Or, at least, the microphones.
JB Pritzker ofIllinoisdelivered a message directly to Trump: You come for my people, you come through me.
For the governors, talking tough to Trump mixes principle, policy, and of course politics.
Even Democratic governors of red states are pledging to block damaging Trump rollbacks.
Kentucky voted nearly 2-to-1 for Trump in November, and Gov.
Andy Beshear tellsRolling Stonehes not spoiling for a fight and can work with Trump when it benefits his state.
Unveiled with co-chair Gov.
Jared Polis ofColorado, GSD is built for pushing back against increasing threats of autocracy, Pritzker says.
Safeguarding residents from ICE is also a priority.
The groups advisory board includes a formidable, bipartisan brain trust of former governors Deval Patrick (D-Mass.
), Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.), Bill Weld (R-Mass.
), and Arne Carlson (R-Minn.) as well as former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
Anything from clean air and water to safe medication is potentially under attack now, she says.
Pritzker insisted that the proposal was illegal and Illinois would certainly not cooperate.
Holding Them to It
Activist leaders welcome such bold promises, but worry about empty grandstanding.
It is encouraging to see a lot of blue-state governors talking the talk.
But we need to see them walk the walk, says Levin.
This is particularly true in the 15 states where Democrats control the governorship and the state legislature.
Its our job to say, You better be fighting back with everything you got.
Polis has already emerged as a problematic figure in the view of many progressives.
That is the kind of appeasement of Trump thats really dangerous, Levin says.
In fact, many blue-state Democratic governors have been striking an accommodating tone with Trump.
(Hochul did not respond to an interview request.)
In New Jersey, where Trump lost by just five percent, Gov.
Phil Murphy has vowed to seize opportunities for collaboration with Trump as fast as anybody.
Theres not a pathway here if you want to become the next president, he says.
you could say No.
When it comes to fascism, No is a complete sentence.
They have no shortage of engaged activists.
This surge of activist engagement is widespread.
Amanda Litman is the co-founder of Run for Something, which recruits young progressives to seek office.
said on the Indivisible call.
She pointed to the unlikely defense of Obamacare in 2017, when Republicans held larger margins in Congress.
Anybody who was going to bet money was going to say, Its gone.
Just kiss it all goodbye, Warren said.
But the ACA survived because activists cajoled key Republicans into standing against Trump.
We get things done with an inside-outside game, Warren told the activists.
Either one is powerful, but together, they are multiples more powerful.
Trumps 2016 victory caught many state attorneys general flat-footed.
Thats not the case for Trump 2.0.
He served through the entirety of Trump 1.0 and has the battle scars to prove it.
California Attorney General Bonta has no interest in Trumps supposed mandate.
Reproductive freedoms are top of mind.
But he also has confidence that such defunding is easier said than done.
Then again, Ferguson says, that may be giving Trump too much credit.
