Getting Back to My (Grass) Roots

The Answers are Right In Front of Us

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There’s a petition drive going on where I live to send a deal the county council made with a large, rapacious developer, to the ballot this November. I’ve volunteered to collect signatures for our petition drive.

It’s the best thing I’ve done in a long time.

There is the civic action, which I like. There is the taking on (any) Goliath anytime I can. I’ve spent more time talking to my neighbors than I have in months. The best, though, is finding a collection of dedicated volunteer leaders and activists who, when it would be easier (and in their best interests) to sit quietly, stand to be counted.

Yesterday, I sat a table as scores of my fellow voters streamed in to put their names and signatures on petitions. These folks had come from all over the county to sign, having to bob and weave as the landlord of our largest shopping center kicked volunteers at the behest of the aforementioned rapacious developer.

My neighbors would not be deterred. They braved polite, but firm sheriff’s deputies shooing them away from would-be collection centers, and bitter cold to ensure their voices would be heard by the powers that be next fall. Everyone of them was enthusiastic about the collective action and appreciative of my (our) efforts.

I’ve been heartened to see this effort is cutting across demographic, economic, and ideological lines. Most of my neighborhood voted for Kamala Harris. A lot of guys I know for Donald Trump. I’ve collected signatures from both. As it turns out, the idea of an outside force imposing its will on a rather small (by population) enclave because of pure greed brings people together.

The process has reminded me of a few crucial things as we process the new world in which we’re living.

Humility

Given that we (the collective we) lost to Donald Trump not once, but twice, is an indication that most of us with all the experience, knowledge, and facts on our side are still missing the overall. We’re supposed to know how to develop messages, recruit good candidates, and win elections. Experience matters, yes. So does the ability (and willingness) to put the bombast and bullshit aside for a minute as we regroup.

Candor

Why did we lose to Donald Trump and so many of his acolytes when the things he says and is now doing are broadly unpopular (or so we’re told?) We must take a long, hard look at ourselves and ask what are we missing that 81 million Americans didn’t? This is not an easy, pleasant, or speedy process.

However, if your answer to Trump’s victory is tell those that voted for him “Fuck you,” you’re still missing the point. Denigrating voters for their choices, even the bad ones, creates a dynamic in which those same people are pushed further into his arms. Even if the things Trump does hurts the very people he promised to protect, they psycho-political reality is they’d rather be with the liar who claims to love them than people who openly revile them.

Understanding Our Audience

Yes, there are those that voted for Trump because they are diehard MAGA. Then there are those who are Republicans who detest Democrats, any Democrats. Next are the independents who were once Republicans but have no love for Trump, but aren’t hearing anything they like from the alternative. Some of those people, many of them, are unreachable, just as they would be in an otherwise normal time.

I believe we need to speak with, and understand, why five million (5,000,000) American voters who could have participated last fall, didn’t. A group that large is not just younger voters, or Latino voters, or Black voters. They represent a broad cross-section of what was once the “Democratic coalition” who chose to stay home, despite being well-informed of their options.

Bringing them back to the pro-democracy, pro-decency fold is not easy, nor will it be fast. The idea that we can talk to voters eight weeks out of every two years and expect they’ll believe a thing we’re telling them doesn’t work. If your only contact with them now is to scream about Trump’s moment-by-moment outrage machine, they’ll continue to tune out. We must offer them something. We must provide a better alternative. We must begin convincing them that participation does in fact matter.

If your answer to why we lost the 2024 election has anything to do with ‘data,’ ‘modeling’ or ‘research’ please strap yourself to an iceberg and set off for Antartica. If at this point, you don’t know, don’t care, or profit too much from a political strategy and framework that relies on machines rather than belief to determine why you’re running for office, or managing their campaigns, you have no business telling anyone what they should do, nor should you be afforded the luxury of being taken seriously.

Back to the Lecture At Hand

We have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks and months. My suggestion is to put down the social media, reduce your news consumption, and get involved in your community. If there’s a straight political effort going on, like the one I’m participating in, that’s great. But it doesn’t have to be. Find something that helps you reconnect with your neighbors, your communty and brings you the fulfillment of a hard job, well-done, while being in the moment, rather than screaming into the wind.

I promise you’ll find, as I have, it will make all the difference in how you feel at the end of the day.

News and Notes:

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