No Kings Vote Early Rally Speech
October 17, 2026
I want to thank Indivisible Acton or inviting me to speak at today’s No Kings Vote Early rally.
You know, politics and governing can be very complicated matters, but today, Indivisible chapters across the country are asking Americans to do one thing before Tuesday, November 3rd: Vote early! In Massachusetts, because of some incredible advocacy by many of you here, during the pandemic, the Massachusetts Legislature passed early voting and voting by mail, which begins today! How many people are planning to vote today at Town Hall?
An equally important question to ask you today, how are you feeling about the elections?
To my constituents who are deeply concerned about the direction of our country under President Trump and a majority Republican Congress, who want to see much greater accountability of Donald Trump, and see major pushback against the corruption, the incompetence, the trauma against our immigration neighbors, the gutting of our healthcare and social safety net systems, the inflation, high gas prices and cost of living pushing working families to the brink, the illegal and extrajudicial killing of people around the world, and the general fear, heartbreak and damaged lives that the Trump-Vance administration has brought to so many people, I say:
“We have the wind at our backs!” Can you feel it? Really, take a moment this weekend to think about all of the amazing resistance you have been a part of, in so many ways led by Massachusetts.
But over the next 17 days, we cannot let up, with campaigning, talking to our family, friends and neighbors, speaking out on social media, and reminding our community what is at stake in this election. But I have to say, after over a year and a half of absolute hell, insanity, perverse government actions and obscene cruelty, I am feeling proud, excited and hopeful for what our movement together has wrought! So when you vote, whether today, next week or on November 3rd, bring that organizing joy into the voting booth!
I am so grateful to Indivisible chapters for bringing us together every several months. It’s become an incredibly powerful movement. And yet as we know, it’s a movement that began in January 2017, and despite so much amazing, inspiring work, we found ourselves in 2024 with not just Donald Trump elected again, but a majority Republican Congress - and a deeply right-wing Supreme Court. These have become the three legs on a stool that the federal government has bashed over the heads of the American people, almost every day.
Today, I ask you to think about your vision for how you want to see our country change. Because the reality is that for far too many Americans, including a good deal of Massachusetts residents, a lot of things have not been working. What are we going to do to change that?
Let’s remember that the 1963 March on Washington was officially called the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The purpose of the march was not just to advocate for the civil rights of African Americans, including ending the disenfranchisement of Black Americans in the South, but also economic rights. Bayard Rustin, one of the organizers of the March on Washington, recognized what he described as the Economics of Dignity.
After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Rustin identified a pivot toward demands that cannot be solved by simple integration: the struggle for decent housing, decent jobs, decent education, and a seat at the table of decision-making. When millions of Americans across the nation pull that lever to vote, let’s keep in mind that a good slice of the electorate who voted for Donald Trump before, but are now voting Democratic in 2026, voted out of frustration of their place, perhaps financial circumstances that they are in society today.
When I vote in Marlborough this election season, I’ll be thinking about how we create a society where we can move all people forward, together. About a nation where parents feel that their children will do better than them. About an America where everyone is welcome, regardless of their economic upbringing, immigration status, race, ethnicity, gender or gender identity, or sexual orientation. In democracies across the world, your vote is your casting your hope to create a better society, against the billionaires, elites, and demagogues that seek to divide and conquer the rest of us. Vote early, vote for hope, vote for change! Thank you!
***End of Speech***
