Get Plugged In To Take Back Democracy: Four Emerging Projects

Several good initiatives have emerged in the electoral politics arena that are focused on substantially the same thing: 

• Flippable
• Swing Left
• Sister District Project
• Indivisible

What are the differences? I know you all have the Google machine at your fingertips, but here is a brief synopsis of each of these three projects:


Flippable (website) is working on state level races.  They argue that "State legislatures are crucial to the outcome of national elections." 

There are 25 states with Republican governors and both houses controlled by the Republicans - "trifectas" - and another 7 states in which both houses are Republican-held. These "trifectas give [Republicans] nearly unchecked power at the state level... [and] an extraordinary advantage in local, state, and national elections." This "alarming situation of ever-more-entrenched Republican control " has resulted from systematic and sustained efforts by the GOP to flip seats at the state and local level. Flippable says: "We must beat the Republicans at their own game... [and] flip state legislatures... to safeguard our democracy."

Click here to read more about the tools of the GOP trifectas and a bit of history, and see a map of current state trifectas. 

Swing Left (website) is focused on the national level, especially the House of Representatives. 

Swing Left is targeting national legislative districts "where the last election was decided by a thin margin. " Of 435 House seats 52 are competitive and will determine control of the House in the 2018 elections. To regain a voice in how we are governed, we need to win 42 seats (80%). So, Swing Left is "starting early to... out-organize Republicans [and] unify progressives who promote tolerance, equality, unity and fairness." 

The Swing Left site offers a tool to connect you to the team assigned to support the Swing District closest to you, so that you can actively support progressives these critical legislative races. Enter your Zip Code, find your team.

Click here to read more about who started Swing Left, their rationale, and how it works.

Sister District Project (website) is focused on "down-ballot... critical state and local races where Democratic control hangs in the balance." 

They seek to "help you find a place to channel your blue energy" where it will count: "helping Democrats defend or take back control of the states and bring fairness back to redistricting... Winning these races will help us build a strong bench of compelling progressive candidates immediately, and will help us to win national races in the long-term." The goal is a "government [that] works for all people, not just the minority in power."

The Sister District Project is also organized into teams that will be paired with a specific candidate in a winnable race. Because they are focused on working with the candidate they will not be making team assignments until after the June primaries. However, they encourage you to find your team now and "engage with other local activist groups, identify local issues that require action, and report back to Sister District with any elections that you think warrant support."

Click here to read more about the mission, plan, background, and guiding principles of the Sister District Project. 

Indivisible (website) wants to demystify the heck out of Congress and build a vibrant community of angelic troublemakers.

The mission of Indivisible groups is to "resist Trump's agenda, focus on local, defensive congressional advocacy, and embrace progressive values."

What started as a resource put together by former congressional staffers to "reveal best practices for making Congress listen... [and] represent us, not Trump" has become a nationwide network interconnected but independent groups dedicated to putting the Indivisible Guidelines into action. "More than 4,500 local groups have signed up to resist the Trump agenda in nearly every congressional district in the country."

The authors do not see themselves as the leaders of Indivisible but they are establishing a nonprofit to support the movement by demystifying congressional advocacy, provide shared organizing and communication tools, share best practices and resources, and build a sense of shared purpose by spotlighting local successes.

Click here to download a PDF of the Indivisible Guide, and here to find a group close to you.



These projects are very similar, though Flippable clearly focuses on state level races, while Swing Left targets national level legislative races. The Sister District Project will apparently focus on any down-ballot race that is winnable, local, state, or national. Indivisible emphasizes effectively interacting your own elected officials.

Here's a Feb. 7 article from Bill Moyers site that discusses a number of other initiatives:
Your Guide to the Sprawling New Anti-Trump Resistance Movement

Do you know of more initiatives? Do you have experience with one of these? Leave me a comment with the info. Thanks!