Like many progressives, I spent the first few weeks after the election reeling from the results and imagining the repercussions of a Trump administration.
I obsessively tracked each new drama and thought deeply about long-term strategies to protect our democracy.
While I was well-intentioned, it turns out this time was squandered.
And that's because the election is not over until the electoral college has completed its voting, and it is very clear to me now that there IS a very viable pathway for Trump to not take office, which is part of why Michael Moore has made the bold public prediction this week that Trump actually will NOT take office.
The electoral college was designed for a moment like this; a fail-safe to protect our democracy.
For the electoral college to not select Trump will, I believe, require the emergence of more evidence of voting interference and fraud, likely involving Russia, which then compromises trust in the election results and gives cause for a sufficient number of electors to not vote for Trump.
For statistical, geeky types, the number-crunching of exit-polls leads to very compelling evidence of hacking or manipulation. See this article for a detailed analysis.
There is also mounting evidence of active Russian interference at all stages of the electoral process, which has prompted President Obama on Friday to call for a full investigation before he leaves office and for members of Congress to demand additional declassification.
What is undeniably true is that there was a large discrepancy between exit polling and final tallies in the direction of Donald Trump, especially in swing states. These are large differences that are easily enough to flip many states and indeed, the entire election.
Allies in the voting integrity movement have told me that more information is about to come out about the vast size of the undervote (where only the top of the ticket has supposedly been left blank, especially common in Democratic strongholds), the failure rate of voting machines (59% of the machines in heavily Democratic Detroit for instance), evidence that voting machines that were reportedly not connected to the Internet had wi-fi capability, and more.
Trump-backed lawyers are being extremely aggressive in blocking all recount activities, such as in this article from a Michigan observer.
So why, given all of the above, have Democrats mostly insisted that it is time to move on? Why have those at the leadership level largely dismissed the facts that have emerged?
Simple: most Democrats are attached to being seen as the good guys and thus bend over backward to not be seen as sore losers or conspiracy theorists.
They are so attached to this self-image that it makes them easy to deceive.
They start to operate with a herd psychology that refuses to see or address what is really going on because it is not socially accepted.
So what do we do now?
If you are concerned about the future of our country under a Trump administration, between now and Dec. 19th, you need to completely ignore what Trump is doing. Ignore the circus, ignore the latest drama, ignore the feelings you have about his latest appointments.
That is all distraction. That is all irrelevant.
The primary thing that matters right now is getting as much of the truth out as possible in a short period of time.
We can support that with our donations to recount efforts, our volunteerism, and our use of social media channels to amplify breaking evidence and stories. We can lobby our elected officials with this information and we can influence key cultural figures.
The more evidence of election manipulation that becomes commonly known in the next 10 days - even if it doesn't fully flip states - the more the integrity of the 2016 election will be called into question and the more that electors who are already having serious questions about Donald Trump have a reason to defect.
There are already 8 so-called Hamilton Electors (Democrats who would vote for an alternate Republican besides Trump) and one Republican elector who declared in the New York Times that he is not voting for Trump. I have heard that more have approached Lawrence Lessig, who has offered free legal counsel to them.
So I encourage you to dig into the truth and amplify all the credible evidence that you discover and get involved in organizing around work focused on Dec. 19th.
We have nine days to fulfill Michael Moore's prediction. This election is not over.
Here are some important actions you can take:
•Share this article
•Track the latest developments and share breaking stories widely
•Contribute to the Stein recount, Protect Our Elections or Recount Now
•Organize for Dec. 19th in state capitols-http://www.saveourdemocracy.com
•Sign this Petition to members of Congress
•Convince your state electors to become Hamilton Electors
•Get involved in advocating for better solutions with your elected representatives - Open Election Initiative