So what can we do?
There’s really only one way.
Start encouraging progressive young people to get into wherever they can, politically. Attorneys, city councils, town government, school boards, county sheriffs, think tanks, HOAs (ewww!), police and fire chiefs, and more.
Build a power base from the ground up. Help them get into higher positions. State reps, state legislatures, state executive offices, state judiciaries, state attorneys-general.
Use every resource available, new and old, to turn up the pressure. There are podcasts, press releases, blogs, guest posts, Facebook ads, SEO, TikToks, Reels, Stories, newspapers, magazine articles, e-commerce stores, photojournalism, strikes, boycotts, marches, rallies, events, and so much more.
And for god’s sake, do not fall into the trap of perfection. No candidate will ever be 100% aligned with what you want. Some may be incredibly distasteful, but still supportive of a few policy positions important to others around you.
Be willing to swallow your pride. It must not matter how far to the Left you are on the political spectrum and how much you want to tear it all down because institutions are tools of Liberals etc, etc.
This is not the time to purity test your particular candidates or their positions. Always focus on the bigger picture.
Fragmentation only, and always, helps the Fascists. We must not fracture before them.
Look what happened to the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. Purity testing and in-fighting ultimately doomed them while the Fascists waited to make their move. How else do you think we ended up here, now, in 2025? Same exact reasons.
Be willing to invade their safe spaces, just as they have ours. Get spots on their podcasts, on their channels, on their shows. Explain, defend, and bludgeon them with your positions. Do not engage with their bad faith whataboutisms. Confront them. Mock them. Diminish them. Report them. Laugh at them. Publicly. Loudly. Mercilessly. None of this “when they go low, we go high” bullshit.
Be fucking petty.
Keep building that power base, make connections with groups who have similar interests. Form aligned coalitions then when the base is big enough, momentum is clearly in your favor, after the Fascists show their true weakness, and only then, start aiming for national offices.
Always remember that this about politics, it’s not about right and wrong. It never is.
It’s about power.
They played the long game, ruthlessly. Look at what Mitch McConnell accomplished and how he accomplished it.
We must do the same and just as ruthlessly.
It’s the only way.