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Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/liberals-trying-harness-activist-energy-vs-trump-gop-154946976.html
Liberals
trying to harness activist energy vs. Trump, GOP
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In
this photo taken Jan. 27, 2017, Carolyn Clow stands in front of the McFarland,
Wis. Municipal Center in McFarland, Wis. Donald Trump’s surprise win in
November lit a fire under Clow, 43, a county purchasing agent in Madison, Wis.,
attended her first in a series of classes on how to run for office. (AP
Photo/Andy Manis)
In this photo taken Jan.
27, 2017, Carolyn Clow stands in front of the McFarland, Wis. Municipal Center
in McFarland, Wis. Donald Trump’s surprise win in November lit a fire under
Clow, 43, a county purchasing agent in Madison, Wis., attended her first in a
series of classes on how to run for office. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)
More
Donald Trump's
surprise win in November lit a fire under Carolyn Clow, a county purchasing
agent in Madison, Wisconsin. On Saturday, she attended her first in a series of
classes on how to run for office.
"If we learn
anything as a liberal community, I'd hope that it's time to stop thinking 'I'd
like to do something,' and time to take that action," said Clow, 43, who
is running for the village board in her town outside of Madison in the April
election with the help of an organization that recruits Democratic women
candidates.
"It's fun and
exciting to march and it's boring to go down to village hall to vote, but we
have to learn to do both," she said.
Trump's election has
sparked what liberal groups say is unprecedented activism. The most visible
manifestation of that were protest marches the day after Trump's inaugural,
which drew millions to Washington, D.C., and other locations across the country
and overseas. Those were followed by demonstrations at airports and in cities
this weekend against Trump's executive order prohibiting entry into the U.S. by
people from seven countries and also limiting refugees.
Much of the discussion
since the marches has revolved around how to turn that energy into an effective
movement, especially through electoral politics. Democrats have been decimated
in elections at the state and local level during the past eight years, and have
their best chance to stymie Trump if they can seize control of the House of
Representatives in the 2018 elections.
The morning after the
election, Ethan Todras-Whitehill embodied liberals' dilemma — in bright blue
western Massachusetts no Republicans other than Trump were on the ballot to
vote against. He began googling to find his nearest swing district and thought
— why not create a tool to help others like him?
The day before Trump's
inauguration, he and some friends debuted swingleft.org, which lets people find
their nearest House swing district and register to help flip the House in 2018.
Todras-Whitehill says 250,000 people have already signed up.
There's been grumbling
from some liberal activists that the effort wasn't coordinated with Democratic
party officials who are already trying to flip the House. "We can't be
waiting around for someone else to do something," Todras-Whitehill said.
"Everyone needs to be standing up and doing something on their own."
That scattershot
approach has taken hold everywhere. While the organizers of last weekend's
Women's Marches haven't announced future demonstrations, there are already
plans in the works for scientists to march in protest of Trump, for nationwide
protests on April 15 demanding the president release his tax returns.
In cities around the
country, people are marching on congressional offices, joining liberal
organizations and lobbying their local representatives.
"There's a battle
raging on multiple fronts and you have the feeling of being surrounded,"
said Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborers Organizing
Network. "The most important thing is to focus on whatever hill you have
and hold your hill."
Newman's group focuses
on immigrant rights and has been using a strategy honed in fights against
former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose immigration crackdown in
Arizona's largest county is a possible model for the Trump administration. The
group has been co-hosting community meetings where nervous immigrants and
eager, mobilized new volunteers can learn the basics of immigration law and how
to protect their rights.
They've also been
pushing state and local officials to step up protections for immigrants.
"The pressure for action will be felt more sharply on the local
level," Newman said. "There are increasing expectations for mayors
and governors and state lawmakers."
Neil Aquino, 49, has
high expectations for his local elected officials in Houston. Texas may be a
solidly Republican state but its cities are increasingly Democratic and Aquino
is writing all of Houston's elected Democrats demanding they step up and fight
Trump. "I don't find the response from local Democrats is matching the
anxiety people feel," said Aquino, an artist.
Liz Merriweather is
also contacting her elected officials, though they are Republicans. As part of
a Women's March follow-up project she's writing postcards to her congressional
representatives from Tennessee. She's waiting for more direction — this is the
56-year-old therapist's first political activity.
"Over the past
eight years, I've kind of gotten complacent and felt things are in good hands
and I can trust officials," she said. "But people like me, your
average citizen, have a duty to take action."
A progressive group
that Emily Barnes helped launch in her quiet suburb in Orange County,
California held a post-card writing party Sunday. The group started with six
parents meeting in August hoping to increase multicultural education in the
local schools. After the election its membership ballooned to more than 220.
"Every time we
have an event, more and more people show up," Barnes, 41, said.
The Ladera Ranch
Social Justice Committee doesn't sound like the vanguard of the resistance: It
mainly hosts multicultural children's book readings. But it also funnels its
members to more political events like the Women's March. Last week, some of its
members attended a demonstration at the office of their local Republican
congressman, Rep. Darrell Issa.
He's one of the most
endangered Republican House members in 2018.
This story has been corrected to include the
correct first name of Emily Barnes.
There is now an BOYCOTT TRUMP app –
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