#progressive voter guide

[ked-r]

Read an article abt multiple newspapers not endorsing presidential candidates and people in the comments were discussing how they knew who to vote for and one of the comments said "I used to use the progressive voters guide, but it's too biased" like. yea it's called the progressive voters guide....

[rebuiltzine]

NYC: Don’t Be the Next Maryland 🛑

New York City faces a stark choice. Implementing aggressive tax-and-spend reforms like those proposed by Zohran Mamdani without cautious planning risks plunging the city into a fiscal downward spiral—following Maryland’s recent missteps. 1. Maryland’s Cautionary Tale Maryland currently confronts a sharp budget shortfall—initially projected near $3 billion, with expenses now exceeding revenues…

[fandomtrumpshate]

Defeating Tr*mp and the Republican party: how you can help

So as you've probably heard, there is a presidential election coming up in the US this November. You may even be experiencing some concern about the outcome of that election -- given both the high stakes and the active efforts by Republicans to suppress the vote -- and wondering what more you can do to stave off the possibility of a literal fascist takeover of the United States.

The good news is: you're not helpless. There are wonderful organizations out there -- staffed by knowledgeable, talented people with their feet already on the ground -- and they could use your help.

Here are a few of them:

VoteBeat offers deeply-researched local reporting about elections, which is both valuable and rare in the current news environment. A spinoff of ChalkBeat, it was founded and is run by journalists from ProPublica.

Spread the Vote is an organization that works on the ground to help every eligible voter secure the documentation and the access they need to make their voices heard. In particular, StV runs a program called Vote by Mail in Jail to help ensure that incarcerated persons also have access to these rights.

VoteRiders, like StV, works to ensure that every American has the opportunity to vote. In particular, they provide financial and practical support to trans people so that they can get hold of the documentation they need and can vote safely and confidently.

FairVote advocates for ranked-choice voting, a system in wide use outside the US which far more effectively captures the will of the electorate. (we don't have an individual feature page for them, but FV was one of FTH's supported orgs in 2020.)

(This is just a short starter list of amazing organizations, pulled from FTH's supported orgs list in past years; there are plenty of others. Please feel free to add them in reblogs!)

Ways you can help

Donate to one (or more!) of these organizations. These are all fairly small operations, even if their goals and their impact is large; they could use the help!

Volunteer your time. Many of these organizations rely on volunteers to make their day-to-day operations work. Sometimes it's necessary to do this volunteering in person, but often there is a remote option for volunteering if that's what works for you.

Run a fanworks auction to raise money. FTH recently rolled out a full and detailed playbook, sharing all of our organizational materials and step-by-step guides for how to use them and adapt them to your needs. This is a great moment to put that to work! Whether you want to raise money for one of the organizations listed above, or for some other nonprofit, or even for a progressive local candidate that could use the support (FTH doesn't do individual candidates, but you shouldn't let that stop you!) you can make a real difference while also helping to put more fanworks into the world.

[stochastique-blog]

Tell me what you want ! What you really really want

Voter Guide illustration for San Diego CityBeat October 12, 2016

[vaspider]

Simply put, there is a ton of fascist-chic cosplay involved. Once an officer joins the Grays, they get a special uniform designed by their tech overlords. The Grays will also donate heavily to police charities and “merge the Gray and police social networks.” Then, in a show of force, they’ll march through the city together. “A huge win would be a Gray Pride parade with 50,000 Grays,” said Srinivasan. “That would start to say: ‘Whose streets? Our streets!’ You have the A.I. Flying Spaghetti Monster. You have the Bitcoin parade. You have the drones flying overhead in formation.... You have bubbling genetic experiments on beakers.… You have the police at the Gray Pride parade. They’re flying the Anduril drones …”

Everyone would be welcome at the Gray Pride march—everyone, that is, except the Blues. Srinivasan defines the Blue political tribe as the liberal voters he implies are responsible for the city’s problems. Blues will be banned from the Gray-controlled zones, said Balaji, unlike Republicans (“Reds”). “Reds should be welcomed there, and people should wear their tribal colors,” said Srinivasan, who compared his color-coded apartheid system to the Bloods vs. Crips gang rivalry. “No Blues should be welcomed there.”

