D onald Trump’s presidency has been the greatest threat to American democracy in modern history. His racist, xenophobic, hostile administration is the antithesis of SVF’s values and vision for a just and inclusive America. Holding Trump accountable along with the Republican officials at all levels of government who have consistently enabled the worst of his agenda has been SVF’s first priority since Day 1.
Strategically, this meant winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives and critical state and local offices in 2017 and 2018. And in 2019 and 2020, it was all about the path to 270 Electoral Votes — a path that always hinged on Democrats winning the most votes in a handful of core states: AZ, FL, GA, NC, MI, MN, PA, WI.
Heading into the 2020 cycle, Donald Trump and the Republican Party had enormous strategic advantages. Furthermore, the left was starting from behind on too many fronts.
The Strategic Victory Fund community of funders approached 2020 with a few key assumptions:
- Donald Trump would be running a well-resourced and strategically sound general election campaign. Unlike 2016, Trump was enormously well-funded and had been running hard for re-election since the day he was sworn in.
- The Democratic primary process would likely last until summer 2020.
- Trump and his allies—foreign and domestic—would capitalize on any opportunity (the Democratic nominating process in particular) to create chaos and distrust.
- Late investments cannot be utilized as effectively as early investments to influence outcomes. In some cases, they can’t be utilized at all.
Without innovative approaches to field, digital, and research, designed with these realities in mind, we knew we simply would not win in 2020 or beyond.