#2: Jettison the Depression, Get Up and Move Forward

Dear Friends,

I wrote to you two weeks ago regarding paths forward after the disheartening Presidential election. At the time, I called for relentlessness in taking the action steps necessary so we can revel 2 years from now during the mid-term elections and leap for joy on election day in 2020. These are not idle dreams.

I received a huge response to my expressed beliefs that it is time to jettison the depression and get up and move forward. Given the number of people who seconded my thoughts and sent them on to others, I have decided to offer specific action steps every two weeks in email and blog form with links posted to Facebook, because we are far more likely to succeed if across American people are taking ownership of this challenge. As before, if this isn't your idea of a good time you can delete my missive, or ask me to remove your name. If it is, please check out the blog, forward the email, and/or follow me on Facebook. For those who did some forwarding last time, I would be glad to add names directly to my list if that is appropriate and you send those names on to me.

My feeling now is eagerness. The early start for the President-elect (I am forcing myself to input those words!) has not been encouraging. This week we received the bizarre claim of millions of illegal votes. There will always be something, unfortunately.

Certainly, we are hoping that some actions will go well, or that they go not as badly as we feared.  But let's not lull ourselves, because some things are going to rend the republic for which we stand. The point for all of us going forward is that this about a playbook (action steps), not just a scorecard that reveals what others have done. If we limit ourselves to following in the media how some less unacceptable appointee is faring, we miss the point. This is about what we are going to do, week after week.  Please don't lose your resoluteness as the rest of your life presents itself.

Here are four things you can do right now:

Petition Donald Trump to Pay His Taxes
	As those of you that are most closely watching the situation know, there is a check we can send or a petition we can sign every day. Let's sort these things out carefully. Let's pick initiatives that have a chance of catching on, that are not unduly snarky, and which will matter if they do catch on. We have a nomination. Ask Donald Trump to pay federal income taxes. We started a petition that makes this request and have posted it on change.org. It reads: " Dear President-Elect Trump, April 15 is not too far away. We respectfully request that you plan to pay federal income taxes by that day, like tens of millions of Americans of all political viewpoints. We believe this is an essential and fundamental duty of all citizens. Thank you." We think this is worthy of your signing and promoting. Just click on the link above. There is no record of any President failing to contribute to our collective aims in the time since the tax was established in 1913. We believe it a core duty for anyone who seeks to be a governmental leader, but we have no confidence that Donald Trump agrees with that. We think a groundswell of citizen interest in this will cause him to either to do the right thing or to be exposed in not doing the right thing. Please pass it on.
1) Take Your First Steps in a Two Year Project: Win Back the House
	I am guessing that you do not necessarily know who the most vulnerable Trump-supporting Republican member of Congress is in your vicinity. Time to become an active student on what could emerge so you and your friends can play a role. As Obama supporters will painfully remember, there is a history of the President's party jettisoning support during mid-term elections, resulting in the mammoth loss of 63 seats! by Democrats in 2010 and another 14 in 2014. The count is now 241-194, so the Democrats would need to gain 24 seats in 2018 to take back the House. This is less outlandish that it seems because Democrats took back 30 seats in 2006. It is impeded by redistricting shenanigans, but it is still possible. Of course, it all depends on how the new Administration is doing at the time, but it is not a huge stretch to think the wind will be at the back of candidates who want to brake Trump's worse excesses. The thing to do is start to research and eventually own a race near you, or a race which you otherwise identify with. Potential candidates are thinking about this now. If you wait until too late you can be without a viable candidate in a district which might otherwise be in play. For instance, in Washington's state's 8th District three weeks ago Republican Dave Reichert defeated Tony Ventrella 60-40%. In 2012, Barack Obama got more votes than Mitt Romney in this same Congressional district, which may reveal an opening as Reichert's party forces him to help unravel Obama's accomplishments. As they emerge, I will send you some links to 2016 results to help you further analyze what might be possible. Here's a first look at 43 key races from across the country. You can look at your own's state's races by googling your Secretary of State's site.
2) Give the Gift That Keeps On Giving
	In my previous letter, I noted that there are organizations that can receive charitable donations in any end of the year giving you are inclined to do, and which are working on issues that will be critical between now and the next election. The Mi Familia Vota Education Fund will receive your tax deductible donations to continue to register Latino voters in six key states. A lot of us are concerned that racist and anti-immigrant actions are or will be in their ascendancy. If you are looking for an organization that is a skilled and fierce combatant of these actions, there are not any more skilled or more fierce than the Southern Poverty Law Center.
3) Show Senators That You Care About What They Do
	There will be more to do on this as specific policy battles emerge, but the national epicenter for fighting over tax policy and climate change and Medicare and countless other matters will be the Senate. It is time to think about what you can do on that front. First, there are 48 Senators that caucus with the Democrats, but remember that issue by issue some of those Senators are in play. Democratic Senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana and Claire McCaskill of Missouri will be under tremendous pressure to support elements of Trump's emerging agenda that you yourself might not favor. Republican Senators like John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Ben Sasse of Nebraska did not support Trump's election but will be pressured to provide support. Two things. Start watching Charles Schumer of New York, the new minority leader. Even though he was a poor spokesman for them, Democratic Senators kept Harry Reid because he attended to the mechanics of legislation and to their individual requests. Charles Schumer has his faults, but he will articulate the agenda of Senate Democrats much better than Harry Reid did, starting now. Read more here. Here's a project. Select a Senator in the balance, Democrat or Republican, who may be one of the seven I named above. Rather than resigning yourself to being one of thousands of people on their answering machine, go on their website, look at the assignments of their legislative assistants (who along with committee staff help them with legislation.) Pick the assistant whose assignments match up with one of your strong interests, and call that assistant instead. You may not get through, but the well-stated message you leave on their voice mail will keep you from just blending in to the office-wide tabulation.

