From Jill Stein: An Open Letter to CA Voters

Meta: I don't know if these types of campaign-related posts are allowed but I thought this email that I just got from Jill is pretty cool and worth sharing.
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All Hands on Deck! Two Ways To Build The Revolution in the CA Primary

Vote for Me if You’re Registered Green - Vote for Bernie if You’re Independent or a Democrat

California voters have a chance to put us on the road to revolutionary change in the June 7 primary.

At this historic moment, as voters reject the Clinton and Trump campaigns with record high levels of dislike and mistrust, I ask not just for your vote for me, but also for your vote for Bernie. These votes are powerfully synergistic as we build an historic grassroots movement and a political vehicle to carry it forward.

If you’re a registered Green, I need your vote in the contested Green Party primary, so we can continue to build an enduring political home for revolutionary change. You will be voting for the only national party not poisoned by corporate money, and for the policy solutions we urgently need: an emergency Green New Deal providing 20 million green jobs to transition to 100% renewable energy and avert climate catastrophe, to cancel student debt and make public higher education free, to provide health care and education as basic rights for all, to create a welcoming path to citizenship, end police violence and the war on drugs, and to provide a foreign policy based on international law and human rights.

If you are registered as a Democrat or as “No Party Preference”, please vote for Bernie in the Democratic primary. The Sanders campaign is putting up a valiant fight, despite the shameless assault by the Democratic Party. From super-delegates to election “irregularities”, stifled debates, manipulated conventions, an army of Clinton loyalist insiders, and a corporate media machine - the party has been trying to marginalize the Sanders campaign from the get go. And this isn’t the first time. From redistricting Dennis Kucinich, smearing anti-war candidate Howard Dean with the “Dean scream”, and demonizing Jesse Jackson with a public relations fear campaign, the Party has repeatedly shown why it’s hard to have a revolutionary campaign in a counter-revolutionary party.

Still, the battle is not over. The Democratic nomination is in contention. The more the Sanders team can raise the bar for the people not the billionaires, the stronger we will all be for it.

I urge you to reject the propaganda of powerlessness peddled by the corporate pundits and party operatives of the liberal elite. They tell us all – Berners and Greens alike – we must rally around Hillary Clinton as the lesser evil alternative to Donald Trump.

The pundits should know better. Donald Trump is riding a wave of right-wing extremism produced by the Clintons’ very own neoliberal policies – NAFTA and Wall Street deregulation that crashed the economy and caused so much continuing pain. Five million families were cheated out of their homes, nine million jobs destroyed, and this low wage economy is still on the rocks. Another Clinton in the White House will only create more economic despair fanning the flames of right wing extremism.

And with the Clintons’ record of service to fossil fuel giants and war profiteers, it’s not just the economy that’s at stake here. Sure there are differences between Trump and Clinton, but not enough to save your job, your life, or the planet.

It’s Bernie, not Hillary, who is solidly beating Trump in the polls. And besides, the lesser evil is not a solution to the greater evil – because people stop coming out to vote for what’s throwing them under the bus, as we saw in the 2014 mid term elections. The real solution to Trump is revolutionary progressive policies. And that will only come from the agenda of economic and racial justice shared by Bernie’s and my campaigns.

The establishment insiders tell us to vote against what we fear instead of for what we believe. But this politics of fear has delivered everything we were afraid of. All the reasons we were told to vote for the lesser evil – because you didn’t want massive Wall Street bailouts, the offshoring of our jobs, the meltdown of the climate, the attack on immigrants and our civil liberties, the expanding prison state, endless war – that’s exactly what we’ve gotten because we allowed ourselves to be silenced.

In fact, the problem of vote splitting could be solved with the stroke of a pen with Ranked Choice Voting, which is used in cities around the nation. California and other state legislatures could pass it right now and avoid any “spoiling” of the presidential election. But the machine Democrats have refused to consider such bills because they rely on fear to coerce your vote. That in itself tells you they’re not on your side, and do not deserve your vote.

Don’t doubt for a minute your ability to transform this election. Bernie is proving that the majority of Americans want a progressive campaign independent of the billionaires. If Bernie is denied the nomination, don’t discount the potential for our Green campaign to carry the movement forward to become a major force in the election. Forty-three million people – a winning plurality in this race – are locked in student debt and their only way out is my plan to bail them out, like Obama bailed out Wall Street. If milllennials in debt decide to get the word out, hold on to your hat for a voter revolt that could go a very long way, even perhaps to the White House.

