Episode 28: A Call to Action — The Democracy Defense Plan

Episode Summary
In Episode 28, Bella Goode lays out a bold and urgent strategy to fight back against Trump’s second-term agenda and the authoritarian blueprint known as Project 2025. After covering the MAGA base, the donor class, and the fractured opposition in previous episodes, this one delivers something different — a clear, coordinated plan of action. It's called the Democracy Defense Plan (DDP), and it’s more than messaging. It’s infrastructure, execution, and survival. This is a blueprint for action.

In This Episode
Bella speaks directly to the listener — not the crowd. This is a one-on-one conversation about what we’re facing and what we can do about it. She walks through:

• The six core lessons Democrats must learn from Trump’s strategy
• How Project 2025 is quietly turning chaos into a system of control
• What the Democracy Defense Plan proposes: a counteroffensive built on structure, clarity, and unity
• Who can lead the fight — from governors to grassroots organizers
• The operational details: how to mobilize voters, fund the work, protect elections, and dominate the media narrative
• Why we need a champion — not a savior, but someone willing to step forward and carry this plan into the real world

Why It Matters
This episode is more than a critique of Trumpism — it’s a strategic call to arms. As Project 2025 rolls forward, threatening the foundations of American democracy, the Left has a choice: react slowly, or fight with focus. The Democracy Defense Plan offers a way to win — not with slogans, but with execution. If we don’t meet Trump’s machine with one of our own, we risk losing the system that allows us to hold elections at all.

Next Episode
Episode 29: Inside Project 2025 – The Blueprint for American Autocracy

We go deeper into Project 2025 itself — what it says, who wrote it, and how Trump’s team is already putting it into practice. This episode kicks off a new multi-part series examining the origins, ideology, and real-world consequences of the far-right’s master plan to permanently transform the federal government.

Transcript

Bella Goode  0:00  
Welcome to Surviving Trump. I'm Bella Goode your host, and I'm glad you're here. Actually, this episode isn't just another topic. It's a call to action. What I'm about to walk you through is a strategy, one that I put together with both of us in mind after covering Trump's first 100 days from every angle, from the MAGA base, the wealthy backers, the fractured left. I realized something. Naming the threat isn't enough. We need a plan to stop it. You need one. I need one. The Democrats, for the independents, for anyone who still believes this country is worth saving. So I wrote a plan. I call it the democracy defense plan. Well, you know, I'm not in government. I don't work for the DNC. I'm not in a think tank. I don't host a cable show. What I am is I'm an activist, a writer, and someone who can't sit still while this is all unfolding, the democracy defense plan is my attempt to offer something better than panic, something tangible, something I can give to you, and I would love to give it to somebody in the Democratic Party. It's not official. It's not perfect, but it hasn't stopped me. You can read the full version on Substack if you want to go deeper or watch the video on YouTube. But right now, I want to talk to you about it, just you. 

Bella Goode  1:31  
The episode is an overview. A couple of weeks ago, Governor JB Pritzker said something that really stuck with me. He said, these Republicans, they cannot know a moment of peace. We will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and every microphone we have. That wasn't a campaign line, that was a flare in the night, and he's right. This isn't about politics as usual. It's an emergency, and if we don't act like it, we're going to lose more than just an election. We're going to lose the system that gives us the right to hold elections. That's why I want to start with the truth before you and I can defend democracy, we have to understand how we got here and what Trump's team actually got right. 

Bella Goode  2:18  
What have we learned? What Trump got right and what Democrats must learn. Let's get into it. It seems as if we didn't realize that the rules had changed. We saw the lies, the chaos, the bullying, but we kept treating it as politics as usual. Well, that was a mistake. Trump's second term chaos. It's not random, it's strategic. His base feeds off of it. His donors benefit from it. And behind the scenes, people like Russell Vought and Stephen Miller are turning it into permanent power. So if Democrats want to win, not just endlessly post about it, but win, we have to understand what Trump is doing right and we have to out strategize him. So let's take a look at the lessons that we've learned. 

