democrats need a plan, here's 1
logged off for the birthday, hit a 4 plate bench, and then wrote a bunch of strategy memos on democrats and collapsing federalism. here's the one on pennsylvania
The Keystone Playbook
Introduction: The Stakes of This Moment
Our current national instability is not a short-term condition, but a long-term affliction. President Trump’s first month of budget cuts and agency firings precede a more long-term, systemic withdrawal from federal governance. While its impacts are just beginning to be felt state-by-state, this is not temporary dysfunction but the onset of a structural realignment. States will either step up in this moment to fill the coming gaps, or they will collapse under the weight of abandoned responsibilities.
Pennsylvania is already feeling the effects. Economic security, civic infrastructure, and local businesses reliant on national resourcing are under siege. Over the next four years, federal divestment will create cascading crises in communities across the commonwealth—public services shuttered, infrastructure neglected, and social cohesion eroded. We are witnessing the largest rollback of federal responsibility since the nineteenth century, and what happens next will be determinative.
Any response that seeks only to avoid direct confrontation, bolster crumbling systems, or mitigate existing harms without building longterm, state-level power is missing the moment.
Pennsylvania is a keystone for national sentiment; a political and economic engine with a complex and interwoven entanglement of competing constituencies. It is America writ small, and a robust response to federal attacks within Pennsylvania can serve as the national model outside it—something Pennsylvania has done before.
When federal systems faltered in the past, it was the Keystone State that stepped in to fill the void: creating a legacy of local-led public education, disability advocacy, worker protections, and infrastructure planning that proved so successful it became a model for the nation. Chaos in Washington is a chance to highlight a forgotten fact: when the federal government falls back, Pennsylvania steps up.
Call it The Keystone Playbook.
The guiding philosophy behind it is simple: when the federal government retracts, Pennsylvania can expand to fill the gap in innovative ways. The Keystone Playbook is a proactive, post-partisan strategy that leverages civic infrastructure, local innovation, and proportional solutions to create progress for all.
Its first three lanes are primarily focused on leveraging immediate needs:
Civic Resilience — Mobilizing Pennsylvania to Fill Federal Gaps
Economic Insulation — Building a State-Level Investment Shield
Strategic Visibility — Defining the Stakes & Opportunities
Executing on this new doctrine will require out-of-the-box thinking. But states were always meant to act as the laboratories of democracy; there’s never been a better time for a bold, ambitious communications strategy to match the moment.
The Framework: Act Local, Think Nationwide
Pennsylvania does not have the luxury of waiting for federal dysfunction to resolve itself or proceeding cautiously. The government’s abdication is a direct attack on livelihoods. The question is not whether the state will feel the impact, but whether it will define its own response or allow Washington’s dysfunction to dictate it.
This is not about opposition for opposition’s sake—it is about demonstrating that Pennsylvania can govern where Washington cannot. A structured response to federal abandonment will be the defining challenge for this generation of elected leaders.
This has to be about more than protecting Pennsylvania in this moment. It has to be about providing a local model of competent governance for all Americans.
That starts with doing more than filling the gaps left behind, but in leveraging this moment to build a new governance model that proves competence, stability, and forward-thinking leadership is not only still possible but successful.
It also will require abandoning old ways of working in search of new capacities, new institutions, and new ways of governing that thrive beyond this crisis.
Lane One: Civic Resilience
Washington’s retreat will test public trust and institutional resilience.
Rather than aiming to merely replace the lost federal services, which in most cases won’t be financially or logistically feasible in the short term, the state should work to redefine civic engagement in general. What if this crisis became a call for expanding public participation, increasing volunteerism, and growing local governing capacity?
The Pennsylvania Civic Corps: A statewide program that mobilizes volunteers, displaced federal workers, and local institutions to provide continuity for critical services abandoned by Washington. A way to directly contribute by filling service gaps in national parks, historic sites, and public infrastructure that can be incentivized with hiring preferences, tax breaks.
Emergency Response Fellowships: A statewide mobilization effort for young adults that provide fellowships and first-responder training in local communities to help prepare for national disaster relief funding shortfalls.
Localized Governance Accelerators: Create county-level and municipal participatory budgeting programs where local governments can pool resources for innovative, testable solutions that the state government can fund at scale. It also creates budget awareness in local communities for future funding fights.
Pennsylvania Higher Education Council: Convene and broker discussions between universities, libraries, trade schools, and local knowledge institutions on how to work together to identify and protect endangered projects, create a publicly available rubric for assessing requests, and coordinate on messaging.
Civic Participation Incentives: State-backed hiring preferences for those who participate in this moment, either as a volunteer, trainer, or attendee, ensuring that volunteerism translates into career opportunities for those who help.
Federal retreat is an opportunity to reignite state-level civic identity.
Pennsylvania can build out its already impressive culture of civic engagement, while also reinforcing self-sufficiency and local problem-solving. Successfully scaled, even a few of these ideas could provide templates for other, less resource-rich states.
Lane Two: Economic Insulation
Federal retrenchment will not just be a crisis of governance—it will be a crisis of capital. The withdrawal of federal funds will leave gaping holes in state and local economies, threatening businesses, workers, and critical industries with long-term instability. Future-proofing the state has to include economic insulation with a focus on state capacity, private sector partnerships, and long-term financial adaptation.
Pennsylvania easily set a new tone for workers and businesses by:
Strategic Buyback Program for Federal Abandonment: A state-directed initiative to acquire shuttered federal properties, research facilities, and infrastructure assets that may otherwise be lost to private speculation or decay
Workforce Stability and Redeployment Initiative: A transition and retraining program that targets federal job losers, ensuring workers—particularly in infrastructure, research, and public service—can be rapidly absorbed into state-driven projects. This includes fast-track retraining programs in high-need sectors like green energy, advanced manufacturing, and logistics.
