There is a Bear in the Woods. I've Seen it Before.
Am I too worried? It is a question I ask myself every day — particularly as we get closer to elections.
Democracy Docket
September 20, 2026
by Marc Elias, Attorney and Democracy Docket founder
Embedded Files
Am I too worried?
It is a question I ask myself every day — particularly as we get closer to elections.
Ever since 2020, I have felt caught in a familiar pattern of threats by Donald Trump and the Republican Party against free and fair elections. As each election approaches, I see those attacks coming faster and with more intensity.
I find myself sleeping less and working more. I multitask — constantly trying to determine which shark is closest to the boat and what to do about it. I take comfort in the work my law firm is doing — currently litigating 90 election-related cases spanning 43 states plus Washington, D.C. At the same time, I know that even as we defeat one threat, new ones emerge.
I seek out others who feel the same. I read and listen to those who are more skeptical.
In my darkest moments, I worry about what will happen if my fears are understated and it is worse than I expect. I despair at the possibility that this time the legal arguments won't be enough, and the courts will fail to protect democracy.
I know that I am not alone in my worries — and, more importantly, that I am not alone in being responsible for protecting elections. There are many of us — lawyers and non-lawyers — doing our part.
And so far, we are winning.
Less than a week ago, the Supreme Court slammed the door on Donald Trump's plan to weaponize the U.S. Postal Service against voters. That same day, my law firm obtained an injunction prohibiting the USPS from voluntarily working with red states to implement their illegal rule.
On Thursday, my firm handed the Department of Justice its 24th straight loss in its scheme to obtain sensitive state voter rolls. The DOJ has not won a single one of these cases — we remain undefeated. But there is no guarantee that our success will continue.
Even as all of this is going on, I return to the question I posed above: Am I too worried?
When I consume the legacy media, it all seems so much calmer, sanitized, and balanced. When I hear the pundits, they sound calm and assured that democracy is not really at stake.
But I have been here before. This is how it felt before the 2020 election. As I fought in court, so-called experts said it didn't matter. When I sounded the alarm afterward, I was assured Trump would eventually concede.
That doesn't mean I am right this time. But it also doesn't mean I'm wrong.
Recently, I woke up in the middle of the night with vivid memories of an advertisement from my youth. In 1984, Ronald Reagan ran for reelection on a platform of building up our national defense. His campaign ran a famous ad filled with suspense and uncertainty to make its point.
The ad showed a bear walking in the woods, while an announcer spoke the following:
There is a bear in the woods. For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don't see it at all. Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it's vicious and dangerous. Since no one can really be sure who's right, isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear? If there is a bear.
My parents voted for the Democrat that year. Reagan won 49 states in a landslide.
I must admit I am not sure what to make of the comparison to today. Except that I can tell you, as we head toward the midterms, I see that bear in the woods.
For me, it is easy to see. I believe it is vicious and dangerous for our democracy.
Its intent is to rig maps, suppress voting rights, and do everything it can to undermine free and fair elections. It will abuse every power, break every law, and subvert every election if that is the path to holding power.
It is sustained by tax money and a federal government committed to its cause. It is bolstered by a political party and a political movement that will do anything to win.
I believe it is critical that we be as strong as that bear, even if we are less well resourced. That means private litigants — represented by nonprofit organizations and small law firms — must stand up to persuade judges to stop the bear.
I know not everyone sees the bear. I know some of you doubt the bear even exists.
I may be wrong. But with weeks left before the election, I see a bear in the woods.
The question isn't whether you see it too. The question is what you're going to do if it turns out I'm right?
Our Democracy Is at Stake. Stop Waiting for a Savior.
Our democracy is in danger, but we can save it. We are the only ones who ever have.
The New York Times Guest Essay
Aug. 31, 2026
By Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward
Our Democracy Is at Stake. Stop Waiting for a Savior.
Aug. 31, 2026
By Skye Perryman
Ms. Perryman is the president of Democracy Forward.
American democracy has been deteriorating with alarming velocity since President Trump’s return to the White House. Every day, it seems, there’s a new Watergate-level outrage. Nearly seven in 10 Americans are dissatisfied with how our democracy is working.
