Eight counter-messages for combating Trump fatigue and keeping hopeful and active

These days are a slog but there are plenty of reasons for hope.

Here are eight things that worry many of us and eight counter-messages to calm us down, keep us energized, and keep us all working hard.

1. I am worried because Democrats will never unite behind a candidate!!

Yes, people will unite.  I know some of the pie fights are bad right now, but a few short months from now we will all have a candidate and we will all unite.  This is not 2016.  We know what we are fighting against.

Need more proof?  Look at this poll:

62% of Democrats would literally rather see the earth be destroyed then trump reelected (for the record, I am not one of those people).  tell me again how we won’t unite?!  We WILL unite behind our candidate.

2. I am worried because Trump’s support is too strong to beat!

Nope.  There was one poll that gave him an unnaturally high number and everyone lost their minds and then the poll was not replicated.

This is historically unpopular president.

Another important indicator: Bill Weld got 9% of the votes in the Republicans in NH.

He is not going to win but this shows that a good chunk of registered Republicans are not super happy with trump.

and as his former advisers keep coming out against him (and the closer we get to November, the more of them will) it will pull small amounts away from his support.  Not a lot, but enough for us to beat him

John Kelly Finally Lets Loose on Trump

The former chief of staff explained, in the clearest terms yet, his misgivings about Trump’s behavior regarding North Korea, immigration, and Ukraine.

F*&^ John Kelly… but also, keep talking.

Yes, his base won’t move.  But he can’t win with just his base.  And every one of these drip drip drips of truth makes a small (but important) portion of his 2016 voters less likely to show up for him

3. I am worried because we can’t win when there is a great economy!

First of all we have plenty to run on in terms of this economy not being as great as he argues

Trump’s First 3 Years Created 1.5 Million Fewer Jobs Than Obama’s Last 3

New Labor Department statistics show that despite Trump’s repeated boasts, job creation was a lot higher during Barack Obama’s final years.

Even if the numbers do remain strong through November (or trump manages to argue that they are) we can still win on his economic policies —> Every Democrat should run on Trump's disastrous budget proposal

On Monday, President Donald Trump unveiled his 2021 federal budget proposal which would wreak havoc on the vast majority of Americans if passed into law. Ironically titled a “Budget for America’s Future,” the fiscal proposal would be devastating to our collective future with deep cuts targeting our most vulnerable citizens.

The $4.8 trillion federal budget would cut federal spending on Medicare by $750 billion over the next decade, in addition to $844 billion in reductions to Medicaid and other health care assistance programs during that same timeframe. Since Trump took office in 2017, nearly 2 million Americans have lost health coverage or access, with the “greatest impact on low-income residents of the 14 states that didn’t expand Medicaid under the ACA”.

Just as concerning is the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the Department of Education, specifically the Student Loan Forgiveness program that was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007. More than $170 billion would be cut from federal loan programs, making it much more difficult for both students experiencing economic hardship and parents struggling to pay for their child’s education.

There are additional destructive cuts proposed to Social Security, disability insurance, housing assistance, foreign aid, and the complete elimination of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. There is no question that this budget would “serve as a blueprint for Mr. Trump’s priorities if he wins a second term,” and Democrats running for office must make campaigning against this cruel and harmful federal budget a cornerstone of their candidacy.

There is a quote often attributed to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. that “budgets are moral documents.” If the quote is to be believed, then where is the Trump administration’s morals when it comes to supporting Americans, including many Trump voters, who are most in need?

And please don’t panic that this budget will actually happen — this is just his demented wish list.  It is the House THAT WE WON that will get to actually vote in a budget.  Pelosi will not let this happens.

Which makes it all the stupider that he put this in writing.  WE CAN BEAT HIM ON THIS. We did in 2018.  Moron.

4. I am worried because with the high proportion of red states, we can’t win the Senate!

yes we can

Republicans who control the Senate resigned themselves this week to the reality that they are unable to check or even influence Trump, even as some GOP strategists are warning that the president’s actions threaten the party’s Senate majority by complicating the home-state politics for a quintet of endangered incumbents

Some Republican strategists are privately warning that Trump’s acts of retribution, should they continue, could endanger the reelection chances of five senators in competitive races: Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Martha McSally of Arizona, as well as Collins and Tillis.

“The White House and the [Trump] campaign need to look at this election through the lens of the vulnerable Republican senators,” said one top GOP strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution from Trump or his aides. “It’s not that hard. You say to yourself before you make a move, ‘What’s this going to do to Cory or Joni or Martha or Thom or Susan?’ That’s what’s lacking here.”

Trump, the strategist continued, “is always going to do a little crazy every week because a little crazy is what motivates his base. But this is a team sport, and he does not want to lose the Senate. You saw what happened when he misjudged 2018 and lost the House. He got himself impeached. The Senate is the backstop.”

another thing that will help us win the senate are demographic shifts → People leaving the Golden State are changing the political makeup of the states they move to.

what’s happening among the vast diaspora of more than 7.3 million people who have left California since 2007. They appear to be changing the political makeup of the states they’ve moved to, perhaps enough to alter the Electoral College map in favor of Democrats.

With nearly 40 million people, California is still gaining population — barely. But stratospheric home prices and unbearable rental costs have created a reverse “Grapes of Wrath,” forcing those who are not rich to flee to states with much lower costs of living.