Here’s the bottom line. Democracy doesn’t need silence and fear. It needs voices and values, and a moral compass. We must be that moral compass. The clock is ticking – on the next Wall Street collapse, the climate meltdown, expanding war, the slide towards fascism, nuclear confrontation and more. This is the time to stand up with the courage of our convictions, while we still can.

The corporate candidates will not fix this for us. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Come out on June 7 and vote for me, Jill Stein, if you are registered Green, and for Bernie Sanders if you are Democratic or “no party preference”.

Together we can reject the lesser evil and fight for the greater good – like our lives depend on it, because they do.

It's in our hands!

p_Jill_Signature.png
PS. If you want to help build the momentum for revolution in the CA primary, please share this open letter to CA voters via email, on Facebook and Twitter, and from our campaign website. Thank you for all that you do!

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Haikukitty's picture

and it is a cool email. I am planning to vote for her in November if I am not allowed to vote for Bernie thanks to the machinations of the DNC.

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Shahryar's picture

I have mixed feelings about elections due to their being rigged. Still, I dislike the major parties, wish there were an alternative or three. I joke (?) about voting for Eugene Debs in November. I'm pretty sure that I'll vote for Stein if Bernie's not on the ballot.

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elenacarlena's picture

If Hill wins the nom by hook or especially by crook, I'll want to know a lot more about my third party options. And I don't really know anything about Jill Stein except that she's the Green Party candidate. So thank you!

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featheredsprite's picture

I'll bet that you won't find anything there that you disagree with.

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

Jill has given every evidence of being a progressive first and a partisan second. She is a good egg, and while she probably won't win, helping her build the greens should Bernie lose is an honorable cause. She will also make a fine VP should Bernie breakout. She's better than Elizabeth Warren, who was too cautious to actually support him in Massachusetts. If she had supported him we wouldn't be threatened with Trumpster. Let's let Trump wreck the republicans and let the Conservative Democrats take their place. Then the greens can take up where the old democrats left off.

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darkmatter's picture

That was a very impressive letter. Someone knows what's what.

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In case you haven't figured it out, the oligarch solution to Climate Change is "population control" aka: genocide: both Trump and Clinton have their covert signals to oligarchy that they have the stomach for it: Trump with his Nazi loving: Clinton with her tender penchant for Henry "genocide is necessary" Kissinger.

Americans are being poisoned in their own homes: lead pipes, fracking, methane leaks: its pretty clear that TPP and TTIP make ZERO provision for the health and well being of communities or their survival: basically they can murder us if it "interferes with a corporation's profit".

This is both a crisis of the environment and a human rights crisis. Clinton dismisses the deaths of millions as a "mistake" . . . given her record going back decades and decades she has demonstrated a counter-human lack of empathy for the most egregious circumstances: she has the cold hearted, calculating willingness to do whatever for an oligarch vision of the world. Including her bizarre participation with a quasi religious organization in Washington called "The Family" which has some quite odd ideas about power: Further along the spectrum than Machiavellie: basically whatever you see as a solution if you have power is "right". Amoral. And from the look of things genocide is fine. Trump is too shallow to have principles and will be manipulated into whatever lines his pockets, and may make a personal hobby of collecting talents of histories worst murderers.

The corporate media is going to dangerous places. The NV Dem Convention involved operatives setting up voters to deliberately defame, slander and mischaracterized this: this was enacted by elected leaders in collusion with psy ops folks: that is what Mook is: and Mark Penn is still holding forth, likely also advising. One of the things we learned in the last campaign is that the Clintons (and John McCain) had one big media/government/psyops firm in both ends of a U.S. Primary: Burson Marsteller and its related company BKSH: this got a brief mention in the WSJ but was discussed on KOS (he's caved which is also chilling: what is HE being threatened with?) One big lobbying/PR/Media relations firm (psy ops for hire) (in a U.S. primary!)that has sanitized human rights abuses all over the planet for $$$- in both ends of a U.S. primary: that was eight years ago: both Clinton and McCain: Obama seemed outside of that . . . and now we are left to wonder.

Another phenomenon is the protesting at Trump events . . . it would be consistent with practices dating back through time, for a campaign to hire roustabouts to beat up on their own supporters . . . to play with the wiling media . .. to claim "victim".

Both campaigns are doing this with a play along because we're well paid and enmeshed media: where Kabuki theatre is enacted upon hapless citizens trying to participate, to further the ambitions of oligarchy.

