(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Moonshot for Democracy [1] ['Rob In Vermont', 'News Corpse', 'Meteor Blades', 'Sabrina Haake', 'Kelli Anne Busey'] Date: 2026-06-28 David Phelps over on Substack has an amazing article about the future of Democracy. In it he says, “The future of democracy will not be built by a small number of national figures. It will be built by millions of people who choose to participate in their own communities.” Yes, yes! That’s what Daily Kos is all about, that’s what we’ve been saying for years. A candidate said it on a piece here yesterday Thumbs up, tongue out – Daily Kos. Another candidate wrote about it in 2019 The secret sauce to winning in rural America – Daily Kos. Daily Kos has changed formats many, many times in the 20 years I’ve been here but so many of the writers here have, and continue to have, their focus on this point. Angela Marx, MsSpentYouth, Crimson Quillfeather, Christopher Reeves, Vetwife, Alueurophile, Bethesda 1971, Brainwrap, randallt, Gordon20024, Toro Blanco, Beach Peanuts, and a whole lot more of the folks here have worked up and down the ballot writing to help elect more and better Dems. The Daily Kos mission. In David Phelp’s article he talks about playing the long game: The Long Game One person who understands this is Dr. Fergie Reid Jr. In Virginia, Reid has spent years investing in places many political professionals would write off. Through initiatives like 90 for 90 and Virginia Value Pack 27, he has focused on voter registration, candidate recruitment, and supporting Democratic candidates in some of the Commonwealth’s most challenging districts. It’s not glamorous work. It doesn’t generate many national headlines. And the payoff doesn’t always arrive on the next Election Day. But that’s precisely the point. Democracy is a long game. His father, Dr. William “Fergie” Reid, became the first African American elected to the Virginia General Assembly since Reconstruction in 1968. More than half a century later, his son continues investing in democratic participation across Virginia. Phelps talks about county chairs, precinct leaders, volunteers, and organizers who get what Dr. Reid Sr. says about a pyramid with the voters at the bottom holding it all up. We here at Daily Kos for a long time because we have a huge 90for90 group here. Phelps says ” The challenge isn’t simply winning elections. It’s building, rebuilding, and growing relationships in communities that too often have been overlooked or taken for granted. The intent isn’t simply to elect more Democrats. The purpose is to strengthen democratic participation. To ensure voters have choices. To recruit candidates. To develop local leaders. To create visibility. To sustain community institutions.” Yes, yes, YES!! This is what Daily Kos is all about; electing more and better Dems by building community. We have amazing groups here on DK. We used to have a feature on DK that enabled group members to have long conversations together and work on plans to elect more and better Dems, from the bottom up. Fergie Reid says: It’s really an awesome idea, but it’s so simple, so logical, that no one gets excited about it. All this logicy logic is not sexy at all, but it is inexpensive and cost effective. Phelps adds: “Instead of saying how much we value democracy, perhaps we should ask something more concrete: “What are we willing to invest in it?” Because trust isn’t free. And neither is democracy.“ I’d like to ask that question of members here. What are we willing to invest in the democracy we deserve? Become a subscribing member of DK? Join groups here? Write about candidates? Donate to candidates? Tip and rec articles about candidates? And here is a radical idea – attend a county meeting of Democrats in your area. For full disclosure, I’ve tried that. This below is me at a party meeting. President Bartlett banging his head on a desk. uploaded to Daily Kos by Zen Trainer Maybe you can do the part where you get involved in your community. Please do. I’m going to stick with what I can do; work here at Daily Kos to get more and better Dems elected. Please join me. This is where my story ends. Anything between this and the comments has nothing to do with me. ZT [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/28/800062318/community/moonshot-for-democracy/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/