The first vote I ever cast was for a Democrat. I believed in the Democratic Party, and I want to believe in them again. But most of them aren’t listening, and they’re not meeting this moment with the bold ferocity it requires. Until they do, I’ll remain skeptical, critical, and vocal.

Indivisible Central Ohio recently hosted an empty-chair town hall meeting for Ohio’s 15th Congressional District. Here’s how they described the event after it ended:

This past weekend, over 100 constituents of Ohio District 15 showed up for a Town Hall. Congressman Mike Carey was not there to hear the concerns of his constituents or to answer their questions despite repeated efforts to contact him. Instead, attendees heard from Mary Jo Kilroy, Former Congressional Representative; Rick Neal, former Candidate for Congressional District 15 (2018); Joel Newby, Former Candidate for Congressional District 15 (2020); State Representative Allison Russo; Former State Representative Adam Miller; and Justin Martin, Educator and constituent. Thanks to the kind and hardworking organizers! You can watch a 20-minute highlight video HERE.

Despite Indivisible’s claims of success, I left mostly uninspired – save for the outstanding speech Justin Martin delivered to a standing ovation. As an audience member, here are my observations.

Empty chairs don’t fill seats

Ohio’s 15th Congressional District has about 790,000 and includes parts of Columbus’s West and South sides. One-hundred people are about 0.013 percent of the 15th Congressional District’s constituents. And even with a hundred people in the room there were still empty chairs. One of them was on the stage. The fact that it was empty didn’t bother me. It was intended for Representative Mike Carey (R-OH), but we knew he wouldn’t show up and the organizers knew he wouldn’t show up. Most notably, so did Mike Carey. The chair was just a prop. But here’s the thing about talking to an empty chair: it’s a pretty tired stunt. Twelve years ago, Clint Eastwood set a weird and uncomfortable but admittedly high bar for it when he set out an (empty) chair for President Obama. Let’s face it. Clint Eastwood owns the empty chair gag, and he can have it. It’s gimmicky and it obviously doesn’t resonate.

“We will fight for 15!” Isn’t the rallying cry Democrats think it is

Almost everything Rep. Kilroy said resonated for me right up until she said, “We will fight for 15!” This came after she acknowledged that the federal minimum wage hasn’t increased since 2009.

A $7.25-an-hour minimum wage is beyond abhorrent, and increasing the minimum wage is a great issue for Democrats to campaign on, but why are we acting like $15-an-hour is still suitable or substantial in 2025?

“The Fight for 15” movement started in 2012. If the movement had taken hold, and if the minimum wage had been raised to $15-an-hour in 2012, it would now be outdated by over $5-an-hour unless indexed to adjust for inflation. That means that our fight has outpaced itself. That means we lost this fight. And instead of picking a new one, instead of picking a fight we can win – a fight that people will vote for – we’re holding on to this one

Why? We shouldn’t chase an already out-of-date movement and expect it to succeed as a campaign strategy. Should we?

Our show needs better prop masters

Rick Neal organizes and holds a weekly protest at a Tesla dealership here in town. He talked about serving in the US Peace Corps, and his expertise and commitment to service are demonstrable. To accompany his speech, he had a “No Kings” poster and two props: a plastic pitchfork and a plastic torch.

Rick didn’t hold back when he talked about Trump and the lack of adequate representation from Rep. Carey. Except, well, he sorta did.

“It’s just garbage. It’s just an expression of power on Trump’s part to take our most sacred values, our most important programs and things that are important to us as Americans and say, ‘You don’t think I can’t get rid of it? Watch.’ Just because he’s an…(silently mouths the word ‘asshole’) just because he’s a jerk.”

Well, shit. I don’t know what it will take for us to fuck off with delicate decorum and start using words that assholes like Donald Trump and his supporters understand. We don’t need to play “Suck My Dick” by Lil’ Kim every time we walk on stage. Unless, that is, we want to break the internet with the kind of viral spread not seen since Bernie Sanders wore mittens.