Bella Goode  3:09  
First look at the way he picks his battles. Trump focuses on flash points that stir emotion, dei gender bathrooms, and paints Democrats as out of touch elites. It works. His base feels legitimized, and even when the policies don't help them, the message sticks. It resonates. And while we're stuck in endless debates, his real backers push deregulation and tax breaks behind the scenes. The lesson here we don't have to fight every battle. We just have to pick the ones that matter, the ones that protect democracy and bring people together, let the bathroom battle go by the wayside and save the Constitution instead. 

Bella Goode  3:53  
The second lesson we have learned, he has infrastructure. Trump is backed by think tanks, media outlets, legal groups, all working toward a shared goal, embedding the MAGA ideology into the government. Democrats keep starting from scratch, and this has to change. We need our own coordinated network, legal minds, policy teams, digital strategists, organizers, all focused on protecting democracy. 

Bella Goode  4:24  
The third lesson Trump's message is simple. It's emotional and it's loud. I'm fighting for you against the elites. That's it over and over, and it works. Meanwhile Democrats over explain footnotes, soften the language or get lost in the weeds. But politics is emotional. We have got to stop softening or delaying the truth. Trump is a threat to the country. Say it, Say it clearly and say it often. That's another lesson. The fourth lesson, his base doesn't feel the economic. Of pain the way you would expect. They cheer the border raids and the performative victories while prices rise and jobs disappear, they're trained to blame immigrants who are woke capitalism or the deep state. Meanwhile, the wealthy are fine. They've diversified, they're protected. They have money to spare. Democrats need to name this clearly. It's Trump's recession. Tie the chaos to the cost. Make the fallout visible. Again. I'm just going over some of the lessons that we need to learn in order to move forward. 

Bella Goode  5:36  
And then there's the cultural divide, another lesson, one of Trump's most effective tools. He's turned politics into identity. It's real Americans versus everyone else. His supporters feel under attack or felt under attack, and he plays the protector. It's not about policy. It's emotional manipulation. The lesson reframe the fight. This is not left versus right. It is democracy versus authoritarianism. It's democracy versus a power grab. Trump's tactics aren't traditional conservative. They're anti American. And this is about whether or not we stay a constitutional democracy or not. Say it clearly. This is about survival. 

Bella Goode  6:24  
And the final lesson, I would call it media manipulation, every time coverage starts digging into Project 2025, or some other very important critical topic, Trump, floods the zone with chaos, wild outbursts, conspiracy theories or some viral distraction like peanut the squirrel. It's not random, it's deliberate. This is called, we call it, I call it narrative warfare. The goal is to disorient and to exhaust us, to exhaust the public, and it's working. Our job stop reacting to every Spark, stay focused on the structural threat anchor the message. This is about democracy and the people trying to dismantle it. So we've learned all these lessons the hard way, and now we need to use them, because while we've been reacting, Trump's team has been executing a detailed plan to turn the government into a machine that serves one man, and unless we meet that with a plan of our own, they're going to succeed. 

Bella Goode  7:36  
So let's talk about what that plan looks like and how we begin. Believe it or not, we do have a winning strategy. It's staring us in the face. Our platform is democracy versus the power grab. So we've walked through what we've learned, and here's where the shift begins, because everything we've been through in the last few years points to one truth, the chaos isn't random. It's the strategy. While most people were glued to the headlines about pronouns or caravans, Trump's team was advancing the most aggressive power grab in modern American history, not with speeches, but with structure. They were staffing agencies, writing executive orders, dismantling oversight, all quietly, all systematically. And it's not hypothetical anymore that plan the power grab, it has a name. It's called Project 2025, most people still don't know what it is, and that's the point. Trump doesn't say it out loud. His campaign doesn't advertise it, because while media covers cultural outrage, the real agenda stays buried. And that's why we need something equally strategic, and that's what the democracy defense plan is all about. I call it DDP for short, I mentioned this at the start. 

Bella Goode  9:03  
The DDP is our counter offensive, a real coordinated, all hands on deck strategy to stop the takeover before it's locked in. This isn't just a campaign plan. It's a long term mission to protect free elections, to protect civil service and the basic rule of law. It brings together elected officials, legal teams, media experts, public servants, all aligned around one goal, defending democracy from a structural authoritarian threat. The stakes. This isn't some normal partisan fight. It's not left versus right. It's democracy versus the power grab. And project 2025 is the blueprint for that control tower. Let me make this clear, project 2025 is letting Trump fire 10s of 1000s of civil servants and replace them with loyalists. It guts oversight in. It lets him ignore Congress. It rules by executive order, and it targets journalists and judges who get in his way. It turns the presidency into a throne and the agencies of government into weapons of personal power, and they are going at it already. 