I have ZERO faith in this nation at the moment. The systemic dismantling of a government that was working well for everyday people; the ludicrous "austerity" where wealth hoarding is the abject goal of everything is obscene, and directly related to Climate Change. And an enmeshed plutocracy of media, military,political, religious and even medical concerns is becoming very, very, very dangerous.

26 Attorneys General are taking Exxon Mobil to court for having investigated AND VALIDATED climate change back in the '70's. And if Exxon knew, so did every administration since then: and it just "happened" that Clinton and company repealed laws preventing media monopoly, and laws that guided finances; gutting any balancing act. While enacting grand Kabuki theatre preying on a hapless intern, but caculated distraction: just like these emails: we are facing another eight years of non interest in a future: while behind the scenes a lot of devasting things will be enacted that will further destroy any semblance of Democracy.

Funny the timing on this: let's see . . . if Climate Change is real, lets make sure that the "right" people survive, while we help climate change to worsen . . . let nature take its course: we can buy up and sell off everything of value to insure that we have the means of survival: only a few select, the "creme de la creme" should be allowed to survive. So massive poisoning: destruction of drinking water and food: corporate genocide with no fingerprints. "risk management" with all of the risks bourne by average people. Even Clinton's biggest backer is reputed to have a massive "fall out" shelter. They know a lot we don't know.

So I welcome Dr. Stein's communication. We are very much in a fight for any sort of future. The folks in power are completely disconnected from the rest of humanity and are making it clear just how disposable the vast majority of the rest of us are.

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petral's picture

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lotlizard's picture

♪ ♫ Genocide is awesome
Genocide is cool when you’re part of a team

Hm, make that a neocon and neolib audience.

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In case you haven't figured it out, the oligarch solution to Climate Change is "population control" aka: genocide: both Trump and Clinton have their covert signals to oligarchy that they have the stomach for it: Trump with his Nazi loving: Clinton with her tender penchant for Henry "genocide is necessary" Kissinger.

Americans are being poisoned in their own homes: lead pipes, fracking, methane leaks: its pretty clear that TPP and TTIP make ZERO provision for the health and well being of communities or their survival: basically they can murder us if it "interferes with a corporation's profit".

This is both a crisis of the environment and a human rights crisis. Clinton dismisses the deaths of millions as a "mistake" . . . given her record going back decades and decades she has demonstrated a counter-human lack of empathy for the most egregious circumstances: she has the cold hearted, calculating willingness to do whatever for an oligarch vision of the world. Including her bizarre participation with a quasi religious organization in Washington called "The Family" which has some quite odd ideas about power: Further along the spectrum than Machiavellie: basically whatever you see as a solution if you have power is "right". Amoral. And from the look of things genocide is fine. Trump is too shallow to have principles and will be manipulated into whatever lines his pockets, and may make a personal hobby of collecting talents of histories worst murderers.

The corporate media is going to dangerous places. The NV Dem Convention involved operatives setting up voters to deliberately defame, slander and mischaracterized this: this was enacted by elected leaders in collusion with psy ops folks: that is what Mook is: and Mark Penn is still holding forth, likely also advising. One of the things we learned in the last campaign is that the Clintons (and John McCain) had one big media/government/psyops firm in both ends of a U.S. Primary: Burson Marsteller and its related company BKSH: this got a brief mention in the WSJ but was discussed on KOS (he's caved which is also chilling: what is HE being threatened with?) One big lobbying/PR/Media relations firm (psy ops for hire) (in a U.S. primary!)that has sanitized human rights abuses all over the planet for $$$- in both ends of a U.S. primary: that was eight years ago: both Clinton and McCain: Obama seemed outside of that . . . and now we are left to wonder.

Another phenomenon is the protesting at Trump events . . . it would be consistent with practices dating back through time, for a campaign to hire roustabouts to beat up on their own supporters . . . to play with the wiling media . .. to claim "victim".

Both campaigns are doing this with a play along because we're well paid and enmeshed media: where Kabuki theatre is enacted upon hapless citizens trying to participate, to further the ambitions of oligarchy.

I have ZERO faith in this nation at the moment. The systemic dismantling of a government that was working well for everyday people; the ludicrous "austerity" where wealth hoarding is the abject goal of everything is obscene, and directly related to Climate Change. And an enmeshed plutocracy of media, military,political, religious and even medical concerns is becoming very, very, very dangerous.

26 Attorneys General are taking Exxon Mobil to court for having investigated AND VALIDATED climate change back in the '70's. And if Exxon knew, so did every administration since then: and it just "happened" that Clinton and company repealed laws preventing media monopoly, and laws that guided finances; gutting any balancing act. While enacting grand Kabuki theatre preying on a hapless intern, but caculated distraction: just like these emails: we are facing another eight years of non interest in a future: while behind the scenes a lot of devasting things will be enacted that will further destroy any semblance of Democracy.

