| Pamela, Welcome to 2025 (for better or worse). Hey, at least we're here together! Things are about to get chaotic with the new GOP congress just sworn in and the inauguration just around the corner. So I want to start the year with this reminder: While MAGA controls the federal government, their coalition is fragile, their leaders are malevolent muppets, and their agenda is deeply unpopular -- and we still live in a representative democracy that depends on the consent of the governed. Democracy is undeniably diminished, but MAGA is not all powerful. We can save lives, prevent damage, slow their assault, and ultimately fracture their coalition while building our own. That doesn't mean we'll all be ok. But it does mean we have something to hope for and work toward. I'd like to talk about those hopes and that work in this movement of ours. The Summary: The News: What's clear is that a healthy segment of elite society is greeting Trump 2.0 with open arms. From media institutions, to corporations, to wayward elected Democrats with their tails tucked between their legs -- the capitulation caucus has been growing. But on the ground, I see a wave of courageous opposition building -- and we need this to win. The Brag: Let's shine some love on the hundreds of new Indivisible groups that have formed in the past few weeks! Welcome newcomers to the movement! And also, I want to be sure y'all catch Leah on Chris Hayes' podcast this coming Tuesday -- listen here when it drops. The Discussion: This month is going to be chaotic with the new MAGA congress and inauguration, so every remaining Thursday in January, Leah and I will be hosting a live discussion. For this week, we'll focus on this nascent, maliciously incompetent congress that will attempt to legislate for the next two years. Register and send us a question here. The News: Combating the capitulation caucus A lot of people have been taking a break from the news these past couple months. And for good reason: A lot of the news is depressing, with a sense of impending doom. If you've been watching, you've probably seen elite actors from the business world, nonprofit institutions, mainstream media, and politicians rush to protect themselves from a coming, vengeful Trump administration. Rather than steel themselves in preparation for a fight, these elite figures are joining what I've been calling the "Capitulation Caucus." Across several realms, elites in positions of power are signaling that while they may have had raised alarms before, now that Trump 2.0 is inevitable, they're happy to go along to get along. A few examples: Our fellow democratic compatriot Marc Elias wrote more extensively on capitulation here, which I'd recommend reading in whole. But here's the killer quote: "There is no segment of civil society that has been untouched by this capitulation. Some in positions of great power are preemptively acting powerless. Too many with the loudest microphones are turning them down. Most disturbing, those with the greatest wealth are acting like they are the poorest and most vulnerable." An alternative to capitulation: courage. I want to be clear: showing up for immigrants and trans kids, fighting back against cuts to Social Security, and calling out kleptocratic giveaways to corrupt billionaires are all the morally right things to do. You'll get to tell your grandkids about how you fought in this moment. But you don't have to be a bleeding heart liberal to adopt this strategy. You can be the most heartlessly cynical Democratic operative and see that the Democrats' path to retaking federal power depends on them banding together to make a unified case against the Project 2025 agenda. After all, it was our unified posture between 2017-2018 that saved countless lives by protecting the Affordable Care Act, defeated some of the worst attacks on immigrants and refugees, and won us back the House with the largest midterm margins in the history of our republic. The good news is courage is contagious. And there's a serious case of courage spreading fast across the country. The week after the election, our release of Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink drew over 40,000 people. That's the single largest call Indivisible has ever hosted on our own -- even including the halcyon days of 2017 when protest was "the new brunch." In the weeks since the new Indivisible guide release, I've kicked off three separate meetings with about 1,500 new Indivisible leaders who joined to learn how to start a new local Indivisible group. And since the election, 200 new local Indivisible groups have officially formed and registered so far -- literally the biggest jump in group numbers we've seen since 2017. And when Leah or I have joined local or statewide Indivisible calls in the last two months -- from Indivisible Colorado to Michigan, from Florida to New Jersey -- the thing we hear over and over again from group leaders is that they are seeing tons of growth and new energy. The people who were organizing already are still in it, the people who stepped back in recent years are re-joining, the people who got activated in the Harris campaign wave are now organizing locally…you get the idea. In this moment, I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotes about how politics in a representative democracy works. Leah and I liked it so much we included it both in the original Indivisible guide and the new one. It's from an 18th century French politician: "There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader." Here's my prediction: In the weeks to come, a lot of electeds and other elites are going to see rising backlash and opposition to the chaos, cruelty, and corruption that's coming. And they're going to shift course. They're going to follow us, because they are our leaders. The Discussion: How to make friends and influence democracy I'm down to keep writing these newsletters, but a new year is a good excuse to do a check-in on what's working, what's not, and what you'd like to see more or less of. Maybe long-winded newsletters like this one (sorry) work for you. Or maybe we should do something else. I'm all ears. So in the spirit of experimentation, learning, and growth, can I invite you to a chat? Or several? I know this is going to be a chaotic month with a ton of political developments, and I'd like to create a space where we can reflect back, provide some analysis, and foster real discussion across the movement on how we can best organize, message, and strategically engage wherever we are. With that goal in mind, Leah and I will be holding a weekly discussion every Thursday in January at 3pm ET / noon PT. That's 1/9, 1/16, 1/23, and 1/30. We'll open with some reflections on news of the day, but mostly we'll be taking in your questions -- which you can send ahead of time or ask live. We can't get to everything in these chats, but we can cover a lot of ground. So please join us for the first one this Thursday. We'll cover news of the week, the early signs of chaos from the newly convened GOP congress, and how we're bracing for impact ahead of inauguration. Hope to see you there! You can register and submit questions here for the next one. The Brag: Movement growth + Leah on Chris Hayes' podcast this week! I've already bragged a lot about the surge in Indivisible movement growth these past two months. 200 new groups all over the country! In a world of AI-generated nonsense and inflated marketing statistics, it can be tough to really see through BS and get a sense for what's real. Well, this is real. Let me give you a sense of what we're seeing: - Colorado Native Indivisible (Colorado)
- Indivisible Cincinnati (Ohio)
- Jefferson Area Indivisible (Missouri)
- Indivisible Missoula (Montana)
- Indivisible Hilo One (Hawaii)
- Indivisible Pinoy Blues (California)
- Indivisible Dallas (Texas)
- Indivisible Lincoln County (Maine)
- Indivisible Honeoye Falls -- Mendon (New York)
- Big Horn County Indivisible (Wyoming)
- Silver Spring Progressive Action (Maryland)
If you've just started a group -- welcome! If you're in an existing group and seeing a surge of membership, awesome! If you'd like Leah or I to join an upcoming meeting, let your local Indivisible organizer know -- we're talking to a lot of Indivisible groups these days and love doing it. But don't wait for us. Get to organizing. If you're looking for an immediate next action item, we're working with locals nationwide to spend MLK Day (aka inauguration day) as a local day of community service. What better way to begin our defiance of an overreacting MAGA assault on our communities than digging in deep with our communities? If you're interested in coordinating on that, see our resources here. But one of the other things I get to do as co-ED is brag on my fellow co-ED and spouse, Leah. I took the kids out to burgers last week while Leah sat down with Chris Hayes to talk about the new Indivisible guide and where we go from here. You can catch their conversation on his podcast here when it comes out on Tuesday -- please listen and share! Thank you for looking at 2025 square in the face and deciding to do something about it. We're with you, and so are thousands of new Indivisible leaders around the country. In solidarity,
Ezra  | Ezra Levin Co-Executive Director Pronouns: He/him |  | 
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