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[onedemand-blog]

We've published and delivered an open letter to the Hamilton Electors critiquing some basic aspects of their strategy.

Please help us circulate it by sharing this link, and by posting it in any comments sections under stories related to the group and their plans.

[onedemand-blog]

"The Constitution allows for, and requires, civic involvement. We need to stand up so profoundly that the Electors feel protected and supported for voting their conscience. By December 19th, those who feel an itch to speak up, but haven’t done so, are going to regret it. By January 21st, those who have remained uninvolved will have a hard time containing their regret. After January 21st, if something terrible happens, it will be impossible to justify having been silent when something still could have been done."

#OneDemand #FlipTheVote #StopTrump

[onedemand-blog]

#OneDemand is not, strictly speaking, an organization. It is an open principle for organizing, offered as a point of solidarity between independent struggles and struggles-to-come. There is no closed membership. Wherever “we” appears in our literature, it might refer, by context, either to our ‘core development team’ (occasionally, CDT), or to the resistance movement at large, or to anyone who wants to make use of the organizing principle. The “one demand” it invokes is this: Donald Trump must not be president. The focus of our team is to work out the best means by which to achieve that goal, and to help support methods of resistance and coping in the meantime.

OK then, what is an “open principle for organizing”?

Several things. It is a slogan, a set of concepts, and a set of practical strategies for activism, all of which, as encapsulated by #OneDemand, are intended to be non-exclusive. That is, #OneDemand does not aim to be entirely “self-sufficient,” or to displace or take priority over any other struggles against Trump’s regime, whether those struggles belong to the groups Trump has openly threatened to persecute, or to those groups that he has only insulted and degraded, or to any other groups that seek to challenge specific aspects of his policies or those of his administration-to-be. #OneDemand is, so to speak, a “modular” set of strategies, designed to complement and fortify those struggles, and to provide a basis of common strategic focus between them. That said, #OneDemand is not indeterminate or inclined towards limitlessly inclusive revision of its own internal logic and priorities, either. It refers to a definite project, which is not the condemnation of Trump’s presidency, but its end, and not opposition to any particular policies, but fundamental opposition to the continued existence of the administration itself. It is just this limited focus that allows it to be openly employed by any more specific or local struggle.

So how can people fight to stop Trump’s Presidency?

That depends on the circumstances of his administration’s status and behaviors at any particular time. Prior to December 19, the best means by which to stop Trump’s presidency is to try to prevent it altogether, by appealing to the Electoral College, through any viable medium of expression, to reject Trump and elect the winner of the popular vote. Read our extended Appeal about this strategy for more information.

“The winner of the popular vote”? Oh, so you’re a pro-Clinton group.

No. Please read the Appeal in full. We support the strategy of electors voting for Clinton as the most democratically legitimate alternative to Trump. This is not an endorsement of Clinton or the Democratic Party, except insofar as they are a preferable opponent to Trump and his administration. #OneDemand seeks the participation of all political affiliations and tendencies that agree with this principle.

Alright, I read the Appeal. But Trump’s claim to the Presidency is legitimate. Your approach depends on the institution that is supposed to elect him to secure a different result. Isn’t this a contradiction?

It is not a contradiction. Trump’s presumptive legitimacy relies upon a limited interpretation of the Electoral College’s role in confirming him. Deference to the results as they currently stand ignores the fact that the institution has the legal capacity to vote in line with the popular vote on December 19. It also depends on its own contradiction, insofar as it conflates the incidental result of the electoral votes with a reflection of the popular will. But that result systematically inflates the influence of rural states’ over urban states’ votes, such that it is now severely at odds with the choice made by a larger plurality of the electorate. This cannot be said to reflect the popular will. The representative distortions of the Electoral College are the effect of an antiquated, slavery-era system that ignores the country’s legal and demographic evolution that has taken place in the centuries since. In the present situation, it has been opened to greater public scrutiny than perhaps at any prior time in its history. Its members can respond to that scrutiny either by passively submitting to historical inertia, thereby confirming the College’s irrelevance, or by innovating in the face of a crisis, and pointing the way towards reform.

Couldn’t this strategy lead to a constitutional crisis or other potentially dangerous forms of national destabilization?

It is always possible that collective dissent could unfold in an unfavorable manner for some or all involved parties. The incoming administration, however, itself amounts to a contravention of constitutionally-protected rights and freedoms on manifold fronts at this very moment, and is already acting as the central source of national destabilization. This is just what motivates the premise of #OneDemand: The real assaults on personal and civil liberties already introduced by a Trump administration, and the atmosphere of intolerance and hostility he encourages, won’t be alleviated by political compromises that he is, anyway, unlikely to commit to with any consistency. The only effective way to begin to mitigate the damage of Trump’s presidency is to end it.

Why should anyone support the Electoral College strategy if it isn’t likely to succeed?

Even if the Electoral College decides to go ahead and vote Trump into office on December 19, by opposing that decision, we will have contributed to the fundamental delegitimization of his Presidency. Rather than just waiting for Jan. 20, we will have shown that a determined, preemptive opposition movement predated and rejected the assertion of authority implied by his inauguration. In doing so, we can help ensure that the tenor of the resistance movement against Trump is not based simply in moral disagreement, but in the contention that his administration amounts to an illegitimate occupation of the Executive Branch. This difference in framework will have significant practical and psychological advantages for any future resistance movement.

So…what happens after December 19th?

We will continue to insist that Trump must not be President, and work towards pressing for impeachment or resignation. In the meantime, we will focus on elaborating strategies for coping and resistance to normalization. We welcome and support any efforts to incorporate and help develop the principles that inform and extend our central demand.

[onedemand-blog]

December 19th Protests

[onedemand-blog]

We will be publishing our own open letter, addressed specifically to the Hamilton Electors, on Monday. The opening post of a national Call For Action will follow on Tuesday.

We support any efforts to address the electors in advance of December 19th, and we support any non-violent action or campaign organized around the Electoral College's decision. If you are aware of any already in the works, or would like help planning or promoting one, please message us directly.

[onedemand-blog]

4.6 million signatures online is good.

4.6 million people in the streets would be better.

#OneDemand #StopTrump #FliptheVote

[onedemand-blog]

Dissent among electors is growing, but the approach so far is incoherent.

Fortunately, their public presence makes them easy to contact. Tell the "Hamilton Electors" not to waste their efforts and other people's money. Only 50 votes need to be flipped to give Clinton the presidency, and to give the GOP an adversary they can contain, rather than a leader they can't.

https://m.facebook.com/HamiltonElectors/

[onedemand-blog]

Resistance to Trump's presidency cannot wait for his inauguration. Whether or not his installation can still be prevented, the effort to do so now is absolutely essential to the work to come.

#OneDemand #StopTrump #FlipTheVote