[Editor: Indivisible continues to do a great job – creatively and persistently resisting the Trump administration and building toward a more progressive future.  Find your local Indivisible group here.  My local group is Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible (on Facebook).  Contribute to Indivisible here.  Download the Indivisible 2.0 Guide.  More Benicia Independent coverage of Indivisible.  – R.S.]

How we will beat Trump and save Democracy…

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine this: it’s 2021. Trump lost and an inspiring progressive takes office. Democrats held the House and retook the Senate.

On day one, the new Congress passes sweeping democracy reforms to roll back decades of Republican attacks on our democracy. We smash voter suppression and expand voter access, end gerrymandering, take on money in politics, admit new states, and take back the courts. In short, we unrig the rules and put democracy back in the hands of the people. Then we turn to a major progressive legislative agenda – immigration reform, climate change, health care, and more.

We can have the inclusive democracy and progressive change we’ve dreamed of. We’re so close. How do we get there?

Indivisible may have gotten started to resist Trump, but we know that the problem we’re facing is bigger than Trump. Everywhere we look, Republicans are trying to rig the rules to stay in power – and to lock the American people out. They know in a real representative democracy they’ll lose – so they’re breaking democracy.

That’s why we have to beat Trump, but we can’t stop there. We have to save our democracy. We can do both, but we have to start now.

How do we beat Trump?

1. Play defense and weaken Trump. Defend against Trump’s attacks, particularly those targeting immigrants – defunding hate in the upcoming budget in September is the biggest fight against Trump’s agenda of the year (more information here), and anti-immigrant attacks will be a key part of his strategy for 2020. We’ll also push back on Trump’s crimes – and ask Democrats in Congress to begin impeachment investigations.
2. A constructive primary. We have so many exciting and energizing candidates in the Democratic primary! Together we can ensure the primary candidates offer the strongest possible alternative vision to Trumpism, and that the ultimate nominee is a strong, well-vetted, progressive candidate. Indivisibles (and presidential candidates) across the country have already set the tone by signing the Indivisible Pledge commiting to a constructive primary and to support the ultimate nominee.
3. Take back the White House (and the Senate!) After the primary, we all need to come together to knock doors, make calls and register voters–if we do the work, together, we can beat Trump.

How do we save democracy?

1. Set the stage for democracy reform. The anti-Trump resistance must grow into a pro-democracy movement to build support for a game-changing reforms after Trump is gone. We need to get Democrats on the record to support bold reforms now, in 2019, so that they’re ready to move that agenda in 2021. We’ll start by focusing on eliminating the filibuster (see why here!).
2. Pass our democracy agenda on day one. If we win the White House, Senate and House, we finally have full agenda setting power. The new Democratic congress must eliminate the filibuster in order to get anything done. Then it should immediately pass other democracy reforms, including admitting new states, expanding voting rights, ending gerrymandering, and more.
3. Make long-term change. With a real representative democracy, we can finally enact other critical progressive legislation, from immigration reform to climate change to health care.

For more information on getting involved with this plan, you can reach out to your Indivisible Organizer here.