I felt it all week.
The Iowa Caucus—and the reality that Trump will be the GOP candidate—really focused people about all that’s at stake this year. And the need to get to work.
For those interested, I talked about Iowa and its implications this week in a variety of forums.
On Tuesday, I joined my friends at Resolute Square. You can watch it HERE.
One thing I emphasized was the fact that Trump’s opponents managed to top 40%—which opens up an opportunity to peel away some anti-Trump, pro-democracy Republican votes going forward. (The same way many Republicans in Ohio voted No on Issue 1 last August and Yes on reproductive freedom in November.)
Here’s a Columbus television segment where I emphasized similar points. Watch it HERE.
On the Ground:
But most importantly, I attended and spoke at various events this week around the state: Eastern Cincinnati, Greater Dayton, and Columbus:
And what I saw for a cold, wintry January week was…ENERGY. Full rooms. Passion to get to work.
Not just for the presidential race, although the reality that Trump will be the GOP candidate certainly has energized people about the need to defeat him.
But I also saw energy for democracy at all levels.
I met and was impressed by some of the new State Rep. and State Senate candidates already running hard in Ohio:
And at every stop, I watched volunteers and activists explain the opportunity to end gerrymandering in Ohio this year, and recruit people to join the signature-gathering effort. Nothing matters more for Ohio’s democracy than winning this effort this year:
For someone who, a decade ago, decided to write my first novel (“The People’s House”) out of a concern that most Americans knew too little about gerrymandering (I added a Russian bad guy to spice up the plot), it’s great to see so many now working to end it.
Thank you to all those who are already helping gather signatures. To join that effort, link here.
So, two key lessons from the week, and as people gear up for 2024:
While we work to beat Trump, don’t lose sight of all the opportunities to protect and advance democracy at all levels—and those efforts help defeat Trump as well;
When Republicans are willing to stand up for democracy and against Trump, thank them. Embrace them. Get them on the democracy team if at all possible. We saw a perfect example of this earlier this week when the Biden White House called former Republican Governor candidate Asa Hutchinson after an unfortunate Democratic misstep when he dropped out of the presidential race. And at one of my meetings this week, I did the same thing.
When democracy is at stake—and it is—build the biggest team possible!
When the list is made of who helped save our democracy in this ugly era of fascism, your name will be very high on that list!! 🤩🤩🙏🙏
You have told us about Iowa. The media is not telling all the facts. There are 3 million people in Iowa. But only 110,000 people showed up and Trump only got 50% that’s equal to 55,000 of 3 million people. I’m not sure of the numbers of voting age people. But in my opinion that’s not a majority of voters. No one is saying this and it’s infuriating!! David I appreciate your honesty and integrity. Keep up the good fight!!! Thanks for listening. I’ll get off my soap now.