All too often, those who hold or have held positions of power still fail to acknowledge that long before the present crisis, our system wasn’t delivering meaningful opportunity and representation for all Americans. And too many of our leaders who yearn for now-discarded norms carry on without acknowledging that no single institution, on its own, can prevent democratic backsliding.
Many of the excesses of the Trump administration have been successfully challenged through our judicial system. My organization and others have leveraged the power of the courts to block destructive initiatives, from Mr. Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund to threats against the First Amendment to draconian — racist, in some cases — immigration policies. Our legal system has at times buckled, but it hasn’t broken, so it can be tempting to think that the long list of judicial rulings secured against the administration, combined with a midterm election wave, will get us past the crisis. It’s understandable to anticipate — to hope — that as we come out of the midterms and head into the next presidential election cycle, a savior, something or someone, will emerge to usher in a return to democratic norms and show would-be autocrats the door.
Here’s the problem: Waiting for a savior has led many of us not to exercise the greatest power we have — our own.
Using the courts to rein in Mr. Trump’s authoritarian leanings remains essential, but it isn’t sufficient. If the midterms result in the shift of power many expect, it won’t be as easy for the president to trample the Constitution or run roughshod over Congress. But Americans should be clear that there is no cavalry coming. We don’t have the luxury of fantasizing that we are just one legal victory or perfectly poll-tested message away from turning the nation around. Such thinking unintentionally obscures the urgent need for all of us, especially those in relative positions of comfort, to roll up our sleeves, walk out our front doors and make ourselves part of the answer to this crisis.
Many of us confuse consuming political news, engaging on social media and participating in group chats with doing the things that we, as individuals, can do to help change our country’s trajectory. Instead of doomscrolling, we can organize our neighbors, work at local polling places or join community groups. We must not be satisfied with watching the decline of American democracy from our phones.
The philosopher Richard Rorty observed that left-leaning reform movements in the earlier part of the 20th century emphasized the agency that individuals have to create change. He explained that the social movements that led to checks on corporate power, workers’ rights, women’s rights and civil rights were powered by ordinary Americans who took direct action to bring about meaningful change.
By contrast, in later reform movements Dr. Rorty perceived a trend of spectatorship, in which progressives in elite and academic circles were often more interested in being observers who critiqued American society rather than matching those critiques with action. Nearly 30 years ago, he warned that if those who sought progress failed to push institutions to deliver for the working and middle classes, Americans would embrace a populist savior-strongman who would gain power, only to eviscerate our democracy.
In our retelling of American history, we too often mythologize our institutions and political leaders as if they were the ones that brought about social change and forced our nation to make way for all of us. We sometimes think of justice being “handed down” by the Supreme Court in landmark decisions like Brown v. Board of Education. Or that a virtue-minded, bipartisan Congress willed the Voting Rights Act into being, while glossing over the primary, underlying agent of change: the American people.
Nothing is handed down by political leaders without the people demanding it. We must do so again.
In Minnesota, earlier this year, it was ordinary people who took to the streets in freezing weather to try to protect their neighbors by resisting the violent overreach of immigration enforcement agents. Beginning last year, we saw No Kings protests that were among the largest peaceful mass mobilizations in our history. We’ve seen everyone from ministers to educators to clerical workers to stay-at-home parents take to the streets in defense of democracy. After the Supreme Court weakened a crucial component of the Voting Rights Act, people from across the nation went to Selma and Montgomery, Ala., marching an old march in a new time. Religious organizations from across the nation took the administration to court to ensure that communities can worship without fear of intimidating ICE tactics. When an administration policy threatened health care access for millions, local city officials, doctors and small businesses sued to try to protect access and keep premiums from going up. As Mr. Trump has pushed for partisan gerrymanders and a voter-suppression law like the SAVE America Act, we’ve seen strong voter turnout in races across the country.
We can learn from our fellow Americans who are meeting the moment. Instead of waiting for a knight-in-shining-armor political candidate, hoping he or she will do the hard work for us — or, worse, disengaging when a candidate or political movement disappoints us — we must continue to look to ourselves. Our democracy is in danger, but we can save it. We are the only ones who ever have.
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