Bella Goode  10:18  
So the first move of the DDP, remember the democracy defense plan is this, we need to name the threat. Make project 2025, a household name. Break it down in plain English. Civil Service purges, executive overreach, media intimidation, voter suppression, and then expose the people behind it, the two names you need to know, Russell vault and Stephen Miller. They are not campaign staff. They are architects of this system. They are building a replacement for democracy in real time, while the rest of us fume over the latest outrage, and while we're doing that, we need to expose Trump's cabinet for what it is a loyalty test that people getting top jobs in this administration, they haven't been picked for qualifications. They've been picked for obedience. It's not competence that matters, it's loyalty, and that's how authoritarianism takes hold. It doesn't start with tanks in the street. It starts with a purge in government agencies. 

Bella Goode  11:27  
Meanwhile, cracks are already showing. Trump's tariffs are tanking the economy. His executive orders are triggering legal backlash, his poll numbers are slipping, and even some conservatives are privately worried. And yes, we say the quiet part out loud, Trump's mental state is unraveling. If the GOP spent years attacking Biden's age, we are more than justified in calling out Trump's instability, and I might even say insanity. So what do we do? We fight the chaos with clarity. We simplify our message. We say what's true and we say it again and we say it loud. The core message of the DDP, our banner, our mission, is, defend democracy, stop the power grab. It's not wordy, it's not complicated, but it's everything that we need to say. We repeat it in plain spoken language. We speak like real people, no footnotes, no policy fog. We make it clear what's happening and why it matters. We keep the conversation focused where it belongs, on the threat that's trying to replace democracy with dictatorship, and we hammer on a  few core truths. 

Bella Goode  12:45  
This isn't politics as usual. It's a five alarm fire for democracy. They're not just making it harder to vote. They're making it easier to control you, and Trump's chaos. It's not a strength. It's a threat to your wallet, your rights and your safety, and no one, not even a former president and a current president, is above the law. And here's one more truth, maybe the most important one this whole strategy project 2025 is about replacing competence with loyalty. Trump's team wants to gut the government and rebuild it around one man. That's not public service, that's autocracy. So this is where we start with a message with the truth, with a plan that's simple, sharp and emotionally real. And once people understand what's happening, once they see the full picture, the choice becomes obvious. I hope so. Up next, let's move on to from the message to the machinery, what we need to build in order to fight back. 

Bella Goode  13:47  
Okay, we've named the threat, and now that you and I have somewhat of a sense of what project 2025, really is and how dangerous it's becoming, we've got to talk about the other half of the fight, because a message isn't enough. A slogan will not save democracy. We need machinery. We need infrastructure, and we need it now. Just for your information, I do have a four part series coming up on project 2025 that starts in the next episode. That's episode 29 This is a must listen to if you want the cliff note version of how project 2025 is dismantling democracy, so stay tuned while Trump's team is rewriting the rules, purging agencies and installing loyalists. Democrats can't just be responding with press releases and viral tweets. We need real power, legal fire power, organizing, strength, voter protection, infrastructure and a Democratic Party that actually knows what it stands for. 

Bella Goode  14:52  
So here's the next move. First, we need to be clear about who we are, no more being ever. Everything to everyone. That's how we got muddled messages and confused voters. We have to unify around three simple values. Of course, this is just my opinion, and maybe you share it, three simple values, justice, opportunity and democracy. That's it. That's our brand. That's what we protect. We're the party that believes in free and fair elections. We believe in a government that serves the people. It doesn't exist to serve billionaires or demagogues. We believe that democracy isn't just a system, it's a moral commitment, and that's our side of the story. The second thing we need to do, will do? Should do? Second, we should stop falling for the bait. Trump's chaos thrives on distraction. I've already mentioned this, but I'll say it again. Every few days there's some viral outrage. It's not random. It's designed to suck up the air out of the environment. It's designed to suck up attention while they quietly gut federal agencies and rig the system. We don't need to win every culture war skirmish. We need to stay laser focused on the five strategic battles that actually shape our future, and those battles are again, in my opinion, I got lots of opinion here. 