While the Blues would be excluded, they would not be forgotten. Srinivasan imagines public screenings of anti-Blue propaganda films: “In addition to celebrating Gray and celebrating Red, you should have movies shown about Blue abuses.… There should be lots of stories about what Blues are doing that is bad.”

Balaji goes on—and on. The Grays will rename city streets after tech figures and erect public monuments to memorialize the alleged horrors of progressive Democratic governance. Corporate logos and signs will fill the skyline to signify Gray dominance of the city. “Ethnically cleanse,” he said at one point, summing up his idea for a city purged of Blues (this, he says, will prevent Blues from ethnically cleansing the Grays first).

[doodleloverz]

2024 Georgia Election Recount Guide for voters

(Posted and compiled morning of November 8th, 3 days post election day)

To Preface:

I'm starting with Georgia because over 63 thousand voters were challenged by Republicans due to a law change this year that made it easier, multiple bomb threats were made to offices expected for VP Kamala to win during voting, and the votes between VP Harris and Trump are very close. Note that I am not from Georgia, simply looking at election progress and your laws on how you can fight for fair democratic election results.

If you voted in the 2024 election in Georgia, here are the rules on what you can do to call for a recount. After extensive research nothing seems to explicitly state how a voter can request (that I can understand) however I think a good assumption would be to contact Georgia officials that DO have the power to call for a recount, stating why using the rules in the laws as stated.

The map shown below was screen capped early November 8th, source: The Associated Press

Recount laws in Georgia state presidential candidates must have a 0.5% difference or less to call for a recount, as of now with 2% of votes left to count in the state theres only a 0.8% difference. Meaning if the next 2% of votes gets VP Harris 0.3% closer Georgian voters can request a recall.

Georgia procedure for a recount, the exact rules as linked on Ballotpedia. They state what officials can do under 5 circumstances. Each have their own rules as to who can call a recount, namely the superintendent or secretary of state, who can be petitioned in some cases by any candidate or party.

Notes from OP below the cut:

I was frustrated seeing the Democratic party give up on us as if these obvious attempts at rigging didn't happen, simply because they won't 'stoop to the level' of Trump or the Republican party as they did in 2020. I don't know if this will truly help, but I saw no guides for how to do this anywhere at all besides the recourses you see here, so I simply made it more accessible for the average person. I may try to do more states but do note this took hours of research for me sadly, you can find your own states in the same sites. I used The Associated Press (google 2024 election results and it'll show) and Ballotpedia.org

Half our country may have voted away our rights and if we truly lose then well shit. But there's still plenty more fighting to be done regardless and there is still hope, Stay safe everyone.

[kenrakenokwaho]

This is how a free country looks like! Romania chose Europe!

Nicușor Dan, a mathematician and civic activist turned politician and mayor of Bucharest, made history by becoming Romania's new president as an independent candidate, securing 53.6% of the vote in a landmark election.

The professor

Born in 1969 in Făgăraș, Brașov county, Nicușor Dan is a gifted mathematician by training. He demonstrated exceptional talent in mathematics from a young age, earning gold medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1987 and 1988. He pursued higher education in mathematics at the University of Bucharest and later at the University of Paris and École Normale Supérieure in Paris, culminating in a Ph.D. from Université Sorbonne Paris Nord in 1998.

Despite a promising academic career as a professor, Dan's passion extended beyond numbers and formulas. While living in Paris, he organized meetings with Romanian students, discussing how to support their homeland's development and democratic progress.

“If I were to not do politics I would be a mathematician.” he says. “Many people do not understand that doing mathematics is very close to some kind of art, some kind of literature. It is discovering in yourself and constructing in yourself some kind of object. (...) What will define me is a very big curiosity to know about myself, about the world, about my country.”

The Activist

His return to Romania, in 1998, marked the start of his commitment to civic activism and public service. Nicușor Dan became a prominent civic activist, founding the "Save Bucharest" Association to combat illegal real estate developments and preserve the city's architectural heritage. His efforts led to numerous legal battles with local authorities and developers.

The Mayor

In 2020, with the support of a united center-right coalition, Nicușor Dan became the mayor of capital Bucharest. He was re-elected in 2024 with over 47% of the votes and successfully backed a referendum for better financial and urban planning for the capital.

