Public Employee Press
Editorials
From Feb. 24 toward November
Jan. 20, 2018. This was the moment the clock of our fate was set.
When millions of women and men across the country — and the world — marched, they sent a powerful message that shook the walls of the extremist cabal controlling the levers of power.
The resistance to Donald J. Trump and his 1 percent puppeteers is a movement dedicated to the fight against racial and ethnic hatred and the war against middle-class working families.
As the Women’s March showed, we ascended to a level of aggressive action, a movement that by the November midterm elections we hope will sweep aside extremist Trumpers from state to state and in Washington, D.C. itself.
The signs that a progressive tide is rising were apparent before the Jan. 20 march. Last November, in Virginia, hundreds of thousands voted and swept statewide officeholders and nearly wrested control of the House of Delegates from the Republicans.
The post-election analysis showed Democrats won with the support of 350,000 Virginians who did not vote in the previous statewide elections in 2013. This deluge overcame GOP turnout, garnering seats thought to be “safe conservative,” including a seat won by a transgendered woman, Danica Roem. She defeated an incumbent who sponsored an anti-LGBTQ bathroom bill.
There were victories in GOP strongholds in New Jersey and New York. Progressives have won recent state legislative races across the country, including in a key state senate race in Wisconsin.
The most important was in Alabama, where a Democrat won an open U.S. Senate seat, a victory that sent shockwaves.
The momentum is there, and we must build this rising tide of resistance.
As DC 37 and other unions face a decision in Janus v. AFSCME in the U.S. Supreme Court, we plan a nationwide day of action on Feb. 24. In New York City, we will gather at Foley Square to add our voices to the resistance — and toward victory.
We will agitate, educate and organize for the midterm elections on Nov. 6.
Then, it’s Time’s Up for Trump.