Bella Goode  16:22  
Here's what I think is important, voting rights, the rule of law, economic fairness, civil rights, and I'm going to throw in the climate crisis, everything else is noise. If we don't protect the vote, we don't get to fight for anything else. If we don't predict the rule of law, we won't even be allowed to challenge the system they're building. If we don't link their economic chaos to people's pain, we lose the chance to connect. And if we don't fight for freedom, for dignity and for the planet we're not leading, we are retreating. But even that's not enough, because knowing what to fight for means nothing if we don't have the infrastructure to win, we need to build something real, something that runs, tracks, organizes and defends. It sounds huge, but you know what? We have got to start somewhere. And what do we need? 

Bella Goode  17:19  
Well, for one thing, we need a central organizing body that coordinates everything, not 10 silos pulling in different directions. We need data teams, tracking suppression, targeting swing voters and helping organizers adapt in real time. We need a non partisan public service coalition to protect the people being purged and to elevate their voices, because Trump's team isn't just firing professionals. They're trying to convince America that competence doesn't matter, that loyalty is all that counts. So we fight b ack with a campaign called, oh, I don't know. Let's call it, competence matters. We explain what we're losing when qualified people are replaced by cronies. It is enough to drive it crazy. We also need a narrative defense team, a group watching for disinformation and distractions as they happen, and shifting the spotlight back to the structural threat of project 2025, every media cycle and every day. 

Bella Goode  18:21  
And finally, we need to protect the vote. That means cyber security experts, legal hotlines, voter protection teams in every swing state and across the country. We need lawyers, a lot of them, to challenge suppression, defend whistle blowers and stop the illegal purges before they take root. Oh, so actually, the most important piece is probably the people. We need an army of organizers, canvassers, volunteers, regional captains, who can show up in communities, knock on doors, register voters and build trust. And we can't do this in September. We got to do it now. We can't do it in September of 2026 that's for sure. We need to do it now, and we need to consolidate these efforts under one umbrella. We cannot have dozens and dozens of activist groups heading in overlapping directions toward the same end goal. So if we're going to stop them, we have to match their machinery, and not only match it, we need to exceed it with more clarity, more unity, more urgency and more heart. So that's what this next section of the plan is all about, turning this outrage. And I don't know about you, but I I have such outrage, I feel like I could do it single handedly, but I can't turning outrage into operations. 

Bella Goode  19:43  
Up next, let's talk about how we execute and how we take this entire strategy and make it move. So who's going to carry this plan forward? Because let's be honest, you can have the best blueprint in the world, but if nobody's picking it up and running with it, it's just sitting there. Here. We don't need one person to do everything. We need a team that knows exactly what they're fighting for and how to fight for it. And that's what this section is all about, the people who can move this plan, people in office, people in the streets, people in the courtrooms, in the media, online and communities. This isn't about titles. It's about fire, urgency, clarity and guts. So picture this like a movement, not a hierarchy, a movement, a coalition, where everyone has a role and everyone knows their lane. Let's start inside the government, because there, there are leaders right now who already get it again. These are all names that I picked out of the hat, so don't take them too seriously, but it gives you an idea. 

