1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to embrace bold, progressive leadership as we approach the November midterm elections. The current political moment demands more than business-as-usual policy retreats. It requires what I call radical Americanism: remembering our fundamental values while embracing new policies for the common good and a genuinely progressive future. Abraham Lincoln reminded us at Gettysburg that we have unfinished work to ensure government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. That work is urgent today. We face coordinated attacks on the rule of law, free speech, equality, and free and fair elections. ICE and Border Patrol agents have abandoned legal principles. The Justice Department has arrested journalists and pursued vindictive prosecutions. The Trump administration has pursued policies that demonize people of color, reject diversity and inclusion, and deny historical truths to advance white nationalism. Ongoing campaigns continue to break public trust in our election system. George Washington warned in his 1796 Farewell Address that cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled leaders would exploit disorders and miseries to advance their own power. He emphasized that public opinion must be enlightened through the diffusion of knowledge. We see this warning realized in leaders who prefer the uneducated and attack higher education institutions. As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said at Davos, the old order is not coming back, and nostalgia is not a strategy. I need you to commit to a progressive future that includes breaking the oligarchy, holding the criminal elite accountable, and pursuing policies that celebrate diversity and expand equality. This will require new and more forceful leadership, fearlessness, and innovative ideas to ensure Democratic victory in November and beyond. The promise of Jefferson and Lincoln demands we move closer to genuine equality and justice. I ask that you champion bold progressive policies and reject incrementalism as we head into these critical midterm elections.