The 2025 Every Day, Every Body, Every State Fight Back Guide.

Small and big practical things we can all do...

Over the last month, folks have called, texted, DM-ed and emailed me, all with the same question, steeped in dread: “What can we do to push back on MAGA and Trump and why aren’t Democratic Leaders laying out a plan?”

In short, there is a great deal that can be done, and actually, Dem leaders are working on a plan, it is just not coming out very quickly. Further, they are waiting to elect a DNC chair (more on this shortly) before they announce a plan. That said, you need to let your local and federal leaders know you expect an innovative plan that is grounded in reality and the real voting population. The voting population is now filled with persuadable “context voters” not the guesses about voters that have been put out by a wide variety of Democrats who desperately want to blame someone.

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Let me preface the list of practical specific things all of us can do, the timing and how to with some important overarching themes:

1. We lost for a bunch of reasons and it will require addressing all of them. Suffice to say, we did not understand the electorate at all and, the level of racism and misogyny that played a role. Also we can understand two things at once, independent populism is popular and we do not need to blame anyone including immigrants or trans folks.

2. TELL DEMOCRATIC LEADERS TO STOP SHUTTING DOWN YOUNGER VOICES LIKE SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY, SENATOR CORY BOOKER, CONGRESSMAN RO KHANNA AND CONGRESSWOMAN OCASIO-CORTEZ. WE NEED NEW LEADERS WITH NEW IDEAS.

3. The blame game is not helpful. We must move forward and stop whining or finger-pointing, it’s done, let’s all move on and live in reality.

4. DO NOT OBEY IN ADVANCE!: Don’t bend a knee to Trump or his lieutenants.We need to be loud and consistent in public and with friends and family on all of the resulting issues that will inevitably percolate up during this coming administration, but do it in an everyday way, not a policy-wonky way. And do not blame Trump or his voters because we will need to persuade them later. In fact our goal is to commiserate over issues like high prices of groceries, unaffordable healthcare, the labor shortage post mass deportation, the collapse of the food and construction industries post deportations, etc. Think commiseration, not blame.

5. Denigrating Trump voters or Trump will not help, but there are some villains and we should be clear and loud about this (hint: the villains are billionaires, oligarchs and the price-gouging companies that are allowed to wreak havoc AND create an oligarchy stemming from Trump’s support).

6. We are no longer a nation of folks who fit nicely into one of two parties. Only 31% say they affiliate with/or are registered with the Dems, only 33% affiliate or lean toward Republicans and only 22% of all Trump voters claim to be full Republicans, according to multiple exit polls. What this means is we have about 40-60% of the country are independents or context voters. BTW, there is no such thing as a “moderate” voter. There are folks who vote on the context in front of them each and every cycle and those items change every cycle, but no voter has a “moderate stance or position on 5 top issues.” That is silly. We are a nation of context voters. Accept this.

7. There is a critical sequence, timing and cadence that must be followed to get back the house in 2026 and the senate, house and presidency in 2028. Most of it has to do with what to say, how often and when, more on this later.

8. The indivisible guide is a great tool for activism groups. Read it and distribute to others: https://indivisible.org/resource/guide?akid=113075.3973180.LGXz3x&rd=1&t=7&utm_medium=_20241215&utm_source=email

Now what can everybody do? Timing and sequence is critical here, please note when and how below:

Right now!: January 22 - February 1, 2025

• Contact/write/email/call the DNC, DCCC, and Democratic leaders like Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (House minority leader), Senator Chuck Schumer(Senate minority leader), Congresswoman Susan DelBene (DCCC chair) and demand they choose a DNC chair that actually understands 5 things: 1. The electorate has changed dramatically and they (Democratic Leadership) must learn how to address that via market research, focus groups and state listening tours in all 50 states. 2. They must have a 50-state plan for 2026 and 2028, not a 7-swing state plan. 3. Know how to win back the House in 2026 with a specific plan and know what to do everyday between now and 2028 to win the presidency and the senate. 4. Start listening to union leaders and rank and file workers. 5. Stop marketing to demographics and start marketing to behaviors, attitudes and perspectives in new media places where people actually are listening and not where we hope they are. No demographic is a monolith. Marketers learned this a long time ago, now politicians and consultants need a crash course on marketing and communicating to behaviors and beliefs.

  • Contact the DNC at: https://democrats.org/contact-us/

  • Contact the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:

https://dccc.org/

• • Contact members of Congress at the House of Representatives at:

    • https://www.house.gov/representatives

• Do start thinking about joining a local activism group: I recommend Indivisible as a starter - find your local group here: https://indivisible.org/events

• Do not beat up Trump and MAGA voters right now, instead just say “well, it will be very interesting to see how these policies and tactics will affect all of us, our economy and our safety as a nation.” And then, get real loud real fast about all of the problems. Again, commiserate, do not alienate.

January 21, 2025- November, 2028

The way we build power is from the ground up, at every level. The reason we are gerrymandered and lost control of the electoral map is the Democrats lost sight of state legislatures 20 years ago and now they are dominated by conservatives in many states. We can change this, but it will be from the ground up, making it from scratch.

• Think hyperlocal, right away. Make sure you are helping reasonable Democracy-minded, level headed people get elected to school boards, town trustees, library boards, village councils, county races, other local elected spots. Encourage them to run on everyday issues and solutions, not complicated policies.