But we can’t be so scared of clutched pearls. We can’t be so worried about offending people. Because you know who doesn’t give a fuck about offending people? Republicans.

Today’s Republicans know they’re offensive and they own it. They photo-op with prisoners. They photo-op in cemeteries. They photo-op in White House car commercials and meme coins. And when they’re not photo-oping, they’re sitting in Congress filing their nails and looking plenty satisfied. Today’s Republicans spew out garbage and offensive spectacle the way a self-loathing closeted queer conservative Christian pumps out sour syphilitic jizz at a gay Texas bathhouse. And when that shit is all over our face, their base loves it.

The more we meet Republican-manufactured maelstroms of hellfire with tepid tap water, the weaker we look, and the more we lose. Do you have any idea how many voters we’d pick up if we had a Democratic leader brave enough to go on any major broadcast news show and absolutely let loose? It’s time for Dems to take a cue from “The Morning Show” and Chip Black’s glorious live television meltdown.

Stop being afraid to say the word “asshole” when you’re talking about an asshole. Say it and mean it. Grow a spine and do it. Afterwards, let the spin doctors earn their salaries like the Republicans do, and don’t you dare walk it back or apologize. An asshole is an asshole, and you shouldn’t be afraid to say it when you see it. Should you?

Help us to help you

Joel Newby talked about the lack of broadband internet in Ohio’s rural counties. It’s a real problem – imagine not having access to everything the internet provides. Applying for jobs, applying for benefits, doing homework, etc. A lot of Ohio takes broadband access for granted, and I appreciated Joel’s focus here. But Joel’s main call to action was to shift his work onto the attendees.

“We need to start organizing right now. (applause) Everybody in here is a leader, and as a leader I’m holding you to this: I expect everybody in here to go find ten people and go knock some doors when it comes time. That’s what I want from you guys. How many phone calls are you guys gonna make? How many emails are you gonna send to people? Okay? We need to get in our cars and go out to these places where they don’t typically see Democratic door knockers. … You are the leaders, and we can really win this district.”

“You are the leaders” should inspire action. It used to. But today it comes across to me as more of a cop out and shifting of responsibility than a motivating sentiment. Today’s Democratic politicians are largely adept at securing free labor from us and calling it field organizing. They’re adept at spamming us and calling it outreach. They’re good at mooching and calling it fundraising.

Have you ever gotten a fundraising email or text from a Democratic politician during campaign season? Donate $5 one time, and those floodgates open wide. The messages are relentless, and they all go something like this:

Hey [insert first name of potential donor whose contact information we purchased from a data broker with funds that were donated by people like you]. This is [insert sort of recognizable celebrity name, not Beyonce or Taylor Swift-level]. I’m using your first name and a casual tone to ask for money on behalf of my very good personal friend [insert name of Democratic candidate who used funds donated by people like you to pay for using my likeness in this message]. We’ve made a bold decision to blame our opponent for everything despite our own complacency and complicity in some of the worst of it. Can you help us and pitch in $5 right now? We have a deadline of midnight today to raise $4.3 billion and we won’t meet our goal if we don’t shame you into giving us $5. BONUS INCENTIVE: If we meet our goal, we’ll tell James Carville to sit silently in his cage for a full 30-minutes. Even we’re tired of hearing from that washed-up has-been.

You asked us to do the things. We did the things. What’s our ROI? We give you money and time and you give us… more fundraising emails? More pressure? More responsibility because we’re the leaders?

We did you a real solid with a big “vote blue no matter who.” When you won, you crammed weak, centrist policies down our throats instead of eliminating student loan debt like you said you would, or preventing school shootings like you said you would, or even raising the federal minimum wage like you said you would almost a decade ago.

After that, when you lost, you optioned a book deal, went on a book tour, and hid until it was time to ask for more money or talk to an empty chair.

