More on Antisemitism, Immigration, and Democrats’ Leadership

Plus a look behind the scenes…

By the time you’re reading this, Kym and I and five of our kids are likely on a camping trip in Western North Carolina. This week was a doozy for us. I was wrapping up legislative session (kind of), and Kym was busy filing a $3B lawsuit to get environmental funding back for frontline communities, responding to Supreme Court rulings, getting ready for the madness we are about to see in Washington, and perhaps mostly draining of all, sending the detailed updates of the soccer Club World Cup requested by our son Rio who is at summer camp and cut off from the world. 2025 has been a year where things like laundry and yard work get squeezed in between the hours of 8.30-10.30 pm – if at all. 

So we couldn’t pull off one of our regular long form essays. Instead, we wanted to send a few follow ups from the last few posts, as well as answer some questions that I’ve heard frequently of late. 

Follow up on Gaza and Antisemitism

My post from two weeks ago, Let’s Talk about Gaza and AntiSemitism, got more feedback than any other recent post. The vast majority of it was positive, with some people appreciating a different look at the issue from that they usually do, and many others responding that we had given a voice to their thoughts, and emboldened them to speak up more often. A small number of people were outright hostile, mostly on the Facebook version of the post. And I also got some very enlightening feedback that helped me write a revised version that was published by Cardinal & Pine. I don’t expect you to go read the whole thing again, so here are some specific changes that I made.

The largest proportion of pushback was based on my decision to use the word genocide. Several correspondents wanted to dispute the word based on various definitions, and others seem to reject it out of hand as something that Israeli Jews could be capable of. This was my response added to the new version:

And to those who reject the term genocide altogether, I’ll offer this: I have been slow to come to using this word as it carries such incredible historical weight. We just don't have another word that captures the cruelty that is happening. 

If someone prefers words like “displacement”, “humanitarian crisis”, “massacre”, or ”just war”... I hope they are reflective about what it means to find solace in such language. I find none.

Other correspondents wrote from several different perspectives about the specific application of the word “antisemitism” in contemporary discourse. And specifically that I did not define how I was using the term. So, based on one specific exchange, I added this:

Another friend suggested that these discussions can benefit from a clearer surfacing of what antisemitism is and is not. She shared, “Opposing the treacherous behavior of Israel is not antisemitism, and being committed to peace and justice for Palestinians is also not antisemitism. On the other hand, blaming all Jews for this violence would be antisemitic.” 

The same can be said when we criticize all Palestinians, or, indeed, paint all those who oppose the actions of Israel with a single brush.

I appreciate those who took the time to correspond and further advance my perspective on this incredibly complex topic.

Follow up on Immigration

After last week’s post Democrats Must Win on Immigration I felt validated when a friend posted this poll in our group chat.

64% of people believe we should give undocumented residents a path to legal status! Trump’s immigration talk is all a cover for his authoritarian power grab. Democrats must dive into this discussion and drive a wedge here. Stop running away just because Trump is so aggressive about it!

And then legendary NC journalist Ferrel Guillory sent me this piece about how the progressive left in Denmark navigated immigration and rose to power. I think their model could work with a couple of tweaks here, most importantly a path to citizenship for immigrants here currently. What do you think?

What Do I Think of Zohran Mamdani?

Boy did I get this question a lot this week! And to be honest I haven’t taken a deep dive into what makes him so attractive to so many people. And while lots of people are looking to his surprise win as some kind of harbinger, I’m skeptical. Have NYC mayoral elections ever really told us much about the rest of America? It doesn’t seem that way to me. 

Still, it is up to us to bring the change we want to see in the world, and the party… And so I’ll say this: It seems like Mamdani has the two pieces of political currency that I find the most valuable these days: Moral Clarity & Emotional Authenticity. More Democrats need to communicate with these two things in mind!

Who Should Dems Coalesce Around?

This is one of the most common questions that I’ve been asked over the last few months. And I get it. It reminds me of where Democrats were in North Carolina when I entered the General Assembly back in 2013. We had a GOP Governor and GOP majorities in the legislature. It felt like we were in the wilderness. Until Roy Cooper announced he was running for Governor, and then the party quickly fell in line behind him and his vision. (I truly hope he’ll do this again for North Carolina by running for Senator versus Thom Tillis in 2026.)

I don’t think that any coalescence for Democrats is likely to happen until we have a 2028 presidential nominee sometime in 2028 itself. Don’t believe me, look at the results from this poll out this week:

There is no way that we Democrats are going to narrow down that field to one national leader prior to going through the Presidential primary. The upside is that we’ve got an all star team! Put them all on the field for the next few years! 

And I don’t have any strong preference among them yet. But I do have thoughts on what issues, values and traits could help lead us to victory. I’ll hope to share those with you in the coming weeks. 

How Do We Write This Every Week?

