That energy has a familiar feel:
Look around and you might see it: the telltale signs that the #Resistance has been born again.
A-list celebs are rallying for and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris; Zoom calls of Black, Latino, female, and young voters are reaching capacity; the coconut-tree and brat memes keep coming. Even cringe and earnest #Resist merch is back — now in the form of organic Kamala Harris merch.
The political movement that materialized organically, protested policy decisions, and eventually helped end Donald Trump’s presidency may now be taking on a second political life with the goal of not just beating Trump, but electing the first woman president.
None of this was a sure thing. Just a few months ago it looked a lot like the anti-Trump #Resistance was dead.
Progressive organizers and activists were exhausted; Trump fatigue had settled in. And voters of all kinds were tuned out and unenthusiastic about the candidate choices they had.
That dynamic has flipped — for now. But what remains uncertain is whether this energy can mobilize record numbers of voters like it did in 2020, or if it exists in a bit of an echo chamber, like the energy that fired up Hillary Clinton’s hardcore supporters but failed to produce a winning coalition…
they are primarily being organized by the same kinds of activist groups and organizations that were important during the rise of the original #Resistance — groups like Run for Something, Indivisible, Moms Demand Action, and Swing Left. Many function independently of any official Democratic campaign or the party itself. Others are newer, like Voters of Tomorrow or Gen Z for Change, which focus on reaching younger voters, or are issuing their first political endorsements, like March for our Lives.
The author questions whether this is just happening in the Progressive bubble. I don’t know, but I kind if doubt it. It does feel like “The Resistance” emerging but it’s combined with more than a touch of Obamamania. That seems potent to me.