Revolution Beyond the Ballot Box: Rethinking Power, Challenging the Status Quo & Building Beyond

We’ve won important victories. Now comes the real challenge: How do we use our power to protect democracy, strengthen our communities and build lasting change?

This week, the Friday Power Lunch explores two powerful strategies for moving forward: assertive federalism and grassroots coalition-building. One focuses on the constitutional powers states already possess. The other demonstrates what happens when people organize, connect communities and refuse to give up.

Assertive Federalism: States Don’t Have to Wait for Washington

Christopher Armitage, legal scholar and publisher of The Existentialist Republic, joins us for a provocative conversation about what he calls “soft secession”, a strategy of states exercising their existing constitutional authority to resist federal overreach and protect their residents. Read Christopher’s recent work: Toppling Tyrants: A Field Guide to Dismantling American Fascism

Christopher’s message challenges us to think beyond resistance: What can we build with the power we already have?

Building Coalitions - Grassroots Organizing That Gets Results

Elections aren’t won overnight. They’re won through years of relationships, conversations, organizing and the determination of people who keep showing up — especially in communities too often written off as unwinnable. Our grassroots roundtable brings together three Virginia organizers who know what it takes to build coalitions, mobilize volunteers and turn local relationships into political power.

Lynlee Thorne, Political Director of Rural GroundGame, shares lessons from organizing in Lynchburg, where Democrats flipped three City Council seats. It’s a powerful example of what sustained investment, local leadership and grassroots organizing can accomplish in challenging political territory.

Naomi Beck, with Connect the Dots, helped bring organizations, activists and volunteers together to support Tom Perriello’s congressional campaign. Her work illustrates the importance of connecting existing networks, coordinating efforts and building the relationships that sustain a movement beyond any single candidate or election.

Jenifer Strozier, with the Goochland Democratic Committee, helped organize community outreach and canvassing across VA-05. She brings a firsthand perspective on reaching voters, strengthening local Democratic infrastructure and keeping volunteers engaged across a geographically diverse district.

Together, they’ll tackle the questions every grassroots organizer should be asking:

• What worked, and what did we learn from the 2026 elections?
• How do we build coalitions that connect rural, suburban and urban communities?
• How do we keep volunteers, organizations and local leaders working together between elections?
• How do we turn campaign relationships into lasting grassroots infrastructure?
• What should we be doing right now to prepare for 2027, 2028 and beyond?

From Winning Elections to Building the Future

The connection between our two conversations couldn’t be more important. Assertive federalism gives states opportunities to act. Grassroots coalitions create the public engagement, relationships and political will to make that action possible.

We have spent years organizing, building networks, supporting candidates and fighting for the issues that matter most. Now we have an opportunity to move beyond reacting to the latest crisis and start advancing our own agenda.

It’s time to turn electoral victories into meaningful, lasting change. When we work together, we win. 

Join us live, Friday at Noon: tinyurl.com/FPL2026b