Why do so many Democratic officeholders, candidates and political operatives keep following the same playbook, the one that says that if they want to win elections they have to raise tons of money, spend nearly all of it on targeted media... (1/n)

A report from Chester, NY, where unofficial word that ICE is planning to build a new mass detention center in a former Pep Boys warehouse has turbocharged local activists already more in motion because of Renee Good’s murder and the attack on Minneapolis. (1/2)

ICE plans to site a mass detention center in Chester, NY (1hr north of NYC) has spurred a huge turnout at the monthly town board mtg. 400-500 protestors have shown up in the cold.

About 250 residents of Hastings on Hudson, Yonkers and Dobbs Ferry out to demand #ICEOutForGood and for NY to pass #NYForAll and the MELT Act. @nycd16-indivisible.bsky.social and CFOW cosponsored this rally.

Current mood: youtu.be/jAl05lQm4nQ?...

We put out a call for #ICEOutForGood vigils 24 hours ago. There are now more than 1000 events taking place across the country this weekend. Find yours: www.mobilize.us?tag_ids=2913...

Holy shit. Eight minutes of a man so far past giving a fuck that he’ll just deliver truth bomb after truth bomb — former MN Governor Jesse Ventura: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FKc...

This.

The man who literally wrote the book on the use of vehicles as ramming weapons says any claim Good used hers as such is false, and that her execution, followed by the false claim, is "death squad behavior."

We restarted our weekly protest in Yonkers today! Melt ICE! Health Care not Warfare! @nycd16-indivisible.bsky.social @indiviswestchester.bsky.social @indivisible.org @msifry.bsky.social @lizrdeb.bsky.social

🎙️ Your next listen is here. A brand new podcast #ThisOldDemocracy episode just hit the feed! @jefftimmer.bsky.social is working on building the Common Sense Party in Michigan, a fusion party committed to protecting the rule of law and democracy.

Adding this to my current "to-read" list: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Re-upping on what I wrote about war w Venezuela and lessons for any American antiwar movement from the post 9/11 years. theconnector.substack.com/p/war-with-v...

Hmmm.

If you are watching Mamdani’s inauguration on one of cable channels instead of C-Span, you just missed Mandy Patinkin w the PS 22 Staten Island chorus singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Beautiful and inspiring.

Dear Friends and Colleagues! Happy 2026! We're ready for the New Year. We just kicked out 2025 and shut the door. This is our year to make change, and we ain't kidding! Repost if you're with us!!

Instead of sharing my "Best of 2025" list (enough of those already!) here's something I wrote exactly five years ago, in that moment between Biden's victory and the January 6th insurrection, that feels -- alas -- all too relevant still. Happy New Year! open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

A thoughtful piece about what the US is doing in Venezuela (and why it is starting to look a lot like Iraq) from @msifry.bsky.social theconnector.substack.com/p/war-with-v...

There are many parallels between the US attack on Iraq and the rising Trump attack on Venezuela. This week in The Connector, I use Jeremy Varon's excellent new book on the post 9/11 antiwar movement, Our Grief is Not a Cry for War, to tease out some lessons. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

This was fun! @jefftimmer.bsky.social does not mince words!

My latest post looks at the difference between Indivisible-style mobilizing and ISAIAH-style structured organizing. If you are frustrated because your activism isn’t achieving much, give it a look. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Re-upping this 2022 post on why the "gun safety" lobby keeps failing to convert public fury into effective action: theconnector.substack.com/p/and-we-are...

I don’t usually pick fights, but David Shor is a big boy with a lot of influence over Democratic strategy & his offhanded slam of the field organizing by Obama’s Organizing for America in 2008 is indicative of a much larger problem with how we think about politics. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Some big picture thoughts on why the opposition to MAGA is struggling to connect. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Here's a pre-Thanksgiving potpourri focusing on a variety of creative organizing tactics bubbling up from the Defiance. Gobble, gobble! open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

"Well, yes, Mamdani and I have our differences. He's a socialist, they say he's a socialist, and I guess he says so too. A democratic socialist, but a socialist. Meanwhile, I'm busy seizing the means of production, forcing a cultural revolution, cracking down on the intelligentsia ...."

