Indivisibles,

Does solidarity politics have to be hard? Call me naive, but I have a super basic approach to electoral politics in a year where a deranged, sociopathic authoritarian is threatening to sabotage the midterms. My strategy goes like this: 

1. Support whoever you want in the Democratic primaries.
2. Win or lose, unify behind whichever Dem wins the primary.
3. Crush the fascist bastards in the general.
4. Fight out your disagreements within the Party after the election.

This is so straightforward that we might assume it was common sense among professional political types. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. 

Grassroots wins are sparking an establishment freakout. Following the historic anti-establishment primary wins in New York last week -- including both Indivisible-endorsed candidates, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier -- the establishment wing of the party is having a public freakout. Rep. Tom Suozzi led a handful of other establishment Democrats to sign a pledge in response to the electoral upsets, spouting Republican talking points about some Democrats being “ashamed of America.” 

The signers of the pledge aren’t committing to anything new -- it amounts to a commitment to keep on keepin' on. Every one of them still takes corporate PAC, AI, crypto, and/or AIPAC money. A pledge to "be proud of America" rings hollow when PACs linked to AIPAC dropped $1 million to buy your primary (Janelle Bynum), when you're one of the biggest recipients of crypto money (Don Davis), or when the biggest Artificial Intelligence PAC endorsed you (Josh Gottheimer). That's all technically legal, but it's the kind of purchased influence that drags down the party brand and makes it harder to win in November.

That’s why all Indivisible-endorsed candidates reject this money -- the point of challenging unpopular establishment politicians with grassroots candidates is to demonstrate to voters that the party is legitimately changing. Given the Democratic Party brand is so toxic, working to rehabilitate that brand is just smart politics.

James Carville and the bygone era of American politics. The Suozzi pledge isn’t a sideshow. Famed commentator James Carville called for a breakup of the Democratic Party -- a “schism” -- in response to last week’s primary upsets. 

I have to admit, growing up as a southern, rural Democrat I started out as a big Carville fan. Watching the “Ragin’ Cajun” spew real talk about real politics in the 1992 “The War Room” documentary was some of my earliest political education. 

Say what you want about Carville -- he has the gall to say out loud what most establishment Democratic politicos only say to each other and their donors in private. Last year, as Trump took office, installed Elon Musk to ransack the government, and steamrolled through Project 2025, Carville’s bold proposal for Democrats was to “roll over and play dead.” That was the unspoken establishment position at the time. And this is the kind of political consultant freaking out now about Democratic primary wins and calling for the Party to fracture. 

Fight, then unite. I disagree with Tom Suozzi and the pledge signers -- and also I am not confused that come the general election, the choice is between a fascist party member and some flavor of Democrat. So I support Suozzi in the general because he won his primary, and I support Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier because they won theirs. That’s the Indivisible way. And that's the only credible strategy if you're serious about taking back Congress this year. Fight in the primary, fight after the general, but in the few months between: unify.

And if you want to be part of a strategic grassroots effort to defeat authoritarians, boy do we have some ideas this week!

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

1. Phonebank for Indivisible endorsed candidate Julie Gonzales (CO-Sen) TONIGHT, Monday, June 29 (7:30pm ET/5:30pm MT). We will be joined by Indivisible’s co-executive director Ezra Levin to help get Gonzales across the finish line before her primary tomorrow. Recent polling has her within striking distance of Sen. Hickenlooper, and each voter we reach will make a difference to ensure Coloradans are represented by a true progressive fighter in the US Senate. Paid for by Indivisible Action. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
2. Join the Mass Call to gear up for the Good Trouble Lives On Weekend of Action next Tuesday, July 7 (8pm ET/5pm PT). The GTLO Weekend of Action on July 17-19 honors the legacy of civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis. On next Tuesday's Mass Call, we’ll discuss how you can organize or attend a local event in your community to continue the fight for civil rights and support one another in exercising our sacred freedom to vote.
3. Sign up to join the Hands Off Our Vote Movement, our national program to ensure all eligible voters get to cast their ballot and that those ballots are counted. We know Trump and his sycophants will do everything they can to intimidate voters and sabotage the 2026 election results. We'll be ready to counter their dirty tricks and tactics with the support of Indivisibles all across the US. Read on for more about this campaign below.
4. Register for our Immigrant Justice Summer Training Series, beginning next Thursday, July 9, to learn how to respond when ICE surges in your community. In our first training call, we will discuss a concrete three-step organizing blueprint: aligning with immigrant-led organizations in your community, making a plan for your role in ICE response, and growing your circle of neighbors who are ready to act.

P.S. We’ll be blunt: We’re $65,000 short of our June fundraising goal. It’s not an arbitrary goal, it’s what we need to sustain crucial projects at Indivisible, like our work to invest grassroots power in progressive fighters who are rejecting the status quo (and winning their primaries from New York to California) and our Battlegrounds program to protect crucial US Senate races from Trump’s election sabotage. We fell short of meeting our budget in May, so please chip in if you can to help us close our June gap and continue leading the fight against fascism in America.

Our plan to prepare for Trump’s election sabotage

Today, the Supreme Court issued a commonsense (but given this court, still surprising) ruling against the Republican scheme to block states from counting votes that arrive by mail after election day. The ruling is a relief -- but it’s not going to put an end to the Trump regime’s attacks on voting or efforts to sabotage the midterms. That’s going to be up to us. 

From attempting to unilaterally overhaul election administration via executive order to saying Republicans should “nationalize” elections to ordering USPS to deliver mail ballots only to federally approved names, Trump has signaled nonstop that he intends to interfere with the midterms. That’s why Indivisible is getting into election protection formation. As we mentioned in the to-dos, we launched our new national program, Hands Off Our Vote, to empower all Indivisibles with the tools they need to stay informed and ready to respond to election sabotage. We won’t stop raising our voices until every vote is counted.

For more, download the latest What’s the Plan podcast, How to Get into Election Protection Formation. For this episode, Indivisible co-executive directors Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin are joined by Corey Dukes from Protect Democracy to discuss what we can do about election sabotage.

Then, sign up to join the Hands Off Our Vote campaign and help protect the vote this November!

 Upcoming events + Election shifts

These nationwide events, calls, training sessions, and electoral volunteer opportunities are coming up soon. For even more Indivisible happenings, check our national calendar and get in touch with Indivisible groups near you!