Bella Goode  20:46  
Think about Illinois Governor, JB Pritzker. He's one of the elected Democrats who has been naming project 2025 out loud and framing it for what it is an authoritarian power grab. He's not flashy. He's focused, though he could be our national spokesperson, the guy who takes this plan on the road, into town halls, into donor rooms and into mainstream media. And then there's another name out there. I almost hesitate to say it, but there's Gavin Newsom. Say what you will about him, but one thing is for sure, he is not afraid of the camera, and he isn't. He doesn't shy away from a fight. For example, he could run the Rapid Response Command the nerve center that pushes back on disinformation and drives our messaging every single day. Then there's Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. He's got the moral clarity that we need. He speaks in a way that connects, not in sound bites, but in steaks that sticks in the ground, not steaks that you eat. He could be the emotional backbone of this mission, especially in swing states. And then AOC, Alexandria, Ocasio Cortiza, aka AOC, she does a good job reaching young people. She could lead a full on youth mobilization campaign powered by Tiktok, town halls, campus tours, all of it. She can turn messaging into momentum. And then there's Ayanna Pressley, the representative from Massachusetts. She could lead outreach in black and Latino communities. She connects big ideas to lived, lived experience, and that's what it takes to build trust. And then there's the former representative from Illinois, Adam Kingsinger, a former Republican, but he's one of the only conservatives who's consistently called out Trump's authoritarian slide, he could speak directly to disillusioned Republicans, Independents and those who aren't ready to vote Democrat, but know that Trump is not the answer. Senator Ruben Gallego in Arizona. He's a connector to Latino families, to veterans to voters in red leaning areas who are still reachable. Then there's Josh Shapiro, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. He could be the anchor. He could anchor the legal protection side of the plan. And Leticia James, she's already shown that she's not afraid to Trump to court. She could lead the legal charge against the machinery behind 2025 and there's Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, he could connect this whole thing to rural voters and working class families who feel completely left out of the national conversation. He knows how to talk to people who didn't go to Ivy League schools, and that matters. Now that's the inside team, but let's not pretend that the real firepower isn't also coming from outside of the government. Think about it. 

Bella Goode  23:44  
Have you ever heard of Midas Touch, the alternative media channel? Oh, they've grown in leaps and bounds. They know how to make viral content that actually cuts through the noise. And then there's the Lincoln project. Love them or not, they know how to go for the jugular. We need that edge. This isn't the time for polite losing groups like swing left and indivisible. They're already organizing, already knocking on doors. They don't need convincing, but they do need coordination. Then you've got the ACBL, the Brennan Center and democracy forward legal watchdogs who can file lawsuits and stop voter suppression and take project 2025, apart, piece by piece. In the courts, there's the AFGE, the Federal Workers Union. They are the first line of defense for civil servants under attack. They could power the competence matters. Campaign and protective professionals Trump is trying to replace with loyalists. There's Chris Krebs and the Center for Internet security. They are the security backbone. They could run real time digital defense for elections, infrastructure and disinformation. And don't forget about. Faith leaders, organizations like faith and public life are already organizing clergy and congregations around democracy as a moral issue. That's huge, because this fight isn't just political, it's spiritual, it's ethical, it's existential. But here's what ties it all together. It's the DNC. Yep. I know they have their problems. They're probably not ready for this, but they should be. My gosh, if they're not in shape, if they're not ready, I think we're going to have a real problem. But in this plan, they're not just a fundraising arm. They are the command center. We need somebody to centralize. They build the operational calendar. They coordinate the people. They track the deliverables. I say they in the present. I mean in the future. They hold the whole thing, the entire thing together, so that it moves as one, not 10, disconnected efforts talking past each other. 

Bella Goode  26:00  
So how the DNC functions? They're not just a gatekeeper. They should be operating as a five star general. Okay, so we have the message, we have the mission. We have the people. Are you ready for the last piece? Let's talk about execution. How do we operationalize the DDP, plan, the speeches, the content, the structure. It doesn't mean anything if we can't execute. Well, actually, every piece of this plan is necessary, including execution. This is where most plans fall apart, though, not because they're wrong, but because nobody builds the engine to drive them forward. That's the difference between good intentions and power, and what we need right now. We need power. So the first step structure, we need to set up an organizing committee, and we don't wait six months to figure it out. People like JB Pritzker and Chris Murphy step in, appoint directors for each core area, legal, digital, field, messaging. Everyone gets a lane. Everyone reports in weekly. This is an all operation. And then we mobilize. We light the field on fire with voter registration drives, canvassing, community events, all of it led by groups like swing left, indivisible, ACP, the Voto Latino, not in September of 2026 but now we register as a goal, 2 million voters in the key Battlefront in the key battleground areas. We don't assume anything. We go door by door, block by block, and right alongside of that, we set up our election Protection Network, cybersecurity experts like Chris Krebs legal teams from Brennan Center and the ACLU, they're monitoring, responding and ready, not after the fact, but in real time. 

