Watch: "Flip the Vote" - a Tangible and Direct Way to Help Defeat Trumpism in the 2026 Mid-Term Election
Two Santa Barbara community leaders preview an upcoming online "house party" to help organize pro-democracy support in key, swing district congressional elections beyond bright blue California
There seemingly is no end or bottom to the bilgewater torrent of chaos, corruption and cruelty sent forth daily by Donald Trump and his stooges, lackeys and goons.
Amid the prevailing weltschmerz induced by this constant current of dishonesty, double-dealing and depravity, loyal Newsmakers readers and viewers — like every good citizen who still subscribes to the political values and moral standards of liberal democracy - invariably raise the abiding question:
“But what the hell can we do about it?”
Now come Santa Barbara community activist power couple Charla Bregante and Chuck Flacks, who are organizing a local contingent of “Flip the Vote,” a national grassroots coalition which offers a modest, but concrete and consequential, course of action to help stem Trumpism.
On May 20, Charla and Chuck will host an online meeting for “Flip the Vote,” which now is focused on the urgent task of breaking the Republican stranglehold on power in Washington by flipping the House of Representatives - and, who knows, maybe the U.S. Senate too.
While California will remain reliably blue in the congressional elections, “Flip the Vote” provides a pathway for local pro-democracy voters to target and channel resources to community groups fighting in crucial swing districts in key states, including Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
“This is a good way to engage in a national election from here in Blue California,” said Bregante, whose day job is with the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara.
“A lot of predictions are saying that if this goes well, we could flip the House, we could potentially flip the Senate,” said Flacks, who works as a homelessness services community coordinator. “The Trump administration will then be tied up with hearings, investigating all of the unbelievable corruption that’s been going on, which will slow them down, which will expose, one hopes, a lot of the crime that’s been happening at the federal level.”
“So the opportunity here is for people to have direct action in some of that, to pull some levers well beyond our general influence,” he added.
In a conversation with Newsmakers, Bregante and Flacks discuss the strategy and scope of “Flip the Vote”; the damage and pain Trump is inflicting on local community service groups and how they’re fighting back; the project of building opposition to the sweeping right-wing agenda that seeks to dismantle the past half-century’s social progress in the U.S. - and how to avoid despair in such distressing times.
“I find a lot of sustenance…in doing a lot of activist work out in the Santa Barbara community, both collectively and individually,” said Charla. “And I do feel despair some days, I can’t lie. I certainly feel despair. And I was just recently wringing my hands with, ‘what can I do?’
“And then ‘Flip the Vote’ came along again,” she added, with a smile.
Here is the link if you’d like to join the “Flip the Vote” meeting, hosted on Zoom by Charla Bregante and Chuck Flacks, on Wednesday, May 20, at 5:30 p.m. PDT.
More information about “Flip the Vote” is here.
Check out our conversation wtih Charla Bregante and Chuck Flacks (Episode 565) via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. Our podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, or on SoundCloud here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 5 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on weekends.