Throughout his career, Dan has championed institutional reform, good governance, and closer ties with the European Union and NATO. His presidential campaign, held under the motto 'Honest Romania', emphasized these priorities, appealing to a broad base of voters eager for a steady hand to guide Romania's democratic and European integration.

Nicușor Dan may not be a versed politician. He may not be the ideal president. He may not be perfect. But he is honest and decent, and that trumps everything else.

[thecolorblockcurator]

Hey US followers

Please vote democrat- all the way down the ballot

Personally I recommend dropping off a ballot early in a drop box- which is what I did.

But depending on where you live you can drop it off in person at your polling place, which I’ve done in the past & was equally as easy.

Even voting in person isn’t so difficult. You can bring your choices with you. So you don’t have to memorize everything or try to figure it all out in the voting booth.

You can look at your ballot a head of time. Also- your state likely has a progressive voter guide which you can find online- which made it so easy. Everything was on it even the local stuff. Even the non-partisan offices.

So read up - Because a lot of the initiatives & propositions are intentionally misleading.

Don’t vote third party. The vote will split

Don’t think your voice doesn’t matter. It does - no matter where you live. No matter how red or blue your state or town is.

Vote like your life depends on it, like your community depends on it. Like the planet & climate depends on it. Vote for all the marginalized folks who have had their voice taken away. Vote for your relatives & ancestors who didn’t have the rights to vote. Don’t let that fucking orange idiot (who is a convicted criminal btw if you forgot) win this.

[batboyblog]

Hi, idk if you're a Mdni page or not, but I'm really scared. I'm 15f, I live in a mostly red state, I've grown up here, and everyone I know is voting red. I was previously in the middle, I didn't care either way who won. I'm terrified of the election after reading about everything the Republican candidate did and plans to do. I wanna know if there's anything I could do to help prevent Trump from winning the election? I have a younger sister, and I don't want her to have to live in a country where her rights are being stripped from her. I just wanna know how to help. Thank you for reading and feel free to delete if I broke a boundary.

for the record I don't mind anyone sending me an ask, everyone is welcome to interact respectfully.

that out of the way, I remember working for Hillary in the 2016 election (by my math you would have been 7?) and our intern was your age and he was... he was everything he was so dryly sarcastic, smart, unflappable, could do anything, he kept us sane and he saved our asses with his can do (and tech skills) more times than I can count.

So to any teens out there who are not yet old enough to vote and think "oh there's nothing I can do" in 2016 we won a Senate race by 1,000 votes, which 100% was the doors we knocked and the voters we talked to out of our office, a 16 year old intern working his ass off saved Obamacare in 2017, not a word of a lie, you can make a difference as an intern or volunteer

Now, from the tone of what you're saying it sounds like your parents would into that, idk if you're parents are the kind of people who let you explore your own thing, or the kind of people who just wouldn't notice, or if they're the kind who would seriously object to you volunteering for the Democrats or progressive groups.

A lot of people assume because they live in Red States or Blue states they don't matter, but for example there are key Senate races this year in Texas, Montana, Ohio, and Florida (Red) and Maryland (Blue) Alaska is a traditionally red state but its one and only Congressperson is a Democrat who will run a very close race to get re-elected again this year. So where ever you live there is a key race, even if it's local. And lots of chances to call voters or send them postcards in swing states

Any ways everyone check out ways to Volunteer Run for Something also supports younger local candidates so if you live somewhere very red or very blue it can be helpful to find locals running for school board or city Council

now for you personally young person, and everyone else, have real and serious conversations with people in your life about this stuff, I can not TELL you how often I knock on someone's door and we talk politics and they tell me "oh well I'm a Democrat, but everyone around here is really a Republican" but like I just talked to 4 other people who were Democrats in their neighborhood, they just saw one Trump sign and gassed themselves up about it. People are often much more swingable than you think, feel everyone out, if there's an adult in your life thats convincible, work on them find out what they care about and bring them facts, be claim and reasonable and work on them. Each of us doing one on one work with people who know us is WAY! more impactful than any TV ad a campaign can buy.

finally if your parents won't let you volunteer for Dems, reach out to the League of Woman Voters, they're not partisan, so they're not Dems or Republicans, they believe in voting. When I was in High School I organized a voter registration drive in my school at lunch time, thats a great thing to do, call your county/town clerk's office and talk to your school, get a social studies teacher involved they love that shit, young people are much more likely to be Democrats so just registering them is helpful.

best of luck, in the words of Hitchhiker's Guide, Don't Panic.

