Having a Watch Party? Don’t Be Crazy!
If these were normal times, and the 2026 mid-terms were normal elections, then we’d start planning our watch parties by now.
But the time for watching is over.
This is do-or-die time for America against fascism. If anybody is planning anything for the evening of November 3, it should be a Plan Party for November 4th!
All elections have outcomes, and we will know some of them on the evening of November 3. At the end of the evening, win or lose, we’ll be wondering what to do.
Here are some outcomes beginning with “most likely.”
- The Trumpsters will lose the vote, but not substantially. In that case, we will go on resisting fascism and building our progressive forces
- The Trumpsters will lose substantially. They will use illegal means to try to overturn the elections they lost (as they have before). We will have to brace ourselves for fighting outside the electoral arena. Lawsuits will be needed, but boycotts and strikes are key. Taking the offensive becomes a real option.
- The Trumpsters will win the vote and fascism’s teeth will sink deeper. Our tactics will be the defensive tactics of forces in retreat.
Strategies and tactics are peculiar to their time and place. What might work in a section of Ohio might not work as well in California. The best tactics will be those that work best in a particular area, but combine well with the national and international situation.
One thing that we can say with certainty is that our strategies and tactics will work better if more of us understand them and have taken part in developing them.
In other words: Don’t hold a watch party on the evening of November 3. Hold a Plan Party for November 4.
–Gene Lantz
I’m on KNON.org and 89.3FM in North Texas every Saturday at 9AM Central Time. I podcast on Spotify and post on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Bluesky. For my personal views, check out https://lilleskole.us
