My Conversation With Tara McGowan, publisher of pro-democracy independent Courier Newsroom

I spoke with

Tara

McGowan, publisher of

COURIER

newsroom in April, and we spoke about the importance of transparent, democracy focused media, and reaching folks disconnected with politics. This is an important listen as we dive into the last 99 days of the election with renewed energy and excitement for the Presidential election and down-ballot races. And, as I mentioned, I have a slate of new interviews coming up soon.

What I think is most impressive about this moment is how quickly VP Kamala Harris consolidated the party after Pres Biden pulled out and endorsed her. I feel like the past week has lasted decades: The announcement, endorsement, wrapping up the nomination, massive fundraising and organizing calls, and a vibe shift like I’ve never seen. We knew we needed to go on offense, wage a forward looking campaign, and throw Republicans off balance. Check, check, and check again.

As you all know, I quote Anat Shenker Osorio all the time: “say what you’re for, say what you’re for, say what you’re for!” And Kamala is doing just that. With basically the same staff, she shifted the campaign to a forward looking vision based on freedom, family, and the future. She speaks with clarity and laughs with joy. And she calls the Trump campaign weird. We all know how dangerous Trump and the Republicans are, but that fear-based messaging wasn’t taking hold. The campaign then started calling them weird and bizarre and shifted the tone of the conversation to burrow under Trump’s skin. By reducing him to a weird and bizarre guy, his projection of power is diminished, and he doesn’t know how to fight back. Weird is more understandable than dictator.

Of course, our job as activists remains the same. We need to be out there talking to our neighbors, not just about the weirdness, but about Project 2025 and its danger to American values. Once people know what the far right plans for a Trump presidency, they tend to be against it (except for the hard-core MAGA cultists). But a lot of people don’t think Project 2025 could be implemented. So we ALSO need to be out there talking about how the right wing has already begun consolidating power with the MAGA SCOTUS immunity ruling and their rulings dismantling of the administrative state. Project 2025 plans to use these legal rulings to disempower the executive branch and empower the president. It plans to purge the civil service and replace experts with loyalists, consolidating power in all three branches of government.

As activists, we also follow the VP’s lead and talk about our vision for a country where we can support our families, where women have the freedom to control our health care decisions, where we’re free from the threat of gun violence in our schools, where we’re all free to live in dignity. The campaign has chosen to frame this as “Freedom. Family. Future.” And that captures everything.

So here’s my ask of you. Keep going to the organizing calls. Keep talking to your friends and neighbors. Keep donating and calling and texting and listening.

Tonight is the national organizing call with Kamala Harris.

You can sign up here: https://events.democrats.org/event/655276/?referring_vol=5563933&rname=Stephanie%20&share_context=signup-form-modal&share_medium=twitter&timeslot=4457513

Here’s one you might not have heard of, so please pass it on to your rural activist friends like

Jess Piper

and others.

Thanks, my friends and community.

See you all on the calls!