[edenfenixblogs]

Hello fellow US jumblr folks!

I’ve just voted! Like many of you, I’ve felt extremely betrayed by the lack of empathy from fellow leftists, but remain committed to leftist ideals.

My city offers a progressive voter guide which is really helpful. I’m pleased that most of my choices remained unaffected by current events. There were a few extremely…icky conundrums for me on the ballot though.

If you, like me, wish to protect your fellow Jews, here and in Israel, without damning Palestinian Civilians, I found that my state and city have a council for progressive Jewish voters that tends to have more nuance than what we’ve been seeing in more mainstream leftist spaces. Actually, the one I found specifically stated that they stand with Israeli leftists who are opposing Bibi and wish to find a peaceful solution for the region. I’d recommend that, if anything in your progressive voter guides gives you pause, look for a specifically Jewish progressive voter guide.

Also, if you’re an antisemite looking to come hate on me don’t start. Go back to the previous paragraph and read the literal first sentence. It is in blue text so it stands out. I have said nothing that should offend you. I have said nothing that harms or advocates for harm of innocent people.

PS: allies who care about Jewish leftists feel free to use those guides as well.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Samuels at Daily Kos:

Four major groups focused on organizing young progressives are offering Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer two options: fight President Donald Trump or resign from leadership.  The letter, which demands that Schumer “obstruct the MAGA agenda with every tool you have,” was signed by College Democrats of America, the Sunrise Movement, United We Dream Action, and Voters of Tomorrow. “Chuck Schumer, your leadership is failing to meet the moment. Your decision—along with nine other Senate Democrats—to cave and support the MAGA budget bill is just the latest example of how you and other Democratic leaders are driving young people away from the Democratic Party,” the groups wrote in a joint letter, first shared with Politico on Thursday. “Instead of taking a stand against Trump’s illegal actions to gut our healthcare, dismantle public education, attack immigrants and trans people, and tear up climate action, you supported a budget that gave tax cuts to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their billionaire buddies. You sided against us.” The momentum behind the letter suggests progressives are not letting up on Schumer after he betrayed his party and encouraged Senate Democrats to vote for cloture last week, ending a filibuster of a partisan funding bill that further strengthens Trump’s power over spending decisions.

[...] And while Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also didn’t explicitly call for Schumer to step down from leadership, she did say earlier this week that Schumer was “wrong” for his vote. Voters, especially younger ones, are also losing faith in Schumer. A series of polls released over the past few days show that Schumer’s overall approval has slipped, with fewer Democrats now viewing him favorably.  

[...] Even if Schumer insists he’s not going anywhere, calling himself the “best leader for the Senate,” it’s clear that the party—out of power, bereft of a single leader, and struggling to find a cohesive response to Trump and Republicans—is in need of a new direction. After all, polls show that the party is widely unpopular, and in a year that should be crucial for Democrats, it doesn’t seem like there’s widespread confidence that Schumer is the sort of inspirational leader capable of guiding the party out of the wilderness.

Four progressive groups sent Chuck Schumer a message: either shape up or step down as Senate Minority Leader.

See Also:

Charlotte's Web Thoughts (Charlotte Clymer): Calls Grow for Mr. Schumer to Step Down

[girlactionfigure]

🚨 IDF PREPARES FOR GROUND MANEUVERS AGAINST HEZBOLLAH, CALLS UP RESERVE BRIGADES TO DEFEND NORTHERN ISRAEL 🚨

⚠️ The IDF has successfully completed airstrikes on 60 Hezbollah targets, guided by the Intelligence Directorate. These strikes targeted Hezbollah's intelligence infrastructure, including intelligence-gathering tools and command centers, which are critical to the enemy’s situational assessment capabilities. See illustration image.

🚨 In light of the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah, the IDF has called up two reserve brigades for operations in the northern arena. This mobilization is essential to maintain defense efforts against Hezbollah and to create conditions that would allow residents in northern Israel to safely return to their homes.

🚨 Major General Ori Gordin, the Commanding Officer of the IDF Northern Command, has indicated that the army is prepared for ground maneuvers as the conflict with Hezbollah enters a new phase. He emphasized the readiness of armored forces, although the government has yet to authorize an invasion of Lebanon. During a visit to the 7th Brigade at the northern border, MG Gordin stressed the importance of preparedness to shift the security dynamics and allow the safe return of northern residents. He also noted the operation, named Northern Arrows, has already inflicted significant damage on Hezbollah’s firepower and leadership.

⚠️ American officials have suggested that the situation in Lebanon is approaching a full-scale war. Despite the U.S. administration’s reluctance to use the term, the rapidly escalating conflict indicates Washington’s diminishing ability to influence the situation.

⚠️ Hospital directors in central Israel, south of Haifa, have been instructed by security officials to increase their alert level in anticipation of potential emergency admissions. Hospitals are preparing to receive patients from northern Israel and to handle additional casualties, should the situation escalate.

⚠️ Meanwhile, the IDF launched another strike deep into Lebanon, targeting Ras Al-Ata, about 30 kilometers north of Beirut. According to Sky News Arabic, the strike resulted in the elimination of senior Hezbollah field commander, Fuad Shafiq Khazal.

🎗️In a broader diplomatic effort, Reuters reports that the U.S. is pushing for a ceasefire agreement linking Lebanon and Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu informed his ministers that he has authorized Ron Dermer to communicate to the U.S. that Israel is open to a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon to negotiate Hezbollah's withdrawal without further conflict. While the chances of this deal materializing are considered low by Israeli officials, agreeing to the proposal could help Israel gain international legitimacy if Hezbollah refuses.

The U.S. is keen on securing a ceasefire for several reasons:

1. The upcoming U.S. elections are just over a month away, and the Biden-Harris administration is eager to achieve a ceasefire agreement in Gaza or secure the release of hostages, a demand from the progressive base of the Democratic Party.

2. The lack of progress in securing peace only strengthens former President Trump’s position. Republicans argue that under Trump’s leadership, the war might not have broken out. With Trump positioning himself as the candidate who can prevent wars, this situation bolsters his standing.

3. Uncommitted Democratic voters could boycott Vice President Harris if no ceasefire is reached, a concern for her campaign, as losing these votes could sway the election in Trump’s favor.

After previous unsuccessful attempts to secure a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, more ambitious efforts are now underway as noted above, according to journalist Amit Segal. However, a Lebanese report from Hezbollah states that the group rejects any ceasefire involving Lebanon unless it also includes Gaza.

[drdemonprince]

hi i appreciate the insight you often have on political and voting things. I’m going through my ballot this weekend and while nearly all the things are fairly easy to figure out and decide on, I’m having a hard time deciding what to vote for the federal president. I live in WA, so it doesn’t seem that my vote matters much on president things (everything else on the ballot feels more like my vote counts). I don’t live in Seattle or even King County, but I am in one of the more “blue” counties. I think I want to vote for one of the other third parties on the ballot but none seem great and I don’t know much about any of them in any depth. I also don’t want to leave it blank, I want to pick one of the options.

the options on the WA ballot are: Harris, Trump, Kennedy Jr, Stein, De la Cruz, Fruit, Kishore, Oliver, West, Ayyadurai.

I’ve been planning on De la Cruz but I see they’re identified with the PSL on their website, which you have criticized. on the ballot though it lists “socialism and liberation party”. The Stranger and the Progressive Voters Guide, which I generally use as voting guides, both strongly say Harris, which I think I have an opportunity not to do given my location. between stein, west, or de la cruz, de la cruz seems like the “best” option but thats not really based on much familiarity or knowledge on my end.

What do you think about all this? 🥴

PSL stands for "party for socialism and liberation." It's a cult, don't support it. If I were you and I wanted to cast a symbolic vote of dissent, I would just write something in.

[weaponizedhorse]

MAGA Evangelical Leader Behind Get-Out-The-Vote Nonprofit Charged With Child Porn

The former leader of a conservative Christian voter outreach program favoring Donald Trump in the 2024 election has been arrested for possessing child sexual abuse materials.

Jason Yates, 55, the former CEO of evangelical nonprofit My Faith Votes, was charged in Minnesota with eight counts of possessing child sexual abuse materials.

According to court documents reviewed by Religion News Service, a relative of Yates' accidentally discovered a hard drive containing more than 100 sexually explicit images and videos of children under 14-years-old, as well as eight pieces of media involving children between the ages of five and 7-years-old. They gave it to another relative, who then handed the drive over to law enforcement.

Yates met with investigators on September 13, during which time he allegedly refused to give the investigators a password to access the encrypted files on the drive. He also revealed that he had a prior expunged conviction related to child sex abuse materials, Religion News Service added.

In early August, Yates stepped down from his CEO position at My Faith Votes and was replaced by Chris Sadler.

Yates was charged on Monday with eight counts of possessing child sexual abuse material.

“In early August 2024, the My Faith Votes board of directors separated Jason Yates from My Faith Votes and board member Chris Sadler assumed the position of Acting CEO,” a My Faith Votes spokesperson told RNS.

“Over the last three months Chris has been working with the dedicated My Faith Votes team to encourage millions of Christians to vote, pray and think biblically about this election in America,”

A few weeks before the hard drive was discovered, Yates published an op-ed in the Washington Times encouraging Christians to push back against "sexually deviant" messaging toward children. The "deviant" messaging he was describing involved LGBTQ issues.

“This infernal programming is being downloaded into our children, and it becomes far easier when it finds no resistance in our public square — when it is allowed to fill the void left by the absence of our faith,” Yates wrote in his op-ed.

The messaging was on par with what can be found on My Faith Votes, which blames Christians for being complacent in the face of "secular progressives."

“As a result of apathy at the voting booth and in public life, we’ve suffered devastating moral decay, declining religious freedom, immoral national debt, and the erosion of traditional family values,” the group's website reads.

According to Wired, My Faith Votes is part of a network of nonprofit groups trying to rally support for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

Before stepping down from the group, Yates gave an interview explaining why he thought it was important for Christians to not only vote, but to vote in accordance with conservative Biblical beliefs. He asked Christians to sign a pledge to vote in every election.

“As a Christian, I commit to voting for candidates and policies that uphold the sanctity of life, the traditional family, religious liberty, and justice for all,” the pledge reads. “I believe that my biblical values should guide my choices at the ballot box, ensuring that our nation’s laws and leaders reflect God’s truth and righteousness.”

[democracyunderground]

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is taking a front-and-center role in the efforts to push Democrats toward becoming the party of economic populism and to challenge President Trump.

The Connecticut senator has emerged as one of the loudest and most prominent voices among party members looking to convince Democrats to change their focus around America’s working-class coalition, arguing they’ve lost trust with the voters they desperately need on their side.

Without an obvious leader to counter Trump’s early return to power, Murphy is one of the figures seeking to fill that void as the party tries to rebuild from the ground up.

“He’s really interesting right now,” said Matt Duss, a former senior policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has worked with Murphy to co-sponsor legislation in the Senate. “He’s articulating a really powerful theory of the case about rebuilding an American political consensus. And he’s doing so in a unifying and constructive way.”

In the frantic first few months following Democrats’ electoral defeat, Murphy has seemed to do the impossible — gain an equal amount of praise from the two polarizing sides of his party. The lack of enemies has garnered attention as lawmakers, party leaders and campaign operatives start to work past their most glaring problems toward renewed relevance.

“For him to be joining this, I think is notable,” Duss said about Murphy’s anti-corruption message directed at his own party. The senator is “seen as part of the Democratic mainstream, not known as this radical,” he continued. “It’s a sign that the Democratic Party more broadly has lost its way.”

The 51-year-old senator has generally taken a supportive role in the upper chamber without angering his colleagues. He’s an easy vote for most of his party’s legislative agenda and isn’t perceived as a rabble-rouser on either side. He’s progressive but isn’t considered too far left. He has effectively kept a steady profile during times when the party has descended into finger-pointing.

