Indivisibles,

It’s biweekly-ish newsletter time and I am walking on air because Leah and
I have been at the DNC in Chicago all week. If you’re new here, here’s the
deal: We’re gonna elect VP Harris and Coach Walz and deliver them a
Democratic Congress so we can codify reproductive freedom and pass
democracy reform. These newsletters are a chance to share what I’m seeing
in the movement and on the campaign, brag about what Indivisible is doing,
and engage in some authentic discussion with you. Also we’ll include a
cute pic of the babies at the end. But first, a quick summary:

The News: It’s all about the incredible, historic, inspiring,
confidence-instilling DNC. This is not a party that is unified on all
issues -- it’s a big tent party with some reasonable disagreements -- but
it is deeply unified in its purpose. The vibes are so good, in fact, that
there’s almost a sense of historic inevitability. But we all have to fight
that feeling. Nothing about this is naturally inevitable -- it’s our work
that will make it so.

The Brag: I get to brag about the incredible, overwhelming, and
mountainous amount of smart, strategic, impactful campaign work my
co-executive director (and spouse) Leah has done in the last month. She
rocks y’all. 

The Discussion: Leah and I are doing another live coffee klatch! Join us
on Tuesday, September 3 at 4pm ET/1pm PT to talk strategy, tactics,
messaging, organizing, and campaigning. [ [link removed] ]Register here, and come with
questions!

The News: Six takeaways from seeing Dems in astonishing array

I’ve spent this week at the DNC with Leah, and I’m sorry if this gives you
FOMO, but, well, it was incredible. But you don’t read my emails to hear
about how I’m having a good time. You read my emails to get my takes on
the news. So here are my takes.

 1. Collective effervescence. Yes, the energy was electric, but it was
more than that. Inside the hall, there was a sense of joy, jubilance,
optimism, and unity that is difficult to describe. But I’ll give it a
shot.

Over the last decade-plus, it's been easy to think about national
politics as existing on a spectrum between disappointing and
disastrous. We’ve been in the trenches fighting for inches. Our work
was to prevent harm and eke out a win here or there if we were lucky.
Being at the DNC, surrounded by teachers, union members, Democratic
activists, and Wisconsinites wearing cheesehead hats, yes, you feel a
sense of relief and optimism about the election.

But what I didn't expect was this reminder of what politics can be --
it's not just something we consume; it's something we do together to
redefine what’s possible. Receiving that reminder along with tens of
thousands of others gives this inescapable, irresistibly inspiring
feeling that we are part of something bigger than ourselves and that
thing is powerful and has momentum.

Beyoncé might not have performed, but in the hall, we achieved a level
of collective effervescence normally reserved for her concerts.
 2. It’s not just an election, it’s a legislative mandate. Harris couldn’t
have been clearer. What did she say she’d do? Sign reproductive
freedom into law. Enact democracy reform. When we win in November, we
will not just win an election, we will win a mandate for a legislative
agenda. That is crucial for our advocacy work after the election. As
Leah said at her panel at the DNC: We’re working toward an FDR first
100 days -- Filibuster, Democracy, Reproductive Freedom. Say it with
me: FDR.
 3. Our bench is deep. Yes, Coach Walz and VP Harris gave incredible
speeches; we have fantastic leaders at the top of our ticket. But we
have even more than that -- this is a leaderful party. From Raphael
Warnock to AOC to Andy Kim to Maxwell Frost and more, I can’t list all
the stellar leaders in this party. We get to be inspired by the ticket
at the top, and we get to be optimistic about all those following
close behind.
 4. Not everything at this convention was pitched at me, or you, and
that’s OK. I am not an undecided voter. If you’re reading this, then
you probably aren’t either. This convention was squarely aimed at
creating a permission structure for people who aren’t very politically
engaged to get excited about Harris, and for people who aren’t already
with us to come over to our side. On that metric (among others), [ [link removed] ]it
was fabulously successful. 

Did I agree with everything or everyone on stage? No. That’s what it’s
like to be in a big, winning, majority coalition -- you disagree on
some stuff. There were policies covered over the last four nights that
Indivisible has pushed back on in the past, and will in the future.
And sometimes we will voice concerns -- for example, [ [link removed] ]echoing many
who called for a Palestinian speaker to be included in the convention
lineup. At the same time, we’re clear: We’re in “win the election”
mode for the next 70 days. Then we get to shift into “get shit done”
advocacy mode once we secure the White House and Congress. 
 5. Harris’s masterful line of attack on Trump: an unserious man, with
serious consequences. It’s hard to land the right balance of danger vs
ridicule when you talk about Donald Trump. Trump is a threat to
democracy and he does idolize dictators. But he and MAGA relish our
anger and want to be feared -- they think that fear feeds their power.
The real rhetorical trick we have to land is to ridicule them to take
them down a peg, while conveying at the same time the real stakes of
the election. 

