Note from the Author: We shared this letter to a handful of our most active supporters and donors on Friday. The response was so overwhelming, we decided to take down the paywall and open it to all of our readers. Thank you for supporting Lincoln Square.
It’s Friday evening, and I’m thinking about how hard it’s been to be an American for a good part of the last 10 years.
Looking back—from the dark shock of Donald Trump’s first term through the agonizing slide of our American experiment—there have been moments when the weight felt almost too heavy to bear. We watched the fast decline of our democracy, a descent into hate and darkness so thick you could cut it with a knife.
For years, a heavy black cloud has hung over America, and every single one of us has carried the quiet heartbreak in our daily lives. The disappointment in friends, the strain with family, the painful decision to let go of relationships we once cherished. How many times did you look at a neighbor—someone you liked, someone who used to wave across the driveway, but now they wave a Trump flag—and feel that disturbing thought in the back of your mind: They are one of them.
We endured years of open, unabashed hatred—the “both sides” nonsense after Charlottesville, calling Mexican immigrants “vermin,” and watching people applaud ICE raids on our hardworking Latino neighbors. We saw horrific lies targeted at Haitians, the gutting of TPS and DACA, relentless attacks on the trans community, and now, tens of millions poured into fueling Islamophobia.
It’s been a targeted assault on the vulnerable, communities of color, women, and minorities, set against a backdrop of Project 2025 threats, skyrocketing grocery bills, economic dread, existential worries over AI, weakened national security, and an ongoing war on our environment during a worsening climate crisis.
It felt like the cruelty would never break.
But tonight, the tide finally turned.
I can feel hope coming back.
As it turns out, that hate is not who America is... and there are more of us than there are of them
We are turning out to be better than this. The American people are actively rebuking the hundreds of millions in dark-money propaganda designed to “keep hate great.” The American people are rejecting the racism, the lies, the promises, and the corruption. America is waking up to the damage done to our lives from Trump’s policies and his dark agenda for America.
The polls show it, the momentum shows it, and the American people have simply had enough.
People are waking up. When folks learn the facts that dispute the lies—when they see what legacy media isn’t reporting—they get outraged, they get mobilized, and they fight back. America wants decency. America wants civility, peace, honesty, and our fundamental rights restored.
Just look at what’s happening:
The Momentum: Democrats have flipped 31 House and state seats from red to blue, pushing races from “Likely Republican” into dead-heat toss-ups. New, exciting and progressive faces are leading in the polls, ready to deliver huge upsets to the establishment and to MAGA Republicans who have held seats for a decade or more.
The Polls: Trump’s approval ratings have hit record lows, and Democrats are positioned with a real, tangible chance to take back the House, the Senate, and flip Republican governorships and State Houses.
The Pushback: From red states to key swing districts, Republicans, independents, and everyday Americans are pushing back. People are tired of the constant war, tired of the hate, tired of getting sick from contaminated produce and beef, tired of lacking healthcare, and tired of worrying about the future.
The Payback: Americans are demanding accountability. They’re watching the self-dealing and corruption in real-time. The Trump regime isn’t even hiding it anymore. They’re ready to vote out Republicans and give the House and Senate to Democrats to investigate, prosecute and remove this regime before they can do any more damage to our great nation.
Americans are inherently good, and we are full of hope. We will not stand for violence against our own, the stripping of our rights, or seeing our tax dollars fund the killing of innocent civilians. We will not stand by and watch them sell off our national parks to the highest bidder. We are tired of foreign influence compromising our safety, our elections, our future, and our presidency. Our rights and freedoms will never be compromised.
That is what separates us from the rest of the world. WE are what will make America truly great again.
And independent media like Lincoln Square is helping drive this shift. And we can not stop now with just 36 days until the midterm elections.
We cannot rely on the traditional Democratic establishment to get the digital ground game right in time. Dark-money MAGA media no longer holds a monopoly on social feeds because of what we build together. Lincoln Square’s expert digital teams create short-form videos and high-impact graphics that target disengaged and undecided voters in key swing districts—meeting people directly where they get their news on their phones.
Since January, our work has reached nearly 150 million Americans with truth bombs exposing the corruption, self-dealing, coverups, tariffs, and systemic failures of the Trump agenda. When people feel the pinch of paying 30% to 50% more just to live, our short-form video and graphics connect the dots, showing them why it’s all happening and with your help, we’re mobilizing Americans to vote and fix it.
We are on the final stretch, but we need to turn up the volume right now.
Our Digital Campaign for an Informed America is working. We have just under $70,000 left to raise to meet our goal before the midterms to deploy our final, targeted ad campaign in crucial swing districts.
Every $10 reaches 1,000 voters directly. The more you invest in these ads, we can reach even more Americans with more ad impressions when we buy ad space in bulk.
No overhead, no overpriced consultants—100% of your support goes straight to work putting viral graphics and videos in front of the exact voters who will decide this election. We’ll increase our ad budgets with every dollar you give.
You do not have to watch this election unfold from the sidelines, feeling helpless against dark money and media manipulation. You can take direct, measurable action right now.
We have just 36 days left. November is the most important battle of our lives. If we win here, we take our country back, restore our democracy, and set the stage to finish the job in 2028.
Our nation has hit rock bottom, and now it’s our time to rise.
Let’s make Hope great again.
Can we count on you to chip in $10, $25, or $50 right now to fuel the facts across every social media feed?
Together, we’re going to win this. We’re so close.
With strategy and determination,
Team Lincoln Square: Susan, Sam, Velda, Michael, Emma, Sean, Henry, and Lou
******
P.S. If you have already given to us recently—thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your early support built the foundation for everything we have accomplished so far. But defending democracy is not a one-time event; it is an ongoing effort that we must fight for, sustain, and defend forever. We cannot afford to slow down now when the opposition is pouring millions into their ad budgets every single minute.
I came of political age in 1968. When Trump was first elected in 2016, I was shocked but not surprised: Between the racism that was obvious to many of us with Nixon's "Southern Strategy" and the misogyny that was unleashed by the SCOTUS decision in Roe v. Wade, the Republican Party has been sliding toward Trump and taking much of the country, especially the white people, along for the ride. Would Reagan, whose economic policies weren't exactly friendly to working people, have been so popular without the racist, sexist, anti-DEI rhetoric? Then Clinton turned out to be Republican lite with his "welfare reform." Obama had his hands more than full trying to repair the damage done by Bush II, and Biden did his best, but the decks were stacked against him -- and the country -- by the Citizens United decision of 2010. (You'll never, ever persuade me that this wasn't part of the white-wing reaction to the election of a Black president.)
Short version: The rot in the body politic was present before Trump was elected the first time. It was especially obvious in the Republican Party -- remember the clown car of 2015–16 from which Trump emerged victorious? -- but most of the upper-level Democrats were totally unequal to the task of dealing with Trump. Remember how caught unawares they were at the beginning of Trump II?
Here's hoping that the Dems who take control of the Senate and the House on January 3, 2027, politely kick Schumer and Jeffries upstairs and choose leaders who understand what our democracy is up against.
We are not out of the woods yet. The damage already done will take years, perhaps generations to repair. One of the thorniest problems is that, even after the debacle of Trump’s first term when he proved himself a traitor utterly unfit for office, enough people actually voted him back in, and gave Republicans control of Congress to rubber stamp his corruption. Even if Democrats win big this November and take the majority of both houses of Congress, how can we address the sheer ignorance of so many voters?