerged from primaries or running in new districts. Our initial crew is Rebecca Bennett (NJ-07), Bob Brooks (PA-07), Cait Conley (NY-17), Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Bob Harvie (PA-01), Denise Powell (NE-02), and Bobby Pulido (TX-15).

A donation to the Second Wave Fund is split evenly among these seven, and more as other worthy candidates emerge from their primaries. Our total above includes money we’ve raised for directly for each candidate. You can watch interviews with all of seven of these intrepid leaders here. We are off to a great start here everyone!

Winning The Senate - $503,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal - Donate | This new fund splits a single donation to our five candidates must likely to flip a Senate seat this November - Sherrod Brown (OH), Roy Cooper (NC), Mary Peltola (AK), James Talarico (TX), and Josh Turek (IA). The $489,000 figure includes what we’ve raised for these five so far through direct donations to their campaigns. You can watch our interviews with each of these great candidates and/or contribute directly to any of them here.

Expanding The Map - Investing And Winning In Key Battleground And Expansion States

Winning Georgia (New) - $7,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | This new fund split a contribution three ways among Senator Jon Ossoff, gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, and the Georgia Democratic Party | Watch my new interview with Georgia Dem Chair Charlie Bailey

Winning Iowa - $24,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Our Winning Iowa fund splits a contribution three ways - to Josh Turek for Senate, to our gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, and to the Iowa Democratic Party | Watch my new interview with the great Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, Rita Hart

Winning Maine - $65,800 raised, $75,000 goal - Donate | Right now this fund is only supporting the Maine Democratic Party to help them get through this challenging process of selecting a new Senate nominee but will expand in coming days to include both our gubernatorial candidate, Hannah Pingree, and our eventual Senate nominee too. Thanks to all of you who have rallied for the Maine Dems in the past few days - it’s a big deal! | Watch our new interview with the inspiring Executive Director of the Maine Dems Devon Murphy-Anderson

Winning Ohio - $179,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton-Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party and its terrific Chair, Kathleen Clyde.

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $633,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal - Donate | Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five critical battlegrounds | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up!

2026 Election Analysis

• The Importance Of Character And Virtue In The 2026 Elections

• In Defense Of Vetting

• It’s Time To Move On From The “Democrats Suck” Narrative - It’s Wrong, And We Have An Election To Win

A Few More Things To Do

Let’s work to make sure everyone you know is Voting Early this year, and learn more about how our political battlefield is evolving this cycle; bring our Resolutions Project to your community; and fight for Hopium’s Agenda today and everyday!

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Keep working hard everyone. And remember - Hopium is hope with a plan. We don’t just hope tomorrow will be better than today. We do the work to make it so…..