24 Comments
User's avatar
Patrick's avatar

I think candidates who even take the label of “socialist” are making a huge mistake. If you have to be constantly defending or explaining what is meant by that label, you are losing.

Postcards to MI today.

Naomi Bailis's avatar

Candidates seem to be reaching their voters. That’s what matters most. Big tent. And yes, maybe a rename or at least reframe is in order for sane DSA candidates.

Patrick's avatar

Why not New Deal Democrats? Or Working Families Democrats? There’s got to be better branding.

Big tent yes, but I think the label Socialist is a way to win a primary and lose a general election.

Liza Hameline's avatar

Protecting the vote: in all 254 counties in Texas. Training judges, clerks, poll watchers, recruiting volunteers who can go with neighbors to the polls, recruiting volunteers to check on polling sites and relay information to the county party. Eyes and ears on the ground. Volunteers to staff the boiler rooms, answer questions. Voting is hard in Texas, that is by design.

Liz 🌻's avatar

Great work Simon!!

Naomi Bailis's avatar

I voted early this passed Tuesday. Dropped off my ballot in my district drop box and walked away with a big smile on my face. LFG

Naomi Bailis's avatar

I must add that this early vote was for State primaries, Governor, snd one federal primary. It’s practice for voting early in the midterms. Like to get started early. :-)

kitkatmia's avatar

Thanks for dreaming up the "New Battlefield Project", altho we might get a catchier name?

Dem Elect Protect 26? we need this. maybe plug in governors and AGs too, marc elias, etc does this start at the precinct level? only blue states? instant alerts to media, voters, etc? claude might game out some things, like vunerable precincts. trumpers most likely have musk AI working on exactly the number of votes/voters they need to take out precinct by precinct, like they did with kamala. so we should be laser focused on those precincts. its a numbers game. also where the counties are keeping & counting the ballots need to be fortified with state troopers or police or both prior to trouble starting. and maybe we can have a forward facing component to the voting public to keep them informed? thank you for starting this effort.

Kate W's avatar

All D orgs and entities will be connected. Simon's video and his interview with Jeffries talk about this.

Lianne Riebow's avatar

My day is made seeing MN01 on the list of supported candidates! Jake Johnson is a well-respected member of our community. He was my daughter's very dedicated high school math teacher. He went above and beyond for ALL his students at the public high school. I believe he will represent our district well.

Kate Feldman's avatar

OMG a war room! A Nationally coordinated effort to protect the elections! This is so great Simon. I'm so proud of the person who is starting the fund raising. And you.

I'm getting this out our little old blue liberal western Mass! ASAP.

John Payne's avatar

Yeah what a great idea. And from someone who has a bit of experience with war rooms. (Found this trailer on YouTube for the documentary about the 1992 Clinton campaign - someone we know has an IMDb credit for this) https://youtu.be/pgo-qwfCFYU?is=-biOiUpaIH4hd6c6

Elizabeth T.'s avatar

I canvassed last night for the first time since the 2008 election and had a wonderful time. I went to an apartment complex that has large numbers of Spanish speakers. Four of the sixteen voters were home, four had moved, and the other eight didn't answer the door. The four voters were all very well informed and motivated to vote! One was a man who has a PhD in plant genetics and is from Cameroon. He said he has eight children and they are all registered Democrats. Another woman who had just moved into the apartment said she registered to vote last week at a Sheetz because someone was doing registration there (how cool is that?!). She was on fire and said many of her friends had expressed negativity about voting. She took the flier we had about the judges and immediately took a picture of it so that she could text all of her friends. We then told everyone else we talked with to do the same thing. At any rate, it was very energizing and I'm planning to go out as often as I can.

BeeBeeinNYC's avatar

This put a smile on my face, honestly, Elizabeth!

Lisa Iannucci's avatar

Fantastic! thank you!

TylerDurden's avatar

Still would have preferred Ben Winkler (as opposed to Ken) and his tremendous track record in WI - sorry Simon.

Rachel Poliner's avatar

You know that Minnesota was a purple state till Ken Martin took over, right? I like Wikler too, and I was more familiar with him in 2024 because he was so frequently interviewed since WI was still a purple state. As far as I could tell, they had similar reform plans, and that's all in the past. Wikler is on his own trajectory now.

TylerDurden's avatar

WI was way more purple with a string of Republican governors, senators etc….and flipping to Trump. Minnesota voted for Mondale when 49 other states went for Reagan. Is Tim Pawlenty the outlier here ? Maybe Jesse Ventura (but he was neither Dem/Rep)

Cissna, Ken's avatar

Great work. Enjoy your family time.

Faith Wilson's avatar

Glad to see the plans for educating about the GOP and their election schemes. Between the tendency of our side to doom-post that " OMG there will never be elections again!!!!" and the constant Republican rhetorical attack on our election systems it hard to differentiate between sensationalism and preparedness. I'm definitely curious to know a) what are the most likely attempts that the Republicans will use to stay in power and b) the plausibility (success/failure) of these attempts. I would think that close election outcomes would be the higher-risk scenarios, which is why early voting (whichever form: mail, drop-box, in-person) is a key strategy. I do think people tend to ascribe a finality to trump's threats, even though states run elections and he has zero to do with them.

Marcia's avatar

The next time I’m faced with the “he’s gonna cancel elections!” prediction, I’m going to smile and remind the doomsayer that he’s sure to bring the same level of care and planning to blocking fair elections as he brought to fixing the reflecting pool. “Just like the algae know how to grow in warm, sunny water, our side knows how to fight back against their election threats.”

WA's avatar

Thanks for the exciting update! I called my WI Republican members demanding in person town halls during their recess to answer the many questions people have about the Republicans and Trumps damage to the US. I have a list of major concerns that I will address ,a few at a time , each day when I ask when they have scheduled their in person town halls. I’ve been getting yard signs for myself and friends, encouraging early voting, worked the polls on Tuesday, I’m gearing up for the final weeks of postcarding for Dems in WI-03 and continue with writing postcards with Postcards to Voters.

Lisa Iannucci's avatar

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this new Dem initiative for elex protection! I'm attending a local prog Dems group meeting this evening and will be sure to mention it!

The coordination and comprehensive approach that includes trained attorneys, secs of state, AGs, local officials, and trained vols in each state is exactly what's needed. I am eagerly awaiting details of the elex protection training!

Almost done w Alaska postcards, and will start in on the news boosting cards to TX, where James Talarico is killing it! Our gubernatorial candidate in WI, David Crowley, was on w Jen Psaki last night, and has a compelling story. I think we are in good shape. Keep going!

Meliss Bunce's avatar

Wow! What a bombshell of good news! Can't tell you how relieved, proud, and glad I am that the Dem state parties are embracing this three part program. I'm eager to hear more, and will definitely share this with my local Indivisible gang. On a personal note - Simon, I support you 100% in your War Room project. I believe the urgency of that work supersedes your faithful daily essays and interviews that we all value so much. I for one would be happy for you to take as much time as needed for the election-related work. We can get news and opinions from other sources, but we've only got this one shot at saving our democracy, and your part is vital. So deeply grateful to this community and to Simon for his leadership.