{"id":768,"date":"2026-08-03T14:40:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T14:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=768"},"modified":"2026-08-03T14:40:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T14:40:50","slug":"ben-wikler-has-a-plan-to-supercharge-american-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=768","title":{"rendered":"Ben Wikler Has a Plan to Supercharge American Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ben Wikler wants his fellow Democrats to win in 2026 as a check and balance to the catastrophic presidency of Donald Trump. But the serial organizer\u2014who served as campaign director for the global activist group Avaaz, Washington director for MoveOn.org, and chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, where he innovated a tech-savvy, door-knocking, agenda-setting model for winning over swing-state voters\u2014wants so much more than an election victory.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more \u2018America Is Sinking Fast\u2019: John Leonard and Todd Gitlin on Robert Stone<\/a><\/p>\n

When the party is returned to power, he argues in his new book, This Is the Plan, Democrats need to wield the gavels of power with a new sense of purpose to renew and expand democracy. In addition to the immediate work of easing the pain of the many who have suffered during the Trump years, Wikler says Democrats must systematically address the deep dysfunctions of American electioneering and governing\u2014money in politics, racial and partisan gerrymandering, the right-wing judicial activism of the US Supreme Court, the fundamentally unfair Electoral College\u2014with an honest recognition that those dysfunctions gave us Trumpism and could do so again.<\/em><\/p>\n

This Is the Plan offers a vision for a multiyear project of system reform and voter empowerment that focuses on removing the barriers to achieving economic, social, and racial justice, and to saving the planet. Ben\u2019s steady determination to identify the real forces that drive inequality and injustice\u2014which I\u2019ve witnessed since my fellow Wisconsinite was a teenager penning letters to the editor and organizing against corporate influence on education\u2014is an antidote to the legitimate impatience and anger felt by Democratic voters over the broken state of contemporary politics. This essay, adapted from his remarkable book, is a blueprint for how we return the power of our democracy to the people. We would do well to consider it. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014John Nichols<\/em>
\u2002<\/p>\n

Our country is spiraling into authoritarianism\u2014but, together, we\u2019re going to fight our way out.<\/p>\n

How do I know? We\u2019ve been doing it in Wisconsin, my beloved home. I\u2019ve seen firsthand how thousands of grassroots activists working their hearts out to win elections at every political level, alongside a vast array of allies and partners, can build a movement that unrigs a political system. It\u2019s how the Wisconsin Democratic Party stopped the world\u2019s richest man from buying an election for a state Supreme Court justice. It\u2019s how Democrats nationally swept off-year elections in 2025, and dramatically boosted turnout in special elections since Donald Trump began his second presidential term.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how we are going to end America\u2019s meltdown and save democracy. But, as you read this plan, it\u2019s essential to keep three fundamental principles in mind.<\/p>\n

First: Your superpower is not just your vote, but your power to organize, to persuade, and above all to join or bring together a group of like-minded people to make grassroots engagement a part of your lives, week after week, year after year, election after election. As long as freedom survives\u2014and despite Trump and his allies\u2019 cruelty and ruthlessness, we\u2019ve still got enough of it to keep on organizing\u2014you\u2019re free to use your freedom to fight for freedom\u2019s survival.<\/p>\n

Second: Your modus operandi should be to organize and advocate where you are, affecting elections in which you\u2019re a constituent and seeking to affect the decisions of your own elected officials\u2014 and, at the same time, lend a long-distance hand to those on the front lines of the fight, in the tipping-point states, districts, and battles across the country where a little change can make a huge difference.<\/p>\n

And third: remember that the potential voters whose votes are most pivotal\u2014those who rarely vote, or who switch parties\u2014are often the people who are thinking about politics the least. If you want to persuade them, don\u2019t lecture. Listen to them about what they care about, find out where it intersects with what you care about, and then find a basis for common action.<\/p>\n

Make sense? Okay. This is the plan.<\/p>\n

2026<\/p>\n

For democracy to survive, the single most important priority is likely to be found in state governments. That\u2019s because elections are run by states, not by the federal government\u2014despite Trump\u2019s illegal efforts to try and override the Constitution. Thus, your goal this year: to achieve governing trifectas in the states whose Electoral College votes are likeliest to tip the presidency one way or the other in 2028. Reach that goal and we can make it very hard for Trump and his allies to nullify the result of the next presidential election.<\/p>\n

Help turn out and persuade voters in the closest state legislative districts in the most likely 2028 battleground states\u2014in a way that can simultaneously help win House seats and statewide contests. Where there\u2019s a high-stakes statewide fight, organize everywhere\u2014 not just to swing purple areas but also to lose by less in deep-red areas and to drive up margins and turnout in blue ones.<\/p>\n

