Everyday Election Activism

An Insider's Guide (#18) - April 19, 2025

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We Feel the Resistance! It’s Big and It’s Growing!

The next National Day of Action is today, April 19! Two weeks ago, on April 5, somewhere between three and five million people turned out. Before that we had already collectively taken a zillion other actions - attending rallies, calling and emailing our Members of Congress, reaching out to voters, growing our local Indivisible groups, and building our Democratic Party from the ground up. We continue to do all of that. It’s all part of the resistance.

Today could be another big day for street protests. Preparations and publicity started slowly but have intensified in the past week. Over 850 protests around the country are on the calendar. Seventeen events in North Carolina, some in towns that are organizing for the first time. (See here for a complete national list.) New organizers are stepping up, and people signing up for the first time are flexing their political muscles. We are building towards the first 50501 National Strike on May 1. Stay tuned! My crystal ball shows a lot more protests in our future. Along with more resistance of all types.

We are energized! Knowing that so many people are speaking out alongside us gives us hope and courage. We feel as though we are the majority. We know that we only have power if we use it.

We also know the resistance needs to be bigger. The sooner the better! How much bigger does it have to get before we have impact? Or, wait… maybe we are already having impact! Are we? Take a deep breath. The answer is a resounding YES!

The reason we don’t have confidence in the movement yet is because we have so much farther to go. We want to wake up from this nightmare. We want an end to this presidency. An end to DOGE. We want the damage undone. But it’s important to appreciate what we have accomplished and to understand that growing a movement takes time. Events are moving quickly, but to take the dismay and outrage and fear and transform those sentiments into a coordinated national movement fights is no trivial matter.

Pay Attention to Our Impact and Do Not Take it For Granted!

We are having impact at the polls.

• Election results are making us smile! As early as January, red seats started to flip in special elections - the first was in Iowa. In April came the big win for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the flipping of red seats in smaller races in Wisconsin and Illinois. These wins were not flukes! Voters were already on our side, and activists from across the country canvassed and called and wrote postcards. As a result voters turned out to the polls in numbers unprecedented for special elections, and we chalked up our wins.

• Special elections for Congress in Florida’s Trump country on April 1 scared the bejeezus out of the administration. GOP margins for winning were cut in half compared to last November. Again, chalk it up to the tides starting to shift and activists educating voters and helping them overcome barriers to voting. A sign of the times, and a promising omen for future elections.

We are having impact on politicians.

• GOP unity has cracks. Some Republican Senators are pushing back against the tariffs. GOP members of Congress in both houses are balking at cuts in Medicaid. Senator Murkowski is talking about how afraid she is of retaliation for speaking out. All this because activists are letting Republicans know how they feel, and giving them cover to push back on the administration. We have peeled back the presumption of Republican invincibility and shown the MAGA brand to be vulnerable to the opinions of the people.

• Democrats are in the spotlight. Take Sen. Cory Booker - need I say more? But there is more! Senators like Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin are holding hearings and investigating Trump. More members of Congress are speaking out daily, people like AOC, Bernie Sanders, Jasmine Crockett and Ro Khanna, to name a few. Senator van Hollen’s visit to El Salvador is ratcheting up the pressure to bring Mr. Abrego Garcia home. It has taken a while, but the number of voices is increasing rapidly now. We can expect more voices and louder ones in the coming weeks and months, in no small part due to pressure from activists.

• Democrats in Congress are rolling out new strategies. They are gumming up the gears, holding up nominations in the Senate and drawing a line in the sand against negotiations with the Republicans. They have signed on to amicus briefs challenging the illegal actions of the administration. Once more, activist pressure has moved the needle. A month ago, none of this was happening.

• The Democratic National Committee has stepped up. The nonstop fundraising emails have finally shifted into announcement of the changes at the DNC. The DNC is taking strong public stands and has set up a Democratic War Room and a Shadow Cabinet. DNC members are coordinating their messaging and actions with Congress and with state-level government. They promise to collaborate with grassroots organizations. DNC members like David Hogg are pushing to elect more younger leaders. Activism has infiltrated the Democratic National Committee at last! The status quo Democrats are not happy, but they are being pushed aside.

