WE WON’T BACK DOWN
Celinda Lake/Jen Ancona/Mike Podhorzer! 1st fundraiser in NYC! WhatsApp Training!
Lara Trump stood onstage recently and belted out Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” despite the cease-and-desist to the Trump campaign in 2020: “Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together.”
How grotesque to see Petty’s poetry co-opted by the very forces he stood against. Makes me think about why this song matters now more than ever.
“I won’t back down"
That’s the line – nothing fancy. Simple. Stark. It’s the choice we face right now: cede this country to fascists, or stand our ground.
“You can stand me up at the gates of hell”
And that’s where we are today. At the gates. On the brink. They want us to shrink, to surrender, to decide it’s easier not to fight. But not Tom:
“And I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down”
Are we going to let them drag America into darkness, or will we hold the line?
As the Petty family said: “Tom wrote this song for the underdog, for the common man and for EVERYONE.”
So let’s reclaim the anthem. Let’s register and mobilize as many blue voters as we can. Let’s honor the wishes of the Petty family who said: “We believe in America and we believe in democracy. But Donald Trump is not representing the noble ideals of either.”
Every voter registration is a musical note. Every ballot, a song. Every election, a chorus. And between now and the midterms, we're going to sing with all we got:
“Well, I know what's right
I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground
And I won't back down”
Lend your voice. Lend your time. Lend your energy. Together, we won’t back down.
– Gregg Millman, Field Team 6 Newsletter Team
Here are a couple things (among the many, many options) to do coming up this next week and beyond:
#1 – TODAY, watch the recording of last weeks’— Cirque du Democracy - a FT6 Volunteer Staff Fair. You have always been the stars of our circus.
Important! We’re looking for behind-the-scenes volunteers to help with 11 different teams as we build the capacity of our in-person voter registration drive program we’re calling the Great Registration Race. Find the list of teams that still need you HERE.
#2 – Sunday, September 7 at 1p PT / 4p ET. Learn to register Democrats, the Field Team 6 way! It's the #1 most direct, effective way to swing elections – and it's incredibly fun. You'll leave the call fired up, and knowing all you need to lead your own voter drive! Click HERE to RSVP!
Bonus video.
Bonus WhatsApp training.
I won’t back down either Field Team 6!