Indivisible: Thwarting Trump Requires A local strategy targeting individual members of Congress.&"

Indivisible Explained: What you Need to Know about this Liberal Grassroots Groundswell By Melissa Ryan Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas When the 115th Congress recently took its first official recess of 2017 members went home to their districts and in some cases spoke directly to their constituents via town halls. During the recess members made news for one of two reasons. Either they:

1. Held a Town Hall which was packed with angry constituents or they
2. Opted not to hold an in-district event and were shamed by their constituents as a result.

Republican members who were targeted in particular complained bitterly about organized and so-called paid protesters. They were supported by the Trump White House in their characterization. President Trump tweeted that the protests were:

Planned out by liberal activists" and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said there is a bit of professional protester manufactured base in there."

Despite accusations town hall attendees arent being paid. They are however organized. Most of that organization comes from a recently formed called Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Resisting the Trump Agenda". In just a couple of months Indivisible has taken the internet by storm. As recently noted in the Austin American Statesman the Texas newspaper in the city where the group originated:

The online handbook Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Resisting the Trump Agenda" is the post-election brainchild of a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (right D-Austin) and some other alumni of Democratic offices on Capitol Hill. Indivisible tapped into many peoples immense fears about Trumps election and an enormous desire to take useful tangible action and there was a virtually instant and continuing eruption of Indivisible groups all over the country planning nearly daily actions targeting members of Congress coast to coast using methods described in the handbook. The essence of Indivisible is that thwarting Trump requires A local strategy targeting individual members of Congress." In deep blue Austin carved by the states Republican leaders into parts of six congressional districts five of them held by Republicans the first order of business for anyone getting involved in Indivisible is to figure out who their member of Congress is and to make sure that member is aware that they have a newly energized constituent.

Here are four things campaigns and consultants need to know about Indivisible. Indivisible began as a Google Doc As digital organizing goes the original Indivisible Guide was fairly low tech. Their current about page accurately describes it as a poorly formatted typo-filled Google Doc." Essentially a brain dump of four ex-Democratic Hill staffers the Indivisible Guide in its original form was intended as a way to help its authors share their knowledge of how Congress works and cope with their own heartbreak over Trumps win. It had no method for email capture no digital ad buy behind it and the document optimized for sharing. But The Indivisible Guide quickly found an audience desperate to oppose Trump and hungry for concrete actions they could take. Because it was the right tool in the right moment it spread like wildfire online. Indivisible was inspired by the Tea Party If crowded raucous congressional town halls look familiar to you thats because they are. The authors of the Indivisible Guide are all veterans of the Tea Party wave experiencing it first hand as staffers for Democratic members of Congress. The guide makes no attempts to hide that the tactics outlined come right out of the Tea Partys own playbook offering a step-by-step guide for individuals groups and organizations looking to replicate the Tea Partys success in getting Congress to listen to a small vocal dedicated group of constituents." in its Introduction. Indivisible is Decentralized Hyperlocal & Growing The Indivisible guide has been downloaded over a million times and had over 10 million pageviews. More than 6000 local Indivisible groups have formed. Theyre organizing local actions in their community and sharing their stories through social media using the #Indivisible and #resist hashtags. Indivisible offers resources for chapters including a group leader toolkit a guide to getting media ready even suggestions for how to deal with potential right-wing sabotage. Indivisible isnt going away anytime soon What began as a hastily written Google doc has grown into a movement. Its founders are forming a 501(c)4 organization and more than 10000 donations have come in online giving them a solid foundation and large grassroots donor list. An email sent to their members recently reminded them to pace themselves because opposing the Trump Administration is a marathon not a sprint.

Your energy will be needed in the months ahead so make sure that youre taking time to reflect and recharge so that you can be in this for the long haul.

Change doesnt always happen quickly but with all of us standing indivisible together it will happen and we will win."

Political professionals can learn a lot from the success of The Indivisible Guide. No consultant would have advised them to launch in the way that they did but their lack of polish wasnt a hindrance. A clear call to action released at the right moment and at the right time was enough to light a spark and inspire tens of thousands of people to take action. The most recent Congressional Recess might be over but the 115th Congress hasnt heard the last from Indivisible. They have only just begun to fight. Melissa Ryan has spent more a decade leading digital campaigns for Democratic political campaigns and progressive advocacy organizations. She is the author of Ctrl Alt Right Delete a weekly newsletter.