It’s that random lady who sits on her porch and encourages people to hang on and stand together against the current administration. I sent you an earlier letter begging you to end “politics as usual” and stand up, now. Instead, I have gotten more various fund-raising emails, including at least two talking about how terrible it is that The Late Show was cancelled. I agree, by the way. I’m poor, though, like many people in red states, so I didn’t send you any money. Sorry about that. Actually, not really. As far as I can tell, your only messaging currently is “Isn’t the latest mess the Trump administration made bad? Send us money.”
I have been to the local Democratic Party monthly meeting, though. We had someone visit this last time who is passionate about ending food insecurity. She runs the local food bank. All of us tried to find various ways we could be supportive of the effort, especially since the needs are going up exponentially while SNAP and other programs are being cut. As someone who has gone to that foodbank, they cut some of the staples from the “pantry” packages available to single adults after the DOGE cuts. Lucky for me, I am diabetic, and don’t eat much pasta. I mostly go in hopes of making it a little easier to afford vegetables and berries that don’t mess up my blood sugar much.
I signed up for the Democratic Party booth at the state fair, and to ride on a float at the parade. With health issues, and limits to income, I didn’t feel comfortable volunteering for more long trips to the state fairgrounds than that. Most of this is to explain - I have the best interests of my country and your constituents at heart here, and I do actually contribute, and have done more since my last letter. I don’t have money, but you have my time and attention. I am hoping you will act in a way that gets my vote, too.
I was reading another analysis of all the grifting and corruption of the present administration, reflecting on the BBB, and it came to me. I know what to center the next elections around. The thing is - I don’t want you to use this unless you mean it. We deserve this. AOC is discussing revamping the tax code to back when the US built the fastest growing middle class in history. Back when we didn’t let billionaires not pay taxes and then let them buy our space program. Back when we invested in education so we could have real innovation that built the millionaires, billionaires and tech age. We need to do it again. We need to make the US competitive with other countries in the world.
We need to Rebuild the Promise to the American People. Simple as that. There is your purpose, your slogan, and your central focus in “project 2029.” I can see the imaging already “Rebuild the Promise” on one line, “to the” in the middle, “American People” below.
There are so many people who are waiting to hear those words. There are so many of us who have had our wages stagnated against inflation forever while billionaires have organized REITs to buy up all the housing from the 2008 crisis and rent it back at the highest possible rents they can demand and still get paid. The American people have been monetized from all sides, most recently by the country borrowing trillions to give the richest among us tax breaks while taking poverty supports away from the most vulnerable. It is being called the biggest, most obvious wealth transfer in history, and it is going the wrong way.
If you really want to win with the American people, if you want to reach the voters that voted for Trump because of the price of eggs, run on that. Run on putting the ordinary people first — but MEAN it. Because if you don’t, enough of us are tired of politics as usual that, if we are betrayed, we won’t hesitate to vote that person out of office. I am no longer tolerating being betrayed by people elected to represent all of us, and I know a lot of people I encounter feel the same way. I am keeping scores of every wrong (pretty easy when your senators are Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt) and I will be doing everything in my power come election time to campaign against them. I don’t care if their challengers are potatoes. I would rather elect a vegetable than Josh Hawley. If a Democrat gets into office and pulls the same thing - I will yell just as loudly about their betrayal. There are more of US than there are the billionaires, and it is time someone takes notice and starts legislating for the good of the majority of us.
Please - take this idea and run with it. Rebuild the Promise to the American People.
We need it. And we deserve it.