Can Montana actually ditch Citizen's United?
We're NOT Doomed: July 17, 2025
We have to prebut Trump’s 2026 stolen election claims.
This is the phrase Mark Warner kept using in our briefing this morning.
We have to make the claims seem ridiculous NOW so he can’t use them after the fact.
We need to be on offense and get ahead of his messaging before he even starts spreading it.
Last night we got a taste of that messaging.
His whole goal is to get people to distrust voting. Whether he can convince them through foreign interference claims or domestic interference claims, he’ll try it all.
So here are some things to note.
First, the only presidential election he’s claiming was stolen was the one HE was in charge of. It was his people who were in charge of making that a safe, free and fair election, and actually, thanks to Russian interference in 2016, it was one of the safest.
During Trump’s first term, Mark Warner co-led the Russia Investigation along with Republican Richard Burr. The findings from that investigation strengthened our elections. All these tools that were created under Trump then, he is trying to dismantle now.
That is the most important point. He did all this. This was all 100% with his supervision.
Second, the job of the Election Assistance Commission, which no longer has a quorum or any members for that matter, was to focus on election security.
One way they did this was through yearly hackathons through a program called Voting Village. Hackers would hack into our voting machines so that we could find every possible loophole and patch it before the election took place.
With the empty EAC, those are no longer happening. So Trump might say he cares about election security, but he’s taking away the very tools that keep elections secure in the first place.
And this isn’t news, we know he doesn’t actually care about election security. He wants elections less secure not more.
But he’s warped the brains of his followers so they don’t see it. It’s on us to show them.
And that’s easier than you think. This argument is pretty powerful no matter who you voted for. This isn’t about his policies. This is purely about safe and secure elections. Most people, when they hear it in these terms, don’t want Trump’s or foreign interference, even if they voted for him.
But most people reading this essay, or that will talk to people who read it, know that. We know Trump is corrupt, we know he is trying to make elections less secure, this isn’t a useful argument for us.
So, what’s the prebuttal for our communities?
We must vote.
Not voting helps Trump just as much as falling for his election security lie. As Senator Warner said today “if you want to follow his expectations and do his bidding, then don’t vote.” It’s really that simple.
He knows that with a big enough turnout against him and Republicans, it doesn’t really matter what he does, he WILL lose. That’s why he’s doing this.
So that means voting in every single district, in every single race, even if you think it doesn’t matter.
That means holding your nose and voting for the Dem on your ballot even if they don’t meet your needs.
That means voting early, if you can, cause most of his shenanigans will be on Election Day. He tries to mess with early voting before the fact, but once it starts he pretty much leaves it alone.
It means signing up to be a poll worker if you are able.
It means that red state Dems need to hold your elected officials accountable. Don’t stop shitting on them if they hand over their voter rolls to DHS and pressure them not to if they haven’t already.
It means looking up who the Dems are running for Secretary of State and Attorney General in your state and lifting them up as much as possible.
I’ll leave you with one other thing Warner said: “If we allow the president to steal it, shame on us.”
Your vote and your voice is your superpower, but only when you use it. So prebut the hell out of these ridiculous arguments and let’s save democracy!
Who’s with me?
Montana
Tue, June 16 - The Montana Plan has surpassed enough signatures to get on the November ballot.
This measure would “curb election spending by “artificial persons,” eliminate anonymous money, and put Montanans’ voices back at the center of our democracy,” according to their website.
Essentially, The Montana Plan is an attempt to circumvent Citizens United in the state. Or more like, bring back their old laws. Back in 1912, Montana passed the Corrupt Practices Act which banned corporations from being treated as individuals in elections, but it was ruled unconstitutional 100 years later thanks to Citizens United.
Now, of course, there is very little chance that SCOTUS will okay this plan if it goes into effect, but, like with most things, the goal is to get people angry enough that they act.
Rick Hansen, of the Election Law Blog explained:
There is a political benefit in pushing such a measure and in galvanizing public support against the Supreme Court’s damaging approach to issues of money in politics. . . .
Passing such a measure and having the Court strike it down is a way of reminding the public that the Supreme Court is the entity standing in the way of achieving a fair balance between robust political competition and not allowing the ultra-wealthy to have disproportionate political power in society.
So even though this has very little chance of staying law, if it becomes law, I think it’s still incredibly worth while and it’s very exciting that they managed to get almost 50k signatures, well over the 30k threshold in their very short 13 week time frame with only grassroots organizing and volunteers.
The more angry we can get people at the Supreme Court, the better, in my view.
Social Circle, Georgia
Thu, June 18 - Back in June, DHS announced that they were scrapping several new detention centers, and one of these was in Social Circle.
This detention center had been in the news, mostly because, in a town of 5k that voted 73% for Trump, and pretty much unanimously rebuked this center.
City Manager Eric Taylor said:
The feedback from the very beginning was that the community didn’t want it, and this community was unified against it.
The biggest concern is that we don’t actually know why this was canceled, and DHS hasn’t communicated with Taylor or anyone in the local government about it at all. But it was, so we’ll take the win.
And as usual, this was only possible because of the work put in, especially by local Indivisible group Boldly Blue, to make it possible.
Member Gereth Fenley said:
It’s a joyous day in showing that sometimes the little guy can win against the really big federal government.
And that’s exactly what happened. This small town was able to come together and convince DHS, at least for the time being, that they aren’t welcome.
As Senator Raphael Warnock said in a statement about Social Circle and Oakwood, another town that also had their center scrapped:
When we stand up and speak out, the power of the people is more powerful than the people in power.
And that’s true across the entire country. If we keep fighting back, they can’t win.
Box Elder County, Utah
Tue, June 23 - Two Republican County Commissioners were not reelected thanks to their support of the massive Kevin O’Leary Data Center.
Boyd Bingham was ousted by Vance Smith with 52% of the vote. Smith will go on to face Alan Williams in the general.
Meanwhile Lee Perry lost to Nathan Tueller with 53% of the vote, and Tueller will be unopposed in the general.
Before the election Bingham posted in a since deleted Facebook post that his hands were tied, and he had no choice but to support the gargantuan center:
We approved a project area that if we had voted no to, would have brought lawsuits that our county would lose. Taxpayer dollars would have been spent, not insurance money since we had no legal basis to stand on for a no vote.
But Perry argued, after the election that if he had known this would cost him reelection, he might have handled it differently if he could go back:
I wouldn’t vote differently, but I would push back against the state and make them come out publicly and tell everybody why they’re forcing it down our throat.
Good lesson for any elected official considering just going along with data centers.
And, as always, this just proves that voting, in every election, no matter how small, is one of the most important things we can do.
So those are today’s stories. I hope you learned something and it makes you ready to find your place to fight back!
Remember our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
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