• Think about running for office at local, county, state or federal level, yourself or help someone run. If you are, I published a guide to running for office/building a political campaign:

  • See my website for my made-from-scratch planning guide series: https://www.marienewmanstudio.com/workbook-series

  • Scroll down to “Building a Political Campaign” or “Building a Movement” for help on getting started with your political campaign or issue-based movement

• Demand your congresspeople stop blaming any one group inside the party or outside the party and get to work learning the electorate. Demand your elected begin to take time to know how they, themselves, are taking specific and effective steps to win back the House, Senate and Presidency back. Ask them to put pressure on leadership to have a real plan that involves 1. Doing market research and focus groups to understand working families, young people and rural voters 2. A 50-state strategy and not a 7 swing state strategy 3. That involves key steps they, themselves will be implementing.

  • Contact your congressperson at the House of Representatives: https:

    • https://www.house.gov/representatives

• Rethink how you are talking to neighbors, friends and family who may have voted for Trump. Concentrate on the problem, not the people or voters.

  • Care enough to ask about their well being (even when it is hard): Ask red voters “how they are doing” and try to understand what their pain points are ( you need not agree at all, but it is important to understand, so we all can address these pain points moving forward!)

• Do exactly what MAGA did for four years everyday: Complain about prices, being controlled by government, government taking away rights and programs, billionaires taking over everything and no available housing. Rinse, wash, repeat - sing the same song about those problems for the next four years. Share how badly the administration is affecting you directly and, specifically or perhaps someone you love. Tell that singular story. Think about how you can start bringing this up in groups. Share how problematic this is for your small business. Offer clear stories about friends who are losing their business, house, car or insurance because of the cost associated with tariffs and deportations start. Talk about how badly these issues affect you and your family directly. This should be something you do everywhere whenever you can.

• Tell stories, don’t recite data: The big triggers are: prices on everything, people’s health, security and safety - use all of these to highlight how bad things are now since the Trump administration started. Also, while you should always be well-researched with data, let me save you some time. Stories about specific situations and people work, but data usually does not change minds (but doesn’t hurt to have it). Think Laken Riley folks. That story worked in conservative circles.

  Examples of Plain-Spoken Talking Points:

  Prices and cost of things we buy everyday - talk prices and timing

  • “Wow, it seems like as soon as the new administration started, many retailers increased their prices! I am seeing X and Y at prices I’ve never seen before! The retailers are even saying they are raising prices in anticipation of Trump’s actions. I wonder if those tariffs have already started to make prices go up?”

  Once deportations start, talk about how badly and frustrated you feel for farmers, restauranteurs, small businesses and families

  • “The poor farmers! Holy cats, the farmers have lost all of their labor force- feel so badly and the cost of vegetables is sky-high”

  • “Oh my goodness, the price of food since deportations started is insane. I can’t afford to eat out OR eat at home! These poor restauranteurs are really suffering since the deportations started.”

  • “Well the supply chain is now all gummed up because they are deporting all these folks AND the tariffs are slowing down supplies. I can’t get the supplies my plumber, contractor and carpenter need to fix or build my house. And the price of construction materials has exponentially skyrocketed!”

  • “Small businesses are just dying with all of these corporations, billionaires stealing their businesses and overtaking them. I am a small business owner and I am really scared!”

  Health, Safety and Security

  • Share your incredibly heart-tugging healthcare stories of loved ones who have lost their life or become bankrupt as a result of our health insurance system and its price gouging

  • “I just really don’t feel safe with all of this military effort going into homes and businesses to rip families apart and deport them. It’s scary!”

  • “I keep hearing all of these young women who are deathly afraid to get pregnant because they won’t be able to receive miscarriage or reproductive care if their pregnancy requires it. The ban and restrictions on healthcare are so sad and distressing. Will families ultimately go away?.”

  • “I’m worried about how they are wanting to cut money from state and county budgets. Oh my gosh, are they going to take away police and firefighters? That scares me.”

Be very concerned about corruption and the number of billionaires running the cabinet

• “So they told us during the election they would not gut Social Security and Medicare, but now I see they are talking about it all the time. Holy crap, SS and Medicare will be by primary and/or sole income soon, what am I going to do?”

• “Huh, so Musk gets tens of billions of dollars from the Department of Defense, but he only wanted to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid? Why doesn’t he just cut from the the Department of Defense’s big budget or his own revenue?”

• “All of these big media companies like Meta, ABC, Sinclair, Fox and Others keep talking so highly of Trump and never criticize him - isn’t it weird? Are they getting deals from the government?”

• “Are those big tax cuts for billionaires attached to their support of Trump - it looks like it. Are they cutting deals - it sure feels like it!”

• “Will the police and military be available if we need them, it seems like they are busy with Trump’s deportations?”

Boycott Oligarchs and Price Gougers:

• There are a long list of price gouging companies - consider boycotting them.

• The Fortune-500 are experiencing record profits, yet laying off middle managers and lower level folks - what give?

Sing the “Solutions Song” :

• “We need a blended healthcare model that brings everybody in and provides access to care for everyone. Every other country has that. I’d like to see a new approach with government, private and nonprofit working together, and not have profits or CEOs running up prices every year. We need to de-complicate. We need single payer. People are dying and going bankrupt.We have to stop the terror and reign of health insurance companies! Health insurance companies have to go.”

• “Why can’t we just tax billionaires and large corporations a little more? And, give small businesses and the middle class a tax break. Seems like an easier approach than a fake trickle down from billionaires? Trickle down has never worked, but we should try making billionaires and F-500 companies pay”

• “I agree let’s cut government waste, but let’s start at the Department of Defense.”

• “Seems like we should let everybody organize or join a union at their job if they want - what’s the big deal?”

Jump on a campaign!

For 2026:

• Help flip state houses and state senates from red to blue - help a state campaign today - volunteer and donate

• Help flip a congressional district from red to blue

• Find a presidential race to help from 2026-28

Okay, reach out if you have questions, I’m right here! Otherwise, go, fight, win!

Have a great week,

M

P.S.: Like and share, we can do this!!

Marie Newman Studio Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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