Kym and I are so very appreciative of each person who has told us how much you appreciate these emails. Sometimes people tell me that my job must feel thankless, but it does not. People say thank you all the time and it puts wind in my sails!

Occasionally, people want to know about how we do this and how much work it takes. Here’s a quick synopsis. 

Kym and I talk about potential topics throughout the week, generally agreeing to a specific theme by the time we get to Thursday evening although sometimes not until Saturday! I usually take the first crack at writing, and that first draft is often a self-therapeutic take full of all the negative emotions I need to purge from that week. Then Kym comes in and rips out all of the parts that will drag readers down and replaces them with sentiments that are much more hopeful. Kym also pushes me to be more direct. Like a lot of politicians I can have a tendency to hedge, and keep everyone happy. She pushes me to say clearly what I actually mean and believe. We trade drafts back and forth until sometime late Saturday. Once the text is done, I pick images and then load everything up for distribution on Sunday mornings. Kym leaves for a long run early each Sunday and I get up and post everything onto social before she gets back. All told, it probably takes about 10-20 hours for each one to get ready, and then another few hours on Sunday responding to people.

The email version gets about 4000 reads in the average week. Subtack is up to about 600 subscribers and each post gets about 1000 reads there. Facebook posts generally reach somewhere between 4-12,000 people, although this post reached 440,000!

I love collaborating with Kym on this (and she did not write this paragraph!) She’s a great writer, but what I appreciate most is the way she works as a partner to help me clarify my thoughts. In the end, what’s published is under my name but it’s really both of ours.

We’re going to keep on doing this as much as we can, but there may be some weeks this summer that we don’t get something out. We’re going to use some time to recharge our own batteries and invest in the kids. 

You Love Our Joy

People love that each of our posts has a list of things you can do each week. What makes people smile when they talk with us is engaging in conversation about the things we share from our personal lives. The stories about our kids, the recipes from our garden, the examples of joy. 

Here are a few that we wanted to share with you.

What’s in our garden right now? We have pattypan squash, caserta squash, yellow squash, two types of cucumbers, two types of eggplant, tomatillos (green and purple), about 15 types of tomatoes and maybe 20 types of chillies. Leeks and onions are still growing. Our kale and lettuce just finished, and we just pulled out the last carrots and beets but we have beans and okra coming in for a late summer harvest. Basil, chives, rosemary, parsley are all abundant.

What have we been cooking? As you might imagine, in the summer we cook from the garden almost every night. Squash blossom quesadillas with homemade tortillas are a big favorite. When the tomatillos come in we will make so much sweet salsa verde - tomatillos are so much sweeter fresh than from a store. Right now we have been enjoying a simple pasta dish - fresh pasta from the farmer’s market, fried squash, ricotta, fresh tomatoes and basil. It’s pretty much heaven. We don’t have a peach tree, but this is one of our absolute favorite summer recipes. Save the poaching liquid and use it to make whiskey cocktails. 

Do we ever veg out? Yes! Late at the end of each day we usually both collapse and watch a range of British and US TV. Our favorite show together is Slow Horses (watch it!!) Recently we really enjoyed Department Q, and lately we’ve been engrossed in The Pitt. It’s an amazing example of how a show that dives into the culture of a very specific place can reveal universal truths about us all.

What are the kids up to? We have an amazing blended family Brady Bunch of six kids ranging from age 10-33. They feed our souls and give us a reason to keep going strong day after day. So, it has been hard this week to have them scattered, at sleepaway camp, at the beach, and at jobs. We keep in touch, though. Yesterday we received a letter from ten year old Sky which opened: “Hi Mom! Right now I’m covered with glitter and about to eat lunch (it’s chicken nuggets and frys”)” Perfect. 

And earlier this week when the General Assembly passed a ban on student use of cell phones in schools, Kym had this text exchange with our high schooler:

What you can do this week

• Call Sens. Tillis and Budd: We’re posting this before we know what happens with Trump’s MAGA Death Bill this weekend. But assuming that Tillis and Budd haven’t already voted for it, call them and tell them not to! Also, tell them not to vote for judges like Emil Bove. 

• July 4 is coming this week. No one does it better than Carrboro. Along with all of their fun activities, I strongly encourage you to attend their annual Independence Day reading of Frederick Douglass’ "The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro."

• Good Trouble Lives On: Sign up for another day of action on July 17. This day honors the late Rep. John Lewis and the events are organized by black-led organizations.

• On Thursday Kym filed a class action lawsuit to get $3B in environmental grants back for frontline communities. Learn more at the website for Southern Environmental Law Center, and maybe send them a donation to support this important work?

• Find Joy: We’re headed back to WNC this weekend for my dad’s birthday and a quick camping trip to float down the river at the Deep Creek Campground. What’s your North Carolina destination for joy this summer? Please go help WNC recover if you can!

Onward,

Graig (and Kym!)