I've spent the last several weeks doing something I don't enjoy: reading through comment threads, forwarded emails, and private messages where members of this party have torn into one another.
I want to name what's happening, because pretending it isn't happening won't fix it. We are in a moment of real strain. Some of us sharply disagree about strategy — about priorities. Those disagreements are not the problem. Disagreement is what happens when people care enough to have opinions. The problem is that we've started treating each other as obstacles instead of allies.
I understand the frustration underneath this. When you believe deeply in a cause, every setback feels personal, and every disagreement can start to feel like betrayal. We are facing a pivotal moment where we must make a decision. Will this party face defeat from the inside?
Emily Marburger
Courtesy photo
Here is what I know from every campaign I've been part of: the fastest way out of an internal spiral is not more debate. It's more work. Shared work. The kind you can only do shoulder to shoulder with someone, which has a way of reminding you why you're actually on the same side.
So this is my ask: In the coming weeks, we are standing up the most ambitious volunteer effort this organization has run in years — canvassing, phone banks, event support, direct outreach into communities that need to hear from us. We need hands for all of it, up and down the ballot, and we need the people currently pouring their energy into internal arguments to redirect that same energy outward, toward the people we exist to serve.
If you have an hour a week, we have a place for you. If you have ten, we have more. I promise you'll learn more about each other stuffing envelopes together than you will in another comment thread.
Our opponents are not sitting around waiting for us to sort ourselves out. They are counting on us not to. Every hour we spend fighting each other is an hour we are not spending on the work that brought us here in the first place.
We have too much left to do, and too many people counting on us, to spend this moment fighting the people standing next to us.
Sign up. Show up. Let's get back to work. Let’s do it together.
Emily Marburger is the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.