How I supported President Biden by advocating for standing with Ukraine and defending the free world
I look forward to bringing what I have learned from this experience to our party as well as ensuring that language on supporting Ukraine and our allies around the world is added to the party platform.
Dear DPVA State Convention Delegates,
We have known Vladimir Putin has been a threat to global democracy for years due to his invasions of his neighbors and meddling in the 2016 presidential election but it became even more clear on February 24, 2022 with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as his growing aggression might mean he will strike our election again in 2024 so we need to take a stand and make his life a living hell.
In another example of how much community matters, my only connection to Ukraine is periodically joining Ukrainian friends at Ukrainian social events but when the war broke out I asked around and attended multiple rallies in solidarity as I was inspired by the resilience of Ukrainians against the threat of tyranny.
It took awhile but eventually i learned about how to help Ukraine advocates organize and attended my first constituent meeting on Capitol Hill in June 2023 with a veteran from Falls Church who had served on the front lines in Ukraine.
At that moment I realized that attending that meeting was the least i could do and my communications and political experience could be a big help.
Since then I have been a Virginia Delegation Leader at the American Coalition For Ukraine’s Action Summit in October 2023 and April 2024 where I tried to do my part to support one of President Biden’s top priorities and millions of courageous people defending their homeland and democracy.
As part of my advocacy efforts I have done something most constituents in our community haven't tried which is to thank our Virginia Congress Members in-person at events. I have also spoke about the cause at democratic party-related meetings across Northern Virginia and other events virtually as well.
I even published an Op-Ed in the pro-democracy online news site Virginia Dogwood.
Unfortunately, due to the GOP’s insistence on bogging bipartisan legislation down with divisive border security measures that they eventually rejected and the “America First/America Alone” ideology of MAGA extremists in Washington passing the latest package of Ukraine Aid was delayed by six months which made our job even harder.
My role grew a great deal as the most challenge we faced during this process is we were hearing that MAGA-types were calling into congressional offices in greater numbers on a daily basis so Ukraine advocates needed to expand their reach and gain more allies.
Therefore, having some experience engaging with pro-democracy groups I was able to help the American Coalition For Ukraine secure a table at the “Anti-CPAC” Principles First Summit and fortunately the leadership were all in town because it was the same weekend of the commemoration of the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion at the Lincoln Memorial.
I was even able to grab Biden supporter Adam Kinzinger to meet the team after his remarks. Principles First and Adam have been even greater advocates for supporting the Ukraine cause ever since and a great asset to reaching the Republicans we needed to pass the legislation.
I also worked with local leaders to begin host “DMV For Ukraine” meetings to help mobilize advocates across the region and have seen an impressive increase in engagement as a result.
Among the topics we have discussed is best practices for sharing resources online which led to the creation of Virginia For Ukraine linktree and the USA For Ukraine linktree.
In April 2024, the American Coalition For Ukraine brought over 500 advocates from 47 states and held over 350 constituent meetings on Capitol Hill for their fourth Ukraine Action Summit and we made a big impact. On the next day Speaker Johnson had an epiphany that he would do the “right thing” to support a deal for Ukraine and Donald Trump stopped obstructing it.
Virginia was represented by over 40 delegates from 11 congressional districts who participated in 13 meetings with congressional offices as 9 Virginia House Members and 2 Virginia Senators eventually voted for the package. Eugene Vindman was also a keynote speaker at the summit.
After the Senate vote for the supplemental aid to Ukraine on April 23rd, the rally crew thanked Senators as they left the U.S. Capitol.
Senators were pleased to see public support as Senator Amy Klobuchar actually posted a picture of me as she rode by and Senator Tom Carper shared some moving words as he walked out.
The New York Times featured us after the House vote and Senate vote and Getty Images pictures were picked up across the world.
I have submitted a resolution for consideration commending President Biden and our Virginia congressional delegation for taking action to stand with Ukraine.
I helped continue the celebration days later as I organized Ukraine advocates to thank VIPs at the Washington Hilton before and after the White House Correspondents Dinner. We were able to personally thank Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Senator Chris Murphy, Biden-Harris Campaign Co-Chair Mitch Landrieu and U.S. AID Administrator Samantha Power for their support.
Over the past six months I have also worked with the volunteer-led “Community For Ukraine” Engagement Task Force, which works with activists across the movement, on various projects including weekly Call Congress events and building a network of facebook groups that would replicate the Biden-Harris facebook network.
I helped launch a “Community For Ukraine” Recruitment Team that is doing extensive outreach to churches and activists on social media. And I am the admin of the most active discussion forum which is an open chat for more political news, views and analysis where I share updates on how Democrats support Ukraine.
And now that is so critical because now that aid has been passed there is a serious global debate on how it should be used so dialogue is even more important. But the one thing I have embraced as an advocate is that when we call on Congress or the Administration to take action we are not just fighting for our interests but their interests as well.
For example, a couple weeks ago I worked with our team on a campaign to allow Ukraine to respond to attacks from Russian soil. I suggested a more light-hearted Star Wars-themed hashtag #LetUkraineStrikeBack and it went viral very quickly. I am not a graphics expert but eventually the Pro-Ukraine grassroots army came up with some amazing memes.
And with the rising chorus of voices from constituents here at home and leaders in the U.S. and around the world including my Congressman Gerry Connolly who is also a Member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly we showed President Biden there was support for a policy change and he came through.
As part of this process I have seen in action what is possible when a small group of citizens who are passionate about defending democracy and freedom are willing to show up every day and work together until they achieve victory.
Here are a few examples of my heroes:
The leaders of Ukraine Rally DC are Virginia residents who have been celebrated by Ukraine advocacy organizations and even the Georgian Legion for hosting daily vigils at the White House and Capitol Hill. They were recently invited to attend a Youth Call with the Office of the President of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian refugee student who recently published an op-ed in The Atlantic and creates amazing videos that show how the U.S. Congress works and how U.S. constituents can make a difference.
The founder of the “Community For Ukraine” Community Engagement Task Force who utilizes the Ukraine Rally DC X account to keep supporters updated on how to help their efforts with open-source, user-friendly tools for contacting their members of Congress.
And the President and Co-Founder of Ukraine Defense Support (UDS), a nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid and supports advocacy efforts as a State Delegation Leader who served on the frontlines in Ukraine and participated in a Ukrainian Congressional Caucus press conference right before the House bill passed with Gold Star Moms of veterans who lost their lives fighting for the Ukrainians.
I have been so inspired by their work and so proud they have appreciated my work as I recently joined UDS as Director of Advocacy Communications where I will be leading media relations efforts and supporting social media initiatives in collaboration with the entire community.
This advocacy effort was a major win for President Biden and the world.
I look forward to bringing what I have learned from this experience to our party as well as ensuring that language on the importance of supporting Ukraine and our allies around the world is added to the party platform.
I also look forward to working with pro-democracy activists who care about these issues and want to help elect Democrats in November.
Regards,
Jim McBride
Candidate, Virginia DNC Member (At-Large)
Fairfax County State Delegate (VA-11)
703-867-5070