Tag: local elections
What’s Next For The Bernie Sanders Revolution?

What’s Next For The Bernie Sanders Revolution?

As we approach the upcoming Democratic convention, let’s look back at the race… and forward to the future.

The mainstream media tried to reduce the two Democratic campaigns as a Hillary v. Bernie war. The reality, though, is that most Sanders backers were enthusiastic precisely because his campaign’s purpose was far bigger than the usual personality politics. Supporters were signing up for a revolution against corporate rule.

To achieve this, we have to keep mobilizing for a truly democratic movement, and this is much harder than one presidential run. Sanders and close advisors are strategizing to help grow the grassroots rebellion — from school boards to Congress. This new coordinating effort will build on the framework and momentum of the campaign.

Outside of Sanders’ circle, a multitude of Bernie supporters are not waiting on a smoke signal from headquarters. With the primaries over and the convention starting, a mushrooming, percolate-up creativity has already burst into new organizing projects that are advancing this energized populist movement. Here are just two examples:

The People’s Summit. In the world of politics-as-usual, a losing candidate’s supporters just drift away, but All-Things-Sanders tend to be unusual. So, on June 17, just three days after the final Democratic primary, some 3,000 Berniecrats from all across America gathered in a Chicago convention center to “Keep the Bern Alive.” Rather than being morose or cynical about Sanders not winning the nomination, attendees were exuberant about the future and the movement that he galvanized. This extraordinary, uplifting event was a combination of tent revival and workshops for serious strategizing and organizing, and was rightly labeled a “Festival of Joyous Rebellion.” The two-day summit was convened by National Nurses United (a scrappy, aggressively progressive union) and co-sponsored by more than 50 diverse and effective democracy-building groups.

This meeting had a minimum of blah-blah and a maximum of planning on how to put experienced, locally-based organizers and volunteers directly into growing the movement — starting now. These ever-larger and broader local coalitions will: (1) be rooted in principled, anti-corporate politics; (2) launch direct grassroots initiatives and actions on a range of populist issues; (3) recruit, train, and elect thousands of movement candidates to school boards, city councils, state legislatures, and other offices; (4) deepen the relationships and sense of shared purpose in this revolutionary democratic movement. And (5) — Make it fun — putting the “party” back in politics. www.thepeoplessummit.org

Brand New Congress. What if progressive organizers and volunteers joined forces to run a nationwide campaign to replace today’s corporate-owned congress — all at once? Yes, one sweeping campaign to oust all incumbents of either party who owe their jobs to the Big Money powers. Those congress critters, feeling snug in their gerrymandered rabbit holes, could be outed by hundreds of coordinated, Brand New Congress campaigns running simultaneously in every state. Each local campaign would back candidates publicly pledged to fight for an agenda of economic, social, environmental, and political justice.

Impossible? Not in the minds of Zach Exley, Becky Bond and other former Sanders staffers who conceived and implemented this campaign’s successful grassroots model that Exley calls “distributed organizing.” They trained and empowered tens of thousands of far-flung volunteers to be autonomous organizers, digitally linked into a nationwide network, eliminating the need and cost of a rigid hierarchy of “leaders” to boss volunteers, recognizing instead that volunteers themselves are leaders — in churches, clubs, workplaces, community groups, etc. Now they’re applying this model to Brand New Congress that will carry the message of authentic populism and a shared agenda of populist policy proposals.

BNC is to be a true bi-partisan effort, running Dems in blue districts, Repubs in solid red ones, and independents whereever that makes sense. But wait — how can BNC get Republican candidates to run on progressive values? By recognizing that true populism is neither a right or left theory, but a top vs. bottom reality that even middle-class and lower-income Republicans can relate to. (Note: In Vermont, which often elects Republican governors, Sanders won 71 percent of the vote in his last Senate race). Indeed, outside of the right-wing Congress, many rank-and-file Republicans would support stopping global trade scams and crony-capitalism corruption, as well as assuring health care for all, recognizing climate change, and standing up to bigotry.

Bernie has urged his supporters to keep pushing for their democratic ideals. “Real change never takes place from the top down. It always occurs from the bottom on up — when tens of millions of people say ‘enough is enough’ and become engaged in the fight for justice. That’s what the political revolution we helped start is all about. That’s why the political revolution must continue.”

 

Photo: Supporters cheer as Bernie Sanders addresses supporters following the closing of the polls in the California presidential primary in Santa Monica, California, June 7, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

What To Watch For On Election Day

What To Watch For On Election Day

By Emily Cahn, Simone Pathe and Eli Yokley, CQ-Roll Call (TNS)

WASHINGTON — Voters in a handful of states across the country head to the polls Tuesday for a slate of elections that political handicappers use as an off-year election bellwether of what might happen in 2016.

And while no federal offices are on the table, results from these states will have implications for House and Senate contests in 2016.

Here’s what to watch on Election Day 2015:

Full slate in Kentucky: The state’s banner governor’s race features Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway and Republican businessman Matt Bevin to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Steven L. Beshear, who is term-limited. Throughout October, Conway held a slight lead in most polls.

The race has been a wild ride for Bevin, who at the beginning of the fall briefly lost the support of the Republican Governors Association, which disagreed with his campaign tactics. But in mid-October, the RGA returned to the state to compete with the Democratic Governors Association, which has provided money and support for Conway.

Conway has repeatedly criticized Bevin for his apparent inconsistencies when talking about repealing Medicaid expansion and his refusal to release his tax returns. Bevin, who has never before held elected office, has portrayed Conway as a career politician who would rubber-stamp President Barack Obama’s agenda.

The race could also have implications for the Bluegrass State’s Democratic bench.

Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes — the Democrat who led an unsuccessful challenge to Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell — is using her re-election campaign to rebuild her popularity. Andy Beshear, the governor’s son, is fighting for a win in the state’s tight race for attorney general against Republican state Sen. Whitney Westerfield. And Adam Edelen, Kentucky’s auditor of public accounts, is looking for strong numbers as he considers a campaign next year against Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who has faced criticism at home for his lagging presidential bid.

Last Democrat standing in Mississippi: The elections in Mississippi could mark a milestone for both parties: If Attorney General Jim Hood loses re-election, Republicans will hold every statewide elected office in the Magnolia State.

Hood’s personality and politics fit the state, but it’s unclear whether having an uppercase D next to his name on the ballot in a state that has gone solidly Republican will outweigh the goodwill he’s built over his 10 years as the state’s top law enforcement officer.

At the top of the ballot, Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, is expected to sail to re-election. He is being challenged by Democrat Robert Gray, a truck driver who won the August primary without spending a penny.

Also on the ballot are dueling measures dealing with education funding. Initiative 42 would give courts more power to enforce funding requirements under the state’s education foundation formula. The measure is opposed by Bryant and a large number of trade organizations. Republicans in the Legislature have placed Initiative 42A, which will appear alongside Initiative 42, on the ballot. The counter initiative would prohibit courts from being involved in education funding.

Local New York race with 2016 House implications: Mike Hein, the Ulster County executive, is on the ballot for re-election, and if victorious, he could make a decision soon on whether to run for Congress in New York’s 19th District.

If he does decide to run, Hein would likely be a top-tier candidate in the Tossup race for this open seat held currently by Rep. Chris Gibson, a Republican who is not seeking re-election.

Excess weed revenue in Colorado: What to do with the $66 million in excess tax revenue generated from the sale of recreational marijuana? An existing state law requires excess tax revenue to be returned to taxpayers. A statewide initiative on the ballot asks voters to make an exception, and instead direct the tax revenue from marijuana sales toward public education and drug-prevention programs.

Tipping the scales in Virginia: Democrats must net two seats to win control of the state Senate. Netting one seat would allow Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam to break a tie.

A Democratic Senate could help Gov. Terry McAuliffe push Medicaid expansion, but with the House of Delegates expected to remain in GOP hands, McAuliffe’s priorities aren’t likely to go very far.

Both sides are hoping that winning control of the Senate, and the ground operation built in the process, will foreshadow a presidential victory for their respective nominees.

Control of the General Assembly aside, the electoral success (or failure) of Democratic state legislature candidates could push some of them to jump into Virginia’s congressional races, with the 10th District currently the most competitive .

Several districts in the Old Dominion State could become more competitive depending on how a three-judge court redraws the state’s congressional map. (A court dismissed a similar challenge to its legislative districts on Oct. 22.) Democratic recruitment at the congressional level has been slow since state-level Democrats are waiting to see what the federal map will look like.

A very short redemption story in Michigan: Two tea-party-backed former lawmakers who had an affair, and then attempted to cover it up with a hoax letter about a male prostitute, are hoping for a second chance in the Legislature.

Ex-Rep. Todd Courser, who resigned in September, and ex-Rep. Cindy Gamrat, who was expelled, have filed to run in the special primary to fill the seats that they lost.

But with low turnout and multiple conservatives running in each primary, it would be a surprise if the disgraced former lawmakers advanced to the special general election in March.

(c)2015 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Photo: Keith Ivey via Flickr