Sitting in the middle of Spring it feels time for a little cleaning and change. To that end we have refreshed our website (please let us know what you think) and have moved to a new newsletter format. Instead of mostly longer deep dives, we are going to be focused more on data that feels important given the current times. Granted in our current landscape, things are changing by the hour. While this is exhausting, it does not mean we can’t use information and data to our advantage.

I would like to say that we have the answers, but the truth is that predicting the unpredictable is a fools errand. What the world will look like a week from now, let along a year from now, is anyone’s guess. Given this uncertainty our recommendation to organizations and individuals is to find the big picture piece that is most important to you and follow that NorthStar. This is the one thing that will not change in the short term and it provides us with a focus, ideally helping to tamp down the noise. Everyone’s star will be different, and that is a feature, not a bug.

The key to success as a community is (to quote my kid’s 3rd grade teacher) “Don’t yuck on someone else’s yum”. Someone not sharing your big issue as their driving force is not an affront to you, it is their focus and their belief. The road will be long and who knows what issue, or issues, will be the driving force 12 months from now. Throwing spaghetti at the walls will help to see which issues have legs with the broader public, and which ones don’t seem to drive change. The same is true for the style in which the messages are delivered. It also allows for the greatest flexibility to match the mood of the electorate in 2026.

Governor Pritzker and Governor Whitmer have taken different tactics over the last week or so. Each is doing what they feel is the correct path for delivering for their state. There is no right or wrong here. Time will tell if a stand up and punch them in the nose approach, or a more “play to the ego to get things done” approach will ultimately be the correct answer, but we do not know right now what the answer is. Let it happen, disagree if you do, but the enemy is not the person with the same jersey on, you just have a different yum.

The Lincoln Park Strategies Team

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