The Courage to Debug Democracy
Sustaining Energy Beyond Tomorrow's Headlines
Last week, I wrote about how my daughter's simple question—"How could a bad guy become president again?"—revealed something profound: tech billionaires haven't just funded autocracy, they've engineered its perfect distribution system. The response was overwhelming, with many asking: "So what do we do about it?"
I think about this through my own family's story. When automation led to my dad losing his Sears job in the 1980s, my mom worked tirelessly to pay for our education. We were fortunate to have support from my mom's side of the family—a story that began with my great-grandfather, an Irish immigrant who came through Canada, worked a printing press, led a strike for fair wages, and built a small competing paper that sustained four generations. That education opened career doors in technology and, combined with a lot of luck, eventually enabled me to try to serve by running for Dianne Feinstein's Senate seat.
Here's what I discovered: just as the internet can either concentrate power in a few platforms or distribute it across millions of connected voices, democracy faces the same choice. Right now, we're watching the power law of autocracy in action—where a few wealthy individuals like Elon Musk spend $100+ million backing candidates while the system's financial barriers block new voices from even competing.
The Campaign Finance Machine: Democracy's Hidden Filter
When I ran for Senate, I discovered how the system protects itself. Running for office works like any business with two key costs:
Brand awareness (making sure voters know you exist)
Performance marketing (converting awareness to votes)
The catch? Established politicians, celebrities, and wealthy candidates start with brand awareness—they just need to convert it. But new leaders, especially those from technical, medical, or operational backgrounds who haven't had mass-media platforms, face a double burden: they must build awareness before they can even compete for votes.
My California Senate race exposed the stark numbers. With 15 million likely voters, basic name recognition required 5-7 "touches" at $1-2 each through digital, mail, and radio—that's $75-150 million just to introduce yourself. Then came vote conversion: another 5-10 targeted touches at $2-4 each for TV, direct mail, and field operations. Even targeting efficiently, I needed $70 million minimum to compete.
Meanwhile, my opponent, with 22 years of Congressional recognition, could focus his entire $58 million purely on converting votes.
This isn't just about money—it's about who gets to serve. When it costs tens of millions to compete as a new voice with crucial skills that Congress desperately needs, we systematically filter out leaders with fresh expertise and perspectives, leaving us with those who either start famous or are wealthy enough to self-fund. Some might be excellent servants of democracy, but should fame and wealth be our only filters for public service?
Congress: Democracy's Foundation Team
Think of Congress as America's combined finance, HR, and legal departments—but with stakes that dwarf any Fortune 500 company. Let’s take a look:
Finance Department: Authorizes $6.2 trillion in spending, larger than any company on Earth
Case study: Congress approved $15.4 billion in SpaceX and Tesla contracts over a decade
Return on investment: Musk reinvests $118 million into campaigns and dark money groups
The loop: Public money → private wealth → political influence → more public money
HR Department: Makes lifetime appointments that shape generations
Today's Supreme Court spans 32 years of appointments (Thomas to Jackson)
Each confirmation reshapes American life for decades
No performance reviews, no corrections
Legal Department: Writes rules that cascade through 50 states
Example: Post-Roe, Congress's past judicial confirmations enabled state-level reproductive care bans
Future legislation could protect or restrict rights nationwide
One federal law shapes 50 state realities
War Room: Controls $886 billion military budget
Can declare war
Oversees crucial military tech (ironically, including Musk's Starlink in Ukraine and Israel)
Shapes global conflicts with taxpayer dollars
This makes congressional races more than elections—they're hiring decisions for America's most crucial leadership roles. Would you hire your:
CFO because they're famous?
Head of HR because they're rich?
Chief Counsel because they've always had the job?
Yet that's exactly how we're staffing Congress—choosing the rich, ribald, and run of the mill instead of leaders with the motivation, values, and role-related skills to serve our country for the long haul.
Removing the Famous-or-Wealthy Filter
The Courageous Leaders Fund emerged from my Senate campaign experience with a clear mission: break down the financial barriers blocking fresh expertise from Congress. Instead of scattering resources, we identified 64 candidates—11 Senators and 53 Representatives—who bring essential skills to three strategic priorities:
Defending Democratic Systems: Leaders who understand how systems should serve people:
Computer programmers who can actually regulate technology
Family farmers who understand both agriculture and finance
Economic experts championing working families
Healthcare leaders bridging urban-rural divides
Protecting Human Rights & Opportunity: Experience expanding human potential:
Intelligence analysts safeguarding democratic institutions
Veterans building cross-cultural coalitions
Civil rights lawyers expanding economic opportunity
Public health experts making care accessible for all
Building Long-term Solutions: Expertise matching our biggest challenges:
Scientists bringing rigor to climate and tech policy
Doctors developing healthcare solutions that work
Environmental champions protecting future generations
The strategy combines electoral viability with essential expertise along with core integrity —but it's just one thread in democracy's fabric.
A Call to Sustained Action
While tomorrow's headlines focus on the presidency, America's future will be hugely impacted by Congress—100 Senators and 435 Representatives affecting 330 million lives. And if we all choose to do something in each of these categories, we can be the long tail antidote to the broligarch power play I described last week.
Stay Informed:
Find your representatives: congress.gov/members
Track their votes: govtrack.us
Follow their funding: opensecrets.org
Take Action:
Join local groups: mobilize.us
Attend town halls: https://indivisible.org/town-hall-resources
Contact representatives: congress.gov/members
Invest Your "Three Ts":
Time: Regular, focused volunteering
Treasure: Sustained support for promising leaders
Talent: Share your expertise where it matters
Autocracy bets on concentration. Real democracy bets on expansion—of opportunity, expertise, and participation.
Our children are watching. Will we let a few powerful interests determine their future, or one presidential election deflate our resolve? Real democracy grows stronger in adversity, gaining power from each act of civic courage. The path to unleashing everyone's potential isn't through any single election—it's through our sustained commitment to stay engaged, no matter what tomorrow brings.
The next update requires all of us, every day, without fail.