The far left has the Democratic Socialists of America. The far right has the MAGA movement. Both are well organized.

Those of us who disagree with them gather at cocktail parties, work functions and family events, wring our hands and say, "Oh my! Isn't this terrible?" Meanwhile, the extremists are marching in the streets, posting on social media every day and raking in small-dollar donations.

In 2024, Rep. Adam Gray, D-California, and I were the only two Democrats to flip congressional districts that Donald Trump also won.

In early June, even before candidates backed by DSA won Democratic House primaries in New York, Adam and I, working with a group of young Americans, helped launch the Promise to America. Our goal is to build a national, left-of-center Democratic organization, state by state.

We need to take everyone fed up with the extremes and turn them into an organized force.

This isn't a Washington project

I'm a member of Congress, but I don't want the Promise to America to be a Washington operation. We want to return the Democratic Party to its traditional values and rebuild the middle class.

Our founding declaration fits on an index card: We are........

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