Funny the timing on this: let's see . . . if Climate Change is real, lets make sure that the "right" people survive, while we help climate change to worsen . . . let nature take its course: we can buy up and sell off everything of value to insure that we have the means of survival: only a few select, the "creme de la creme" should be allowed to survive. So massive poisoning: destruction of drinking water and food: corporate genocide with no fingerprints. "risk management" with all of the risks bourne by average people. Even Clinton's biggest backer is reputed to have a massive "fall out" shelter. They know a lot we don't know.

So I welcome Dr. Stein's communication. We are very much in a fight for any sort of future. The folks in power are completely disconnected from the rest of humanity and are making it clear just how disposable the vast majority of the rest of us are.

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Shahryar's picture

Clinton dismisses the deaths of millions as a "mistake"

I've never felt that she thinks the invasion of Iraq, itself, was a mistake, rather that her vote damaged her politically. Her whole campaign is Hillary-centric. "I'm With Her", where all the energy must flow to the candidate, as if she were at the top of the pyramid. So her concern with how Iraq has played out is "how does this affect Hillary?"

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Even though she said it was a mistake, she has shown no remorse, whatsoever.

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darkmatter's picture

and she blew it.

And I completely agree with you, Shahryar, that her "mistake" formulation is monstrously revealing. She regrets betting on the wrong horse, that's all. The millions dead, the destroyed futures, the inflamed fundamentalist nationalism, the countless maimed and psychologically ruined servicemen...that doesn't really register for her, as long as CNN or the NYT aren't beating her over the head with it. It's just water under the neoliberal bridge....

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darkmatter's picture

and I would say MUCH better than (sad to say) Warren, whose inexcusable self-censoring has only been worsened by her willingness to insult the intelligence of her following by participating in a Punch and Judy show with Trump on Twitter.

Speaking of which, I forgot to follow Jill Stein on Twitter. And...just rectified that.

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Shahryar's picture

and her current Clinton surrogate status does nothing to help.

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and REid has signaled that she is in line for his position. Her focus is quite narrow and she nips around the edges: just enough to be a "heroine" but not really making waves: she is big on the national stage: virtually unavailable to the folks who sent her to the Senate. As a voter in her part of the world, I am not as impressed as others. Bernie has a much more fulsome record and decades of service: she may be in a horriffic position vis a vis Clinton, if she sincerely is "progressive" . . . damned if she does, damned if she doesn't endorse givent the reputation for payback: but if she jumps on the Clinton bandwagon and Clinton loses half her state will see her as a hypocrite and vote her out. Much dissatisfaction expressed hereabouts due to her shennanigans and ambiguity.

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So and So just took down So and So. I thought Warren going against Trump on Twitter was silly and stupid. She crawled down into the sandbox to do that, yet she didn't have the political courage to say who she voted for in the primary, nor did Russ Feingold. I don't respect that one bit.

I never viewed politics as a sport, but I kind of sort of did but didn't realize it until now.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

in DNC fundraising emails.

And Warren is also considered one of the more prolific of Dem Party fundraisers, generally.

Hmmmmmmm . . . . .

Wink

Seriously, she has her strengths, but she is a part of the Dem Party Establishment, now--Harry Reid created a job for her in 2014, after the midterm shellacking.

Mollie


"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."--Lao Tzu

Goodbye, Sweet Kaya  (SOSD Screenshot).png
In Loving Memory Of Sweet Kaya, SOSD Rescue

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Exactly. Old school and not in a good way.

I plead guilty to hearing something "bad" and getting an email asking for money because So and So said such and thus, and I'm ashamed to admit I fell for it and donated. NO MORE.

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vote here in Ohio should they steal the nomination from Bernie.
Thank you for sharing.

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In Cuyahoga County!

Hey, if you're in the area, maybe we can meet up for coffee or something some time.

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Love of power is a puppet string. - Makana, Fire is Ours

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Thaumlord-Exelbirth's picture

Provided she's on the ballot. If not... no idea. Set my ballot on fire in the middle of the polling place? Question is, would that end up counting as a vote for Satan? Though, he'd still probably be a better choice than either Trump or Hillary.

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like MN is in play to be on the ballot.

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Hawkfish's picture

I was wondering this morning what the Democratic primary race would look like if that had been in effect. I mean, how many Clinton supporters are anti-Bernie?