Until most Democrats meet this present moment with the same vigor they use in text message fundraising, and until they embrace and campaign on a substantially more progressive platform, I have a much greater incentive to ‘reply STOP to end’ than I do to waste my time knocking on doors with ten other people. Don’t I?

It’s all about us, but is it all about all of us?

Adam Miller is a veteran, and he cares about America’s veterans. He explained how much this administration is harming veterans.

“So I got a call from the personnel command, a person I’m not going to say their name, but because of all the cuts to the VA and all the DOD cuts, Trump has cut all of the civilian employees. So there’s no one running the units the way there used to be and should be. So nobody’s doing all the medical appointments, the wellness - they cut the wellness that used to be in every brigade. And this person was saying, ‘Please, if you have a chance to run, run because suicide ideation is through the roof. It’s unbelievable. We lost 6 people in this command. It’s killing our veterans, it’s killing our service members.’ We need a change in Congress.”

He is knowledgeable and passionate, and I am grateful for his service and his message. But as I understand it, he could be doing more to lift up and amplify nonwhite community voices and perspectives.

There were very few people of color in the audience at this Town Hall. There were zero people of color on the panel. After the event, I learned that (allegedly) Adam ran for office because he’d been told he’d have a better shot of winning than a minority candidate would’ve had. If that’s true, it’s disappointing.

There are an awful lot of white, heterosexual, cisgender men of a middle, upper-middle, and upper-class socioeconomic status in politics. Obviously the Republican Party is more heterogeneous in this area, but Dems aren’t immune. We all saw what happened when the white guy (bipartisan Biden) thought he was the best thing for America – thought he was a better strategy – and refused to pass the mic to the minority candidate who was as qualified as he was. It didn’t turn out well.

Adam Miller could’ve chosen to use the privilege he has in a different way. He could’ve thrown his support behind a minority candidate. He could’ve influenced the voters who look like him to embrace a candidate who doesn’t. But that’s not what he decided to do (allegedly).

Nonwhite candidates and leaders need more seats at the table. White Democrats would do well to double down on diversity, equity, and inclusion in concrete ways. And that means passing the mic to someone whose message might not otherwise be heard.

Doesn’t it?

Willing and ableism

State Representative and Ohio’s Democratic minority leader Allison Russo mostly talked the right talk during her presentation. Mostly. She seems like an ambitious individual. That ambition probably doesn’t get in the way of her commitment to represent her constituents well. (Or does it? Ohio House Dem Leader Russo on plans, “There will be more time for this discussion at a later point’ )

Russo’s stated priorities include supporting and funding public education over voucher programs at the state level (a-men to that), and her ultimate call to action was to talk to friends and neighbors about the potentially devastating impact of cuts to Medicaid. She explained that, depending on what happens at the federal level with Medicaid funding, up to 800,000 Ohioans relying on Medicaid could lose coverage. If that happens, a lot more than just 800,000 Ohioans would be impacted.

“People say, ‘Why does it matter? Why do Medicaid cuts matter to me? Because I don’t have Medicaid coverage.’ Well, … every single county in the state has providers, whether they have mental health and addiction care providers, maybe obstetrical service providers, access to emergency rooms, et cetera, they keep their doors open because of Medicaid funding. And if they don’t have that, that is uncompensated care. And you know what happens when you have uncompensated care? Providers, hospitals, emergency rooms have to close their doors. And that impacts every single one of us.

Two things muddied Rep. Russo’s message for me. Thing the First: where she resides. Thing the Second: an action consistent with unconscious ableism.”

Thing the First

Rep. Russo represents the 7th district which includes Upper Arlington and portions of Columbus. This town hall was held for residents of the 15th district, which includes parts of Columbus and the greater Hilltop area on the west side of town. In 2025, the median household income in Columbus’s Hilltop neighborhood was about $59,000, with typical home prices around $210,000 (which is clearly a problem in its own right). In contrast, the median household income in Upper Arlington, where Rep. Russo resides and represents, was about $151,000, with homes often exceeding $600,000.

