Messages from the Chair

Time to Change the Tone

The growing pushback

Dear SLO County Democrats and friends:
 
Let's acknowledge the growing movement to push back against the MAGA regime's spreading authoritarianism. To those who have taken to the streets of SLO County so far, we salute you. To those who haven't yet, we invite you. No, we beseech you – Please join the ever-growing number of your neighbors, friends, and families as we take to the streets to defend and protect our freedoms. (Look here for coming events you can join.)
 
TIME FOR A CHANGE OF TONE
 
The words we use are important. Do they convey a positive vision for the future, or just emphasize our fears? Do they repeat MAGA talking points or do they provide an alternative framework? Do they emphasize the values we hold dear, or just what we oppose?
 
Indigenous leaders around the world have led successful movements against aggression and oppression by framing their fight not as protest, but as protecting and defending their values, principles, and way of life. Think of the fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline, led by Indigenous water defenders and land protectors. The water defenders of El Salvador brought down an international mining company. Native Hawaiian land defenders stopped development of the sacred mountain Mauna Kea.
 
I'd humbly suggest to all SLO County activists—Indivisible, 50501, every SLO County Democratic Party club, and everyone else who’s in this fight—that we adopt similar framing. Let’s rally in the streets not to oppose, but to defend and protect what matters. Let’s post about our values and our vision for the future we want, not just the latest MAGA outrage.

In our street actions, social media posts, and day-to-day conversations, let’s consider a shift in language from negative to positive. Rather than focusing solely on our opposition or disagreement, let’s talk about safeguarding the things we value most -- our freedoms. 

• The freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water.

• The freedom to have a stable, affordable roof over our heads.

• The freedom to be cared for when we’re sick, without fear of going bankrupt.

• The freedom to learn in fully funded, high-quality public schools.

• The freedom to have an equal say in the decisions that impact our lives.

• The freedom to leave a better life behind for our children, grandchildren, and future generations. 

Black, brown or white, Native or newcomer, we all deserve the freedom to thrive.

Yours in unity,

Tom Fulks

Chair SLOCDP | chair@slocdp.org

To all our SLO County Democrats:

Trump and the MAGA mob want us unnerved, on our heels, struggling to keep up with their constant cruelty, outrage, and idiocy.

They want us disoriented, unable to figure out how to respond, what to do, where to begin. They want us to panic, to be afraid.

The SLO County Democratic Party won’t succumb to fear. We won’t obey. We’re not afraid to act.

There’s a lot we can and will do to fight back right here at home in SLO County, and we’ll to need your help to pull it off. Read on for what the SLOCDP is thinking and planning.

What’s Going On?

First, let’s recognize this onslaught of insanity from D.C. is the opening salvo of Project 2025, which is a declaration of war against American democracy, our core values as a nation, and our personal safety and well-being.   

They aim to wreck our government, destroy our will to resist, and hand our country over to billionaire oligarchs and their puppet dictator – just like they’ve done in Russia, Hungary, and Turkey. The gangsters in the White House, their lapdogs in Congress, and their creepy tech-bro buddies won’t succeed.

Oh, they’ll try. But standing in their way is us, regular Americans who love our country and have no intention of quitting it. Giving in to fascists and dictators is not in our DNA – not before, not now, not ever.

Each of us – individually and collectively – has the power to stop them. Together, united, we can and we will. And we’ll start right here at home.

Here’s our Plan

The SLO County Democratic Party won’t indulge the MAGA shock troops and their failed strategy to overwhelm us with constant outrage. We won’t be intimidated by their ridiculous truck rallies, oversize MAGA flags, and strutting as if they own the place.

We’ll fight back locally against the chaos. We’ll act to protect our local democratic institutions and leaders, show up when we’re needed, organize to prevent harm to targeted communities, and demonstrate just how malignant the MAGA movement really is.

We’ll use a Block and Build Strategy to defend our coastal communities from commercial exploitation, defend our schools from book-burners and hate-mongers, and defend our neighbors and workers from deportation and family separation.

We aim to build a broad, resilient coalition across lines of difference, grow our SLO County Democratic Party, and prepare for the 2026 elections.

Our unifying purpose will be to defend our District 2 and District 4 seats on the County Board of Supervisors, protect and expand our City Council and School Board majorities, take new seats and build new majorities where we don’t have them now.

We’re working from a position of strength!

Remember that we have a Democratic majority in SLO County and the political power that comes with it!

• Trump lost SLO County by 11 points in 2024, 13 points in 2020, and 8 points in 2016. This is not MAGA country – by any stretch.

• Democrats hold both of SLO County’s congressional seats, both of the state Senate seats, both of the state Assembly seats, and the majority on the County Board of Supervisors.

• Last November, we successfully defended our majorities on the SLO City Council, Grover Beach City Council, Arroyo Grande City Council, and we won a seat on the Paso Robles City Council.

• We booted a MAGA member from the San Luis Coastal school board, and defended two key seats on the Lucia Mar school board from a well-funded attack by Moms for Liberty extremists.

We’re winning, we’re strong, we’re united – and we know it. We’re not afraid of MAGA fanatics and we’ll take them on anytime, anywhere.

We can only do this work together, and we’ll need your help. Let’s all pull together towards our common goals.
 
Click here to get involved now.
 
And if you’re able, I hope you’ll donate today to support our fight to resist the MAGA movement here in SLO County.

Yours in unity,

Tom Fulks

Chair SLOCDP | chair@slocdp.org