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Ranked voting doesn't need to apply in the primaries because the delegates in each precinct or district are allotted proportionately to the votes received by the candidates, provided the candidate got at least 15%. So there isn't that "spoiler" effect that makes Ranked Voting or Instant Runoff Voting necessary. Unless you voted for the candidate that got less than 15% of the vote and is thus non-viable.

In caucuses on the other hand, there aren't any wasted votes because non-viable folks can choose to join up with other viable groups.

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Love is my religion.

but it's going to the front page also.

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great! Smile

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Love is my religion.

polkageist's picture

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-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962

When I was first convinced that Bernie was what the country needed (after the first debate), I didn't have a clue who Jill Stein was and only vaguely knew about the Greens. The more I learn about her and listen to her words, the more confident I become in her abilities. She's a rightous person and very bright. I will definitely give her my vote should Bernie not get the nom. Thanks, FunLovingProgressive, for writing this diary.

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lunachickie's picture

Stein's got my vote, should Bernie get screwed by the Democrats. If enough people vote for the Green Party, it'll start getting more matching funding.

I've had it with these crooked-ass Democratic "leaders", they're helping to destroy our infrastructure, just like the Thugs are. They're in for a big surprise in November, if they are so stupid as to select Hillary to represent them.

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Jill is making this really easy for me as the DNC continues its con.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

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Meteor Man's picture

Jill Stein is my choice.

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

TheLeftistheCenter's picture

I really like Jill and all the Greens stand for, not to mention just how totally right on that letter is on so many levels, but I still think retaking back the Dems would be easier than building a third party, at least for now.

So I am torn come Nov, should Hillary win, to vote my conscious and vote Green or vote my cynicism and vote Hillary, because I think she will be bad enough to wake more of the party up and open it up to take over.

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I'll vote FOR, but never again vote AGAINST.

Hillary isn't on my "for" list as of today. Tomorrow's not looking any better.

I could vote for Bernie or Jill. If the Dems want my vote in November on the top of the ticket, they need to come to their senses by the convention.

Repeating a behavior and expecting a different outcome is a fools errand and a waste of a good vote. Speak the truth of your hope with your vote, it's the only way we can win.

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Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

against someone. For the rest of my life I plan to only vote for someone. I've had it.

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but I still think retaking back the Dems would be easier than building a third party

For example, I know that Debbie Wasserman Schultz won't be head of the DNC much longer, but, but, but my example is when the leaders of the Dem party support her over Tim Canova, to me, there is no hope to take back the party without Bernie, and even then, they'll try to smash him down every chance they get.

I think it's way too late to retake the party. There are too many entrenchments and favors owed and people to take and give money to, i.e., jobs, et cetera, that it's just too late.

I consider the Dem Party now to be a closed Country Club where if you don't have a lot of money and you don't know anyone, no way I'm/we're getting in. We're just supposed to deliver the food every two years.

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As Bernie said, real change comes when millions of people stand together. We can retake the Democratic Party, county-by-county and state-by-state, by running for the Democratic county and state committee member positions in the party elections, in which every registered Democratic voter is eligible to vote. And for each county and state Democratic Party, amend the by-laws to make them more open and inclusive of people (and progressive in general), as well as more difficult to amend in secrecy.

That's the way to do it, but I don't know if there is an organized group working on it, specifically. I'm interested in connecting with such an effort, so if anyone knows of something like that going on, I would love to hear about it.

Bernie can effect some change at the convention too because the national delegates can vote to amend the DNC by-laws.

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Love is my religion.

that no matter what we do, we won't break through. It would take a century to succeed. I think you have good ideas but I think it's way too late to retake the party from within.

And my state legislature is controlled by dems -- most of them bought and paid for. It's no use trying to replace them.

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http://www.sfbg.com/2016/03/17/dccc-endorsements/

"So there are, in essence, two slates for the DCCC. One is made up of the supporters of Mary Jung, the landlord lobbyist who is the current chair. The other includes people who have promised two things: They will vote to replace Jung with a progressive (Sup. David Campos is our first choice) – and they will support the progressive candidates for supervisor this fall."

From the above article, it sounds like someone just woke up from a slumber and realized that the SF Dem Party has been hijacked and now an organized effort is being made to elect a slate of progressives to the SF County Central Committee during the upcoming primaries on June 7.

This is the type of action that needs to be repeated for the Democratic Party Central Committees in every county and every state.

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Love is my religion.

lunachickie's picture

I'd want to see who actually wins in your example.

