The following is an attempt to share, with a national audience, lessons I have learned from involvement in the effort to replace the incumbent GOP/MAGA congressman in my district. Two events this week have been particularly informative.
The first was triggered when I saw a Facebook post in which someone had edited one of my posts and reposted it under her name. She had replaced the term to which I regularly refer to Trump supporters as “the MAGAverse” with “MAGAsses.” This bothered me for two reasons. While I encourage everyone to share my posts and particularly my AI generated cartoons, this was a pure case of plagiarism since she did not credit me with the content. More importantly, from her other on-line content, it was clear she too hoped this year will be Aaron Bean’s last as our congressman. At a time when polls show that many 2024 Trump voters may be experiencing “buyers’ remorse,” the worse thing anyone can do is put them on the defensive, suggesting they are not welcome in our 2026 fold.
Based on this experience, I thought it was a good time to share this message with a broader audience and posted the following on Facebook.
Though I disagree, I understand if you trusted Donald Trump in November 2024, as long as you remember in November 2026, he and his enablers (such as Congressman Aaron Bean) meant none of what they promised. Trump promised transparency. And promised he would put “America First.” He said he would not get involved in any more wars and regime change was over. He swore he would not weaponize the Justice Department. That he would end inflation. And replace ACA with more affordable health care. And finally, he claimed he had nothing to do with Project 2025 and had no idea what was in it. PROMISES MADE; PROMISES BROKEN. So why are these guys laughing?
I did not state the obvious, because I trust, not all, but enough voters will eventually realize Trump and Bean take them for suckers who can be fooled again and again.
I received a lot of pushback from FB friends who shared stories about Trump’s responsibility for their losing friends and becoming estranged from family members who were avid supporters of Trump and the MAGA agenda. One person implied I was restricting her freedom of speech, to whom I replied:
I support your right to free speech. But let me approach this issue from a different perspective. The prime directive is to win in November. And Donald Trump and his enablers help us every day. We see increasing numbers of voters, including a few MAGA loyalists, starting to question whether Trump 2.0 was a mistake. I am not a Christian, but I believe in deathbed conversions. Calling people MAGAsses is your right. But it is not helping us achieve the prime directive. You might want to look at my January 13 post. It is a message of grace to those who are considering switching sides in 2026.
The second incident involved one of the four candidates who has filed to run in the Democratic primary for congress in our district. While I am working with one of the candidates, I know and have spent time with two of the other three. On multiple occasions I have reminded them “the prime directive” is to send Aaron Bean back to Amelia Island. I have tried to set an example on social media, including one of yesterday’s posts.
Congressman Aaron Bean says he represents “working Americans.” However, today he voted in favor of HR2262, the Flexibility for Workers Education Act. Unfortunately, the person who gets the flexibility is the EMPLOYER, who would have the flexibility to deny overtime or minimum wage payments to employees attending certain education or training programs. In reality, flexibility was a misnomer as the bill was actually an anti-labor, anti-union MANDATE. The bill amended the Fair Labor Standards Act so that “hours for which the employee is employed SHALL (not may) be excluded” including activities that were approved under a bone fide collective bargaining agreement or attendance at an education or training program “regardless of whether the program is offered or facilitated by the employer.”
Fortunately, six GOP members with a spine joined with all Democratic members to defeat the measure. But don’t forget, Bean’s vote for the bill came from someone who had a 90+ day paid vacation from August until December, 2025.
One of the Democratic congressional candidates also picked up on HR2262 and posted a C-SPAN screen shot of the vote with this explanation.
For the record, as i was speaking to a group of AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization) RETIREES about #SocialSecurity, the House Democrats defeated a Republican bill that would have allowed employers to deny workers overtime pay or the minimum wage by reclassifying work as “job training” or “education.”
First of all, the House Democrats cannot do anything without the help of few GOP crossovers. Second, nothing about Aaron voting for the bill. Third, no comparison to his six Republicans colleagues who bucked the party to defeat the bill, something Bean NEVER does. Not to mention the description of the bill was an interruption, not accurately reflecting what the bill language included.
Of course, we want Democratic control of the House in 2027, but District #4 voters are not voting for speaker. All we can do is make sure OUR congressman votes for a Democratic Speaker of the House on the first day of the 120th Congress. That is our prime directive.
What we can do is share our research and messaging with activists in other districts with incumbent Republicans and remind them that their focus should be on the person where they can make a difference. Did he or she vote for HR2262, contrary to the interests of working people in the district? Did he or she vote against an extension of the ACA subsidies? Has he or she remained silent while Pam Bondi violates the law to release the Epstein files every congressman voted for?
Unfortunately, as we learned in 2024, broad concepts such as democracy or the rule of law do not resonate with enough American voters to win elections. You have to put a face on it. You have to make it personal. It reminds me of Elie Wiesel’s powerful message about the holocaust. It is hard to put your arms around the slaughter of 6,000,000 people. Instead, think of it as one individual being killed 6,000,000 separate times. In this case, it is not a Democratic majority electing the next speaker of the house. It will be YOUR congressman, the person you elected, raising his or her hand with at least 217 other Democratic House members, one at a time, changing the course of the nation.
Do not get angry. Get focused. And channel that focus on the prime directive.
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP