The one lesson Democrats should learn from Charlie Kirk's legacy

Democrats don’t have anything similar to Turning Point USA in either function or scale.

by Kaivan Shroff, political commentator, online influencer and attorney MSNBC

Kirk created a lasting political infrastructure for young conservatives that Democrats have yet to match.

In the two weeks since Charlie Kirk’s death, most of the conversation has centered on his rhetoric: the viral debate clips, the combative persona and the soundbites that traveled far and wide online. But if we reduce his legacy to style and messaging alone, we miss the bigger picture. Kirk’s most enduring achievement wasn’t what he said — or even his massive digital footprint — it was what he built offline. Through Turning Point USA (TPUSA), Kirk created a lasting political infrastructure for young conservatives all across the country that Democrats have yet to match.

Read more...

All Members Meeting

Saturday, Oct. 11

Doors open at 9:00 am

for socializing and exchanging information.

Meeting begins at 10:00 am.

LOCATION CHANGE

Savannah Recreation Center 

1545 North Buena Vista Blvd

TVDC Membership Annual Renewals

$25 per person

• The renewal period runs through 1/1/26.  
• Memberships renewed will be valid through 1/1/27
• New members who sign up during the renewal  will be valid through 1/1/27
• Watch for email being mailed this week.

Sunday, Oct 5

2:00 pm

Colony Cottage Rec Center

dwcvinfo@gmail.com

Why you should vote for

Ash Marwah -

Senate District 11

Ash Marwah

This election is critical because it will determine whether Republicans gain a two-thirds supermajority in the Florida Senate. Currently holding 26 of 40 seats, they are close to achieving the threshold needed to change Senate rules, pass legislation, and override the Governor’s veto without Democratic input. Preventing this outcome is essential to preserving balance and ensuring that all voices are represented in the legislative process.

At the same time, Floridians are facing urgent challenges in healthcare, housing, and insurance. Deep cuts to Medicaid threaten access for the 4.2 million residents who rely on it, while also straining nursing homes and low-income seniors on Medicare. Rising housing and grocery costs are squeezing working families, and skyrocketing homeowners insurance premiums—combined with denied claims—are creating further financial instability. A proposed solution is to create a nonprofit hurricane insurance company to lower costs across property and car insurance markets.

Public education and tax reform also hang in the balance. Florida ranks last in teacher pay, with a shortage of 7,500 educators driving families and talent out of the state. Prioritizing public schools, which serve 90% of children, is crucial, yet past legislative choices have undermined them. Meanwhile, a proposed increase in the Homestead Exemption could strip counties of essential tax revenue, forcing layoffs of police and firefighters. With so much at stake, this election represents a chance to prevent harmful policies, protect essential services, and work toward a better future for all Floridians. Voters are urged to unite and take action on December 9th to bring meaningful change.

--Ash Marwah

For more, please visit my website: AshForSD11.com or my Facebook page: Facebook.com/AshForSD11

Support Ash

Exploiting Male Rage

Men’s problems are real. MAGA’s solutions are fake.

by Paul Krugman

Charlie Kirk’s audience consisted to a large extent of resentful young white men who felt that modern society wasn’t delivering the status that they deserved.

Given MAGA’s brazen attempts to exploit Kirk’s murder to suppress freedom of expression, I’m sure someone will call what I just said hate speech. But it’s actually just an honest description of reality. The thing is, there are real reasons for the upsurge in resentment by young white males. American men have in important ways been hurt by the changes in our society over the past several decades. Richard Reeves published an excellent book about the subject, "Of Boys and Men".in 2022. And yes, he has a Substack. He discusses a wide variety of topics. What I want to focus on, enlarging his analysis, is the economic side of the problem of men in America. Read more...

Missed The Villages Democratic Club Meeting?

Saturday, Sept 13, 2025

Speaker: Cat Margaux

President of the Florida Young Democrats

The Villagers Democratic Club of The Villages held its September meeting at the Savannah Center in The Villages, FL. Featured speakers included Cat Margaux, President of the Florida Young Democrats;  Rick Townsend, with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention;  and Julian Timoner, Vice Chair Sumter County Democratic Executive Committee.

Meeting Video

Trump chose wrath over unity following Charlie Kirk's killing

After the influential MAGA activist was shot, the president pledged to use the force of government to go after his political opponents.

By Anthony L. Fisher. Senior Editor,

MSNBC Daily

Armed National Guard soldiers from West Virginia patrol the Mall near the Capitol in Washington, as part of President Donald Trump's order to impose federal law enforcement in the nation's capital. - J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Slouching Into Fascism

Are we already past the tipping point?

by Garrett Graff - Mother Jones

The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism. In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen here. The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed.  Read more...

2025 Special Primary Election – Key Dates:

• Election Day: September 30, 2025

 2025 Special Election – Key Dates:

• Deadline to register: November 10, 2025
• Deadline to request vote-by-mail ballot be mailed: November 27, 2025
• Mandatory early voting period: November 29 – December 6, 2025
       (Up to 6 additional days may be offered by county)
• Election Day: December 9, 2025

Candidates outline priorities ahead of Florida Senate District 11 race

Mike Arnold Chroncile Reporter

Voters in Florida’s Senate District 11 will choose a successor in a special election that has drawn three candidates with sharply different resumes and visions for the state. Democrat Ash Marwah and Republicans Anthony Brice and Ralph Massullo each point to their personal experiences and public service as reasons to represent Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Sumter counties in Tallahassee.

Current Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia gave up his seat to take his new job in Gov. Ron Desantis' cabinet.

Read about who's running ....

Smithsonian artists and scholars respond to White House list of objectionable art

by Mandalit del Barco, NPR

The official White House newsletter has posted an article "President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian." It calls out some of the institution's artwork, exhibitions, programs and online articles that focus on race, slavery, immigration and sexuality. That includes works at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, The National Portrait Gallery, and The National Museum of the American Latino.

White House calls for a 'comprehensive review' of eight Smithsonian museums

A painting by Rigoberto Gonzalez titled Refuges Crossing the Border Wall into South Texas, was singled out by the White House in a list of artworks and exhibitions it found qbjectionable.

The list of objectionable content comes a week after White House officals sent a letter asking eight of the Smithsonian's museums to submit their current and future plans for exhibitions, social media content and other material.

Read more...

SAVE THE DATE

TVDC Holiday Party

Friday, November 21

5:30-9:45

Seabreeze Rec Center - more information to come

Nine critical steps

by Robert Reich

Friends,

We have endured more than six months of the most despotic regime in American history.

Republican members of Congress have disgraced themselves and the nation by enabling it. They are traitors to the Constitution, the rule of law, and American democracy.

What of the Democrats? Individually, some have shown real heroism. But as a party they are disunited, ineffective, seemingly afraid of their shadows. “Epsteingate” offers a chance for Dems to derail Trump for a time, but it is not a strategy.

What would that strategy look like if the Democrats were bold and united? Here are nine critical steps (adding to those from someone named Pru Lee).

1. Don’t let Trump get away with his lies.

Read more....

 The Liberal/Independent Ladies and Men will NOT meet in October. 

          Our Friday, October 3 meeting is CANCELLED due to a previously

          scheduled event that will be using that room.

          Our next meeting will be Friday, November 7.

Join the Wine Society

The Villages Democrats are forming a wine society. Members will meet once a month to socialize and share their favorite wines.

For more information contact Laura and Paul Scannevin at lscannevin@gmail.com

Please note The Villages Democratic Club does not supply any alcohol.

The tab for Florida's immigrant prison in the Everglades is $250 million

- and counting

by Jason Garcia as published on Substack

Florida taxpayers are on the hook for at least a quarter of a billion dollars in spending tied to the slapdash immigration detention facility the DeSantis administration opened this month in the middle of the Everglades.

And the public tab for the built-in-eight-days prison camp — where hundreds of immigrants, many without any criminal charges, are being locked up in group cages at a site popularly known by the sociopathic pseudonym, “Alligator Alcatraz” — keeps growing.

Read more.

Unions step up to resist Trump agenda

People power is all we’ve got left

by Dan Froomkin

as published in Heads Up News

Congress is useless. The Supreme Court is useless.

That leaves people power as the last thing standing between Donald Trump and total dictatorship.

And when it comes to people power, nobody wields it better than our nation’s unions.

So the timing was propitious this morning as the AFL-CIO, 

the largest federation of labor unions in the U.S.,

launched a "Fighting for Freedom, Fairness and Security Bus Tour"

that will crisscross the country “to demand that working people are heard”.

Read more...

America declared its independence from the crown

249 years ago - today it has a would-be king

Trump sees himself as a king, and so does his party — and they're spending billions on detention camps.

By Adam Gurri, 

co-founder and editor-in-chief at Liberal Currents 

As published by msnbc.com

The narrow Republican congressional majority has passed, by an even narrower majority, an enormous an megabill. The unpopularity of its substance was swept under the rug on Trump’s say-so. “As the President said, it’s his bill. It’s not a House bill, it’s not a Senate bill," noted House Speaker Mike Johnson. Coverage of the bill has focused on cuts to Medicaid and handouts to the rich. Less noted, but no less significant, is the enormous infusion of cash into immigration enforcement that will have lasting implications for our system of government and our society.

