The Morning Cup: The Ground Is Moving

Good morning folks.

If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this week, it’s this: the political ground underneath this country is moving.

Not hypothetically. Not someday. Right now.

Progressive campaigns are punching above their weight. Democratic voters are showing up. ICE is facing growing resistance. And with the midterms getting closer by the day, the political environment surrounding Donald Trump is getting considerably more dangerous for Republicans.

So grab your cup. Here’s what I’m watching this morning.

1. The Tacoma ICE hunger strike is now drawing congressional scrutiny

This is the story I’m watching closest here at home.

A hunger strike is underway at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where detained immigrants are protesting conditions inside the facility. Members of Congress are now investigating the situation.

And there’s another major question hanging over the facility: ICE may soon negotiate to take more direct control of the privately operated detention center.

That matters.

People do not refuse food inside a detention center because everything is going fine. Hunger strikes are one of the few forms of power available to people whose freedom has already been taken from them.

And this is happening right here in Washington state.

I’ll be continuing to follow this one closely.

2. Democratic voters are sending a message: they want CHANGE

Look at what just happened across the country.

Michigan. Minnesota. Wisconsin. Connecticut.

The common thread isn’t simply “progressive versus moderate.” Democratic voters are increasingly rejecting stale leadership and looking for candidates who represent generational and political change.

Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan’s victory in Minnesota are now part of a much larger national story about where Democratic voters are moving.

And remember what makes this especially important:

These candidates aren’t necessarily winning because they have the biggest institutional machines behind them.

They’re building grassroots coalitions around affordability, healthcare, housing, workers and an economic system that millions of Americans increasingly believe isn’t working for them.

The establishment can debate what to call it.

Voters are calling it change.

3. Democratic primary turnout is SURGING

This might be one of the most important stories heading toward November.

Democratic participation in this year’s primaries has jumped dramatically in several states.

Wisconsin and Michigan recorded their highest Democratic midterm primary participation in more than two decades, while turnout has also risen significantly elsewhere.

Now comes the important part.

That energy has to survive until November.

A fired-up primary electorate doesn’t automatically translate into winning congressional majorities. Republicans still have structural advantages on parts of the congressional map, and Democrats have absolutely no room for complacency.

But people are showing up.

People are paying attention.

People are pissed off.

That’s political fuel.

The question is whether Democrats actually know how to use it.

4. Democrats are openly fighting over the future of ICE

Something pretty remarkable happened at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting.

Democrats approved two competing non-binding resolutions on ICE: one supporting reform of the agency and another calling for its abolition.

That tells you everything about where this debate currently stands.

The old conversation about immigration enforcement is breaking apart.

After aggressive enforcement operations and fatal encounters involving ICE officers, pressure from the progressive wing isn’t disappearing. It’s getting louder.

And this isn’t some abstract Washington debate for communities experiencing raids, detention and deportation.

We’re watching that reality unfold right here in Washington.

The Democratic Party is eventually going to have to answer a much bigger question than whether ICE needs better policies.

What should immigration enforcement in America actually look like?

That debate has officially arrived.

5. Trump has a midterm problem

November is getting closer.

And the environment surrounding Donald Trump is increasingly ugly.

Trump is facing growing political pressure over the economy, the war with Iran and his administration’s priorities, while Republicans are staring at an energized Democratic electorate heading toward the midterms.

This is why I keep hammering the same point:

Do not treat these midterms like a normal election.

Every organizing drive matters.

Every registration drive matters.

Every congressional race matters.

Every state legislative race matters.

Every person who normally sits out a midterm matters.

There are only a few months left before Americans decide who controls Congress.

That is not a lot of time.

But it is enough time.

One More Sip

Something is happening in American politics.

You can see it in Michigan.

You can see it in Minnesota.

You can see it in record primary participation.

You can see it in grassroots candidates building campaigns without massive establishment machines.

And you can see it when detained people inside an ICE facility in Tacoma decide the only remaining tool they have to demand that somebody listen is their own bodies.

None of these stories exists in isolation.

They’re all pieces of the same larger fight over who gets power, who gets heard and what kind of country comes out the other side of this moment.

There are 79 days until Election Day.

Use them.

Stay loud. Stay involved. And I’ll keep watching the stories that deserve more attention.

This has been your Morning Cup.

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See you tomorrow morning.

Sean