In 2020, when I told people that I was building a pro-democracy media outlet, people thought I was kidding. Donald Trump was entering the last year of his first term. COVID was not yet a pandemic. Joe Biden was in the process of securing the Democratic nomination.

The economy, global affairs and Trump’s erratic behavior in office were all central campaign themes. Soon, the pandemic and a growing racial justice movement would dominate the campaign. Democracy was an issue, but mostly in broad strokes and in the backdrop.

I thought it needed to be front and center. As we headed into 2020, I was deeply concerned that corporate media was ignoring the GOP’s nascent attacks on free and fair elections that would soon come to dominate the 2020 elections. I decided that if the mainstream media would not offer pro-democracy news, information and analysis, I would.

So, with little more than a personal email list and the support of a few people who believed in the idea, Democracy Docket launched in March of that year.

From the moment Donald Trump was elected in 2016, I had been telling everyone who would listen that he was an authoritarian and that the fight for democracy was the fight of our time. At first, most people ignored me. They assumed that because I had worked for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, I was just a partisan or needed time to get over her defeat.

Yet, over time, my concerns about the threat to free and fair elections only deepened. Slowly but surely, others who had initially been skeptical started to listen. 

Then came the aftermath of the 2020 election. As people watched the violent Jan. 6 insurrection unfold, it's clear my predictions seemed prescient and alarms warranted. Election denialism had officially begun, and a new Republican ideology was born. 

Republicans use this fundamental lie — The Big Lie — to justify all types of anti-democratic behaviors and policies. Falsely claiming elections are stolen, allows Republicans to suppress voters, disregard the Constitution and support Trump seizing control of elections.

When Trump was elected a second time, I sounded an even louder alarm: Trump’s aspirations to be a dictator were real.  I worried about the lack of courage from our leaders and large institutions.

This time, I explained, standing up to Trump was going to be more dangerous but even more necessary.We needed a sustained opposition movement, and I was worried about the lack of courage from our leaders and large institutions. Once again, the naysayers dismissed these warnings as overblown and unnecessarily dramatic.

Well, here we are.

There are active-duty Marines deployed in our nation’s second largest city. Thousands of federal workers are being fired and entire agencies are on the verge of collapsing. Trump is rolling tanks through Washington, D.C. on his birthday.

Democratic members of Congress are being investigated and arrested for doing their jobs. Today, Sen. Padilla was hand-cuffed for asking Kristi Noem a question. Yesterday, Rep. McIver was indicted for visiting an immigration detention center. 

I write newsletters, I publish videos, I speak out everywhere I can for the same reason I fight hard in court: To protect our democracy from the urgent threats it faces.

Democracy Docket now has a staff of 18. It has more than 420,000 newsletter subscribers. Many more read its website content. It is approaching 450,000 YouTube subscribers, where millions watch its videos each month.

I no longer expect legacy media to do its part. It is too weak, too compromised from years of pulling its punches. This is what Donald Trump wants. This is how he expects to win. This is how democracy dies.

So, every day, each of us must do our part. For me, that remains in courthouses and in the court of public opinion. Every time I stand up in court it is an honor to represent my amazing clients. It is just as much an honor to be in your inboxes and newsfeeds each week.

Now, more than ever, we must ignore the critics who say our concerns are not warranted, just as we must tune out the cynics who say there is nothing we can do. We are all in this together. 

A wise woman once said, “When we fight, we win.” I still believe that to be true. I know we’re facing an uphill battle, but we will find victory at top.