Even as we lock down state trifectas, we should be aiming to win the US House and US Senate majorities. The more House and Senate seats we win in 2026, the more we can stem the damage of the Trump presidency and begin an era of accountability.<\/p>\n

The closest state in 2024 was Wisconsin, which\u2014after a years-long struggle against authoritarianism and gerrymandering, is finally within striking distance of turning into a blue trifecta.<\/p>\n

The next closest Trump-won states from 2024 are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Arizona. Four of those states could become blue trifectas in 2026. In Georgia, ensuring that Keisha Lance Bottoms wins the governorship would prevent MAGA gerrymandering or election sabotage before 2028. In North Carolina, the key state-level targets are Anita Earls\u2019s reelection to the state Supreme Court and the prevention of GOP supermajorities in the state legislature. In many of these states, offices key to election administration and jurisprudence\u2014such as attorneys general, secretaries of state, state supreme court justices, and key local offices\u2014will be on the ballot as well.<\/p>\n

Those were the battleground states from the last three presidential elections\u20142024, 2020, and 2016. So, if it\u2019s close, they\u2019re the likeliest battlegrounds in 2028 as well. The GOP\u2019s path to holding the presidency, in the short term, runs through those states. If you, if we, ensure that people who believe in democracy triumph in those states in the fall, then we\u2019ll know that\u2014if we win the presidential election in 2028\u2014it won\u2019t be overturned.<\/p>\n

Not only that, but those states contain two key US Senate races and more than enough close US House races to move the speaker\u2019s gavel to Hakeem Jeffries.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s shoot bigger than that.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s open up every possible path to passing the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. That\u2019s a state law, already passed in states representing 222 Electoral College (EC) votes, that comes into effect once it\u2019s been passed in states representing 270 EC votes\u2014enough to determine the winner of a presidential election. Once it comes into effect, all the participating states assign their Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Just like that, the idea of \u201cbattleground states\u201d and \u201csafe states\u201d in presidential elections will be tossed into the dustbin of history, where it belongs.<\/p>\n

That means aiming to win a trifecta in New Hampshire too\u2014the state that Trump lost but came closest to winning in 2024 (Harris won by 2.8 percent). And let\u2019s help the multi-partisan pro-democracy alliance in Alaska, which could yield a US House seat, a US Senate seat for Mary Peltola, and\u2014if we win the governorship\u2014a potentially NPVIC-friendly state trifecta in a state where Trump won by 13 percent.<\/p>\n

To shoot for a US Senate majority, we\u2019ll have to expand the map still further.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019ve defended Michigan and Georgia and flipped North Carolina and Alaska, we just need two more.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s ease Susan Collins into a long-overdue retirement in Maine.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s go for broke in Iowa, where we could win three US House seats (IA-01, IA-02, IA-03), the governorship, and the US Senate race.<\/p>\n

In Ohio, let\u2019s lend a hand to Sherrod Brown. And let\u2019s put James Talarico into the US Senate seat in Texas. Don\u2019t sleep on Dan Osborn in Nebraska. As Trump careens further into abyssal approval ratings, yet more opportunities continue to arise.<\/p>\n

Want to adopt a House district? Want to travel to it to knock on some doors\u2014but all of the states above sound inconveniently far away? Good news: There are also swing House districts that could benefit from your support\u2014to defend Dems or defeat MAGA Republicans\u2014all over the nation, very much including giant blue states like California and New York.<\/p>\n

And there are winnable state legislative districts in every state. Winning more of them is critical to Callais-proof red states, especially in the South, that might try to re-gerrymander after 2026 to eliminate districts currently protected by the Voting Rights Act.<\/p>\n

OK. Huge push for the 2026 midterm elections. Check.<\/p>\n

And then: Do you stop? No. Can\u2019t stop. Won\u2019t stop. We\u2019re building a permanent campaign.<\/p>\n

2027<\/p>\n

In 2027, we\u2019ll advocate for our various state elected officials to pass policies that will upgrade the democratic processes in our states and make them dictator-proof. We\u2019ll also push them to pass the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. And we\u2019ll build grassroots support as they pass legislation that makes a direct, positive difference in the lives of regular people.<\/p>\n

In some states, start collecting signatures for some ballot initiatives to raise wages, protect the environment and defend democracy. In states like Wisconsin, where the state legislature, not the people, launches the process of amending the state constitution, keep that on your advocacy to-do list as well.<\/p>\n

At the same time, you can advocate for the new Democratic majorities in the US House and the US Senate to conduct aggressive oversight and prepare bills and coalitions around historic legislation for the next Democratic trifecta. The phone number for the Capitol switchboard is (202) 224-3121. Use it.<\/p>\n

