First:  You are wonderful.  You helped to create this historic opening, with all the work you have done over the last 4 years and more and continue to do. You/we hold the future in our hands.

We built this extraordinary impact through our Resistance. 

And the impact was an election where--

Biden won a historic victory with 80 million votes

Trump won also a historic 74 million votes

And perhaps 1/3 of the country did not vote.

Overall $14 Billion was spent on the election and took all the brilliance that we could and did apply. That brilliance did bring us the victories.

We might have lost the Electoral College vote by 43,000 votes in 3 states—GA, AZ, WI-- and would not have won the Senate if not for Trump’s late call to the GA Secretary of State.

So we need to continue to celebrate the beauty, skill, creativity and brilliance of what we did—and continue to do—and realize that it is also a wake up call and not enough to get us to future progressive victories.

Some key lessons for what we need to do:

1. We need to stay together as a progressive movement—with all of our differences, even messiness and disagreements.  To an extent Trump unified us as our clear target.  Trumpism is still alive.  As we fight for what we desire, we need to treat each other with respect and caring of one movement. Love at the Center.
2. We know Resistance needs to continue and we know it is not enough.  We need organizing—deep engagement as we saw in GA, AZ, WI, and as is going on in other states NC, OH, PA and more—coming together across issue and organization and geography.  Organize!
3. As we lead with our values, work toward our vision, we need to build OUR base of power.  When an elected official or administrator or corporate head does not do what we want—and that will surely be the case—it not only says something about them.  It also says that we don’t have the POWER to win that decision.  We often talk about power, and we need the organized, strategically focused power in order to win.

So: 1) Unity with Difference, 2) Organizing and Resistance, 3) Progressive Vision with Winning Power are the strategic lessons that are key in this period.

At the end of the Biden campaign, I made these two buttons for a core volunteers.  Love at the Center and Organize!