We Will Save Ourselves (and our Country)

Kenneth Branagh as King Henry V in his 1989 adaptation.

I rewrote the headline of this article four times. My first attempts were too pessimistic, too conditional, too passive. Pessimism, conditionality, and passivity remain the preferred states for too many people, organizations, companies, and groups that should be in the fight alongside us.

No matter.

If the state of America, and this race for president, and our future, were normal, we wouldn’t need to worry about them. They’d play their roles, however important, when the time came. They may still arrive in time for the fight, however late or unprepared. More of them will hide in the proverbial woods, hoping this, the Trumposcene Era of American history will either disappear or pass them by.

Neither option is realistic. Authoritarian movements like MAGA take decades to prepare and years to defeat. If they’re successful either at the ballot box, or by force, politics never leaves anyone alone. For better or worse, we are all of us bound up together. One American’s fate will be all Americans’ fate.

If you’re reading this (and thank you for that) you’re no longer passive or pessimistic. The conditional nature of your willingness to fight for decency and democracy has hardened to resolve (and thank you for that, too.) It’s impolitic today to talk in terms of black and white, and of binary outcomes, but it bears repeating: Come November we will win or we will lose our country.

I do believe this year’s election is a choice between America or Trump. Those are the stakes. For many voters, though, buffeted by our collective PTSD, a torrent of mis/disinformation, and a general national bad mood, that broad an argument may not work.

It resonated in 2020 when Trump was president, and the full weight of his chaos, incompetence, and inhumanity was both in power and on full, constant display. This year, we must look a little closer to home.

If we look just at the numbers: Democratic leaning voters, Trump’s shrinking base, demographic shifts, Joe Biden has a distinct advantage. On paper, yes. Out in the world, however, we must be more attuned, more creative, more innovative, and more ready to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.

The sclerotic politics of TV buys, super PACs, and opposition research still dominates the field today. Yet even these old-fashioned, uninteresting, and inefficient tactics should be enough to get Joe Biden within two points of winning. That is where we, my band of brothers and sisters, come in.

We can and will fill the gaps in Biden’s numbers. In 2020, an ad hoc coalition came together to ensure Donald Trump left the White House. In 2022, that coalition was more organized and effective, and we saw crucial wins in states such as Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The MAGAs were baying at the door and we kicked them off the porch.

Today, that coalition is again splintered. There are myriad reasons: The president’s age, Gaza, unkept promises, read the New York Times and I’m sure you’ll find someone complaining about something that Joe Biden did/didn’t/didn’t do enough of. If those are reasons you’re not getting involved this year, you can stop reading. This place, The Home Front, is for the doers, not the complainers or observers.

Why does our work matter? Why must we stitch together a winning coalition? Because we have a lot of work to do no, few resources with which to do it, and the clock is ticking.

The MAGA movement has been hard at work for years, since Trump left office. The January 6th insurrection wasn’t an end, but the beginning of MAGA approaching near-full fascist flower. Trump’s most fervent followers were excited in 2016 and 2020. In 2024, they’re downright nuts.

We, the pro-democracy movement, and MAGA look through the same American mirror and see very different reflections. We both believe the election is existential. Here’s the difference, though, and this matters.

WE see the fight as the difference between the continuation of the American Experiment into a new era and epoch, faced with real issues, but bright with opportunity. For lack of a better word, we fight for freedom and opportunity. In a word, DEMOCRACY.

THEY see the fight as existential to their (fictional) ‘way of life.’ They come to this battle with the idea that something has been, or is being, stolen from them. Their racial and cultural demands are on display; out there for anyone who wishes to take the time to listen. These Wannabe Fascists always say the loud part louder.

If there is anything you care about: Your family, your job, a particular issue or policy, America’s place in the world, they only survive if Joe Biden is reelected. That’s it. Full stop. End of story. If you want agency in your life, in your family’s life, in your daughters’ lives, you best do everything you can for the next 139 days to ensure Biden’s reelection.

Conversely, if you’re good with your life, and your country being dictated by the whims of one, malignant narcissistic, sexual predator, convicted felon, then by all means, sit this one out.

If you’re reading this, you know we have a lot of work to do. Many of you are probably asking, “How do I get involved?” I’ll offer more on that front in coming days. For now, if you live in a key Electoral College state, call up your state or county Democratic Party and volunteer. Find out who’s running for office, any office, in your area, and get involved with them. If there’s an issue you care deeply about, find out which group in your area works on it, and sign up.

If you live in another, non-contested presidential state, you have work to do, too! Go to JoinTheUnion.us and find out how you can get involved with dozens of groups and tens of thousands of other patriots around the country. Follow the

Hopium Chronicles By Simon Rosenberg

and experts such as Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Information, education, and creativity will be our best tools this year.

You could lean back. Lean forward. You could sit down. Stand up. You could keep quiet. Get loud. We will save this country, you and I. We will pick her up on our shoulders and carry her into the future. Together.

Let’s get smart, get ready, and get to work.

News and Notes:

Check out my terrific conversation with

JoJoFromJerz

!