Keep going. Collective actions don't emerge magically. They are built upon the individual ongoing concerted principled thoughtful actions of people like you.

Thanks
David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington

#1: A Path Forward After the Election...

Dear Friends,

Those of us who thought it unthinkable that Donald Trump could be president of the country we have loved are having a hard time. On day seven of my own personal mourning I have resolved to push away the sorrow and anger and to channel it into purpose and resolve. I have decided to be all about the resurgence we can create together, the steps we can take to shield people from harm, and the ways that we can be a part of a victorious political movement 2 and 4 years from now.

If we start now, we can earn our new President. I plan to glory in the election of November 6, 2020.

We need relentlessness in our actions to parry any unacceptable Presidential steps and to restore liberty and justice in the future. If we let our focus dissipate, we will pay. It seems clear that a lot of us are ready to provide the energy that is needed.

We also need to pick our action steps wisely. Here, humbly are five specific steps Cindy and I plan to take right now. I hope you will do the same and that you will spread the word. If you are willing to hear about new steps now and again until we win this back, let me know and I will send you ideas. Slowly and surely, we and others will secure a newer and better world.

1) Respond to the Greatest New Fear: Support Immigrant Rights
	The campaign promises of the winner have terrified immigrants across the country. An Eastern Washington elementary teacher reported Wednesday morning that three of her students came to school sobbing, expecting immediate deportation. The safety pin effort is a great way to publicly fight back against fear and show support. But, we must go further and be at the front lines with the splendid network of nonprofit immigrant advocacy programs around the country, whose assistance ranges from food, counseling and job assistance to legal representation. These are the places that terrified immigrants are most likely to go and the organizations most intent on generating a valuable zone of protection. Find the program nearest to you, learn what they need right now, and play a role in helping them get it. In our case, it is the small but very good Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center. On organizing and policy advocacy in Washington State, a great choice is One America.
2) Pick Your First 2018 Candidate or Opponent
	I am sorry, but the 2018 House and Senate elections should be on all of our radar screens earlier than you think you can bear it. The less good news is that there will be fewer vulnerable Republicans running for the Senate in 2018 than there were this time, but Trump's performance may well be so awful that there will be inroads to be made, especially in the House and perhaps in the Senate. The first mid-term election is always difficult for an incumbent party, as it was for the Democrats in 2010 after Barack Obama was elected in 2008. There are 48 Democratic Senators now who can block Trump's worst excesses, which is a good number in a chamber where 40 votes count. The best chances for a Senate seat pickup in 2018 will be defeating Dean Heller in Nevada. who has been lukewarm on Trump but who will be under tremendous pressure to support his agenda. The best way to now to attend to opportunity to pick up this seat is to support the organization most active in securing Latino registration in Nevada, as well as in Colorado, California, Florida, Arizona and Texas, which of course are all key 2020 presidential election states. The Mi Familia Vota Education Fund can accept charitable donations. You can give your family voter registration for Christmas.
3) Learn Something New About Job Generation
	The Comey announcement 10 days before the election may have changed the ultimate outcome by itself, changing votes of women theretofore focused on Trump misogyny. But there were plenty of self inflicted wounds by Democrats. Leading among Democratic weaknesses is articulating what to do about the lack of growth or decline of "family wage" jobs for high school graduates. This issue is what in part drives the carbon impact-denying extraction-promoting Republicans. The Democratic response has been uneven, because their proposed advanced training for the jobs of the future works better for people aged 25 rather than people aged 50. One approach here is for Democrats to better understand and embrace the rebuild America agenda (which generates good construction jobs) while vowing to never use the word "infrastructure", which I swear has never generated as single vote in a swing state. We should all look for the pressure points on this issue. Here's the basic need around which better Democratic ideas must be developed.
4) Revel in the Emergence of the New Democratic Generation
	Unless Michelle Obama!!!! stands for office, the Democratic nominee in 2020 will be someone all new, and will not be Elizabeth Warren or Joe Biden or Tim Kaine. We need to start thinking about these new people and consider our very own selves a part of the nomination process. Go see these people if they come to your state. Research dynamic New Jersey senator Cory Booker, or workhorse New York senator Kristin Gillibrand or former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro. Or think about Michelle Obama again... Cory Booker once saved a woman from a burning building. Of course you know that once Laura Ingraham gets hold of that burning building news, the story will be that Cory Booker actually started the fire, tripped the woman, and ripped out the phones so that the fire department couldn't be called.
5) Make Your Carbon Pledge
	President Trump will have less power or more power depending on the area of public policy. For instance, John McCain, Lindsay Graham and other national security Republicans will work with Democrats to block Trump's impulses on NATO. Trump's tax plan will have less traction than whatever Paul Ryan and House Republicans want as their initial proposal. But Trump has the ability through executive order and executive action to deflate America's fragile role in carbon reduction. Other than federal courts blocking executive orders that overreach, it is difficult to say where the line of defense on climate change is at the federal level. At the state and local and personal level, one part of the line of defense is you. If Trump's actions end up making carbon emissions 10% higher than they would have been, it's time for each of us to figure out how to decrease our carbon impact by at least that same level. So here's your assessment tool.

I will send more in a few weeks for those who would like to hear. If you find this of interest, please feel free to forward it to your friends. If you would prefer not to receive future messages like these, please reply back to me. At this point, we may feel that the greatest danger is that we won't be able to stop thinking about the results of Tuesday, November 8, because the outcome is so far from what we want for ourselves and our country. Over time, the greatest danger is the opposite, that all the battles and wins and losses will take their toll on us, and we will let ourselves turn away from the greatest challenge we face. Let's stay focused and intentional and forward thinking and not let that happen.

David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington