Democracy champions in Ohio and across the nation are buoyant over the big win in Ohio Tuesday.
And we should be. It was an enormous victory — averting the biggest threat to Ohio’s democracy of our lifetimes.
But as I lay out in my books, as important as stopping Issue 1 was, it still only amounted to defense.
And to borrow the soccer analogy I use in “Saving Democracy,” while playing good defense is crucial, you never win if all you do is play defense…especially if those attacking democracy keep playing offense.
And right now, they are already gearing up to go on offense again. Ohio’s Secretary of State and others are still using the same false rhetoric they used before Election Day. The Ohio Senate leader who pushed this forward is already talking about bringing the concept of Issue 1 back again in the future. Governor DeWine is trying to reshape the abortion discussion to distort the narrative for the November election we must win. And so on.
They went back on offense immediately, as if the voters had not just routed them so soundly. They ALWAYS do this, often learning from and adjusting to their mistakes.
As I lay out in the video above, it’s now time for US to go on offense as well.
How?
Convert our energy and build from the incredible coalition that just toppled Issue 1 to win this Fall’s referendum on reproductive freedom. You can sign on to help with the “Yes” campaign here:
Commit ourselves to run against ALL the Ohio legislators who tried to inflict Issue 1 on this state. Which means 1) recruiting candidates now to take on every one of them, and 2) supporting those candidates. And the best thing you can do right now to support them is join Blue Ohio, where we crowdfund support and send it to the candidates running across the state, starting with the toughest districts first. It’s a wonderful community we are building (more than 1,000 members, with more than 100 joining this week alone), and we’d love to have you join us.
One reason the other side feels so comfortable ignoring the voters and going back on offense right away—with no hesitation even after such a drubbing—is they rarely face accountability in their own districts. They feel wholly unaccountable because of gerrymandering, and because too often no one runs against them. We must change that, and that’s what Blue Ohio aims to do in the long run. You can join Blue Ohio here:
Speaking of gerrymandering, going on offense also means taking the same pro-democracy coalition and same unique combination of voters who just voted down Issue 1 (more analysis on that later), and building on it to end the illegal gerrymandering that led to Issue 1 in the first place. We not only can do that in 2024, we must! I’ll provide more news on efforts to do this in future newsletters.
We also have another opportunity in 2024. Let’s run everywhere, and pick up statehouse seats. Let’s end gerrymandering. Let’s re-elect Sherrod Brown. BUT…we also have the opportunity to flip the Ohio Supreme Court, so that we return to the fair and independent court we saw between 2021-2022. And it takes flipping just one seat to get this done. By allowing the illegal election to take place this week, the Court majority has already shown themselves out of step with the voters. I have no doubt more bad decisions will come. Rallying to flip the court…now THAT is offense.
And of course, because the battle for democracy goes way beyond Ohio, going on offense requires striking victories for democracy elsewhere as well. Where next? Most prominently, we have a chance to take back the Virginia statehouse this November. Other states also have important state and local elections. We can’t take our eyes off these even as we gear up for 2024. More on these opportunities to come.
Bottom line: strong defense is crucially important, especially if it means stopping shots on democracy as fierce as Issue 1. But long term, we only win if WE are the ones on offense. And if our mindset is to ALWAYS be on offense.
So many opportunities abound. Let’s grab them!
After Issue 1: Convert Defense to Offense