With almost 2,000 attendants from across the country, the Unrig Summit in Nashville over the weekend stands as the biggest public gathering to date of people interested in tackling the challenges of our current democracy.
After three days of speeches, panel discussions and nonprofit groups hawking their widely disparate ideas for "fixing the system," it was tempting to view the gathering as a cacophony of voices dissatisfied with the status quo – but nowhere close to a chorus behind a galvanizing solution. But these five moments stood out for sending important messages about the future of the fledgling democracy reform movement.
No. 5: Business in the tent
One of the best-attended panel discussions Saturday was led by a former Apple executive, Sarah Bonk, now working full time to sell the notion that the influence which corporate interests have over the government will only be weakened if a critical mass of American businesses conclude it's in their best interests to lessen their reliance on enormous political and lobbying spending in pursuit of profit targets.
Much of the energy for bettering the system undeniably comes from the political left, so it was a sobering moment for many in the audience to hear their passion will only get them so far unless the big corporate interests they so regularly disdain are willing to limit campaign and policy influence outlays.
No 4: One man's story
The notion that a more expensive democracy can deliver tangible benefits to people on society's margins was highlighted no more movingly than by Desmond Meade, whose narrative of grassroots political success after personal failing has made him a breakout star on the inspirational speaking circuit in the past year. He spent three years in prison for drug and weapons convictions before earning a law degree, but was able to register to vote in Orlando in January thanks to the Florida ballot initiative he helped steer to victory last fall as the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
The franchise for as many as 1.4 million other convicted felons in Florida is also supposed to be revived, but Meade was the one who had convention goers on their feet several times with his simple message that "love your neighbor as yourself" is the best slogan for democracy reform.
No. 3: Youth movement
Unrig attendees skewed decidedly older, whiter and richer than the national electorate. But a clear conference theme came from those people lamenting that their moment to secure a more functional and cleaner democracy may have passed their generation by – and counting on a younger and more ethnically diverse group of leaders to step up.
And several were on hand for prominent roles, including 22-year-old conservative environmental activist Benji Backer and Emma Gonzalez, one of the most politically active survivors of last year's mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla. She wowed the convention with a rousing call to set new limits on the flow of money in elections in order to limit the influence the National Rifle Association and other Second Amendment rights groups have on the congressional agenda.
No. 2: The unmentioned
At more than a dozen panel discussions and in several dozen speeches, the name of the incumbent president was not mentioned once. And of the handful of times Donald Trump was cited by grassroots activists, scholars and political players, it was a passing reference in almost each instance.
His almost complete absence from the conversation was a pointed reminder that, while most attendees clearly hold Trump himself responsible for a newfound rattling of democratic norms, the issues they came to deliberate in Nashville (the dominant role of money in politics, the shaky state of voting rights and the limits in electoral competition, principally) were hobbling the functionality of democracy long before this administration began – and ought to find a place on the national policymaking agenda no matter what happens in the 2020 election.
No. 1: The discordant finale
A we're-all-in-this-together spirit of collaboration and patient listening lasted until the final session, when a wave of discord generated the convention's most newsworthy and cautionary moment.
The marquee speaker of the weekend was former Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, who is pondering generous spending from his own fortune to mount an independent run for president with good government reform as a campaign centerpiece. But he was hectored and booed unlike anyone else. A dozen attendees stood to derisively chant "Billionaires for president!" the first time he tried to talk, and then the room filled with catcalls and jeering when he sought to rebut the argument that his candidacy would at best be remembered as spoiling the chances for the Democratic nominee and assuring Trump's re-election. The rest of his speech was welcomed with tepid applause at best.
It hardly mattered that Schultz endorsed a favorite cause in the hall, using ranked-choice voting to break the Republican and Democratic duopoly on power, and frequently offered versions of "our democracy is being threatened by a rigged system" in taking about campaign financing.
In their lukewarm rebuff of Schultz, the activists who traveled to Nashville to lament the current state of democracy and deliberate all manner of aspirational "fixes" came off as much more interested in the pragmatics of the coming campaign than in rewarding a potential national figure for trying to speak their language.
