On @crookedmedia today, @RossMoRock & I laid out some principles the entire Democratic Party — operatives, funders, electeds, volunteers, all of us — needs to embrace to move forward. /1 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
(1) Treat every election like it’s the most important election of our lives, and treat every month like October. Next year is not an “off year,” just like 2017 and 2019 were not “off years.” Do not wait for the deadline to start doing the work. /2 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
(2) Resource every state like a battleground. @GovHowardDean’a 50 State Strategy was smart; bring it back. That means fully funding all 50 state parties, recruiting candidates everywhere, & giving them the resources they need as early as possible. /3 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
(3) Chase *power*, not shiny objects. Dems have a tendency to become distracted by flashy things. We’ll place all our hopes & dreams in the presidency & ignore the down ballot or we become mired in infighting over viral tweets...
/4 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/

(4) Win local elections so we can win national elections. See: State legislatures, county clerks, commissioners that appoint election canvassers, etc. It all ladders up. /5 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
(5) Win local elections because they make people’s lives better (and gridlock in Washington means it might be hard to make progress otherwise). We should show voters what progressive governing looks like at a level that feels personal and tangible. /6 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
(6) Measure success past Election Day and beyond wins and losses. The primary burden for this falls on funders. I’m calling you out!
/7 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/

(7) Commit to racial diversity, internally and externally. This is non-negotiable. /8 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
(8) Embrace primaries. They’re how women & candidates of color break through, & how we empower candidates who challenge the status quo. Primaries engage our best activists, build out infrastructure, & define what our party believes. Primaries are good! /9 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
(9) Reject the false choice between “persuasion” & “turnout.” That choice is based on the premise of limited resources and time. If we instead invest in year-round organizing and in local infrastructure in all 50 states, we can always be doing both. /10 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
(10) Remember: Even if Trump is never on the ballot again, Trump Republicans are. They can not be trusted with power. We can’t allow a single Republican—at any level of government—to win without putting up a hard fight. /11 https://crooked.com/articles/democrats-after-trump/
. @RossMoRock & I talked thru all this at length in our Election Day podcast ep, w/o knowing the results of the election b/c it didn’t matter. The Democratic Party has to reorient ourselves as a nat’l political entity, not a machine for the presidency. /12 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/run-for-something/id1529515305?i=1000497027385
Finally: All of these principles directly inform how we’ve built @runforsomething. Commit to us and we’ll keep working hard, even when it’s hard. /end! https://secure.actblue.com/donate/rfs?refcode=1119altw&recurring=1