We are building a fighting infrastructure that puts independent progressive creators at the center of winning progressive power in 2026 and beyond.

Who This is for

·       Writers, journalists, and podcasters who lean democratic-socialist or bold progressive

·       Campaigns and movement organizations that share those politics and need trusted voices

·       Donors and readers who want the left to stop losing winnable races

The Reality Now

Corporate media is collapsing. Independent creators have the audience and the trust — but almost zero coordinated access to campaigns, almost zero protection from lawsuits and disinfo swarms, and zero infrastructure to turn one good piece into ten million extra impressions for a good candidate.

 What We Actually Do

·       Hand writers a constant pipeline of pre-vetted story ideas and candidates, plus warm introductions to the campaign’s comms director (no more cold emailing into the void).

·       Syndicate the finished work into candidate and movement newsletters, donor lists, and friendly outlets — massively growing reach for both the writer and the campaign.

·       Deliver fact-checked opposition research and rapid rebuttals the minute bots or dark-money ops start spreading lies

·       Pay union-scale rates: 50 % on assignment, 50 % on delivery

·       Provide legal defense funding if a billionaire or bad-faith actor tries to sue or SLAPP the writer into silence

·       Writers keep 100 % ownership of their work, their brand, their subscriber list, and all their revenue. We never touch any of it. This is additive to their income, without detracting from their unique independence.

 Politics

AOC / Bernie / Squad / Justice Democrats / DSA wing of the party. Pro-labor, anti-corporate Democrat, and democratic socialist-friendly. Our only litmus test in 2026 is “can this person win and then fight like hell for working people?”

What We Need

Our immediate goal is to raise at least $35,000 by December 31, 2025, pay the first creators, and open the doors in January.

If that sounds worth building to you, please chip in as every dollar counts towards our goal:

Questions? Email me directly: rick.herbst@liftupdemocracy.org

– Rick Herbst

Founder, Lift Up Democracy PO Box 360223, Strongsville, OH 44149

Rick.herbst@liftupdemocracy.org