Newsletter #43 - January 2, 2024

The chaos part is easy. “2024” means November 5th, and that means fear. Trump. That one word. And we’re all determined to stand against him. All the way. But is that enough? Is that even the right way to look at it? If we attack him relentlessly, then defeat him again the same way we did in 2020 .. by the same margins .. what changes? What will another 51% victory leave in its wake?

The forces that created Trump will still be there. MAGA and its adherents, and the vast money machine that created them, will still exist. So will the deep tribalism they have managed to create. Their ability to take fear and hate and a coordinated campaign of lies, and turn it into a political machine capable of challenging for control of government, that will still be there as well.

And once we’ve defeated Trump permanently .. and losing a second Presidential election will do just that .. what do we do? Once we are no longer united by fear of Trump, what becomes of us? Do we go back to fighting each other, Progressives versus Moderates, elites versus the heartland? Do we go back to pushing this policy and that while regular Democrats, the lifeblood of our party, go back to feeling alienated and demoralized? Fear of Trump has united us. What will unite us once he’s gone?

Now, Trump has to be defeated. He is a very real threat to the nation. And vast resources will be directed at defeating him. Our party will spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising and consultants and an army of door knockers. That is what the Democratic Party is all about. That’s their job.

Our election work is different. There are two keys to winning on November 5th, and one of them is changing the dynamic in rural areas. That means peeling off just 5-10% of the unaffiliated people who have either voted Republican in the past, or stayed home in disgust. And that means giving them a way to come over, giving them something they can identify with and be excited about, something that says “I believe that too!”

The Democratic Creed exists exactly for that purpose. It excites. It inspires. And it does it to unaffiliated voters just as surely as Democrats. It works because the values truly are American values. They’re our American values, and even Republicans agree with them (if you can get them to read it!). “Democratic Creed” is just a label, it’s the values themselves that reach out. It’s the vision of a just society .. as long as it takes that inspires, that gives people a powerful sense of being American, and that sense of “us” is the key to all of this.

And there you have the “Unity” part. November 5th is as much an opportunity as it is a danger. We have to use the Democratic Creed and the vision of a just society as long as it takes to unite our party around something we all believe, and then we need to unite the unaffiliated and disaffected Republicans and all the other people who are confused by politics. We need to unite them around those very same core values and vision that are taken right out of the Declaration of Independence. That is our true mission, and the real opportunity that Trump and all the chaos he has created offer us: to take the Democratic Creed and turn it into the American Creed, and establish a true supermajority along the way!

We have an exciting year ahead. This is happening, but there is so much to do. If you haven’t already joined us in this struggle over our future, as Democrats and Americans, reach out now. It’s free, it helps you win now, and it brings with it an incredible sense of community. You are part of a vast sea of county-level Democrats who hunger for this. Be part of the solution. Check out Democrats 101. Check out the Democratic Creed. Adopt it, then reach out and join in.

Happy New Year!

J.M. Purvis, Author and Founder of Democrats 101