Hello Democrats,
As I’m closing out my first month on the job, I am consistently so proud to be a Democrat. I’m proud of who we are, what we stand for, and how we build coalitions to win seats and help people. That could not be further in contrast to the GOP’s cowardly infighting leading up to the 2024 Presidential Primary. What we’re seeing on the Republican side is a harsh refutation of the old (and if you ask me, deeply false) narrative that “Democrats Fall In Love, Republicans Fall In Line.” In a nutshell, the GOP appears to be faced with the choice between awful candidates and terrible candidates and they can’t seem to make up their minds.
Today’s Republican Party is so fragmented and disorganized that it’s anyone’s guess who will make it onto the ballot next year. But as of where we stand today it’s hard to picture someone other than the “Evil We Know” – former President Donald Trump and the “Evil We Don’t Know” - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
In all honesty - it’s the second possibility that scares me more. Donald Trump, for better or worse, lacks the subtlety to frame himself as anything other than a boisterous, xenophobic lout and the American people have voted him out of office once before. President Joe Biden is the only person who can say he has beaten Donald Trump in a presidential election, and given strong momentum built by the White House over the past two years, I remain confident we can pull it off again with enough hard work and elbow grease.
DeSantis is a savvier politician than Donald Trump, and very popular in his home state of Florida with a wide range of reprehensible policy “victories” that read very well to Republicans nationwide. But at his core he is just as populist, just as xenophobic, just as self-centered, and just as backward-looking Trump himself. If he clinches the nomination we will have our work cut out for us and need to grind twice as hard every single day to make sure a DeSantis presidency is never a reality.
We have no choice but to start our efforts now - organizing tirelessly, 24/7, everywhere in Washington State and nationwide in order to beat back the GOP and make sure Democrats hold the White House and win races at every level.
We know what it takes to win, but it won’t be easy, quick, or cheap. Thank you for standing with us through the critical work to come!
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