abortion rights advocates rally outside the supreme court on march 2 in washington, d.c.  | getty by anna palmer and daniel lippman 11/15/16 05:13 am est liberal groups are preparing for war under donald trump. top democratic operatives are huddling this week in a series of meetings to strategize about which groups will run point on everything from safeguarding women<u+2019>s access to health care to fighting any increase in deportations to preventing attacks on muslim-americans. story continued below fundraisers also have been pitching top liberal donors who are gathering in washington this week for a meeting of the democracy alliance, a secretive club of wealthy progressives, to commit tens of millions of dollars for a 2018 field campaign to stave off potentially massive losses in the midterm elections. there is also discussion of forming a liberal equivalent to the right<u+2019>s judicial watch, which spent much of the past eight years as a thorn in the obama administration<u+2019>s side filing legal petitions under the freedom of information act <u+2014> and tormented hillary clinton with aggressive investigations into her email habits. advocacy organizations like naral pro-choice america and the sierra club have also channeled the raw emotions coming out of last week<u+2019>s election results into a massive push for donors to cut checks and to sign up thousands of volunteers. <u+201c>this is a really dark time for women and families and our members,<u+201d> said kaylie hanson long, national communications director of naral pro-choice america. trump<u+2019>s proposed policies are <u+201c>a real danger to women, our bodies, for our freedom, our economic stability, the economic stability of families, and we<u+2019>re definitely going to be facing some hard times ahead as an organization, but times like these are exactly why naral exists in the first place.<u+201d> by burgess everett although trump appears to be moderating his tone on several of his campaign pledges, he was noncommittal in an interview with <u+201c>60 minutes<u+201d> about whether his supreme court pick could overturn roe v. wade . hanson long said trump<u+2019>s transition website includes a <u+201c>direct threat to birth control, to contraceptive access, direct threat to abortion access.<u+201d> extensive planning is underway for the women<u+2019>s march on washington in the nation<u+2019>s capital on jan. 21, the day after trump<u+2019>s inauguration. it<u+2019>s unclear how many women will show up for the event, but state leaders are organizing for a march expected to bring tens of thousands of women to the national mall. hanson long said contributions have poured in, many in honor of hillary clinton, some even jokingly in honor of trump. in one instance, a woman moved her wedding registry to donations for naral. the group has also received thousands of volunteer signups. erica sackin, a spokeswoman for planned parenthood, said the organization is even hearing from worried patients about whether they should get an iud because it could <u+201c>outlast the trump administration as a form of birth control.<u+201d> groups representing minorities and immigrants are also ramping up their presence in advance of expected attacks from the trump administration. <u+201c>we<u+2019>ve seen a tremendous uptick in support and expressions of sympathy and concern from people in the larger society,<u+201d> said ibrahim hooper, national communications director for the council on american-islamic relations. <u+201c>people are really concerned. they don<u+2019>t know what<u+2019>s going to happen to them, their families and their children in the next four to eight years. it<u+2019>s really a frightening situation.<u+201d> by dan diamond cair, the nation<u+2019>s largest muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, received more than 500 volunteer applications to its website in the two days after the election; it would normally have gotten only one or two. it is participating in conversations online and holding meetings. hooper said he anticipates summits of american muslim leaders to determine how to best protect civil liberties during the trump era. <u+201c>in the next several months, it<u+2019>s going to get very serious about how you defend civil rights in the time of trump,<u+201d> hooper said. (in his interview sunday on <u+201c>60 minutes,<u+201d> trump said it would be <u+201c>horrible<u+201d> if minorities feared his presidency, but he suggested that the press was exaggerating <u+201c>every single little incident<u+201d> of discrimination in recent days.) the american civil liberties union in particular has benefited from an outpouring of support <u+2014> with 120,000 contributions totaling $7.2 million in the five days since the election. the group<u+2019>s facebook followers increased by 25 percent to nearly 1 million people; 400,000 people viewed aclu<u+2019>s open letter to trump on its website; and 150,000 new people joined the group<u+2019>s email list, according to aclu executive director anthony romero. the environmental lobby is also on high alert. on the campaign trail, trump proposed eliminating the environmental protection agency. he also advocated that the u.s. pull out of the paris agreement on climate change and cut federal spending on clean energy. presidential transition by michael crowley debbie sease, senior director for advocacy and lobbying at the sierra club, said the environmental group is looking at what parts of its agenda are most in danger and how it can communicate with the general public and get its message out beyond just its movement. since the election, sease said the group has seen an <u+201c>unprecedented<u+201d> increase in support, including 7,500 people registering to be monthly supporters. <u+201c>if trump has an achilles<u+2019> heel, it is that he was elected on a fabric of untruths, so the notion that he<u+2019>s going to make america great again, restore jobs, and turn around things that are making people unhappy by getting rid of clean air, clean water laws, that<u+2019>s not going to change,<u+201d> sease said. <u+201c>we are beginning to pull together plan b.<u+201d> sease said the sierra club plans to hold all of the gop accountable: <u+201c>it<u+2019>s not just trump <u+2014> it<u+2019>s trump and the republican leadership that is deciding to fall in line behind him.<u+201d> **subscribe to politico playbook: http://politi.co/1m75ubx by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
liberal groups steel themselves to battle trump - politico
anna palmer daniel lippman burgess everett dan diamond michael crowley jack shafer