44 Democratic town and ward committees across Massachusetts signed an open letter April 9 calling on party leaders to take stronger action against the Trump administration’s agenda.
The letter, initiated by the Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee, stemmed from a December proposal to unite committees across the state in urging Democratic officials to take action to “save our democracy and our federal government,” said Ward 4 Democratic Committee Co-Chair Carol Lasky.
“We just started as a local group of wards in getting together and really trying to make ourselves more … impactful,” said Christopher Freiss, co-chair of Boston’s Ward 10 Democratic Committee, which signed the letter.
The letter consists of six demands: replacing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, withholding unanimous consent in the Senate, invoking quorums to stall legislation, defending marginalized communities and improving party leadership representation, organizing a “road-show” to Republican districts to discuss Trump’s policies and forming a Democratic “shadow cabinet” to counter GOP narratives in real time.
Some committees faced difficulty in getting all members on the same side to sign the letter, such as the Medfield Democratic Town Committee.
“The majority voted to sign on to the letter, but we had several people, a sort of sizable minority that really appreciated the concept of the letter but did not like the language in some spots, feeling it was hyperbolic,” Chair of the Medfield DTC Becca Kornet said.
Alpha Barry, leader of BU Young Americans for Freedom, said the demands are “impossible” and “shows the incompetence of the left.”
Barry added the signers are “doing activism for the sake of activism.”
Still, signers defended their approach and called on all Democrats to take action.
“Do something. Every one of us do something. Just one little thing every day,” said Robert Binney, chair of the Ward 5 Boston Democratic Committee, who is the only one from his committee who signed the letter. “Maybe it’ll have an enormous impact across the country.”
For the letter’s first demand, Democratic committees expressed strong support for the call to replace Schumer and pursue new congressional leadership.
“I think that Democrat leadership has failed utterly,” said Robert Eckstut, chair of the Cambridge Ward 4 Democratic Committee. “The first thing that you ought to do is change leadership.”
John Crean, chair of the Mildford Democratic Town Committee, described the current Democratic leadership as “selfish.”
“They’re not doing what they need to do in order to protect our country,” he said. “They haven’t done it for a long time. Therefore, we’re in the situation we’re in right now.”
Barry saw a replacement of party leadership as pointless, as replacing Schumer, he said, would leave the Democrats with another “Schumer-esque” leader regardless.
“We are rightfully claiming a collective voice, locally, citywise, statewide, federal and within the party, and we want to see bold, decisive action,” Lasky said. “There needs to be a case made on all those levels that demands attention.”
Progressive Massachusetts Policy Director Jonathan Cohn said he wanted to see more action and commitment from Democratic leaders.
“We need people to … commit to organizing their cause,” said Cohn, who also serves as secretary for the Ward 4 Democrats. “Especially for those who are in the Senate, where there are more tools available for them … to kind of delay things they should be taking full advantage of them,”
In regards to Democratic efforts stalling the GOP, local leaders were divided on the impact of Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech. Robert Eckstut, chair of Cambridge Ward 4 Democratic Committee, described the speech as performative.
Similarly, Jen Heck, chair of the Sutton Democratic Town Committee, said the speech was performative but also impactful.
“Trump himself is performative,” Heck said. “That is the state of the world. Everything is performance.”
Another demand signatories found impactful was the organization of town hall meetings in GOP districts.
“The reason that I love the idea of organizing a road show to competitive GOP House and Senate districts is because we are already seeing day-by-day evidence that is working,” Lasky said.
While the letter is addressed to the “Massachusetts Congressional Delegation,” some signatures still expressed pride in certain elected officials, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
“I am very proud of our senators,” said Anne Rousseau, co-chair of Boston’s Ward 11 Democratic Committee. “On the other hand, most of our congressional delegation has been silent or muted or absent, and that is very disappointing.”
Cohn said the party must commit to core values as it pushes back against the Republican agenda.
“The future pathway does not lie in scapegoating communities but in standing strongly in favor of values and protecting the interest of working families, whatever they look like and wherever they came from,” Cohn said.