TRUMP [after spending 5 minutes with Zohran]: surplus value, it’s a very wonderful thing, very wonderful, and they’re stealing it. Can you believe that? We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to

Charismatic politicians have built movements to win office in the past, but rarely if ever have they kept them going. Zohran Mamdani aspires to be different, and there’s plenty from *how* his grassroots campaign was built that others could apply in their own local contexts. (1/n)

Really enjoyed the chance to talk in depth with @daschloz.bsky.social, whose books on movements and political parties are seminal works.

Guess what just went live? Our latest #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode — streaming on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. @msifry.bsky.social and @daschloz.bsky.social dive into the structural weaknesses plaguing American politics. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

Setting aside fury and frustration for focus. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.

In the end, more than 104K volunteers made 4.4M calls and knocked on more than 3M doors. And as Tascha Van Auken, Mamdani’s field director said last night, “This is going to transform our city. It doesn’t stop tonight.” UPDATED POST: theconnector.substack.com/p/solidarity...

Notably, Mamdani not promising that “this is the moment that the rise of oceans began to slow.”

Does Mamdani write his own speeches? Great FDR reference at the end of his Forest Hills rally. Now Debs and Nehru.

Happy Andrew Cuomo retirement day, for all who celebrate.

While we wait for the polls to close, check out my interview with Ivan Pardo, who built the technology that the Mamdani campaign has used to organize its way to City Hall. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

I said a while ago that anti-anti-semitism was broken by political bias in its application, the split screen view of the response to Mamdani vs the whole national socialist Republican right is quite telling.

Remember how just a few years ago during the worst of the pandemic when we saw how the govt can actually do big things and saw that our collective health & well-being are intertwined, and then corporations got mad that they lost a modicum of power and helped fund a backlash of amnesia and fascism?

🎧 Just dropped: the latest episode of our podcast #ThisOldDemocracy! @msifry.bsky.social talks to @didikuo1.bsky.social about political parties. Give it a listen now. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

Per capita, Zohran Mamdani has more volunteers working on his mayoral bid than Obama did on behalf of his '08 campaign. Assuming he wins, the big question will be: how does he keep this force together in order to help enact his progressive agenda? More here: open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

For anyone who follows NY politics, the fact that state Democratic leaders Kathy Hochul, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Carl Heastie are about to appear on stage at Zohran Mamdani’s big Forest Hills rally (which is also being headlined by AOC and Bernie Sanders) is tectonic.

Early to the Bernie/AOC/Zohran rally at Forest Hills Stadium. Any of my peeps here?

Episode 10 of #ThisOldDemocracy is officially out now. Tap on the link below to tune in to @msifry.bsky.social and Tom Rogers discussing fusion voting

No Kings protests have spread to more places that backed Trump in '24, a sign of how things are shifting. But if Democrats don’t jettison their status-quo leaders, wavering GOP voters may still back what, to them, appears to be the lesser of two evils. More here: open.substack.com/pub/theconne...?

If you’ve ever experienced a Freedom Seder or any of the many variations that followed, take a moment to celebrate the life and work of Rabbi Arthur Waskow, who left us just after celebrating his 90th birthday. My friend Arlene Goldbard remembers him here arlenegoldbard.com/2025/10/20/i...

Start your day with something new: our latest #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode is here. Discussing the @americanbar.org report with @msifry.bsky.social and Tom Rogers Listen now: centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

#nokings Portland frog brigade

Leah and I just got off the stage in DC. More than 200k. Double what we saw for Hands Off! This movement is incredible. We’re better than fear. We’re braver than billionaires. We’re bigger than ever. And we will win. #NoKings

“Love demands more!” Impressive #NoKings speech by @delgadoforny.bsky.social in Brewster, NY. Watch here: www.instagram.com/reel/DP9f2F0...