(Full disclosure: The conference was organized byRepresentUs, which seeks to end "the legalized corruption that has come to define modern politics," but among the major sponsors was Issue One, the political advocacy group incubating The Firewall.)
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 14, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is traveling to Long Island to tour law enforcement facilities in Nassau County and rally support for local Republican candidates ahead of the upcoming midterm elections
Travel Far Enough, You Meet Yourself
Is it possible that our President has simply not traveled enough?
Born and raised in Queens and attending Fordham University in the Bronx, Donald Trump has no record of traveling outside New York until he was over 20, when he transferred to a college in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Were his formative years amiss, then, in his learning about other places and other people?
Is his view akin to the famous New Yorker cover by Saul Steinberg, an illustration of the United States with New York City as the epicenter of the country and the Hudson River the border of the known world? We can now at least add Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago to the map of “the realm.”
Our President has now traveled some, but what we recommend is another kind of travel. Not a state-sponsored trip or a venture to scout locations for future Trump Towers. This would be a genuine travel experience, enriching and eye-opening, showcasing other cultures and ways of living.
It will extend far beyond viewing military parades, hobnobbing with such “understanding” world leaders as Kim Jong Un, or taking tea with the King.
WHERE, then, should the President go? As Elon Musk’s Starship spacecraft is not yet ready to take passengers to Mars, perhaps he could explore our own vast country?
Maybe he could travel to “flyover country,” the farming states, where his ying-yanging tariffs and trade restrictions have played havoc with rural economies. Or possibly to California, number one in homeless U. S. citizens, and while there, regale homeless veterans (approximately 32,500 nationwide) with tales of his brave exploits invading and bombing foreign countries.
Or he might tour the Great Lakes, and rename the other four?
WHEN should he go? This will be tough, as he is very busy building his ballroom and renaming bodies of water.
How about a trip in early November, around the midterm elections? Despite the long-discredited accusation of widespread voter fraud, it would be reassuring to know he might be so caught up divvying out ladles of soup in a soup kitchen somewhere that he wouldn’t remember to deploy the military for “election security.”
HOW will he travel? He should definitely not take his Qatari-donated, newly renovated 747, especially after last time, when he had to be smuggled off clandestinely in a catering truck. It’s unlikely any traveling companions, like the Secretary of State or of the Treasury, are going to fall for the ruse a second time. Besides, we may need those people. No more decoys!
Perhaps the President could fly commercially, although this likely would expose him to undue suffering. Without gold bathroom fixtures and maple wood floors, the trip will be no “Luxury Experience.” If only he still had his “Trump Shuttle,” bought with a massive loan he later defaulted on, saying then, “I’m smart. I got out at a good time.”
Considering the potential pitfalls, maybe it’s best the President travel incognito, disguised perhaps as an elderly woman wearing a lot of bronzer.
Wherever, whenever, however: our President needs a vacation.
Moreover, we need a vacation from him.
If the President refuses our travel suggestions, here’s another idea:
Let’s get him a pet! He has never owned a pet. As we know with our children, pets teach essential life lessons: compassion and empathy; they instill a sense of responsibility. There is a well-established connection between those who can care for a pet and those who can care for people.
So, which pet should we choose? A puppy? A kitten? A boa constrictor?
Imagine, the President may even decide he likes having a pet. After all, what is more obedient than a well-trained dog, besides possibly the Cabinet? And what is more docile than a sweet kitten, other than plausibly the Supreme Court?
The President may even become more mellow with a pet afoot and less likely to slap tariffs on our allies, or attempt to annex our neighbors, or bully our Congress. (Realizing, of course, a bully requires active participation from the bullied to maintain his status.)
Maybe we should do both: get the President a pet and devise a travel plan for him. (Do you think we could possibly convince him to leave his phone at home?)
Let’s go for it! After all:
Travel far enough, you meet yourself. (David Mitchell)
And for our President, that would likely be the most profound discovery of all.
Amy Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."