Three Wins Today: Oct 24, 2025

How can you be creative today?

A primary is supposed to be the vetting process. Stop anointing Dems before we’ve had a chance to vet them.

I made a post when all the Graham Platner nazi allegations started, saying “LET MAINE DECIDE THEIR OWN ELECTION”

It didn’t go well.

The comment section assumed I was a Platner stan and telling people to ignore the allegations, which if you know my work and follow my content, is a wild leap to make.

I actually meant, we should follow the lead of Maine Dems, not try to make the decision for them, and, as I said at the top, not annoint Dems before vetting them, and frankly, not before the primary is further underway.

And this was basically my problem with David Hogg’s primary involvement. Cause it’s not about the district, the Dem party of the district, and the needs of the district, it’s about who Hogg and his organization like best, whether that’s the best person for the district or not.

Platner is the newest example of something that has and will continue to happen time and time again.

Deja Foxx is another one, though without the baggage, as far as I know. She was anointed as the progressive candidate, even though Adelita Grijalva is also a progressive and people were severely disappointed when Grijalva won. But the thing is, she is right for the district. She’s been politically active in that district since she was younger than Foxx, and while Foxx focused on social media and raising her profile outside of the district, Grijalva was doing the work she’s always done, and it really paid off.

“Let Maine decide their own elections,” does not mean I don’t have an opinion. It also doesn’t mean I think someone like Graham Platner should be the Dem nominee, I really don’t. But I’m not voting in this election. Will the results affect me? Yes, they will affect us all, but I trust Maine Dems.

I trust that there are people in Maine who know their state, and can explain to us which candidate can win. Cause remember, this isn’t just about which Dem is better, this is about which Dem can defeat Susan Collins. And that’s not necessarily the candidate with the best impression to progressives. It’s just not. That’s not the kind of state Maine is, nor are most states in the nation.

I’d argue that too many elections are decided by people who know nothing about the state at all, in the form of donations, press and amplification. And as a result we lose. Every state knows the needs of that state the best.

The Dems in those states are working tirelessly to find the best candidate who can win in a general election, when we, outside of that state, decide we know better, we are undermining our ability to win, and more importantly, not respecting each other. We can’t unify without respect.

Also, there’s a Maine election on Nov 4, that, if the referendum is passed, will make voting exponentially harder, so, if you want to focus on Maine, that’s a much better focus for now.

Now, for today’s wins, that will hopefully promote a sense of unity too!

Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times

Indiana

Fri, Oct 17 - Indiana University has slowly been moving Indiana Student Daily completely online, but, up until last week, they still had one paper in print, that went out for special occasions. The school, without consulting anyone at the paper, decided that this Homecoming print edition would not include front page news coverage. When the student media director, Jim Rosenbush, refused to control their content, he was fired.

Here’s some things to know. First, they’ve been printing this paper since 1867 and it is one of the most prestigious Journalism schools in the entire country. Basically, a journalism school is saying they don’t care about editorial freedom.

So, where’s the win?

Purdue University, their main rival, has the the Purdue Exponent, and unlike ISD, they have full financial control of the paper.

And in an editorial, editor in chief, Olivia Mapes explained:

As the IDS’ print was cut entirely by IU, The Exponent offered to print and help distribute its publication for free. Unfortunately and understandably, the IDS declined the offer, fearing expulsion of its student leaders and more firings of its professional staff if it does not comply with the university’s orders.

The Exponent stands with the IDS and is making an effort to support it in any way possible.

But the story didn’t end there. Exponent had been cut off from Purdue earlier this year, so they didn’t take no for an answer. Instead they printed the ISD paper using their own masthead so ISD couldn’t get in trouble. And delivered 3000 free copies of the paper all around the Indiana University campus, two hours away.

The front page read “WE STUDENT JOURNALISTS MUST STAND TOGETHER.”

This could not have been better if it had been carefully curated just for my content. These are rivals. They are the main rivals for both schools, and yet, protecting student journalists overrode that rivalry.

Guess what? That’s what we must do too, except at a exponentially larger scale. They needed to protect student journalism, we need to save democracy, but the same rules apply. We must work with anyone who has that same goal, no matter what else we agree with them on. The Republicans in congress are our enemy, not fellow Dems. And the slower we learn that, the less likely we can defeat fascism.

So let’s learn from Purdue and Indiana University, yeah?

Online

YESTERDAY - I published my interview with Heather Booth. She might not be a household name, unless you come from a house of activists, but my god, she should be. If you think of a social justice movement, she was probably on the front lines. But she’s best known for the Jane Collective. Before Roe v Wade, she created this collective to help women get abortions without putting their lives in danger.

She knows what it’s like to fight at a time when everything and everyone is working against you, but she also knows what it’s like to win. To watch the tides change over decades, because, as I keep repeating, change is slow, it doesn’t happen overnight, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth continuing to fight.

This conversation took place on Oct 5, but I haven’t been feeling well for the past few weeks, so I couldn’t get it out till yesterday, which, unfortunately means that No Kings 3.0 happened already, but you can take the information she gives about that protest day and apply it to the next one, which will be officially announced any day now.

So please take the time to watch the interview, and save it, it might be something you want to watch again and again to bring you hope, I know I will.

Portland, Oregon

Sun, Oct 19 - Mateo Garcia had been at the Portland ICE facility day after day, but last Sunday he wanted to make a statement, and that he did. Instead of just going by himself and holding a sign, he brought his horse, Canello.

When KOIN reporter, Ariel Salk asked him why, he said simply:

I just come down here to support my people, and do something different that they ain’t seen.

He wanted to do something no one else was doing to get some new attention on the protests, and, at least locally, he succeeded.

Portland is now known for the inflatables, but this was something new. And that’s the point. People say that doing something repeatedly dulls the blade, as it were, though Heather Booth would certainly disagree. But, if you feel that way, then don’t do it. Find ways to bring something new to similar events, rather than just throwing out the event all together. What can you do to create a news story? Get creative, try new things, see what works and when you find something, milk it for all it’s worth.

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So those are today’s wins. All three are directly about inspiring action, and I hope they do just that.

Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!