Resistance to Trump takes some cues from the tea party – The San Diego Union-Tribune
Three times every day, now and for the foreseeable future, Brina Bujkovsky is placingcalls to Washington D.C. one to her representative in Congress and one to each of her U.S. senators.
So do thousands of other members of Together We Will, one of a number of activist groups that sprouted up in recent weeks to target President Donald Trump and representatives who support him.
The phone calls, which have overwhelmed switchboard operators at the House of Representatives more than once, are one of the tools activists are using to try to regain a foothold in turbulent political times.
They are demanding town-hall meetings, they picket outside congressional offices and they write letters to editors. Their efforts bring to mind many of the same tactics used by the conservative tea party eight years ago.
In recent days, they bought a full-page newspaper ad to try to dragoon Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, to a town hall in his district Tuesday night even though it was likely to be packed with critics.
Instead, Issa made an impromptu appearance as protesters and supporters clashed outside his Vista office Tuesday morning, taking questions from both sides.
The call for town halls has also arisen in East County, where thegroup circulated a mock wanted poster of Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, accusing him of going AWOL onconstituents.
Were trying to shed light on the fact that our Congress members are not making themselves available to speak with their constituents, said Bujkovsky, a San Marcos business owner who is coordinating Together We Wills activities in Hunters 50th Congressional District. A lot of people feel like its an emergency situation.
Hunter has said he will host a community meeting next month.
The wave of activism washing across San Diego County and elsewhere largely centers on the Trump campaign pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 legislation known as Obamacare.
The resistance movement also focuses on other initiatives pushed by the new president since he was sworn in last month, including immigration policy, climate change regulations and controversial Cabinet nominations.
Many of their strategies come from Indivisible, a playbook for political activism developed by former congressional staffers who watched the tea party movement take root soon after Barack Obama moved into the White House.
The current political landscape is similar to the atmosphere that ignited the tea party after the 2008 election. Eight years ago there was a Democrat in the White House and Democrats running the House and Senate. There is still one party rule, but Republicans are the ones in charge this time.
Like us, you probably deeply disagree with the principles and positions of the tea party, Indivisibles handbook for grassroots activism says. But we can all learn from their success in influencing the national debate and the behavior of national policymakers. To their credit, they thought thoroughly about advocacy tactics.
The handbook gives activists advice on where to sit at town hall meetings (spread out through the room to give the impression of broad support),how to hold a microphone when asking a hostile question (tightly, so that a staffer cant cut the interrogation short without appearing physically aggressive) and to how to get called on to ask a question (look neutral).
Both movements developed their own vernacular, with tea party members labeling Obama a socialist and Trump supporters being called fascists.
The Indivisible guide, which takes its name from a key word in the Pledge of Allegiance, has been downloaded more than 1.7 million times in recent weeks. Almost 5,000 community groups have been set up under its direction.
We want to take something thats really dark right now, with a lot of looming threats all over the place, and turn it into some positive progress, said Kathy Stadler of Indivisible San Diego, one of the local chapters that emerged from the nationwide model.
Iman Salehian is a graphic designer from San Diego who works with Swing Left, an organization focused on electing more progressive candidates to Congress in 2018 and beyond. She said she became involved with Indivisible after attending the Womens March in January.
I did read an Indivisible guide, Salehian said. I think that has formed a lot of people's strategies going forward.
The various resistance efforts are generating a lot of attention locally and nationally, which may contribute to outcomes such as Issa coming out to hear the people outside his office Tuesday for more than an hour.
No matter what side of the political spectrum youre on, people are worried about what the future holds for their health care, Issa told the crowd.
The hubbub outside Issas office was part of a broader effort targeting members of Congress across the nation.
So-called Resist Trump Tuesday protests have been staged in scores of communities every week since the inauguration. Some meetings hosted by Republican members of Congress have showcased angry voters and pushed some lawmakers to cancel or leave early.
Longtime political strategist Bob Shrum said he has not seen the Democratic Party so energized since the Vietnam War. He said that if the momentum keeps up, turnout for the midterm election will soar.
People really care, and they are reacting to events, said Shrum, who teaches political science at the University of Southern California. Republican members of Congress, especially in districts that are reasonably competitive, ignore this at their own peril.
Shrum said the Trump resistance is similar to the tea party not only because participants employ many of the same strategies but because they each grew out of public concern over access to health care. But this latest movement, he said, is more organic.
This is spontaneous, he said. Its like the womens march. This is coming from grass roots. Its coming from the bottom up. The tea party was a mix. It was somewhat from the bottom up but there was a lot corporate money spent too.
Former tea party leader Mason Weaver does not see many similarities between the two efforts. He said the Trump resistance is fueled by an orchestrated drive to de-legitimize a change-agent president and noted the violence that has erupted at some recent protests.
We didnt get paid to demonstrate. We didnt break windows. We didnt start fires, said Weaver, who is an author and keynote speaker. I dont see a groundswell. I see liberal-trained people who are generally dissatisfied.
Weaver said the town-hall meetings his teams attended were always respectful.
Disallowing people to talk was never part of the tea party, he said. Many of these folks are just organized as a mob.
Hundreds of people are expected to attend upcoming events by Hunter and Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego.
And Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, held a town hall at constituents urging on Monday night. He said it used to be difficult to get people interested in attending such gatherings.
Unfortunately, it took the election of Donald Trump to remind people that we are fighting for democracy, Peters said.
At the town hall without Issa Tuesday night,Vista resident Minna Riber, 75, said she has not been political since the civil rights movement in the 1960s but she is now.
If I drop dead right now, I know I would have done something I had to do, she said standing outside theoverflow event in Vista. We are a participatory democracy. This is what democracy looks like.
Staff writers Teri Figueroa and J. Harry Jones contributed to this report
jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com(619)293-1708@sdutMcDonald
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Resistance to Trump takes some cues from the tea party - The San Diego Union-Tribune