31st Street Monthly Mtng - Feb 22 2026 - Nebraska - Strategy to Flip Senate Seat [0:00-5:00]

Well, I am Lynn Fletcher. I am not Lisa Herrick. I am on the leadership team at 31st Street. Lisa is happily ensconced with grandchildren today. I want to thank everybody for joining us. I have had a kind of strange feeling lately. I would actually call it cautious optimism. Much of the last year, it's really felt very dark and grim and without getting too far out over my skis because anybody else. I think we're starting to see some cracks to feel. You can feel it. I hear somebody saying they can feel it. The Trump Zone Supreme Court has just come down against his tariffs. Other floral courts are ruling against the administration again and again and again. His approval rating is continuing to fall. Currently, the last poll I saw, he's at 61% disapprove, which, fun fact, is more Americans who disapprove of him than who disapprove of either ants that crawling kind at 52% or spiders at 57% though he is still ahead of cockroaches who come in at 84% disapproval. Also, I have been feeling something pretty strong coming from the people of Minnesota. I know you have two. They're courage, they're a determination in the face of ice's horrors and abuses. They have really lit the way for all of us. I don't know. Have you seen the videos of the singing resistance in Minnesota? I love this. I was going to show video, but I've decided not to. I'm going to put a link in the chat. My favorite one, because there's more than one, are 2,000 people standing in the freezing cold outside a hotel where ice and border patrol agents are staying. And they sing, and I'm not going to sing. You will be grateful for that. It's okay to change your mind. Show us your courage. Leave this behind. It's okay to change your mind, and you can join us. Join us here anytime. Rumi, the poet, said, if everything around seems dark, look again. You might be the light. And I feel that the people of Minnesota who've come out to protect their neighbors, they are the light. The folks, many of you I know who are hanging signs on bridge brigades out in the cold, and at no king's marches, you're the light. The lawyers fighting in court, they are the light. And we all of us here at 31st Street, we're also the light. We find the right sweet spot candidates for our bottom-up strategy. And we showcase and raise money for amazing groups like One House Strategies in Nebraska. You'll meet Adele today, and you're all about them. Our now news letter, which comes out on Sunday evenings, helps you find the actions that speak to you and help you shine your own unique light. Things are changing. Light is breaking through, and we are all part of it. And honestly, that fact brings me joy. Like almost as much as watching a list of loose skate, but that kind of joy, that sort of freedom and lightness. So we're all here to shine a light. And speaking about shining a light, I'm going to turn it over to our own Jim Shelton, who makes all of us understand better what is happening out there. Great. And I'm going to, I'm going to go ahead and share my slides because I got some kind of blinking light. I'm not sure why that is. So I'm the political analyst, and hopefully I can get this to come up. And people can see and hear me. Great. I hope that works.