Read more

                             Natanz Enrichment Facility                                                                                                                                                            

FILE PHOTO: A satellite image shows the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran

after airstrike in Iran in this handout image dated June 15, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters/File Photo

What to know about the 3 Iranian nuclear sites that were hit by U.S. strikes

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. forces have attacked three Iranian nuclear and military sites, further upping the stakes in the Israel-Iran war.

President Donald Trump said the strikes, which he described as “very successful,” had hit the Natanz, Fordo and Isfahan sites, with Fordo being the primary target. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed there were attacks early Sunday at all three nuclear sites.

Fordo Nuclear Facility

A satellite image shows the Fordo nuclear facility in Iran January 24, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters

Isfahan Enrichment Facility

A satellite image shows the Isfahan enrichment facility after strikes in Iran in this handout image dated June 14, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters

Other Iranian nuclear sites

Meet, Greet & Eat with like minded Singles

The Club's "Meet, Greet & Eat Singles" group welcomes new members. Visit with coordinators Linda Ballou and Mary Ferguson at the monthly membership meetings, or email them.

Email

Love planning events?

Join the Hospitality Committee and lets have some fun. We need boots on the ground for upcoming social events. Contact: Sue Houston

It’s official: David Jolly is a

Democratic candidate for governor in ’26

Following the exploratory phase of his campaign this spring, David Jolly says he’s ready to go and has officially entered the Democratic primary for governor of Florida. He acknowledges the challenges about running in an electoral landscape that hasn’t elected any Democrat to a statewide office since 2018, but says the environment is ripe for that to change in 2026.

“We will be in every community, building trust and building relationships and building a coalition that will ultimately and successfully win an election where a Democrat hasn’t won in 30 years and where the voter registration rolls are against us,” he said in a phone interview with the Phoenix on Wednesday.

Watch the Announcement

By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix

“In Florida we are in the midst of a generational affordability crisis,” he added. “Everybody feels it. I mean this has been affirmed everywhere I’ve gone, every group I’ve sat with.

Read more

Elon Musk departs DOGE with a horrific legacy

The malignancy that is his Department of Government Efficiency project lives on.

Elon Musk's government service has supposedly come to an end, with the billionaire decamping to his company town of Starbase, Texas. Except there he was in the Oval Office on Friday, in a press availability alongside President Donald Trump. Sporting a black eye — given to him by his 5-year-old, he said — Musk grumbled about his time in the nation's capital. "We became essentially the DOGE bogeyman," Musk said. "It just became a bit ridiculous."

By Paul Waldman, author and commentator, MSNBC

Read more.

Musk claims to have saved the government $175B. No where near his original target of $2T, or his revised target of $1T and not even close to the cost of Trump's "Big Beautiful bill" $3.8T - CBS Sunday Morning

TVDC is looking for a member to fill vacant board position : Communications Director. 

Contact: Bill Knudson

Most Trump voters still say 

they have no regrets.

Here's why that matters.

A noticeable contingent of Kamala Harris voters has spent this year demanding that people who didn’t vote for her — whether for Donald Trump or another candidate — admit to a mistake that’s not only hurting the country but is hurting (or will hurt) them, too. Social media feeds are filled with people citing the latest Trump outrage and mockingly asking Trump voters, “Did you vote for this?!”

In the main, the Trump voter with buyer’s remorse is a mythical character not unlike, say, the moderate Republican.

CHANCES TO DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK AND BEYOND

We're rounding up petitions for Barbie

and a Medicaid ballot measure

Barbie for Congress website

All of Sumter County is in Congressional District 11 and we are collecting 

Barbie Harden Hall petitions to get her on the ballot again for 2026.

We also are actively collecting petitions for a Florida Constitutional Amendment to expand Medicaid. 

You can find information and request a petition form at

https://floridadecideshealthcare.org/

Turn completed forms in the Sumter Democratic HQ on Wednesday afternoons or Saturday mornings.

You also can pick up the forms at the headquarters.

Oops, you've got to do it again!

Thanks to Florida Republicans trying everything they can to suppress our votes,

we all must reapply for Vote By Mail ballots.

What will it take? How many of us, regardless of party, still care about truth and democracy?

Source: Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse

Read

Scores of legal actions have been filed to block and challenge President Trump, Elon Musk, and others in the administration. Here's a one-stop nonprofit site, Just Security, where you can keep track.

Trump litigation tracker

Food pantry donations are always welcome

The Club and its generous members support multiple local food pantries. The preferred donations include food in cans, boxes, and jars, toiletries, and laundry and cleaning supplies.

View Club President Bill Knudson's analysis of economic data and policies

Economics in Perspective