If the landlord lobbyist or any of her cronies win office *at all*, then you can probably take that to mean that "saving the Democratic Party is a fool's errand." I hope that turns out to be wrong, please keep us posted on who wins.

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with the intention of changing the Congress to progressive in 2018. I presume this entails taking back the dem party from the bottom up, but perhaps not:

http://brandnewcongress.org/home

On a different note, who knows what we must do to get Green on all the states' ballots? I'm hoping Bernie will run on top of the ticket with Jill in VP position.

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They seem like a great organization and I hope they meet with success. I am planning to help when they get underway. I did not see any mention of party committees specifically, even though I saw they have plans for local, state and national elections. I guess running for government is a lot more interesting (and exciting perhaps) than running to be a committee member of a political party. Blah!

But that's the price to pay for maintaining our democracy. Constant vigilance and grassroots participation. The other side (the oligarchs, millionaires and billionaires) is hoping that we get bored, frustrated, or caught up in other life challenges and stop participating, or make it difficult for us to participate (voter suppression, closed exclusionary rules, etc.)

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Love is my religion.

In a primary, vote with your heart and in a general, vote with your brain, but always vote your conscience.

"I still think retaking back the Dems would be easier than building a third party, at least for now."
I feel the same way. Do you know anyone working on that?

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Love is my religion.

PriceRip's picture

          Here in Buffalo County (Nebraska) we have been the majority at the meetings this summer. The "normal" democrats have been largely absent during this time. The state convention will be held here this year, so I will be able to get an close look at this time. If I am not in town my daughter will be able to give me an accurate report. The real problem is sustainability: the only way a retaking can happen is if there is motivation to show up and do the necessary work. If the party meetings are just meetings for the sake of meetings then the process will end ignominiously.
          For far too long the democratic party of nebraska has been a social organization rather that an instrument for social/political action. The younger people I know have no need or use for that sort of albatross.

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Keep us posted! Smile

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Love is my religion.

Wink's picture

Mostly a social club.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

is precluded from participating in party events. One of the meetings, announced at the last minute, is tommorrow: near the wealthiest suburbs of Boston: we always get invited late and with massive travel required. Not much happens in this state for Western MA: a few stops on their campaign wagons and then we don't see, hear, or get a response from them for four years.

It's disgusting. And the "Democrats" here are basically Republicans in the cities. I have real concerns about voting machines in poor neighborhoods. also, Bill's electioneering was so blatantly disrespectful of voters, yet the party will gloss over this.

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PriceRip's picture

          Kearney is located at I-80 mile marker 272. Lincoln is 130 miles East of here and Omaha (just shy of Iowa) is 55 miles farther down the road. Often statewide events are held in Lincoln, as that is a convenient distance for most people involved. Outstate Nebraska is usually excluded, but this time (possibly?) for logistical reasons the democratic party has decided that Kearney is a good place to have the state convention.
          I like to drive, but this state is too boring for me after all this time, so this venue is really nice. Many in the Western part of the state feel an affinity for Wyoming and talk wistfully of seceding from Nebraska and joining a few counties in Wyoming to form the 51st state of Wyoming Nebraska or Wyaska.

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Dhyerwolf's picture

Promote Stein and still fight to take the party back! I'm afraid that any positive electoral success will just move Democrats further to the right.

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The progressives who try to retake the Dem Party must pledge to try and change the rules to be more inclusive of third parties and other electoral reforms, among other progressive changes to the Party bylaws and actions.

The Greens must continue to build and grow stronger so that there exists a great and compelling reason for opening up the electoral system and moving to a multi-party system.

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Love is my religion.

featheredsprite's picture

I think that Jill would be an excellent choice for Secretary of the Interior.

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

Alex Ocana's picture

I have been saying this for months... 1) A plurality wins the electoral college votes for each state.2) If a strong campaign is mounted, Green can win a plurality in some deep blue states, for example WA, Oregon, Minnesota, Vermont, Hawaii 3) Electoral college delegates are not bound, they can change their votes. 4) A hung electoral college can have EC delegates broker a deal before being thrown into the house where the Republicans would elect a Republican probably not Trump, Cruz or Rubio. 5) The Democrats would either have to broker a deal with Republicans (not likely, although who knows) or with Green. 6) That would assure a coalition status in the Executive Branch between Democratic Party and Green Party i.e. Vice Presidency, or strong Cabinet posts.

I therefore have long said that if Bernie were denied the Democratic nomination, I would try my damnedest to convince the Bernie groups I follow to switch to Green.