Now, he seems pleased to step into a more adversarial role that some say may put him at odds with more corporate-friendly Democrats. The more he pushes corporate reform and an anti-billionaire message, the more he could collide with Democrats who don’t see their reliance on donor money as the root cause of their troubles.

So far, the crux of his critique, which he launched on social media following Trump’s reelection and has since spread in interviews and policy memos, is that the economic menu Democrats are offering voters is stale. Voters have shifted away and see the party as incapable of meeting their material needs. Democrats, he argues, have become more isolated and detached from their base.

Murphy wrote in a postelection letter that a “populist message of power de-concentration is a truly unifying message, across income brackets and political ideologies,” asserting a plausible path ahead. Observers note he is trying to make the case earlier than others that Democrats need to stand in clear opposition to the ultrawealthy people and priorities favored in Trump’s Washington.

Both wings of the party seem to have accepted Murphy’s prognosis. So far he hasn’t appeared to alienate the ever-skeptical left, who often accuse “establishment” Democrats of moving toward their side for political gain. In 2020, for example, a variety of senators became more progressive on various hot-button policies to try to win the presidential nomination against leaders like Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Murphy has been welcomed among Sanders allies who want to see the movement they helped build coalesce around a new leader. His ability to fly under the radar until more recently, some Democrats say, could be a hidden asset.

“He doesn’t come top of mind, but that’s not a bad thing,” said a senior Democratic strategist who talks regularly with the activists and grassroots coalitions Murphy would need to court to gain more influence.

“He can win them over, especially if he has Bernie’s blessings,” the strategist said. “What people on the left and right respect about Bernie is he [is] principled. So if Bernie embraces him, that’s it, he has that electorate locked up.”

The search for Democratic leadership is just starting to take shape as the party debates why they got wiped out so badly in the 2024 election cycle. Some are getting noticed for taking a cozier approach to the GOP president, such as Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who met with him at Mar-a-Lago, while others are publicly chastising how his leadership model resembles an “oligarchy.”

Murphy is not shy about going after Trump when he sees fit. On Sunday, he warned that “democracies don’t last forever” in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” calling the current state of politics “the most serious constitutional crisis the country has faced.”

“The president is attempting to seize control of power and for corrupt purposes. The president wants to be able to decide how and where money is spent so that he can reward his political friends, he can punish his political enemies. That is the evisceration of democracy,” he said.

Democrats say balancing talk about the real-time threats he sees to fragile democratic structures with the economic plight for millions of people is one path to breaking through in the Trump era.

“Let’s make sure we choose the right enemies,” Duss said. “The enemies are corporate elites that have captured our political system. The elites have gamed the system for their own benefit. There’s a reason why Trump gets traction when he says the system is rigged. It’s because the system is rigged.”

“But it’s rigged on behalf of people like Trump and his flunkies. I think part of the message we’re hearing from Sen. Murphy and we’ve heard for a long time from Sen. Sanders is Democrats need to be less timid about saying that,” he added.

Democrats who are more evenhanded in their approach than the activated progressive left agree that he’s cutting through much of the discussion about next steps. Mixing an economic populist message while articulating the corruption concerns around Trump could start to catch on.

“Murphy is tapping into the outrage and urgency that millions of people across the country are feeling better than almost anyone else in the Senate at the moment,” said Doug Gordon, a Democratic strategist. “He is smartly abandoning the cautious, poll-tested, talking point-based way too many Democrats have communicated the last several years.”

“People want to see action and fight, and Murphy is tapping into that,” Gordon said.

[american-joy-92-percent]

If after watching this video, you don't want to jump out of your comfort zone and join events.democrats.org and start making calls with Scale to Win phone banking system, and check with your fellow citizens if they are registered to vote, have a voting plan, need help with filling up the ballot, and guidance on how to vote at home via mail ballot, to vote early, or to be ready to vote on the day, THEN, I don't even know what are WE doing to change this country once and for all.

Each State has great Progressive Vote Guides because we want a House and a Senate BLUE so Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can fulfill their promises because we will be there demanding results, with our democratic FREEDOM to protest.

JOIN THE FIGHT! The Good Fight

For help, call

- Voter Assistance Hotline at 1-833-336-8683

Or visit the website

https://iwillvote.com

Tomorrow is the last day for VOTER REGISTRATION in most States.