What 2025 Requires of Us
And we’re back.
Some of us are taking cover from wind and fire in Southern California, while many others seek shelter from dangerous cold and snow. All of us—whether or not we care to think about it—are preparing uncertain times as President-elect Trump prepares to take office.
2025 is making itself known.
The Temptation to Tune Out is Real, and Understandable
One of the best analyses I’ve read of the 2024 election concluded (in part) that Trump didn’t get more popular than in previous elections. Instead, Harris underperformed. She especially lost ground in blue, urban areas where voters simply didn’t show up because the risks of Trump 2.0 seemed remote to them. They didn’t believe things under Trump would be as bad as everyone said, so they didn’t vote for anyone.
Many readers of this newsletter live in blue, urban areas or in Democratic-led states. Most may be relatively unharmed by Trump’s policies compared to more vulnerable populations, whether due to legal-political protections where they live or favorable socio-economic circumstances.
But I beg you: keep paying attention; please don’t give into the temptation to tune out.
The Most Vulnerable Among Us Need You to Stay Engaged
This morning’s news that Meta will stop fact-checking posts across Facebook and Instagram drives home just how important it is that we stay informed and engaged.
Meta is leaving it to us to call out misinformation. We can’t do that if we don’t arm ourselves with the facts.
I commit to continuing to use this newsletter as a space to highlight important stories around voting, democracy, and civic institutions, and to write about them in a way that you don’t have to be a lawyer to understand.
My renewed request is for you to share this newsletter with friends, family or colleagues, or to upgrade to a paid subscription. The entire concept of “a critical mass” of voters is that there’s strength in numbers.
Here are a Few of the Most Important Voting and Civics Stories So Far in 2025
With that, here’s some of what I’m monitoring:
Republicans in DC are fast-tracking a bill that will require all of us to show a document proving we’re US citizens to vote in federal elections. Remember the rule of thumb of any voting restriction: it will do more harm than good. We know there are myriad safeguards that keep noncitizens from voting; that it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections; and that there’s no evidence of voter fraud. This bill will only disenfranchise the tens or hundreds of thousands of eligible voters who can’t access a proof of citizenship document.
The Wisconsin legislature is moving to enshrine its discriminatory voter ID requirement in the state constitution, making it almost impossible to challenge. Following a record-turnout election in Wisconsin, this will curtail future voting—particularly among minority and underserved populations that the data tell us have increased barriers to obtaining qualifying IDs.
Finally, signs are everywhere that traditional media sources aren’t up to the task of keeping us properly informed. In a piece of reporting that knocked me out of my chair, Politico said the reason the Presidential certification was expected to go smoother this January 6th compared to four years ago was “a formidable fencing system up around the Capitol, [and] the overnight snowstorm [that] made it difficult to get around the city….” Never mind that this sitting President of the United States didn’t call for an armed march on the Capitol to try to overturn the results of the election! Meanwhile, the Washington Post is censoring cartoons that depict its owner as buying favor with Trump, and Trump is proving that he can successfully sue news outlets into submission for critical reporting on him.
It’s easy to roll your eyes and shrug it off, I know. But this is textbook authoritarianism. We can’t check out now.
Thank you for reading, thank you for sharing, thank you for subscribing. Please stay tuned.