winter is coming
Newsletter #68 / November 25, 2024
Of course, if you’re a rural county party, winter has been coming for a very long time. It’s been darkening the horizon, and you’ve been crying out. You’ve been pointing frantically at the impending storm, at the growing dangers, but nobody would listen ... not the state party, not the national party, not anyone with real power. And so, Donald Trump is President once again, and the American Winter begins on January 21st.
All through all this slow-motion disaster, the Establishment has looked at you as the problem. You’ve been seen as an obstacle in the way, something to be written off. But the truth is, you’re the answer. You. Rural counties. All 2551 of you, 81% of all the counties in America. You are how we fix this once and for all, permanently. The way forward for this country runs straight through you, and here’s why.
If we keep on doing the same things over and over, relying on the same mentality the Establishment has been using for the past thirty years, we aren’t going to fix anything. This isn’t about “better messaging”, or “rebranding”, or changing campaign focus to this or that identity group.
And we won’t fix anything by endlessly reacting to what the Republicans do. We’ve basically spent the past ten years trying to stop Trump, that’s a full decade endlessly defending and screaming “liar!”. What has that gotten us?
The problem is much more basic. The problem is identity. Forget MAGA. Forget the hardcore thirty percent of their base. An enormous part of this country has come to see us as “the other”, as unrelated to their needs and frustrations. They have come to see the Democratic Party as champion of the status quo, champion of a system that rewards some while ignoring others, and elitist to boot. And that is why rural counties are the answer. That is exactly why you are the answer.
You didn’t get into politics because of a brand, and you’re not grieving Trump because of politics. You are an activist … an activist on a terrible difficult battleground … and you’re there because you care about a better America. You’ve been a Democrat through all of this because you believe in achieving a just society … as long as it takes. That belief is identity, and that identity is what we have to lead with.
Changing this is not about big money, or PACs, or seasoned campaign operatives out of Washington. And it doesn’t start at the top. We are going to change America by being about an idea, a basic American idea embodied in the Declaration of Independence: all people are created equal. This is about spreading that idea across the rural grassroots, across every state in the union, until that voice it is an unstoppable national voice, 2500 strong. Then we have a voice that is listened to, a message that will spread to the rest of the party, right up to the top.
The first step is affirming these American values, and doing it publicly. It starts starts by being proud to be a Democrat … and knowing why. It starts by standing up and not just adopting the Democratic Creed, but waving it as proudly as you can.
But waving this banner is not enough. These values need practical expression, and wide acceptance by the very people you need to reach. Winter is coming, and it’s going to lead to years of chaos-by-ineptitude. Before that happens, folks need to look at the definitions of Freedom, Justice, and Opportunity. They need to understand the specific rights these definitions call for … the things that affect their daily life … and see them as their own. Your neighbors need to accept things like clean air and clean water as their right as an American, quality education and affordable housing their due. They need to see affordable health care and accessible hospitals as something the government is obligated to ensure ... no matter which party is in power. We need to plant these ideas now, state them over and over until it just becomes reality. And in the process, you become the champion of these ideas. You become the champion with 2026 just around the corner. Do this, then let the Republicans defend for a change. Let their failure to govern speak for itself.
This isn’t an easy task, and it won’t be a quick one, because all that is just the first step. But it is the way we fix this. It is the beginning of taking back your county and our country, the power of rural counties united in a statement of values and identity and purpose, and we are here to help.
We will launch a series over the coming weeks to highlight using Freedom, Justice, and Opportunity in practical ways, the beginnings of how to do this. But every bit of this begins by standing up and saying “enough!”. It begins by putting our enormous grief and anger and frustration behind us. It begins by taking action. A Community of Values is forming, not another political organization but a moral force, a national rural movement with one purpose: to resurrect our identity as a party, and our identity as a country. Major initiatives will come after the holidays, Dems 101 is hard at work, but don’t wait. Don’t spend the next few months sitting and watching the headlines and despairing. Reach out now and adopt the Democratic Creed. Reach out and join us in making this happen. Then roll up your sleeves and put these ideas to work.
Dems 101
