Action 195 - EXIT the Big Tent of Hate
Background. If you read the news with an eye to figuring out who the Republicans have said they are enraged by, dismissive of, and targeting for injury of some sort, you will find the following: Immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, Democrats (especially public officials and people living in “blue states”), Muslims, freethinkers, Jews opposed to genocide, Blacks, Native Americans, people in “shithole countries”, people opposed to fascism (“Antifa”), the poor, the disabled, people receiving government assistance in any form (e.g. SSI, SNAP & Medicaid), the sick, the elderly, young children, public school teachers, unions, protesters, scientists, scholars, lawyers and civil rights advocates, reasonable judges, Hollywood luminaries, injured veterans, Europeans, victims of ICE brutality... and the list goes on and on. Who on earth DON’T they hate? Putin?
The Republican Party has become a big tent alright – all haters welcome!
These are sick people. (1)
Actions.
1. Protest at every opportunity. Protests build community among all the aforementioned groups. They need your support, especially if you are in the demographic the Republican haters like: “white”, cis-gendered, healthy, educated, and articulate. It’s up to you/us to protect the unjustly hated.
2. Encourage any registered Republican you may still be friends with, to work tirelessly from the inside to change their party back to its Lincoln-era roots. This is risky for them and requires courage on their part. Either they need to be working toward that end, or they need to unenroll from the party (the way the national opera is leaving the former Kennedy Center!) (2)
3. Write a letter to the editor on this theme. Hold the mirror up to the face of the Republican party. They need to see clearly what it has become. They need to know that all people of good will see it, too.
4. Do not vote for any Republican candidate in any local, state or national election. Work to see that even in your town, there is someone running from the ranks of the Dems (preferably) but also unenrolled or third-party candidates. Anyone but a Republican, given what they have become.
5. Get your likeminded but unenrolled and Green Party friends to enroll as Democrats. It’s the best way for them to influence the selection of candidates in the primary ranked choice election (in June), who will go on to the midterm voting (in November). As Jay Kuo said: “If we do our work, November 2026 will mark a turning point for our country. All eyes on that prize, all gas no brakes.”(3).
Contacts.
See here for how to write a letter to the editor, with links to local papers. https://hancockdems.org/volunteer/ltes/
Here are a few of several local organizations you might want to work with – let us know of others. We need to be building a strong coalition to resist the fascist takeover effectively.
https://indivisiblepeninsula.org (Blue Hill peninsula)
https://acadiaaction.org (mostly communities east of Ellsworth)
https://indivisiblebangor.org (online meetings, actions close to Bangor)
https://www.facebook.com/p/Indivisible-Waldo-County-Me-61577889617091/ (Belfast etc.)
Urgency. Maine has semi-open primaries. Republicans disgusted with their party can unenroll and vote in a different party’s primary if they unenroll by May 26. Unenrolled voters get to choose one party’s ballot in the June primary. Their unenrolled status does not change. See your town registrar for forms and details. It’s up to us to make the Democratic party an organization that good people wish to stay in.
Extra Credit
(1) https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-are-federal-agents-gunning-down (the last half of the article)
(2) https://www.npr.org/2026/01/10/nx-s1-5671107/kennedy-center-canceled-trump-washington-national-opera-wno
(3) https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/bridges-too-far