Now More Than Ever – Forward Forever Backwards Never

A lot of folks out there are angry, mad, pissed off and just about every other feeling a person can feel right now, and I’d be blind if I didn’t recognize that it’s not just the Trump-publicans and the MAGA movement they’re angry at. It’s also at the Democratic Party.

In fact, a recent CNN poll reports that only about 29% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party. But I didn’t need a poll to tell me that. I can see the frustration and exasperation. I feel it too.

Whether we’re talking about Democratic senators breaking ranks to support Trump nominees or the opinion that Democrats simply haven’t done enough to stop Trump and his allies like Elon Musk as they gut services like Veterans’ Affairs and ignore the law even when a federal judge said stop.

People are frustrated and angry and scared. I get it. I am too. 

But we can’t let that anger get the better of us. We have to remember that the Democratic Party isn’t just a few personalities inside the beltway. It’s not even the caucus or the DNC. It’s us. 

Like Congressman Ro Khanna said in a speech last month, “We are the party that got the 40 hour workweek. We are the party that got overtime pay. We are the party that got Social Security. We are the party that got Medicare. We are the party that got Medicaid. We are the party that funded public schools. We are the party that fought and got civil rights and voting rights.”

We are the party that fights for working families, seniors, students, small business owners and everything in between and, folks, the fight’s only getting started.

We are Democrats and Democrats know how to fight, a fact Sen. Cory Booker reminded us of when he rose to speak on the Senate floor, speaking out against Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the MAGA mob and calling out the threat they pose to the American people and democracy herself… and he didn’t stop for more than 25 hours. 

“These are not normal times in our nation,” he said. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

That spirit was amplified in dramatic fashion just a few days later on April 19 when countless Americans stood up and spoke out, coming together for more than 1,400 protests in all 50 states across the nation. 

Now, let’s take that frustration and turn it into action.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that those protests weren’t action in and of themselves. They were. But they hold a lot more potential than a single day’s march. 

Think of it this way, organizers say “millions” of people participated in the April 19 “Hands Off” Protests with 600,000 people signed up. Imagine if everyone who signed up registered ten new voters? That’s 6 million new voters.

Imagine if each of the 600,000 registered attendees volunteered for one four-hour canvassing shift a month between now and the 2026 midterms? They could knock on 228 million doors. That’s almost enough to speak face to face with every person who cast a vote in the 2024 presidential election twice.

How many minds do you think that can change? How many hopeless voters do you think that can activate, energize and mobilize? There are more than 100,000 open seats up and down the ballot up for election this year. How many do you think a tidal wave of voters like that can win?

You want to protect your community from unconstitutional ICE raids? Well, ICE can’t do much without support from local law enforcement. So we sure could use your voice on city council. Are you upset about MAGA cutting teacher salaries, banning books and whitewashing the history we teach our children? Then you’d make a great candidate for school board. Small dedicated groups of volunteers win state legislature races every year. Why shouldn’t you?

So, yes, like a lot of folks I’m angry, mad, pissed off and just about every other feeling a person can feel right now. But I’m also hopeful because I see a movement building outside the backrooms of Washington that represents not just what it means to be a Democrat, but what it means to be American. I see a people with a vision for the future and the strength to see it through, a people who believe in moving forward forever and backwards never.

I see a people ready to take the next great step in American history. The only question left to answer is if we will.

So let’s stop fighting amongst ourselves and take that step together. As Senator Booker said, “I’m not going to allow my inability to do everything undermine my ability to do something.”

Antjuan Seawright is a Democratic political strategist, founder and CEO of Blueprint Strategy LLC and a senior visiting fellow at Third Way. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @antjuansea.

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