How Should Lexington Alarm Approach a crisis Election?
May 30th we went to the Democratic State Convention. The next Tuesday we
co-hosted a house party fundraiser for the Movement Voter Project. On June 11th,
we are co-sponsoring, with First Parish, a talk with Chuck Collins and Jay
Kaufman on how inequality and democracy are on a collision course.
The midterm elections are shaping up not simply as a chance to take power in
the House and Senate but to lay the groundwork for what our country might
become in the years after 2028. If we are to preserved a multi-racial democracy in the United States, we must start with this years election.
We began our standouts in the spring of 2025, when institutions all around us — law firms,
the media, universities, even our own representatives — weakened in the face
of authoritarianism. Eager to avoid conflict, some raced to walk back their
commitments to justice, equality, and American diversity — the foundational
promise of our country.
In the face of this failure, we found we could only depend on ourselves. We
were far more outraged than our leaders. The No Kings movement was born.
At the Democratic State convention, we hoped to sell signs (we didn’t), but we did sell buttons and gave out all our literature. We talked with delegates from across the
state. When people asked who we were, we said “a local resistance
organization.” Again and again, delegates told us they agreed or had signs in their yard.
From the podium we heard positions nearly everyone in that hall supports —
protect health care, raise the minimum wage, build housing, restore our
constitutional democracy. What we did not hear was how. Even if Democrats
retake Congress this fall, Trump holds the presidency for two more years, and
a hostile Supreme Court stands ready to block much of what passes. Positions
alone are no longer the test. It is how you will use the power you have.
The divide that matters now is not left versus center. It is between leaders
who know we are in a constitutional emergency that demands new thinking, and
those conducting business as usual who cannot think outside the box.
This is where we felt there was a constituency at the convention — a minority, to be sure — who understood something new was needed.
Just as we knew that the call for No Kings / No Tyranny reflected the values
of our community on Patriots’ Day, we need to build power so we never again
see our institutions and government captured by billionaires who treat the
rest of us as disposable in their pursuit of even more wealth.
So as election season begins, here is our standard. We will look for forceful
candidates — and measure them by three questions. What do they stand for?
How, specifically, will they use every lever of power to enact these ideas and renew
our democracy? And what are they doing with the power they hold today to
resist abuses and root out corruption?
In a deep blue state, we know our direct votes will not be decisive. But we
are a center of democratic thinking. Candidates come here for funds. Katherine
Clarke, our representative, is the second-ranking Democrat in the House. We and
our allies can shift the Overton window of what’s possible.
Working out what these questions mean — how we can use grassroots power so
the Democratic Party becomes more aggressive and successful — is the work of
our new Elections Task Force, and the focus of our monthly meeting on
Wednesday, June 10, at 7 PM. Come join the conversation in person or on Zoom.
RSVP here if you wish a zoom link.
(Photo: Photo: Black Voters Matter, voting rights rally in Montgomery, Alabama, 5/17/2026. (Credit: photojones.co)- From MVP)
