Dearest IndiMarin friends,
We are pasting in below, in its entirety, an email from Billy Wimsatt, Executive Director of the Movement Voter Project, as it eloquently conveys what we wish to express to you in this moment. Thanks to Billy for bringing this messaging to all of us so early this morning.
Speaking for the leadership team at IndiMarin, please know that we will spend the coming days in communication and collaboration with a wide range of movement partners to assess and develop next steps. We will keep you informed as opportunities for engagement become more clear.
As Billy stresses in his email, the most important first step is for all of us to take care of ourselves and our loved ones in this difficult moment. Take the time you need to breathe, exercise, gather with loved ones, and reflect on the many positive aspects of your life for which you are grateful. Try to find some joy and comfort in each day. Take as much time as you need and want for this process.
For those of you who seek more information and community as part of your healing process, we recommend any or all of the meetings listed below, which are hosted by movement partners. Please do not feel any obligation or pressure to jump into meetings, but we list them for those who may find them a helpful outlet. As a movement, we don't expect to have any answers immediately regarding next steps, but by working together, constructive plans will unfold.
We hope you find some comfort in remembering that eight years ago, on an identical morning, we did not have each other. We were alone in our shock and disappointment. This morning, we have a broad coalition representing hundreds of thousands of engaged citizens. We will not give up. We will continue, with your help, the work we have been doing for eight years: Taking action to help build a more just, caring and inclusive America.
with love and gratitude,
The IndiMarin Steering Committee - Susan, Andie, Joy, Nanda, Betsy, Laurie and Betty
💙 ✊ 💙 ✊ 💙 ✊
Optional Movement Meetings this week:
Movement Voter Project - TODAY - Emergency Meeting at 3 PM ET/Noon PT - To assess what we know, what we don't know yet, and where we go from here. Sign up here.
Indivisible National - TODAY at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT - Post-Election call led by Indivisible co-founders Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin. During this call, they'll update us on what they know so far about the election results, answer questions directly from the audience, and outline what we need to do in the upcoming days. Sign up here.
Coalition of 100+ progressive organizations - TOMORROW at 8pm ET/5pm PT - "Making Meaning of the Moment." Sign up here.
Eloquent email from Billy Wimsatt of Movement Voter Project Beloved MVP friends (abridged somewhat):
Beloved MVP friends,
I am still in shock too.
I just reassured my crying children that everything is going to be OK. They don’t believe me. We just got our asses kicked last night. And now we’re about to enter the worst Presidency of our lifetimes.
I’m going to share some raw reflections below, but here is what we know for certain: Trump will try to move us backwards. We will do everything in our power to stop him.
Our #1 job now is to defend our communities, block Trump, win state-level progress, and build power to win Congress in 2026 and take back the Presidency in 2028. This work starts today.
Here are some things I am saying to comfort myself and others around me:
We have what it takes to meet this moment. We will strategize. We will adapt. Our elders and our ancestors have endured unthinkably difficult circumstances. We will draw on their strength and wisdom as we chart our course forward.
We will mount the largest resistance in history. We have resisted before. We did an excellent job of resisting in 2017 and we turned our determination into a mighty Blue Wave from 2017-2023. We can and will do that again. For the sake of everyone and everything we love. Maybe even better.
We will rebuild our political power. The 2026 midterm elections are coming. The midterm electorate under Trumpwas favorable in 2018 and we have a chance to rebuild our power and deliver a major rebuke.
He will overplay his hand. He will do lots of stupid and horrible things that mobilize our base and make people regret voting for him.
We have a lot to reflect on, and improve. This is the toughest situation ever. We need to be the best strategists, leaders, and friends we can be. We are enough.
We did everything we could. Maybe not every single thing. But collectively we did an incredible job. We were up against strong head winds. We will celebrate all we did and accomplished together. Wehave a lot to be proud of despite our loss.
Where do we go from here?
A few thoughts:
Be kind to yourself and comfort those around you. We are all feeling so many things: shocked, numb, heartsick, scared, angry, grieving. I haven’t even let myself feel my feelings yet. Many people around us may be even more scared, depressed, or worse. Please, whatever you do, be kind to yourselves and those around you in this time. Hug your loved ones tight. Check on your friends. Say out loud things you are grateful for every day. Do intentional things to take care of yourself and your loved ones.
Reflection, not blame. Were there things that folks on our side could have done better and differently? Yes. But we are all in the same boat now. So let’s cultivate space for constructive reflection, learning, and strategy. There is always an impulse to blame someone. As cited above, the main reasons we lost are factors beyond anyone’s control. We must take care not to create a circular firing squad because…
We need each other now more than ever. At a meta level, our job in winning is to build a bigger and better coalition. This will require us to stretch ourselves, our hearts, and our comfort zones in new ways.
Let us be compassionate, joyful warriors for the world we want to see. I know… we’re not there yet. But it’s important to name the leadership archetype that we are striving to embody in the way that we show up as people and as leaders in this new period.
Our job now is to build the biggest, smartest, most beautiful movement the world has ever seen. What this will look like is ours to invent. Let us surprise ourselves with our courage, creativity, and humor. Yes, humor. Humor is one of the keys to defeating authoritarianism (which we will all be reading a lot about in the coming days :).
On behalf of the incredible MVP team, volunteers, and partners I am so grateful to be in this lifelong work with all of you.
Thank you – no, seriously THANK YOU – for everything you have invested in time and money this cycle. You showed up in an incredible way. Together, we supported the biggest independent ground game this country has ever seen. It wasn’t enough to win. But luckily, unlike the candidate campaigns, the work we funded won’t go away. We strengthened our grassroots movement. And we are going to need MVP’s hundreds of amazing partner organizations – local, state, and national – to be strong, now more than ever.
We will be checking in with our partners, supporting them, and strategizing with them about this next phase. Many of them will be facing intense new challenges – immigrant communities, women, poor and working class communities, young people, communities of color, Arab Americans, Muslims and Jews, and LGBTQ communities. At a meta-level, our job is to support and strengthen a big tent movement where we can see ourselves as part of a larger we – connected to each other toward a larger goal.
We invite you to join with MVP and our partners as we hold hands and build the largest, most unified movement possible. Right after every bad election, there is a surge of volunteerism and creativity. Let us harness our energy to build the world we want to create.
We need to reflect, strategize (be smarter than ever!), hold each other, and help each other become the best team of joyful warriors we can be to overcome this new challenge.
We are honored to be in this work for the long haul with you.
With deepest love, respect, and gratitude,
Billy Wimsatt, MVP Executive Director
(on behalf of the amazing MVP team, volunteers, and partners)