The first three weeks of Trump 2.0 have been overwhelming – deliberately. Insurrectionists pardoned. Federal agencies - USAID, NIH, the FBI, the CIA - under attack. Greenland, the Panama Canal, Gaza in the President’s sights. Turmoil everywhere – even the Kennedy Center?!
There’s an ominous storm looming - last week, I called it Fascism Rising. The question everyone is asking is “What Can I Do?”
Team MAGA isn’t exactly hiding the strategy. Flood the zone. Overwhelm the defense.
“Shock and Awe” is a powerful opening gambit on offense, but it’s no guarantee of victory. Strong, patient defense can hold the line and turn the tide over time.
Team Democracy can’t give in to despair in the early going. Team MAGA’s dream scenario is that its opponents simply abandon the field.
So what can we do? And more specifically, how can one individual contribute to this much larger fight?
First of all, take a deep breath. Don’t panic. Don’t get overwhelmed. If you need a break from the news – take it.
But come back recharged and ready to work. Tens of thousands of us – hundreds of thousands – taking small manageable steps can mount a solid defense and set ourselves up to reverse this disaster in 2026 and 2028.
1. Courts are the first line of defense.
As the judge hearing a challenge to the ban on birthright citizenship said, “I’ve been on the bench for four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one… this is a blatantly unconstitutional order.”
In fact, much of what Trump/Musk are looking to do is illegal and/or unconstitutional.
Judges have stopped plans to halt federal grants, to lay off workers, to access sensitive data and more. The cases will take time – and there’s a whole other question of what happens if Team MAGA simply defies court orders. But for now the courts are the first line of defense.
What Can You Do?
· Ensure the groups bringing these cases have the resources to see them through. This fight will be expensive. Donate. Every dollar helps.
2. Democrats in Congress need to form a solid wall of opposition.
I’m all in favor of bipartisanship and of finding ways to work together across party lines. In normal times.
But – to paraphrase Ecclesiastes – there’s a time to cooperate and negotiate, and there’s a time to block and fight.
These aren’t ordinary times, and the opposition in Congress needs to act in extraordinary ways.
There are rules and procedures in both Houses of Congress that Team Democracy can use to slow down the process, gum up the works.
There’s only a one-vote margin right now in the House. Three votes in the Senate. Most legislation needs 60 votes to move in the Upper Chamber.
What Can You Do?
· Call Your Representatives. Tell them to fight as if our democracy depends on it. Tell them no Trump nominee should get a single Democratic vote in the Senate so long as this assault on our constitutional democracy continues.
· Thank your representatives when they are fighting. Press them when they’re not.
· Click on petitions. Call their offices. 15 minutes of clicking and calling is more productive than 15 minutes of screaming at the television.
· Don’t let Republicans off the hook. The failure of nearly any elected Republican to stand up for the Constitution and the rule of law is shameful. If you’re in a state or district with Republican representatives, they need to hear from you that what’s happening is unacceptable.
3. The Game Will Be Decided at the Ballot Box
Team MAGA is acting like they won a landslide. As if they have a massive mandate. They want us to feel small and defeated.
Don’t buy it.
Team Democracy barely lost in 2024. The popular vote margin was 1.5 percent. A swing of 130,000 votes in the Blue Wall states would have changed the Presidential outcome.
There is no mandate to tear apart our democracy or shred our education and health care systems.
There’s no mandate to shift trillions in wealth to billionaires through tax cuts while gutting Social Security and Medicare. There’s no mandate to hand our private data and access to all government systems to Elon Musk and a pack of 22-year olds.
Let’s define the 2026 and 2028 elections around issues that matter to the voters we need.
Pick our battles and messages carefully. Focus on what Team MAGA is doing that hurts Middle America directly: raising prices, slashing services and cutting benefits. What is Team MAGA doing that frightens Middle America – threatening the privacy of our data, our rights to make our own health care choices?
Let’s focus like a laser on what it will take to at least win back the House in 2026 and set up to take back the White House in 2028.
What Can You Do?
· Remember: it’s one vote at a time. Make it your personal mission to move one vote in a swing state or district in 2026.
· Identify friends and family with meaningful relationships to voters who either didn’t turn out or voted MAGA and can be brought back to Team Democracy. Spend the time you spent writing postcards to strangers or knocking random doors developing real relationships with a small number of voters you might be able to move through engagement over the next two years.
· Set yourself a political budget for the 2026 cycle and make sure candidates in key races in the House and Senate have the resources they need to win.
No – one person alone can’t fight everything. Pick your battles. Work in community. Challenge friends to engage with you. Join organizations (like J Street) where there’s a shared sense of mission and purpose. Press organizations where you belong that aren’t doing enough.
Together, we can hold the line against much of the damage Team MAGA aims to do and position ourselves to get back on offense in 2026 and 2028.
The challenge is to identify the correct issues and messaging. That is one of the failures in 2024
Thank you for providing direction that we need; I’ve forwarded your comments to several others who are desperate for leadership