Daily Dems Doing the Work, Making Noise and Fighting Back Day 54

We have a lot of good stories today, so please remember that the best way to amplify our fighters is by going to their posts and engaging with them. Just engaging with my post unfortunately will not make theirs go viral.

Let’s begin!

Reps Jahana Hayes (CT-05) and John Mannion (NY-22)

went live together for today’s episode of the WTFShow. Hayes only has IG, and and Mannion rarely posts video, so this was a great way to get to know them. They were both teachers, so the fight to save the Department of Education is near and dear to both of them, and they are the perfect people to discuss it. It’s a thoughtful conversation about the US education system as a whole, what is wrong with it and how it came be made better.

repjahanahayes

A post shared by @repjahanahayes

Rep Lori Trahan (MA-03)

Gives us today’s Democratic Daily Download! This is the first episode from someone who isn’t part of the Democratic Caucus Leadership, which is really exciting. I was starting to think it might just be the five of them trading off giving the briefing. I’m really glad I was wrong.

Trahan is the chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, which is focused on outreach to voters through new media, among other things. They are why there was a new media spin room for the join address. And while the speech got 34m views, the interviews from that spin room now total more than 54m views.

Her video is all about the incredibly personal and sensitive info EM has on us, and the bills that must be passed to protect us from this in the future. It’s so scary that even though so much of what EM and DT have done is completely illegal, most of the things they can do at all because the regulation protecting us just isn’t there.

This bill won’t go anywhere, but as always, putting Republicans on record as opposing this kind of bill, given everything EM is doing, will make an impact with voters and constituents.

Rep Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37)

Wrote a letter to Marco Rubio demanding that Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the State Department, Darren Beattie, must be dismissed immediately because he believes in and espouses things such as “the great replacement theory.”

43 Democratic lawmakers have signed the letter. But, please remember, if you don’t see your rep’s name, that doesn’t mean they don’t care, it just means that Kamlager Dove’s staffer didn’t send it their way, so call your rep and let them know you want them to sign on.

I don’t know if this will have any impact, I do know that many many letters have to date. And that there are some Republicans who are privately expressing support for these Dem letters.

All we can do is hope for the best, but I’m glad that this letter was sent, if for no other reason than it made us aware of who he is and what he believes.

Rep Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10)

Held a town hall last night. During the Q&A someone asked him about activism, and he responded that he’s been at the Tesla Takedowns three out of the last five weeks.

I had no idea. I thought I knew all the Dems who were out at protests, evidently, I didn’t. It just goes to show that so many more Dems are doing the work than we even realize. Let’s bring back innocent until proven guilty, or, in this case, activist until proven otherwise. It’s far better to assume that our electeds are doing the work than assume they’re not.

Rep Sara Jacobs (CA-50)

Posted an excellent video on the work of the Department of Education. It’s direct and engaging, which is always important, and it ends with a call to action.

The call to action is to share your story about how the Department of Education has helped you in the comments of the post. Unfortunately, most of the comments are not doing that. So, if you have a story, please flood the comments with real stories, so we can drown out the people who are celebrating its demise.

DNC

Hosted a different town hall last night. They began their “The People’s Town Hall” this past week. They’ve already hosted 6 different events and have many more scheduled. But last night, Ken Martin, the chair himself, showed up at Ryan McKenzie’s Empty Chair Town Hall, along with Rep Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and others.

Here is just a taste of what Ken said last night

I don’t want to ever hear “do something” directed at the DNC ever again.

Rep Jim McGovern (MA-02)

held a town hall yesterday, and at one point he said:

We need to start thinking about out-of-the-box ideas like a general strike. It’s easier said than done. It requires buying by everybody, it requires planning, but in Europe, there’s a tradition of that.

I have been incredibly wary of the calls for a general strike, so please don’t send me generalstrike.us. I know about it, but it makes me nervous cause they’ve been around for a really long time, and were pushing for this even when Biden was enacting the most progressive legislation.

Also all the people who send me there seem to think there’s an immediate switch that can be flipped and, there just isn’t. It can’t just happen in a month, it takes an incredible amount of planning, both because we need to grow our muscle, so the most people are involved, and because we need the mutual aid already in place and fully fleshed out. All of that takes time, just look at the Civil Rights Movement. The Mongomery Bus Boycott didn’t just happen, there was a whole infrastructure behind that that took years to plan.

So when someone like McGovern says it, it goes from a fantasy of many on the far left to a more tangible idea. The thing about the Civil Rights Movement is they didn’t have government support. But, if we do, this will probably go faster. Seeing this from McGovern is a really good start.

So those are just some of today’s wins. Please always remember that I not only don’t post but don’t see everything it’s on all of us to spread these stories, it can’t just be on me.

If you made it to the end of this post, comment 🫏 (it’s the donkey), cause I think we need to give the DNC some love!

Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them