Cure for Anti-Trump Blues: Three Parks Independent Democrats

I’ve had a headache for the past eight years. Ever since Donald Trump became president. And it won’t go away unless and until Kamala Harris wins the presidency on November 5th. The only thing that has kept me from getting a Migraine during this time is Three Parks Independent Democrats, my local Democratic Club on the Upper West Side.

  In 2011, upon my retirement from my fundraising job, I joined Three Parks Democrats. The club was operating a campaign storefront on Broadway to help Obama/Biden win the 2012 presidential election.  We staffed canvassing trips to Pennsylvania, made phone calls to voters who were undecided, wrote postcards to Democrats in swing states reminding them to vote.  On Election night, 2021, we had a champagne party for the volunteers and cheered the success of our efforts. It was a thrilling experience.

  For the following presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, I co-managed the 2016 campaign storefront. Again, Three Parks operated and staffed the campaign activities that would help Clinton-Kaine win the election. On Election Night, we held a champagne party for all the volunteers, and were looking forward to popping the bottles, when the results came in: Trump had won. We were devastated.

  Slowly but surely, the Trump presidency came to an end. In 2020, Biden/Harris  trumped Trump/Pence. Covid had prevented Three Parks from operating a presidential storefront but we supported the Democratic ticket by hosting tables up and down Broadway, enlisting volunteers to write thousands of postcards and make hundreds of phone calls. Three Parks members felt grateful to be doing something for the Democratic cause, sure that the Trump years were behind us.

  But we were wrong. Trump resurrected himself amid an avalanche of lies, denying he lost the election and professing that if one lied consistently and long enough, the lies would become truth. Millions of voters believed him, but more millions of others did not, including the members of Three Parks Democrats. During Biden’s presidency, Three Parks has worked diligently and steadily to promote progressive Democratic candidates running for office in New York City, New York State, and across the country. As much as we supported and loved Joe Biden, we knew the time had come to step down and pass the baton to Kamala Harris.

  This year Three Parks Democrats will operate and staff a 2024 presidential center on the Upper West Side to support the Harris-Walz ticket . From September 3 through Election Day. All hands will be on deck to organize canvassing trips to swing areas throughout New York and Pennsylvania, and writing postcards and making phone calls to Get-Out-The-Vote. Just like we’ve done in past for presidential elections and for local elections, too.

  Three Parks Democrats has become my extended family. It’s the work the club does, and the many wonderful friends and colleagues I have made, that have kept me sane through the recent politically turbulent years. I have known many who have come close to giving up hope that Trump could be defeated; I, too, have had similar moments. But the 2024 Harris-Walz ticket and the Democratic National Convention have been inspirational and reassuring; they have given me hope.

  I’m looking forward to my headache going away by Election Day night.