The question is: Are they bringing California values — fierce defense of the environment, tolerance of immigrants and a multiracial society, insistence on universal health care — with them? It could be just demographic churn. But if you look at the changing politics of Nevada, Colorado and Arizona, all fast-growing states packed with new arrivals from California, the answer is yes. Texas may not be far behind.

5. I am worried because the bad guys hold all the power

Nope.  We have lots of great, powerful, and righteous allies

American Bar Association Goes After Trump For Blasting Roger Stone Sentencing On Twitter

The American Bar Association indirectly denounced President Donald Trump on Wednesday for publicly criticizing the sentencing recommendation for his friend Roger Stone as well as the judge presiding over Stone’s case.

“The American Bar Association steadfastly supports judicial independence and the sound exercise of prosecutorial discretion,” ABA President Judy Perry Martinez said in a statement on Wednesday. “Public officials who personally attack judges or prosecutors can create a perception that the system is serving a political or other purpose rather than the fair administration of justice.”

Appeals court strikes down Trump approval of Medicaid work requirements

A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the Trump administration's approval of Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas, the latest legal blow to one of President Trump's signature health initiatives.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that the approval of the work requirements was "arbitrary and capricious."

More than 18,000 people lost coverage in Arkansas due to the work requirements before they were halted by a lower court.

Wisconsin governor sets up unique redistricting panel

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) is taking a new weapon into the fight for control of the decennial redistricting process in a state where Democrats say Republicans have consistently built themselves a gerrymandered advantage.

Evers has ordered a new independent redistricting panel to draw congressional and legislative district maps after the 2020 census results come in next year. The panel, he said in an interview, would craft lines with an eye toward creating competitive districts across the state, rather than seats that are heavily skewed toward one party or the other.

“We’re creating a commission that will be meeting in public, going around to each of the congressional districts,” Evers said in an interview on the sidelines of the National Governors Association meeting in Washington. “It’s going to be clearly nonpartisan in its output.”

6. I am worried because no matter what we do, Republicans will win by with voter suppression.

False!  They will TRY to win with voter suppression but we CAN overwhelm their effort with GOTV.  For example:

Georgia is adding more Democratic-leaning voters faster than Republicans can purge them

Georgia Republicans have been working hard to get voters off the rolls, and indeed, they reduced their numbers by 7% in last year's purge. The bad news for those Republicans, however, is that nearly as fast as they throw voters off the lists, new ones—in large part younger and more racially diverse—are registering.

There was a 3% increase in registered voters in the last year, and new voter registrations outpaced the purges of 2016-2018, with 902,000 new voters replacing the 797,000 removed during that time. Another 98,000 were purged late last year, in what was a limited win by Stacey Abrams' group Fair Fight Georgia: The original plan had been to delete more than 300,000.

"In every way, that benefits the Democratic Party," Scott Hogan, the executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia, told the AJC. "Georgia is in play. The state is going to go blue. It's just a matter of when: this year."

and this!  North Dakota Tribes Score Key Voting Rights Victory

In a win for voting rights advocates, North Dakota agreed to a binding consent decree to ensure that Native Americans can vote without an ID that shows a residential addresses.

7. I am worried that the Russians (or someone else) will hack into the election and steal votes.

That is worrying, for sure.  Much more needs to be done to protect our voting machines.

That said, at the most 88% of voting in 2020 will be done on machines that leave a paper trail

the only states which will have SOME machines without a paper trail are:  Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee.

This means it would be very hard to change votes to a large enough degree to lose us the election.

Not impossible, but incredibly unlikely.

If you look at this map, you can see that most of the areas have the most outdated systems (the very dark red) are areas that would be tough for us to win anyway. New Jersey is on there, but they recently got Democrats in office for governor and secretary of state, so I bet changes are coming soon!

Again, we need 100% of us to be able to vote with paper ballots/back ups.  But don’t let the lack of those ballots lead you to think that they can easily cheat their way back into office.

If it still stresses you our consider donating or volunteering for Verified Voting or The Brennan Center who are all working hard to protect our elections.

8. I am worried about everything because this is all so awful and it leaves me feeling alone and depressed

You are not alone!

Feeling down in difficult times is NORMAL.  Here are some ways to feel deal with your normal reaction to this awful situation

Trump doesn’t represent the American people. Trump got 62,984,828 votes. About 174 million Americans either voted against him or didn’t vote for him, which is about 73% of the eligible-to-vote American population. Trump’s term ends in a few months.

So much good happens every day despite Trump’s cruelty and misconduct

We’ve been through worse times and persevered. About 150 years ago, Americans fought each other in a war and killed 2% of the American population. That’s the equivalent of more than 6 million people in today’s population.

Manage your social media exposure. Avoid arguing with people who are unlikely to change their minds. It’s emotionally draining, and it isn’t worth it

Surround yourself with positive people who exude resilience, hope, and problem-solving skills. Develop a circle of engaged and informed friends who focus on solutions.

Read and listen to the news from reputable sources. Don’t watch it.

Unplug. Take time for yourself–go to the gym or take a yoga restore class, take a walk, cook, or spend time with friends. It may give you the energy you need to be more productive.

Recognize that we’ll always have challenges. The issues we care about–climate change, animal welfare, human health and well-being, equality, justice, and so many others–won’t be fully resolved under any administration. But a collective effort of government, business, and individuals can put us on a better trajectory. We should work together to achieve that end.

 Imagine the feeling when the Trump era ends and the country finds its footing again.

So that is it: eight things that have been causing us stress along with reasons to not let them.