Six months into the planning of an in-person fundraiser with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Bonnie Raitt and David Crosby, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the event.
The goal had been to raise $150,000 for Democrats in 2020. But the California East Bay chapter of Indivisible was forced to pivot to a more low-key, and fully virtual, events it called “Parties for Democracy” — and ended up raising $450,000, helping to flip seven California districts blue.
Averaging $10,000 per fundraising event, “Parties for Democracy” are just one of the strategies now being rolled out to fuel a blue wave in the midterms, said Gary Lucks, attorney and founder of the Resistance Action East Bay, a chapter of the anti-Donald Trump group Indivisible that’s fighting against authoritarianism.
In his book, “We Are the Power To Win the Future: Mobilize to Defend Democracy,” Lucks offers a “roadmap” for how Democrats can take back control from Trump in November, “the most consequential election of our lifetime,” he said.
“We need to win this election, in my personal opinion, by significant margins, which is how we will be able to avoid a contested election,” Lucks said.
“With [now-former Hungarian President] Viktor Orbán losing by substantial margins, he couldn’t contest the election.”
Trump repeatedly praised and backed Orbán, who led Hungary as a far-right prime minister for 16 years under what he called an “illiberal democracy,” before losing re-election in April.
Experts called Orbán’s loss a “cautionary tale” for Trump, which he appears to have heeded. As November approaches, Trump has ratcheted up his efforts to sow doubts about “election integrity.”
This week, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to rule on limiting mail-in ballots.
Lucks book is designed to be a guide to fighting back.
“We Are the Power” intends to inspire everyone to take action, “whether it’s the lapsed activist who’s demoralized after 2024 or someone new,” including one of the estimated 89 million people who chose to stay home rather than vote in the last general election, Lucks said.
Lucks hosted a training open to the leaders of Indivisible’s 300 California chapters Wednesday and said there’s potential for strategies in his book to be shared with leaders of all 2,600 Indivisible chapters around the country.
“The book is designed as an accessible tool for no matter where you live, whether you live in a blue state or district, red or purple, no matter what your skill set is, your relationships, your money It’s how everyone can step into action,” Lucks said.
“It’s really designed to engage, activate people, give them hope, and so many people are demoralized, feeling powerless and deeply concerned.”
Indivisible declined to comment.
Being based in California, Lucks thinks about how those living in Democratic states can back left-leaning candidates in swing or red states.
“Here in the blue part of the country, the idea is how do we export our resources of our talent, lots of money in California,” Lucks said.
His Indivisible group creates handouts on a different issue or election race across the country and hands them out at farmers markets and near public transit — what Lucks calls an “underutilized technique.”
“It connects people who are in a blue-oriented environment,” Lucks said.
“We get them to the next step, and they’re busy, and we give them the two-minute ask, and they thank us all the time, and we’re the trusted advisors in the community, so I’d love to see this advance across the country.”
Gary Lucks (provided photo)
To support potentially disenfranchised voters worried about intimidation at the polls, Lucks encourages taking off Election Day, Nov. 3, “to protect the vote” as witnesses.
When asked if he’s worried about Republicans stealing his strategies for Democrats to take back control of Congress in November, Lucks said, “I don’t think we have any choice” but to publicize his tactics.
“They’re more focused on big donors,” Lucks said. “We are able to compete with them because of small donor contributions … I think they don’t really focus on the ground game like we do.”
Lucks said his book is a companion to “The American Oath Project: Protecting the Backbone of Democracy,” a book by attorney Kevin K. Johnson, which presents novel legal strategies to remove Trump from office.
Both books, published by the “pro-democracy” publishing house, Writers Integrity Network, emphasize peaceful protest, Johnson said.
“That’s going to become extra, extra important as we roll into the midterms because what Trump is going to do is going to p— a lot of people off, and there’s a good chance there’ll be a lot of people in the streets,” Johnson said.
“We have to be peaceful because Trump wants us to get violent.”
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