Democracy is an Action (1/16/21)

This was a rough week for democracy. With Senators Manchin and Synema indicating that they are not budging on filibuster reform, Congressional voting rights legislation seems moribund. In the same week, a Wisconsin judge ruled that absentee ballot drop boxes are illegal under state law, and the conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration's employer vaccine mandate, with at least one conservative Justice flouting public health practices and civility.

But there were glimmers of hope. In Ohio, the State Supreme Court struck down the Ohio Republicans' extreme gerrymander for both state and federal maps. Markers For Democracy had a small part to play in that victory as we wrote Postcards To Voters for Judge Jennifer Brunner when she was a candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court; she won her election and voted with the majority in both decisions.

Another bright spot this week was our panel discussion on Thursday night with Will Levitt and Miti Sathe of Square One Politics, Zak Malamed of The Next 50, and Melissa Walker of The States Project. For an hour and a half, almost 70 members of the Markers For Democracy community gathered on Zoom to ask questions and listen to four people who are involved in politics for the best of reasons discuss how to be wise and strategic about political giving. If you missed the discussion, here is a link to listen to a recording. One of the takeaways from Thursday night was the importance of early money in political campaigns. Markers For Democracy has learned that lesson and we are thrilled that our giving circle has already raised over 50% of our goal we set for Arizona and Pennsylvania state legislative candidates for 2022 . . . and it's only January. Thank you to all who have joined us in this important work and a special thanks to those who helped us access over $19,000 in matching funds in December.

Another takeaway from Thursday night is that our dollars go a lot farther in state and local races than in presidential, senatorial, and congressional races and that state and local government is where the threat to democracy is perhaps most acute. This was also one of the takeaways from Ezra Klein's much-discussed but chillingly titled New York Times column, "Steve Bannon Is On to Something." Klein explained what many of us already know -- that the Republicans are several steps ahead of us in working to elect state and local officials who may end up deciding upcoming elections, including the 2024 presidential election. The same point was made by Daniel Squadron, Executive Director of The States Project, in this compelling opinion piece in Democracy Docket entitled "The Future Of Our Democracy Will Come Down to State Legislatures." He reminds us that "not all hope is lost. If Democrats make smart investments in state legislatures in 2022, the threat can be thwarted — and the legitimate winner can still win the presidency. In Arizona, for example, Republican majorities in the House and Senate could be broken with one flipped seat. . . . Meanwhile, with fairer (and less gerrymandered) maps coming in Michigan and Pennsylvania this year, both legislative chambers in each state will be within striking distance. Our democracy depends on doing everything possible to get over the top."

David Pepper, former Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party argues similarly in this viral video that in order to save our democracy, Democrats must engage in state and local elections and that there are no off years. We're excited that David Pepper is joining us on Zoom to discuss his recently released book Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call From Behind The Lines on Thursday, January 27th at 7 pm, and hope you will join us and invite your friends. (RSVP Here)

On this eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are reminded of the words of Martin Luther King III: “If we are to be a great democracy, we must all take an active role in our democracy.” "Democracy is not something we have; it is something we do. Democracy is an action. It goes away if we don’t constantly work on it and defend it." Whether you are writing postcards with us for a city council race in Jacksonville, Florida; participating in our morning Zooms to hear from activists in Florida, New Hampshire, and other states; or joining our Markers For Democracy 2022 Giving Circle to support Democrats running for state legislatures in Arizona and Pennsylvania, we hope that you will stay engaged in helping to save our democracy.