Anti-Trump Burnout?

We respond to The New York Times

On Monday, the New York Times surprised us by profiling “Anti-Trump Burnout,” chronicling despair and defeat among Democratic grassroots.  We beg to differ and have sent the following letter to the editor.

To the Editor:

Just six days after Congressman Tom Suozzi thanked “grassroots folks all over the country” for his victory in the special election to replace George Santos, the Times is warning of “Anti-Trump burnout” among Democratic grassroots.  Suozzi went on to note how many “amazing” volunteers came through for him.  Two million phone calls, hundreds of thousands of postcards and texts, 150,000 “door knockers.”  If this be burnout, we at the Grassroots Connector, a Substack working to link activists nationwide, can only shout:  Burn On!

Because not solely for Suozzi but in every budding contest nationwide, the grassroots are thriving.  From Swing Blue Alliance to Markers for Democracy, from Network NOVA in Virginia to Ground Game LA, hundreds of groups are gearing up for the fight of our lives — to defeat MAGA and save democracy. 

The Times based its “burnout” on a curious collection of sources.  These included a D.C. woman selling “resistance-era apparel” and a Milwaukee woman who did not vote in 2020.  The Times did not cite a single volunteer.  Small wonder you missed the legions already devoting long hours to the coming election.

To be fair, burnout exists and many are discouraged by a Biden-Trump rematch.  But discouragement is not despair, and every activist knows how to channel concern into action and burnout into belief.  We’ve had a lot of practice lately, and a lot of success.

In the last eighteen months, grassroots organizations have spearheaded electoral upsets in a dozen states.  In Ohio and Kansas, voters protected reproductive rights.  In Virginia, grassroots enthusiasm brought blue victories in several elections.  In the New Hampshire primary, a Biden grassroots write-in campaign gave him a higher margin of victory than Trump.  In Florida. . .  In Wisconsin. . .

Funny thing about grassroots.  You can’t see them.  They are roots, after all.  Even grass grows thin each winter.  But we are here, working behind the scenes, preparing to erupt into the summer sun and keep fighting until November 5.  So please save your concerns about “burnout” for some future election.  And the next time you want to tap the mood of potential voters, don’t just go to another diner in Iowa or New Hampshire.  Call us — we’re always “working the phones.”  You may be surprised by the network of grassroots you find growing underground.

Bruce Watson

Grassroots Connector

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