Bella Goode  27:49  
Meanwhile, people like Josh Shapiro and Letitia James, they had the legal response. They challenged loyalty purges, block constitutional orders and take project 2025, to court every time it crosses a line, which, let's face it, it's happening every day. And then there's the media war. This drives me crazy. We hand the digital assault to Midas Touch, the channel, The Independent News Channel and the Lincoln project, they know how to make content that hits three new videos a week minimum, all connecting project 2025 to real life. Harm, no jargon, no lectures, just clear, emotional storytelling. And while they dominate online, people like Newsom and Pritzker hit the airways, Sunday shows, op-eds, press conferences, all telling the same story. Trump's chaos is a cover project 2025. Is the plan, and your rights, your paycheck and your safety are what's at stake. 

Bella Goode  28:54  
We also go local trusted messengers, union leaders, pastors, teachers lead community defense forums across the country, faith in public life. AFL CIO, they help roll out the weekly update called, let's call it the democracy dispatch a centralized official plain language email with the talking points, the actions, the stories and the results. We keep people plugged in. Right now there are so many people that are saying the same thing. I know nothing. I see nothing. I hear nothing. It's because the news is not being circulated or the actions that are being taken are not being circulated or coordinated. We give them something to say, but let's not kid ourselves. None of this happens without a little money, and that's why we launched something that might be called the democracy Defense Fund. Pritzker, I don't know, maybe turns over his entire fortune to fund this. Maybe not Newsom. They lead the push. The goal 50 million by mid 2026 I don't know. It doesn't sound like enough. I think it needs to probably be close to a billion to win this election back that pays for organizers, legal teams, ads, digital infrastructure, security, the whole machine. And yes, we bring in small donors, small dollar donors too, Alana Presley and AOC, they can lead that charge. $25 to fund a lawsuit, $50 to protect a voter. It's not symbolic. It's literal. You see what you're paying for. You become part of the defense. And finally, we keep it all moving. Every DDP team reports in monthly we hold quarterly strategy summits to track progress, make adjustments and cut what isn't working. The DNC keeps everyone informed on progress. We stay lean, we stay fast, focused, and we never stop until we win, because this is a turning point. If we don't execute, we're going to lose. It's that simple. The Other Side isn't improvising. They're building systems, they're writing the rules. And if we don't build our own, if we don't match their strategy with our own disciplined  execution, well they're going to win. 

Bella Goode  31:12  
So this is it. This is where we decide whether we're going to be the people who understood what was happening or the people who actually did something about it. We're almost there. Let's bring it home. So we've walked through the whole plan, the whole everything, the threats, the lessons, the strategy, the people and the plan. And now I want to say this to you plainly, the democracy defense plan is ready, but if we don't move soon, really move, it won't matter. And by the way, it's not ready in the sense of being completely finished. Every i dotted and T crossed, but there's a general idea there that I think deserves to be pushed forward. But if we don't move soon, and like I said, really move, it won't matter. This isn't just another podcast. It's a counter offensive. It names a threat. It maps the terrain. It brings together every tool we've got, law, organizing, media, infrastructure and truth. We don't have the luxury of waiting for someone else to take this threat seriously. It's already happening, and what we do right now or failed to do, could decide whether this country still functions as a democracy two years from now or four years from now. But here's the thing, a plan is only a piece of paper. It's only paper unless somebody picks it up and carries it. 

Bella Goode  32:35  
I need, you need we need a champion, somebody who's not afraid, somebody with a platform, with reach, with guts, who's willing to take this plan in front of the right people, raise the money, rally the coalition and shield the mission from disinformation and attacks that are guaranteed to come. This isn't about finding a hero. It's about finding someone who understands what time is because this is a five alarm fire. So if you're that person, or if you know somebody who is or if you know somebody in government that we can put this plan into the hands of, please speak up. Share this, elevate it. Don't wait for permission. Don't wait for the DNC or the media or some magical unifying figure to appear, we need one person to say, Oh, I see what's happening, and I'm not going to let them take this country without a fight. If that's you, I'm with you, and I think a lot of other people will be too, because we're not out of time yet, but the clock is ticking. Let's go. This is Bella Goode Signing off for today.