Harris did this masterfully: "In many ways, Donald Trump is an
unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in
the White House are extremely serious." And then she went on to
describe the very real threat of Project 2025. <<Chef’s kiss>>
 6. We can win big, but we gotta work for it. This takeaway involves some
serious cognitive dissonance. Because when you’re in that convention
hall, it sure feels like we’re making history. It feels like we’re on
the road to a big win. There is almost a sense of inevitability.

I have to fight that feeling, because I know that none of this is
inevitable. If the polls are just marginally off or the campaign takes
a slight downward turn in the coming weeks, we could lose Pennsylvania
or Michigan or Wisconsin or North Carolina or Georgia or Nevada or
Arizona or all of them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome to be part of
a collective effort infused with optimism and confidence. But if we’re
going to win, we have to make sure those emotions fuel our work, not
our complacency. Whether you believe the race is tight or not, we must
work like this election will be decided by the last voter we contact.

The Brag: Let’s give it up for Leah

Channeling my inner Second Gentleman Doug, I want to brag about
Indivisible’s co-executive director and my spouse, Leah. Her work in this
movement for the last month has been downright heroic. The same day that
Biden dropped out and Indivisible rallied immediately behind Kamala
Harris, I came down with COVID. But Indivisible was off to the races
largely because of her work: 

* On literally the largest zoom in history -- which Indivisible ran the
backend for -- Leah briefed nearly 170,000 attendees on Project 2025.
* [ [link removed] ]She went on All In with Chris Hayes to talk about the massive wave
of new energy and how Indivisible was directing it into productive
work on the ground.
* Together with Shannon Watts, she co-launched the weekly [ [link removed] ]Women
Wednesday for Harris calls, which have spawned more than 500 local
Action Teams including in all of the battleground states.
* Did I mention that I had COVID and was isolating? That meant that Leah
was doing all this while also serving as the solo parent taking care
of our two toddlers. 
* At the DNC, she helped organize and sat on the “Defeating Trump 2.0”
panel along with the stellar cross-progressive movement leaders and
special guest Pramila Jayapal!

[6]Ezra and Leah looking jubilant at the DNC

One of the fun things at the DNC is all the side events. Here we are at
the one put together by Planned Parenthood, Reproductive Freedom for All,
and Emily’s List.

If you know Leah, you know that she’s not someone who seeks out the
limelight or credit. She wants things to work and she wants our work to
have an impact, and that often means doing a whole bunch of stuff behind
the scenes. Ego is the furthest thing from her mind -- it’s all about
affecting real change. 

I know this movement is led by a lot of women like Leah who decided, as
Michelle Obama implored us this week, to [ [link removed] ]DO SOMETHING. This movement is
not a movement of political consumers. It’s not a movement of political
commentators. It’s a movement of do-ers like Leah. 

If you want to hear from Leah about what next you can do, drop in on the
next weekly [ [link removed] ]Women Wednesdays for Harris call (dudes are welcome -- I
always watch). [ [link removed] ]And if you want to do something right now in direct
response to this email, and in support of this movement’s work and Leah’s
leadership behind it, throw a few grassroots dollars in her name here. 

The Discussion: We’re in the final stretch, let’s check in 

It’s time for another coffee klatch with me and Leah! We host these
informal chats mostly to just engage in some live Q&A with the movement.
Happy to share what we’re seeing, and discuss messaging and strategy and
tactics and planning with you all. Let’s plan the next one for Tuesday,
September 3 at 4pm ET/1pm PT. That’s the day after Labor Day, the
traditional start of the final leg of the campaign. [ [link removed] ]You can register
here and submit questions ahead of time, and as always, we’ll take a lot
of questions live. Looking forward to it!

In solidarity,
Ezra

Ezra Levin

[11]Indivisble Co-Executive Director

Pronouns: He/him

PS: Leah’s folks were staying at our place while we were at the DNC, so
this was the longest we’ve both been away from the kids…ever. Zeke
negotiated two toys out of the deal (an eldrador ice monster and a stuffed
bunny), so he was totally cool with it. Lila was spoiled by Grammy and
Gramps, but still greeted me with that enormous smile of hers once I came
back in the door.

[12]Zeke hugging Lila while sitting in the grass

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