If Democrats and independents do win a majority in the US Senate in 2026, they should, immediately in 2027, amend the Senate\u2019s rules to restore the vision of our country\u2019s founders and make their legislative body a majority-rule institution. Bust the filibuster. Get it over with. Bring closure to 60-vote cloture.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, throughout 2027, you\u2019re helping with state and local races in places like Wisconsin, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia. Don\u2019t get rusty. Keep organizing.<\/p>\n

2028<\/p>\n

Big year.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know who the Democractic presidential nominee will be or what crises and issues will be dominating the news. Instead of fretting about the primaries and messaging, roll up your sleeves and build the general-election presidential operation in advance. Build state and local Democratic Party organizations. Elect democracy defenders to key offices in local and special elections and engage more and more voters and volunteers over time.<\/p>\n

By the time the two parties nominate their candidates in 2028, you will have helped build the organizing and communicating juggernaut that will become your nominee\u2019s campaign apparatus.<\/p>\n

In 2028, your goal isn\u2019t just to win the presidential election. It\u2019s also to win as many seats as possible in the US House, US Senate, and state legislatures; to win the state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin (in April) and flip the state Supreme Court in North Carolina (in the fall); and to win all possible state executive offices, as well as local ones.<\/p>\n

Read more The Weapons Manufacturer Next Door<\/a><\/p>\n

If it\u2019s a 2016\/2020\/2024-style nail-biter, you\u2019ll be glad you worked so damn hard. If it\u2019s a 2008-style blowout, you\u2019ll have a chance to win in places that seem impossible from the viewpoint of 2026.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re doing all this for two reasons. First, you want to generate as much positive change as possible. And second, you know that the next election, in 2030, is likely to be tough, because of the pattern of midterm backlash against incumbent presidents\u2019 parties.<\/p>\n

On election night in 2028, you\u2019ll see the fruits of so many labors turn into electoral triumphs. You\u2019ll cheer as your presidential candidate starts rolling up swing states. You\u2019ll pump a fist in the air as Ron Johnson\u2019s US Senate seat goes blue while Wisconsin Democrats hold on to their state legislative majorities. You\u2019ll experience the rush of having helped change the world.<\/p>\n

And you\u2019ll recommit, even as you dance in the streets that night, to keep going. Because you know the fight isn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n

2029<\/p>\n

Suppose we win in 2028. The first giant question of 2029 comes in January: Do we have a peaceful transfer of power, or not?<\/p>\n

This will be the acid test.<\/p>\n

The answer to that question depends on everything you, and the giant movement that you\u2019re now part of, has achieved up to this point.<\/p>\n

If the Electoral College is tied or subverted such that no candidate gets 270 Electoral College votes, then the job of determining who won the election will go to the House. Under the Constitution, each House delegation will get one vote. So our goal is not just to have a pro-democracy House majority\u2014it\u2019s to have, after the 121st Congress is sworn in at noon on Wednesday, January 3, 2029, pro-democracy majorities in a majority of House delegations. Right now, the GOP controls 30 out of 50 delegations. We\u2019ve got two election cycles to change that. If this scenario happens, you\u2019ll be very glad that you\u2019ve leaned into House races in states like Iowa and Alaska.<\/p>\n

Knock on wood: On Saturday, January 20, 2029, the next president and vice president of the United States will take their oaths of office. Not President Vance and Vice President Trump. Two entirely different people with entirely different names who belong to an entirely different party.<\/p>\n

The nation, and the world, will finally exhale.<\/p>\n

And then, after a killer party and a greasy breakfast, it\u2019s time for the real work. Because 2029 has to be a year of action.<\/p>\n

States with pro-democracy trifectas will have a great deal of work to continue from the 2027\u201328 legislative sessions. But now they\u2019ll be joined by a federal government that can actually pass good-for-America bills into law, signed by a good-for-America, good-for-the-world president, and can then implement them in good faith. Along with whatever emergency bills are necessary in order to address whatever acute disaster Trump has left America as a parting gift, the federal trifecta of 2029 has to pass democracy reform. Right away.<\/p>\n

The time will have come to pass the 2029 versions of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act\u2014with voting rights protections, a national gerrymandering ban, donor disclosure requirements, and other anti-corruption measures.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s just the start.<\/p>\n

US Supreme Court reform: either 18-year term limits (after which justices, who have lifetime appointments, take \u201csenior status\u201d in which they don\u2019t vote on cases), or a court expansion, or both.<\/p>\n

Statehood for DC and, if Puerto Ricans so wish, Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n

House reform: doubling its size, and adopting multi-member districts with proportional representation, so that everyone, across race and ethnicity and geography and ideology, can have a voice in the People\u2019s House.<\/p>\n

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