Prologue
For the 2024 presidential campaign, I moved to Arizona for five weeks to knock on doors and organize volunteers. We broke state door-knocking records because we built connections across different perspectives. When I came home, I sat down to write a reflection that I've been sitting on because it never felt like “enough.” But since I truly believe it's about getting into action, I’m finally sharing it...
Nearly 200 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville traveled across America and discovered that our democracy's strength wasn't just in our laws, but in our "habits of the heart:" how we treated each other, built community, and showed up for one another.
Today, we seem to have gotten out of the habit of anything to do with the heart.
Since coming back from the campaign trail, I've been asking myself the same question I hear from so many of you: What the heck is happening to our country? And what can we DO about it?
That's why I relaunched my People in Common podcast. I want to help us understand what's really happening and find specific, powerful ways WE can make a difference.
The Heart of Our Problem
Let's be real: our democracy is in trouble. And I believe the fundamental problem is what Mother Teresa named: "We have forgotten that we belong to each other."
When we stop seeing our neighbors as people we're connected to, when we tune out, retreat to our corners, and leave democracy to "the government," we lose our power.
Tocqueville saw this danger when he described people who "think that such things have nothing to do with them...They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership."
Sound familiar?
Today the corollary is doomscrolling on our phones, hoping someone else will show up to the school board meeting or run for office.
Taking Action Together
Things feel overwhelming. I get it.
I had to explain to my kids that sometimes you give everything you've got and you still don't win. But I'm proud of what we built, and I'm proud to show them that you fight for what you believe in, win or lose. That's the lesson that I want them to carry with them.
We're in this together, and I’m committed to keep on going.
Since coming back from the campaign, I've nervously spoken at my first school board meeting, taken my kids to marches, and organized a family dance at my children's school. Nothing fills my heart like a great DJ, delicious tacos, and multi-generational families dancing together!
These seemingly small actions matter because there are so many ripple effects. Put another way by podcast guest and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Father Greg Boyle in our 'We Belong to Each Other' episode: "Love is the answer, community the context, tenderness the methodology."
If there's one thing I've learned from years of bringing people together, whether it’s on the dance floor or launching the Giving Pledge or organizing volunteers on campaigns: We are so much more powerful together than we could ever be alone.
Finding Hope Together
Democracy isn't just something that happens in Washington. It's in how we connect with each other every day. As Tocqueville noted 200 years ago, what makes America special is how we come together in neighborhoods, churches, schools, clubs, and civic groups.
One of the absolute best parts of my 2024 election experience was the Allbright family, who without knowing me, opened their Arizona home to me for five weeks so I could work on the campaign. They demonstrated what grassroots democracy looks like: with welcome messages, homemade meals, and genuine relationships built on shared humanity. I learned so much from their gift for connecting across political divides. Check out Open Door, Open Heart: How Mel Allbright Shows Up for Democracy.
My favorite novelist Barbara Kingsolver puts it beautifully: "The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance, but live right in it, under its roof."
Our hope is a more inclusive, just democracy where we all feel we belong. And as Maya Angelou reminds us: "Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay."
So I'm inviting hope in, through my podcast, through local action, through showing up for my neighbors.
I invite you to join me.
What We Can Actually DO Right Now
Today, start a real conversation as we're gathered around picnic tables and BBQs.
Not about who's right or wrong. About what you're actually going to DO.
Here are questions worth asking, drawn from the people I've interviewed on People in Common:
"Who in your life has their freedom restricted right now - and what would it take to change that?"
(Inspired by Desmond Meade, author of "Let My People Vote"and our ‘How to Win With Love’ episode)
"What is something you can do before November to strengthen democracy where you live?"
(Inspired by Kelly Ward Burton in our ‘Do Democracy to Save Democracy’ episode and Marshall Ganz in our ‘Values in Action: The Craft of Democratic Organizing’ episode).
"What is your one thing?"
(Inspired by Col. Pam Stevenson, who made me cry when she put it this way: "Who are you standing for? You don't have to do everything. Just do one thing. One thing that gives you joy. One thing that fills your soul. One thing that's of use to another human. One thing."
That's what People in Common is about.
Let's talk about what's happening, find the solutions that work, and take action together.
