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Paul Wellman

SWEET, BUT NOT TOO SWEET: Indivisible Santa Barbara members (from left) Jennie Reinish, Christina Eliason, Laura Smith, and Loretta Smargon brought chocolates and valentines to Rep. Salud Carbajals office on Tuesday.

Members Mimic the Take-No-Prisoners, In-Your-Face Style of Right WingPopulists

Anti-Trump activists have designated every Tuesday a Trump Tuesday, a time to demonstrate their disagreement with the new presidents agenda. This last Tuesday started off on a positive note, with a delegation from Indivisible Santa Barbara, a branch of the nationwide movement, showering newly elected Congressmember Salud Carbajal with handmade Valentines greetings. We Love You Salud, proclaimedone.

Carbajal, of course, was in Congress at the timenot in his new digs by the Plaza de Oro movie theater. As the 24th Congressional Districts representative in Washington, D.C., Carbajal has become the go-to man for the growing legion of Indivisible volunteers in Santa Barbara. A liberal-progressive organization, Indivisible intentionally seeks to mimic the take-no-prisoners, in-your-face tactics of the right-wing populist Tea Party. Carbajal, a liberal Democrat who has already spoken out against Trumps policies on the floor of the House, has not yet experienced theirire.

No such luck for archconservative Republican Congressmember Tom McClintock, who represents the Sacramento metro region. (McClintock once represented Santa Barbara in the State Senate before moving north eight years ago.) Two hundred Indivisible activists from his district packed a town hall meeting McClintock scheduled in Roseville last week, leaving several hundred more protesters outside. Inside, they were boisterous and determined, challenging McClintocks stated intention to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Roseville police insisted Indivisible protestors were peaceful and cooperative, but since the crowd was bigger than anything theyd encountered, they gave McClintock a police escort when he left. McClintock later spoke on the House floor bemoaning the loss of civility in public discourse, but only after he first characterized the protestors as an anarchist element and the radical left. No Indivisible Valentines forMcClintock.

By PaulWellman

The national Indivisible organization began shortly after the presidential election as nothing more than a well-modulated civics primer on social media, written by former staffers of a former Democratic Congressmember from Texas. The 26-page how-to manual offered angry but politically inexperienced anti-Trump citizens ways to make elected officials feel their heat. It emphasized the success enjoyed by Tea Party agitators, who translated their rage against the bank bailout and the 2008 election of President Barack Obama into a highly effective campaign of uncompromising opposition. Certainly, Carbajals predecessorCongressmember Lois Cappsfelt their wrath when busloads of Tea Party activists assembled in front of her downtown offices to denounce Obamacare. After that, Capps hosted her town hall meetings in churches, hoping to encourage civildiscourse.

Indivisible soon morphed from social media underground into a flesh-and-blood movement thanks to a three-hour special broadcast by MSNBCs lefty commentator Rachel Maddow. In Santa Barbara, a couple of filmmakersJennie Reinish and Christina Eliasondecided Santa Barbara needed an Indivisible chapter of its own. They teamed up with Laura Smitha techie, sculptor, Summer Solstice organizer, and paid field operative for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. On January 2, the Santa Barbara chapter had 14 members. Two weeks ago, 185 mostly middle-aged and white people showed up for an organizational meeting. The next day, they packed a scheduled Carbajal press conference, transforming it into a bona fide political pep rally. One of his field workers exclaimed: We need people shouting into thehurricane.

By PaulWellman

Indivisible activists deliver Valentines cards to Salud Carbajals districtoffice.

Indivisible is all about writing and calling ones congressmember and senators, and showing up for office visits and town hall meetings. They ask yes or no questions. They leave short messages on oneand only onesubject. They share personal stories that are relevant to the issue at handthe Affordable Care Act, for instance. In Santa Barbara, most Trump Tuesdays have been spent focusing on Senator Dianne Feinstein, lobbying her to oppose all of Trumps Cabinet nominees. Californias newest senator, Kamala Harris, has publically announced her opposition to them. Feinsteinas a matter of policywaits until the very last minute before announcing her position on cabinet appointees. Three weeks ago, Indivisible raised the alarm that Feinstein might actually support Jeff Sessionsthe archconservative Alabama senator ultimately confirmed as Attorney Generalwith whom she allegedly enjoyed cordialrelations.

When Eliason and Smith first called Feinsteins office, they were told the senator had only received 5,000 callssix times fewer than those her office had gotten supporting former president Bill Clintons impeachment proceedings. Indivisibles all over the state turned up the heat. By the time Feinstein voted against Sessions, 114,000 people had called, 98 percent against the nominee. Three Tuesdays in a row, hundreds of Indivisibles rallied at Feinsteins downtown Los Angeles offices. That has always included a Santa Barbara contingent. After each rally, the organizers met with Feinsteins staff. When they learned Feinstein liked personal stories, they delivered. First Feinstein delayed the vote on Sessions; then she voted against him. At that time, she used some of the personal details shared by Indivisible activists to make hercase.

With Trump in the White House, the old rules of engagement no longer apply, Indivisible activists argue. The times are calling for someone to step in and be a true leader, said Eliason. Our kids need a hero. Our girls need a heroine. People need to feel theyre not alone. In the meantime, she added, the National Republican Party has already targeted Carbajals seat in 2018. To keep Carbajal in office is one thing, she said; to keep Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch off the Supreme Court for two years quiteanother.

Today, there are about 6,200 Indivisible chapters throughout the United States; Santa Barbaras boasts about 1,200 members, and that doesnt include the 80 people who just formed one in Carpinteria. But theres a big difference between reacting and organizing, Eliason believes. If youre just reacting, youll get burned out. We need to be better at organizing. This has been such an insanemonth.

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Indivisible Santa Barbara Borrows Tea Party Tactics - Santa Barbara Independent