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...

Finished marching. Now looking for my check from George Soros. #nokings

Some of my favorite protest signs #nokings

NYC #nokings Looking north up 7th Ave from 36th St.

For those of you keeping score, 18-22 year-old students calling for an end to slaughter in Gaza are so racist they need to be expelled or deported, but 24-35 year-olds celebrating Hitler, rape, and, um, racism are just kids being kids so chill. Also, racism is over so no need for Voting Right Act.

🎧 Just dropped: the latest episode of our podcast #ThisOldDemocracy! @msifry.bsky.social talks to @bradlander.bsky.social. Give it a listen or watch now.

While the Gaza peace deal sure looks like an agreement among mob family bosses, there's a chance that real peace-builders could seize the moment. Some thought on how that could happen in my latest newsletter. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

40+ years ago, a peace initiative from Egypt triggered a sea change inside Israel, led by the Peace Now movement. My new book recalls that history and offers some lessons for today’s fraught conflict in Israel-Palestine. Details here: open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

🎙️ New #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode alert! A closer look w/ @msifry.bsky.social & @jrdresden.bsky.social from @protectdemocracy.org. We dive into promising election reforms like proportional representation and fusion voting — you won’t want to miss it. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

🎧 Just dropped: the latest episode of our podcast #ThisOldDemocracy! @msifry.bsky.social talks to @jrdresden.bsky.social from @protectdemocracy.org about fusion voting and proportional representation. Give it a listen now. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

Sebastian Haffner’s memoir Defying Hitler is terrifying, but a close reading suggests we are (so far) doing much better than the 56% of Germans who *didn’t* vote for Hitler in March 1933 but put up no meaningful resistance to him when they still had the chance. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

#FusionVoting isn’t new—it’s part of America’s political DNA. Ongoing lawsuits in NJ, KS, and WI aim to restore it. For much of U.S. history, fusion was common. It still is where legal. Time to remember: there’s more than one way to do democracy. @protectdemocracy.org @jrdresden.bsky.social

Immigrant rights groups are desperate for funding to help hire more lawyers. Meanwhile, we also live in this country. sfstandard.com/2025/09/27/s...

Some ideas on ways to combat the Trump-Vance-Miller juggernaut that unite all the Americans who do not approve of what they’re doing and that doesn’t also give fuel to the other side’s resentments. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

I get why some people want to stand in some imaginary middle, blame “extremism” on “both sides” and help Americans find common ground — and indeed most ordinary folks aren’t against civil dialogue... (1/2)

We’re in a worsening “two-party doom loop” and to reverse it, we have to open up the system to more parties.

From my latest newsletter: "Now is one of those times when it’s important to be smart, and not only be right. Charlie Kirk was a human being with a family. The way to defeat bad ideas and movements is with better ideas and movements, not assassinations...." (1/2)

If I have any credibility with you from 20 years of reporting on rightwing & fascist movements, please listen when I beg you not to celebrate Charlie Kirk getting shot. Leave aside morality: this isn’t a match in dry grass, it’s a torch. We do not want what this could ignite & we would not win.

ICYMI--Still highly relevant to the moment we're in. Give it a listen!

📷 New #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode alert! We dive into authoritarianism — don’t miss it. Link below. @protectdemocracy.org @ianbassin.bsky.social @msifry.bsky.social

While Trump, our Mad King, follows the authoritarian playbook, we shouldn't despair -- as Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy explains to me in a new episode of my podcast This Old Democracy, our side can reverse the downward spiral. Indeed, as we talked about the last eight months... (1/2)

Thinking how “Yes We Can” was once a unifying slogan, now I think “No He Can’t” could well for the No Kings movement.

“No people ever recognize their dictator in advance. He never stands for election on the platform of dictatorship. He always represents himself as the instrument for expressing the Incorporated National Will. When Americans think of dictators they always think of some foreign model...." (1/2)