I don’t fault Rep. Russo for her success in life, however she came by it (a story I’m not interested in learning). I live in a glass house and I’m not throwing stones. Upper Arlington is, on paper, generally affluent. Hilltop is not. These don’t entirely eliminate Rep. Russo’s credibility or relatability. It’s just really easy to think you’ve got all the answers when you’re on top. We need to make sure we’re paying attention, listening well, and acting in the community’s best interests, not just our own. Don’t we?

Thing the Second

The last and most compelling speaker of the day was Justin Martin. Justin Martin should run for office. He’d have my vote in a heartbeat. Justin’s entire speech, which starts around the 44:00 mark here, is worth watching at least once or twice.

Just before he starts, Justin asks for someone to bring the microphone stand over to his wheelchair with the microphone so he could hold his tablet device with both hands while he read from it. Rep. Russo said, “I’ll hold it for you.” And so she did. She held the microphone for him throughout his entire speech (a speech which, again, was exceptional).

Mr. Martin might’ve appreciated her help, but that isn’t what he asked for. He asked for the microphone stand. In an instant, Rep. Russo unconsciously assumed she knew what was best for him more than he did. Rep. Russo didn’t listen, and she should have.

I see this micro-interaction as typical of the Democratic establishment. It’s a well-meaning gesture but it’s also patronizing.

It’s like we’re all standing at a crosswalk. Civic engagement is on the other side of the road, and it’s our destination. A little weary (and a little leery), we invite you, the Democratic Party, to take an arm and help us walk to the other side. Instead of doing it, and without asking us first, you pull out your iPhone, tap three times, and summon an Uber to pick us up. After about ten minutes, the driver arrives and you push us into the back seat of the car where there’s no leg room. You tell the driver to go up the road about a mile, make a U-turn, drive back down the road, and then drop us off about a block and a half away from where we wanted to be in the first place. It takes longer, it’s more expensive, it wastes fuel, tipped gig workers suffer, and we end up further back than where we started from.

Too often, members of the Democratic establishment assume they know what’s best for everyone instead of listening to what people are asking for and delivering on it. After it happens so many times, we start to feel like we aren’t being heard. That’s because we aren’t. That’s because the real leaders aren’t listening. Are they?

I asked a question. I didn’t get the answer I wanted.

During the town hall Q & A section, I asked a question. I stumbled over my words, but I shared my disillusionment over the rumors (at that time) about the DNC readying to oust David Hogg. I said that, because of behavior like that, I’m close to withdrawing in disgust and disengaging. “What advice,” I asked, “do you have for someone who is frustrated the way I am?”

I noticed defensiveness and deflection when some of the panelists responded. One offered a “Yes, we have some improvements to make” statement. One said the Democratic Party has “lost the magic.” (I corrected him later and said we haven’t lost the magic, we’ve lost the fight.) Another panelist said to remember that there are progressive Democrats (AOC, Bernie Sanders, Jasmine Crockett, etc.) who are doing great things, so look to them for inspiration.

I didn’t say what I should have then – that damn Dem decorum got the best of me – so I’ll say it now.

If you’re on panels like these, and you’re attending town hall meetings like these, and we’ve delegated societal caretaking responsibility to you, you should be doing great things out there right next to AOC, Bernie Sanders, Jasmine Crockett, etc. You should be fighting like you’ve never fought before. Ever. You should be coming up with novel ways to take down the Republican establishment and everything it stands for. You shouldn’t be sitting in front of a hundred people talking to empty chairs. Should you?

Conclusion

I guess this event was about as effective as it could’ve been. I appreciate the organizers. I know they’re good people. And I know they do the best they can do with the resources and techniques they have.

In what felt like such a rehearsed, typical, and average manner we cheered when we were supposed to, we rah-rahed when we were supposed to, and we booed when we were supposed to. Sometimes what we’re supposed to do and what actually needs to be done are different things. I hope we gain the clarity to examine the former and the courage to enact the latter. I hope it happens soon. Don’t you?