Ben Wickler

In Wisconsin, we've been skating along the edge of a cliff, and sometimes we've been pushed off that cliff and grabbed a branch as we fell by our hands and pulled ourselves up by our fingernails to avoid becoming permanently rigged, permanently red, even though most people do not want what Republicans are trying to do. And we're facing that exact crisis as a country right now.

In Wisconsin, we've been skating along the edge of a cliff, and sometimes we've been pushed off that cliff and grabbed a branch as we fell by our hands and pulled ourselves up by our fingernails to avoid becoming permanently rigged, permanently red, even though most people do not want what Republicans are trying to do. And we're facing that exact crisis as a country right now.

There's a real risk that Trump will smash to pieces things that families and families you know, working people and the poor and people across this country urgently need and rely on, that they did not vote to get smashed, that they voted for change, they voted out of frustration, they voted for all kinds of reasons. But what they didn't do is vote to have the rug pulled out from underneath them.

There's a real risk that Trump will smash to pieces things that families and families you know, working people and the poor and people across this country urgently need and rely on, that they did not vote to get smashed, that they voted for change, they voted out of frustration, they voted for all kinds of reasons. But what they didn't do is vote to have the rug pulled out from underneath them.

And they didn't vote to end democracy and to have a country that gets rigged by the people at the very top for their benefit at the expense of everyone else. And when you're in that kind of darkness,

And they didn't vote to end democracy and to have a country that gets rigged by the people at the very top for their benefit at the expense of everyone else. And when you're in that kind of darkness,

Tracing the path out of it, being able to see the glimmer of light at the end of that tunnel and knowing that if you do everything you can, everything in your power to take step after step after step, that there's a way out, to me is the essential thing that you have to do. You have to have a North Star to be able to continue that fight. And my...

Tracing the path out of it, being able to see the glimmer of light at the end of that tunnel and knowing that if you do everything you can, everything in your power to take step after step after step, that there's a way out, to me is the essential thing that you have to do. You have to have a North Star to be able to continue that fight. And my...

The core of what I want to do at the DNC is, in every state, to draw what that path looks like, to communicate it out to our activists, to our volunteers, to our party members, to the candidates in campaigns, to have a huge shared product of getting out of this darkness and building a country that works for everyone, where we show that democracy can actually deliver on its promise to deliver a country that lifts everybody up.

The core of what I want to do at the DNC is, in every state, to draw what that path looks like, to communicate it out to our activists, to our volunteers, to our party members, to the candidates in campaigns, to have a huge shared product of getting out of this darkness and building a country that works for everyone, where we show that democracy can actually deliver on its promise to deliver a country that lifts everybody up.

We have to see that plan. We have to be able to touch and feel it. And then everyone needs to feel the experience of being part of that fight. This can't be something where we're cheering on some politician somewhere else for giving a great speech. We all need to see ourselves in our own role.

We have to see that plan. We have to be able to touch and feel it. And then everyone needs to feel the experience of being part of that fight. This can't be something where we're cheering on some politician somewhere else for giving a great speech. We all need to see ourselves in our own role.

And that collective action, that being part of something bigger than yourself, it is what sustains hope and can even allow moments of joy and relief. And even when you fall just short, if you know that there's gonna be a next step in that chapter, in that story that we build together, that is how you get through.

And that collective action, that being part of something bigger than yourself, it is what sustains hope and can even allow moments of joy and relief. And even when you fall just short, if you know that there's gonna be a next step in that chapter, in that story that we build together, that is how you get through.

And that's not a set of feelings people associate with the Democratic Party necessarily. But I think that it has to be in this moment. And I'm running for chair. And if you're a DNC member who's listening to this podcast right now, I'm asking for your vote for chair because I think that's what we can build together. And I think the country needs it. And I think the stakes are real.

And that's not a set of feelings people associate with the Democratic Party necessarily. But I think that it has to be in this moment. And I'm running for chair. And if you're a DNC member who's listening to this podcast right now, I'm asking for your vote for chair because I think that's what we can build together. And I think the country needs it. And I think the stakes are real.

But I think that the path... is there even if it can be so dark that it's hard to discern and if we take these steps i think that we can make this the low point in an era that that is looked back on as the birth of a new era of progress in this country

But I think that the path... is there even if it can be so dark that it's hard to discern and if we take these steps i think that we can make this the low point in an era that that is looked back on as the birth of a new era of progress in this country

Thanks so much, John.

Thanks so much, John.