Hey everyone! We are now less than three months (78 days) until the Virginia primary election and less than seven months until Election Day in November! Today is not just the last day of March, but it is also our end of quarter deadline, so our team is busier than ever. We’ve had a lot of exciting things happen over the past month, so scroll down to see where we’ve been in March, and some exciting plans for April!
On the trail
This month, we started on the trail by standing with ATU Local 689 at the picket line supporting our Virginia union workers in their fight for better wages and better benefits. (good news… shortly after this the union successfully negotiated a new contract including retirement benefits)
Later, we spent time with fellow Virginia Democrats in advance of and on the March 5th Presidential primary (where we helped President Biden win BIG)!
In mid-March, we celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day at Congressman Gerry Connolly’s 30th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Fete.
Finally, we closed out the rest of the month by meeting with voters across the 7th Congressional District, from Stafford to Madison and Caroline County!
Veterans For Vindman
Just this week we launched Veterans For Vindman, a coalition of veterans located here in Virginia’s 7th Congressional district ready to help us keep this seat blue!
Endorsements
We also earned four major endorsements this month, three of which are from sitting members of Congress. First, up, we earned the endorsement of Virginia State Senator Russet Perry who has fought for Virginians in the legislature every single day. Having Senator Perry’s support shows that folks on the ground here in Virginia are recognizing the strength of our campaign!
Later, we were proud to roll out the endorsements of Colorado Congressman Jason Crow, Pennsylvania Congressman Chris Deluzio, and North Carolina Congressman Don Davis. All three of these endorsements are personal as these members are on the front lines fighting for our service members at home and abroad. I look forward to joining them in this fight when I get to Congress!
Note on policy
When it comes to the war in Ukraine, we are approaching an inflection point of historic dimensions. It is not an exaggeration to say that nothing less than American security—and indeed the future of world peace—is at stake. That is because our national credibility is on the line.
On numerous occasions President Biden has committed the United States to aid Ukraine in its defense. As he declared in a speech this past summer, “Our commitment to Ukraine will not weaken. We will stand for liberty and freedom today, tomorrow, and for as long as it takes.”
“Will not weaken.” “For as long as it takes.” No words could be more unequivocal.
Yet the MAGA-run Republican party, in thrall to Donald Trump and tilting toward Vladmir Putin’s authoritarian Russia, is now trying to tear these pledges to shreds. In financial terms, cutting Ukraine loose would be the national security equivalent of the United States defaulting on its national debt, a global economic catastrophe. Throwing Ukraine to the wolves now, after all of Biden’s explicit promises to aid it, would lead to significant catastrophe for the global community.
These consequences begin with Ukraine, but hardly end there. Many more of the brave Ukrainian men and women who have been resisting Russian aggression for over two years are going to perish. Many more Ukrainian civilians who fall under Russian occupation are going to suffer, as they already have, rape, torture, and murder. The nation of Ukraine itself could be extinguished.
To say that the Kremlin would be emboldened by American abdication is a gross understatement. Which of Russia’s neighbors would be next: Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova? Perhaps Putin will probe the Baltic states or even Poland--NATO members- -and by calculation or miscalculation risk a war that, unlike in Ukraine, would entail American boots on the ground. In other words, a future war with either Russia, China or both becomes much more likely if our credibility is eliminated and along with-it deterrence.
Plainly, with wars now raging in Europe and the Middle East, and China more menacing than it has been in decades, we have entered an era at least as dangerous as the Cold War. But this is a moment when internal divisions threaten to cripple us on the world stage.
There is only one remedy. The forces in American politics—the MAGA Republicans, the isolationists and nativists who would turn back the clock to the 1930s, those who would negate the sacrifices of the greatest generation in World War II—have to be defeated in the 2024 elections. One has to pray that November 2024 is not too late to avert a death blow to America’s standing and credibility on the global stage.
Always in service,
Eugene Vindman
Great Job Eugene!!! We are out here praying for you! If I was any closer, I’d walk for you.