Note: This scenario works even better if the GOP jumps ship to the Libertarians forming a four party race, so the libertarian side of me could easily enough work to swing disenchanted Rand Paul (the only sane GOP candidate I saw at the debates) types to vote Libertarian.

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From the Light House.

darkmatter's picture

But would require a lot of "faithless" electors, no? According to the 12th Amendment, the certified lists of EC votes are sent to the Senate, and the House has to choose the President from the top three receiving presidential votes on the list and the Senate choose the Vice President from the top two receiving VP votes. To get a Green VP, you would need to have more votes than either the R or D. Perhaps I'm missing something.

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Alex Ocana's picture

What you are missing is that delegates are not required by law to vote for anyone in particular. That means that a coalition can be formed to emit the election being thrown to the House. There are numerous cases of electors not voting for the candidate they were elected to vote for.

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From the Light House.

elenacarlena's picture

basically get less than a majority, the election falls to Congress. This is something we can work with to give Bern or Jill a chance without advancing Trump.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

since I live in blue CA. If there was Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) I would vote for her in a heartbeat, swing state or not. Don't think I (we?) can handle Donald Duck appointing Supreme Court judges, among other things.

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Love is my religion.

blazinAZ's picture

I did vote for Obama the first time. He gives a great speech, and I was seduced. But his policies showed him for who he is right away, and I was not going to vote for him again. Luckily, we have 4 parties on the ballot in AZ: Dem, Rep, Green and Libertarian.

I voted for Jill in 2012, and although the local Green party is a bit eccentric here, the national platform is actually much closer to my politics than anything Bernie has articulated. I did register (temporarily) as a Dem and voted for Sanders in the debacle that was the AZ "primary," and if he's the Dem nominee I will happily pull the lever for him. I'll change my registration back to independent as soon as I'm sure there aren't going to be any more lawsuits about the election here. (We've lost a couple already.) I'm so far left I can barely see the Democratic party from my porch. Smile

What I can't seem to communicate to Hillary supporters is that Bernie already is a compromise for me. I can't see the PTB allowing him to get the nomination (they'd rather lose w/ Clinton then win w/ Sanders), but I'm not moving one inch further right and I'm certainly not moving a mile to the right to vote for Hillary. I didn't vote for Bill either

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There is no justice in America, but it is the fight for justice that sustains you.
--Amiri Baraka

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

There *is* a lesser of two evils, and Hillary ain't it.

I am very fond of Bernie, but I disagree with him on a few, very important issues. One of which would be a dealbreaker if I didn't actually believe that he has an unusual, old-fashioned belief in political representation. He's someone who could actually be moved by massive political action. Such people are as rare as the dodo, but every now and then you come across one.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

I just contacted Dr. Stein at her website and invited her to join here and address us. I surely can't promise anything as I'm certain she's a very busy woman, but I'm trying.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

I just contacted Dr. Stein at her website and invited her to join here and address us. I surely can't promise anything as I'm certain she's a very busy woman, but I'm trying.

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Bollox Ref's picture

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

JayRaye's picture

c99 doesn't support any particular candidate, but still great to hear from them.

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Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.-Lucy Parsons

wont hurt to talk.

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elenacarlena's picture

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A very encouraging pep talk from Jill Stein.. Thanks!

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

but truth to tell I'd kinda hoped she'd tell the Greenies to vote Dem this cycle.

Bernie's gonna need all the votes he can to push him over the top in CA, and regardless of party he is right now the best chance for meaningful progressive change we had in a looong time. We need everybody pulling in the same direction, IMO.

Of course, if she needs the votes herself because she is not a shoe in for the Green nomination, then I fully understand her announcement and I applaud her for it. But this year needs to be Bernie's year - otherwise it's Hillary's or Trump's.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

RejectingThe3rdWay's picture

As such she did direct independents to vote for Bernie, and herself for people registered as Green.

I see NO issue with that whatsoever.

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When I was a kid, Republicans used to red scare people, now it's the Democrats. I am getting too damn old for this crap!

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

Fair enough.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

a party's candidate for President would tell that party's voters to unregister themselves from that party's voter rolls, even if it were to be temporary.

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Love is my religion.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

now that they liberalized the voting rules. There are a lot more opportunities to strategically vote cross party that we all should be thinking about.

But that's neither here nor there for the issue at hand: if the reg deadline is passed, then no harm, no foul. In fact, good on Jill for making the statement.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Bollox Ref's picture

I would think that this would fit the bill for discussion.