But There is A Catch

The pro-democracy movement is starting to feel its power. But there is a catch. For activism to grow, we need more people to understand that activism makes a difference, and that the sooner we grow the resistance, the sooner we will find relief from the GOP regime. We need to make our case for the resistance, and then we need to invite people in!

As obvious as it is to you and me that activism is the driver of change, many people do not connect the dots between activism and the shifts in politicians’ behavior. This is a problem we need to address, because we need a strong resistance ASAP if we want to stem the damage and turn the country around sooner rather than later.

Political Shifts Are Only Possible Because of Activism. Most Americans Do Not Know This!

I have a lot of political conversations - with family, friends, and even strangers. When talking with non-activists, I almost always run into a divide when I bring up the subject of activism. The divide separates us even when we are on the same page with our political views. Even when the non-activists approve of my activism and want MAGA defeated. The divide is subtle. I believe it is a difference in worldview.

In my worldview, activism is necessary for changing our country’s direction, and change will not happen without it. I also understand that while my actions are important, they have minuscule impact unless others take action alongside me.

In my worldview, we can succeed in rescuing democracy, but only if more of us step up. And success will come sooner, with less damage to the country, if we grow the resistance more quickly.

Non-Activists Hold a Different Worldview

In their worldview, the barrage of bad news spurs activists to protest, but protest holds no power. The not-our-President is still issuing executive orders and letting his minions overrun the government, taking whatever they want.

In their worldview, voters who flipped seats were unhappy with the new administration and so decided to vote for Democrats in a special election. Activism was not a critical factor.

In their worldview, resistance is a spontaneous and inevitable response to the current administration. Paradoxically, when the administration unleashes another assault on our rights, they assume that too is inevitable! Non-activists subscribe to helplessness and victimhood whichever way the wind is blowing. Looking towards the future, they conclude:

• ‘There is nothing to do but hope that things get better.’

• ‘It’s up to the courts and the politicians in office to fix things.’

• ‘All we can do is wait for the next elections and vote the Republicans out.’

In a word, non-activists feel they have no power. They say to themselves, ‘How could I possibly do anything that would make a difference?’ When they see others take action, they distance themselves: ’No use in my doing that!’

What Non-Activists do Not Know about Activism

At the most basic level, non-activists do not know that activism makes a difference.

Non-activists stand outside the world of activism.

• Activism as a way to solve social problems is outside their frame of reference.

• Activists are mostly invisible to non-activists. Non-activists are unaware of their work and of the ecosystem of activism that fuels the resistance movement and helps it grow.

• They do not appreciate the power of popular resistance in American history, even though they likely know about the civil rights’ movement or the struggle for women’s right to vote.

Non-activists do not understand how good it feels to be an activist!

• They do not comprehend how activism gives people hope.

• They do not see how when many of us come together, we have more courage than we ever imagined.

• They have never seen their feelings helplessness dissipate when they claim their power.

• They do not know how hope and courage make us more committed.

• They do not know that the energy of activism is contagious, and that once exposed to activism, people WANT to join in! They do not know enough to have FOMO!

Non-activists do not understand how something big can start from something small.

Very few people in Durham, NC, for instance, know that our April 5 Hands Off! protest was possible only because two volunteers stepped up to organize it. TWO VOLUNTEERS. There was a national call for action, but nobody came into town to set up the rally for us. There was no organizational backup, no budget! Just two women who took the risks and carried the responsibility in order to create an event where thousands of people could make their voices heard, many for the first time. This is what activism looks like! This is how it grows!

Now It is Up to Us to Grow the Resistance!

Our mission, should we accept it (and we do!), is to change the worldview of non-activists! Sound too hard? Well, maybe it’s not. You don’t need to drill down in anyone’s brain and rewire it. All you need to do is invite them in and let the energy of activism carry them along! Create FOMO!

