Some thoughts from my New Year's Day walk with my dog.

The next eleven months are our Battle of the Bulge. Mr. Trump and his allies plan an all-out attack to break us in the swing states. We must hold.

Winston Churchill and I went for a walk to start the new year. A seven-year-old hound with a lot of personality, Winston is a much beloved dog. We do this walk every morning, and I don’t generally spend the time thinking of his eponym, the complicated and brilliant English statesman. This morning, however, as we navigated a treacherous patch of ice, I remembered what the P.M. called “undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war.”

My dog, Winston Churchill

In the summer after the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, the allies had liberated France and pushed into Belgium. But winter slowed the offensive and the Germans were able to reinforce their defensive lines along the new front. Instead of continuing to fortify those defenses, however, the Germans chose to counterattack. Panzer divisions swept west and north, trapping the Americans at Bastogne. Sensing victory, the Germans demanded the Americans surrender. But General Anthony McAuliff knew that if Bastogne fell the Germans would be able to sweep up to the Meuse River, recover lost territory, and divide the allied armies. He and his troops held the city.

I thought about this because we Americans are back in Bastogne, only this time it’s Wisconsin and it’s Michigan and it’s Arizona and it’s Georgia. It’s Pennsylvania and it’s North Carolina. In every swing state there are besieged heroes fighting for our future.

After running Mr. Trump out of office in 2020, Democrats have won battle after battle. We overcame the January 6th coup attempt. We beat back the great red wave in the 2022 midterms. We won at every level, from school board races to Governorships. But the corrupt anti-democracy forces still control a lot of America, and they have been reinforcing what they hold by changing the electoral rules to give them every advantage. Meanwhile, where they hold power, women have lost the right decide if, and when, they will have a baby. Young people have lost the right to choose what books to read and protections against child labor have been weakened. LGBTQ citizens in these states face sanctions. Anyone who looks like an immigrant to state officials is subject to harassment. Now, this year, the anti-democracy forces have organized their counterattack, and hope to recapture the White House.

“Nuts.”  That was Gen McAuliff’s response to the Nazi’s when they called on him to surrender. It would be almost a week before the US third army fought its way into Bastogne with supplies and relief. It was America’s costliest battle of the war, with more than 100,000 casualties. It was also the battle that sealed the Nazi fate.

The next eleven months are our Battle of the Bulge. Mr. Trump and his allies plan an all-out attack to break us in the swing states. We must hold. And across the rest of the land, we must win decisively. There are no sidelines, no place for bystanders. Everyone can help. It will be the decisive year.

When we win, we will usher in a new era that lives up to America’s promise. We will have, for the first time, a truly multi-racial, multi-faith democracy. We will be able, once again, to lead the world to a more secure and more prosperous future.

My dog and I get back home, and he looks at me as if to ask what’s next? A whole nation wonders the same thing. But the answer is your hands.

Here’s the letter handed to Gen McAuliff in that dark time. He didn’t quit. Neither will we.