Economic Expansion through Smart Policy Adjustments: Temporary, targeted tax incentives for industries disproportionately affected by federal cuts, ensuring continued business investment while preventing a downturn. This should be structured to reward companies that maintain employment levels and reinvest locally, rather than offering blanket corporate tax breaks.
Rapid Response Infrastructure Fund: Bringing together businesses at all levels with state, local funds for a dedicated effort to temporarily cover funds for critical infrastructure projects that face sudden federal funding losses.
Resilience Bonds for Local Industry: Modeled on infrastructure bonds, these state-backed financial instruments allow local governments, businesses, and regional economic hubs to secure low-interest capital. This ensures that state-level economic support can scale in real time rather than react too late.
The Pennsylvania Resilience Index: Launch of a new quarterly Resilience Index, built in partnership with state universities and experts, assessing how the state is outperforming national trends in governance, economic stability, and civic engagement while tracking federal attacks and state responses.
It will be impossible for Pennsylvania to absorb the entirety of the financial losses that full federal divestment could require—however, by setting up supports now (and clear rules for access) you can ensure that Pennsylvanians aren’t abandoned.
Perhaps more importantly, a robust plan for economic stewardship could invite future investment as federal headwinds begin hitting less prepared localities.
Lane Three: Strategic Visibility Through Collaborative Innovation
Pennsylvania cannot afford to merely act; it must also be seen acting.
President Trump’s strategy thrives on chaos, slash-and-burn tactics, and eroding public confidence in governance itself. Visibility is not about political vanity or positioning for the next election—it is about shaping a national conversation on the sustainability of democratic government itself and what comes next:
How can state-to-state partnerships protect civil rights and protections? How can existing accords be used to ensure continuity for individuals, businesses?
What role will Pennsylvania play in the rise of Mega Regions now that the federal government is no longer acting as a stabilizing force?
Without the federal government as a reliable mediator for information between states, how can Pennsylvania lead on information, data sharing and privacy?
Every state will soon be grappling with dozens of similar questions as they begin to test the power of the 10th Amendment. Visible leadership in a few strategic areas will ensure that Pennsylvania is actively defining the moment, rather than reacting:
State Office of Resilience: A dedicated office and communications team responsible for ensuring Pennsylvania’s successes are framed as the answer to Washington’s failures. This includes:
Embedded press partnerships with local and national publications where you provide front-line access to the cuts while also showcasing Pennsylvania’s proactive governance model in action.
Omnichannel media strategy to ensure visibility in state-level resilience discussions by having them in the spaces, places people already visit.
A direct-to-public campaign leveraging storytelling, op-eds, and civics messaging from both the Governor and nominated individuals from across the Commonwealth to help personalize the work happening.
Northeast Regional Data Sharing Agreements: Formalize collaborations with other states by building a shared policy repository and partnerships office that can help track and quantify the impact of federal abandonment.
Governor’s National Resilience Summit: A convening of governors, mayors, and policy leaders from across America to formalize best practices in state-led economic and civic adaptation in Trump 2.0 and beyond. This positions Pennsylvania at the forefront of a national conversation on governance in the post-federal era, reinforcing its centrality in the solution, rather than the crisis.
Governor’s Roundtable on Economic Resilience: A forum to bring together major employers, universities, and trade associations to align on messaging, strategy, and ensure that the state’s actions have private-sector amplification.
Pennsylvania cannot lead alone and it cannot own the media narrative alone. By working on collaborative solutions with regional partners, while also creating and sharing data that may influence their decisions, the state can stay ahead.
Conclusion: The Moment to Act
Pennsylvania is not waiting for Washington to fail—it is preparing to lead.
The Keystone Playbook is not a crisis response plan. It is a governing philosophy, one that recognizes federal retreat not as an obstacle, but as an opening. States that hesitate in this moment will be left scrambling to manage the fallout of federal dysfunction. Pennsylvania has the opportunity to chart a different course—to set the standard for how states step up when Washington steps back.
The choice ahead is clear.
We can allow this era of national decline to dictate the future, or we can seize the chance to redefine state governance for the next generation (and reboot America in the process). The actions Pennsylvania takes now—building civic infrastructure, insulating its economy, asserting strategic leadership—can be a demonstration of what competent, innovative governance can be when Americans need it most.
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I also wrote suggested strategies for Secretary Buttigieg and Governor Moore that, depending on whether or not this is useful, I’m happy to share. I want to write one for Rep. Crockett; her personal brand and positioning are so unique, it would be an interesting challenge.
But if you have any other memos you’d like to request, let me know.
And for people wondering why I’m wasting this time and energy and free labor creating strategies and posting them online—it’s because before I was a political strategist, I was a historian with a Master’s Degree (and, like, 7/8ths of a doctorate) that focussed on race, gender, and empire. My dissertation focused on the material and social conditions (and the various elite factions) that made America’s founding unique.
You can imagine why I’m … interested in this political moment and whether the various factions empowered 249 years later are able to save what was so unexpectedly created.
P.S. 225lbs moved smooth for 5 reps, the arch off the bench was very minimal. Feet were firmly planted and the bar grazed but did not rest on the chest. I had full extension, with a soft lock out at the top. Spotter never touched the bar, not even for the re-rack.
P.P.S. I know that’s not important while America is collapsing, but it felt right to mention.