Trump and the Republicans Won. Now What?

The Need to Resist Continues

Republicans will have unified control in 2025. The Supreme Court, White House, and Congress will answer to them-specifically, to Trump. Our need to stand in defense of our freedom, our rights, and our Constitution remains. Only the methods have changed.

Do not despair. If you feel defeated, if you disengage, if you throw in the towel, they will have ultimate victory. Celebrate every win, no matter how small-it builds hope. Hope inspires others. A dozen small wins lead to larger ones.

I have a few points that I hope prove helpful in the weeks and months ahead.

Point 1: Get to Know Your Neighbors

Look, all organizing begins at home. Exhibit A is that Harris and Democrats won highly engaged voters but no one else. If we don’t talk to our neighbors, how can we expect to win? If the only people who vote Democrats are those tuned into the news each and every day, how can we grow? This is a collective responsibility.

You’re not done if you live in a blue neighborhood, not by a longshot. Are you involved in the PTA? VFW? Town Board? Environmental groups and labor unions?

Get to know everyone. It can’t be transactional, either. We need more friends. We need to genuinely care for and about each other. It is only by building friendship and trust that we can grow a pro-democracy movement, rooted in solidarity and a common belief in each other.

Jess Piper, a progressive Democrat from Missouri who ran for state office. Photo credit: Arkansas Times

Point 2: Get Involved and Find Your Niche

Dovetailing from point one, surviving the next four years of Trump and coming out on the other side even stronger is going to take a lot of effort. No effort is wasted unless it actively gets in the way of building, deepening, and strengthening community or electoral effort.

Some people are better at crunching data and numbers, finding out which wards and municipalities within your home county had an increase or decrease in Democratic votes. Others are willing to take the plunge and run for office. There may be someone who is able to organize a rally or protest that draws dozens or hundreds of people. Still others can bring food or play music at events. Hell, it turns out I’m pretty good at raising money and I have no background in it at all.

There is always work to be done. Even staffing an office and getting others engaged is a major undertaking. Not one single person has the silver bullet. Be visible. Do things. Reach out to natural allies. Organize and build something bigger than yourself and your group. Don’t sit behind a screen.

Point 3: Practice Self-Care and Pace Yourself

Four years is a marathon with lots of victories and defeats ahead. No one can be “on” 100% of the time, day in and day out. It is very important to take time to relax, to wind down, and make sure you don’t burn out (that’s why I’m taking off until the week after Thanksgiving and doing some hunting). Celebrate wins-even if it’s signing up one person for an event you’re hosting or raise $100 on your first effort.

Do not give into despair and hopelessness. That helps no one.

Don’t flee your city or your state. Be a leader. You are in this place for a reason.

Yee Leng Xiong, former Executive Director of the Wausau Area Hmong-American Center. Photo credit: Yee Leng Xiong

Point 4: Leave No Space Uncontested and Show Up for Local Fights

I’m not talking just about the digital space here. While you should share the occasional political post or left-wing YouTube/TikTok/Substack article, arguing with people online will never be worth the effort and constantly posting links on social media may have your account marked as spam.

When there’s major things going on locally, like making the local library adults-only, show up and speak out. Bring a few friends. Half a dozen people can very easily carry the day in these local issues, but so few people pay attention to what’s happening in their backyard that the smallest effort have outsized impact.

Think about it: can you name your state lieutenant governor? Attorney General? Treasurer? Secretary of State? County Supervisor? Alderman/trustee/boardman? There is so much going on at the local level when it comes to governing that knowing who these people are and keeping an eye on the local news will have a major impact at home.

It is nowhere near as sexy as organizing a major rally or going viral on MSNBC, but the backbone of the New Resistance will take place locally, in neighborhoods large and small, all across the fruited plain. Run strong candidates locally and for the state legislature-even if they are in deep red areas. Build hope. Build community. Good things happen when good people put in the work. Even if the candidate loses, the message has been sent: You’ll have to deal with us.

If no one else runs? Take up the mantle yourself. Be the hope and the change you want to see.

Point 5: Set Realistic Goals and Figure Out Logistics

You’re not going to save the world by yourself. That’s ridiculous. You and your best friends won’t either. But what a small group of determined citizens can do is remarkable. Do you live in a small town of 500 people that Trump won with 80% of the vote? A realistic goal is to lose it 75% to 25%.

Does your county Democratic party have 200 members? Can you get it to 225?

Does your labor union have a dozen dues-paying members? Can you get three more?

You’ve never organized a protest or fundraiser before. How do you get 50 people to show up to an event?

Each small act of defiance, every single small goal met will give you confidence. You will make mistakes. Learn from them. Do better next time. When you meet a goal, make a new one. Never rest on your laurels.

No one is going to give you permission to save yourself, your community, your state, and our country.

No one gave the Founding Fathers the right to revolution.

No one gave enslaved people the right to free themselves.

No one gave women the right to demand the right to vote or equal rights.

No one gave the LGBTQ+ community the right to demand marriage equality.

No one gave the Grange the right to stand up to railroad bosses or unions the right to demand fairness in the workplace prior to 1938.

We are a nation of radicals; a nation of patriots. If we refused to let the King of England, at the height of his power and might, to dictate terms to us, or slaveholders with all their evil wealth, then surely we will remember what it means to be an American: struggling against injustice, failing forward with each passing generation.

We will not be cowed by the most corrupt, cowardly, obtuse person to soil the White House in the history of our Republic. We will overcome. We will endure. We will work with our friends and neighbors to redeem the promise of our forebears. Truly, we are our country’s greatest hope.

Do not despair. The spirits of our country’s greatest heroes are with us.