First up: Invite people in!

How did three to five million people come to show up at the Hands Off! rallies two weeks ago? A small number of people knew about the event and shared the information with others. Newsletters and social media carried announcements, but more people shared it further. Beyond that all it took was a lot of people disseminating the details and spreading them through their personal networks. In a word, most people came because somebody invited them in.

This is how we build the size of the pro-democracy movement - by inviting people in. It’s the same principal for rallies, pressuring elected officials, or voter outreach. We need to reach out to others who are on our side - family members, neighbors, co-workers, or random people you encounter during your day. Think about where you might start. Who is on your side but still sitting on the sidelines? Will it take a conversation, or will an email invitation suffice? If someone is just starting to wake up to the seriousness of our situation, is it worth reaching out more than once?

The best way to bring in other people is to invite them to join you in something you have signed up for. Ask them to do something easy (calling Members of Congress, or attending) or create an on-ramp for something more challenging - talking to voters by phone or at their doors. See if they would like behind-the-scenes work, like making signs for a rally. It’s always a judgment call, but do not always go for the quick and easy.

Explain why you are signing up. If you have mixed feelings or some frustrations, you can talk about that, but clearly if you are volunteering your time, you must have a reason. What is it? An example for myself - I find phone banking reassuring. It is comforting for me to realize that there are strangers who care as much as I do.

Help introduce people to the world of activism.

Many forms of activism are done together with others. Many times the activity lends itself to group efforts, but activism would not exist if we each had to do it alone. It’s critical for our well-being to know that we are not alone, and it makes it possible for us to stay in the game, grow our movement and have impact. Even people who prefer to take action on their own need to find ways to renew their inspiration and sustain their commitment. One way or the other, activists are more likely to remain activists when they are connected to other activists.

Connection comes in all forms.

• Whether it’s the contagious energy of the crowd at a rally, the camaraderie of canvassing in pairs, or the sharing of stories at the end of a phone bank, many actions provide volunteers the experience of being part of something bigger than themselves. Our commitment is stronger for seeing other people alongside us. Sharing an experience with others creates bonds.

• Making phone calls on your own to elected officials does not provide that kind of connection, nor does solitary postcard writing. But you can find encouragement from seeing how many other people are working alongside you. If you use the 5Calls app to contact elected officials, you get to see how many other people have made calls. When I called about the not-our-President’s defiance of court orders the other day, I saw that over 25,000 people had made calls before me about that issue. Similarly, when you write postcards to voters, it’s encouraging to know how many people are doing the same. Literally tens of millions of postcards were mailed in 2024. (And postcard writers sometimes connect through local postcard-writing parties or online events set by by organizations such as Markers for Democracy.)

• You can be a support for new activists, especially the ones you have invited in. Be the one who helps them process their experiences, encourages them, and makes it easy for them to stay involved.

• Helping new activists finding local activist groups is another way to help them connect. Some organizations and informal groups have in-person meetings or take action together. Others build community online, gathering volunteers together to hear from activist leaders and elected officials or to discuss strategies for taking action. Directing new activists to groups that are a good fit can be a great gift.

Connect the dots between activism and impact!

In the end our efforts to bring people into the pro-democracy movement depends on our ability to connect the dots for people so they understand how much standing up and speaking out make a difference. We want everyone to see that without activist energy, we would not have protests, our elected officials’ phones would not be ringing nonstop, and we would not have voter turnout above expectation for special elections. Whenever we see wins - politicians and institutions standing up to the administration, wins in the courts - we have to point out how it was achieved!

Maybe We Can Even Make Non-Activists Have FOMO!

So this is my hope - that when non-activists start seeing what we see, when they understand that our future depends on the collective actions of millions of people, they will want to be a part of it.

When non-activists realize how much better they feel after taking action, they will join us.

When they start to understand that we only have the power we take, they will start to feel the same energy we have!

And this is how we change the world, one person’s worldview at a time!