Plus I voted for her in 2012.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

Alligator Ed's picture

After reading this essay, I can see why. I live in CA where write in candidate voting is allowed--but typically they don't get much traction. (of course, I wonder why my prior votes for Mickey Mouse at non-presidential levels didn't count for something). If Bernie gets screwed out of the nomination by Hillary's goon squads, then come November I will vote Green.

Voting Green would not be an exercise in futility (if Bernie didn't get nominated), it would help bolster the only truly progressive party in the U.S. The Dems used to be progressive before Wild Bill and the DLC took over--but now the party is, I believe, irreparably fractured. So many Berniecrats won't vote for Hillary OR Drumpf, that a groundswell of support for a national party (the Greens, which is registered in more than 40 states) will strengthen their position for coming elections.

Remember: from little seeds, great things grow.

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darkmatter's picture

Just to be clear: I am still very much with Bernie, but if Stein is our lifeboat, it would be nice to have her pull in some sizable crowds. If I were in San Francisco (and gosh, I love that city), I would be at one or both of these. The first one starts in less than an hour, the next one is tomorrow.

http://www.jill2016.com/stein_to_visit_bay_area

Friday June 3 - San Francisco
Local Contact: Lea Pierce lea@jill2016.com
WHAT: Jill Stein Meet & Greet Fundraiser in San Francisco’s Sunset District
WHEN: 7:30-10:30 PM, Friday June 3
WHERE: 2467 28th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94116

Saturday June 4 - San Francisco
WHAT: Jill Stein in San Francisco: Challenging the Two-Party System
WHEN: 6:30-10 PM, Saturday June 4
WHERE: The Women’s Building, 3543 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
WHY: Come hear Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate, speak about building a movement to put people, planet and peace over profit.

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Roger Fox's picture

off of Bernie's "Political Revolution". Working Families Party in NY has jumped on the revolution bandwagon and are using it as a recruiting tool. I say this from a business perspective, not as an emotional salve.

The fact of the matter is the Greens have had 16 years and have not accomplished what Bernie did in 13 months. The Green party has demonstrated they do not understand how to create and wield political power, let alone do they understand the infrastructural and logistical issues required to win within the current paradigm.

I take zero emotional satisfaction by voting for Jill. I'll be voting for Bernie in November, one way or the other.

As many of you know I spent 9 months building a grassroots organization in Westchester NY, for the political revolution. Westchester4bernie.org is now the hottest new comer to the political playing field in Westchester NY. We are a force to dealt with. Many of our core group has been asked to work on campaigns and to run for office.

6 of our core is in Albany right now... attending a 3 day Camp Wellstone political campaign training seminar. We have only just begun to fight.

Remember: We are the Campaign.

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FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.

darkmatter's picture

I hear ya, Roger, and that sounds GREAT what you are doing in NY. I wish you and your associates all the best.

And you are right, I'm sure many will try to grab some of the energy Bernie has tapped into/organized/released. Probably the Democratic Party as well will try to "make hay" from the political revolution. And that to me will be the most cynical, most phony move of all. I'm sure Hillary will gladly lie about supporting this and that from Bernie's platform, just as long as it gets her enough votes in swing states, which is all she cares about. If she wins, it will all get chucked aside, just as happened with our current president, when he announced all the Wall Street/Clintonite/Rubinite retreads for his cabinet.

So what I ask is, what if. What if? What if the Democratic Party is beyond repair, beyond reformation? Would it not be better to build up the Greens into a politically savvy player? Okay, so they haven't done well during the neoliberal ascendancy. But things are changing. Frankly, all this energy has to go somewhere, and I'll be damned if its going into the bank accounts (figuratively and literally) of the Democratic Party as it currently is, and as it looks like it will be for years to come.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Being irritated at the WFP and the Greens for trying to co-opt the energy of this political movement leads one to the question: are you going to go outside electoral politics altogether? Doesn't sound like that's the plan if you're intending on running for office. Well, then, are we going to start an entirely new party? I'd be cool with that. It wouldn't help us for 2016, but it might be the right move.

But if the idea is to stay in the organization that's been screwing us over quite blatantly through the past 11 months, and do some sort of DFA redux--and don't get me wrong, I was deeply involved in DFA and was an ardent advocate of the Dean movement--I gotta say, that doesn't sound good. Maybe the Greens have no idea of the structural challenges facing them and are more interested in making moral criticisms w/out tackling the real political fight--I'd buy that. But sticking with the Democrats seems beyond rationality, since AZ, since NY, and, above all, since NV.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

to keep the revolution alive in the case that Bernie is screwed out of the nomination (at this point, that's the only way I can frame it, after the voter purges and occasionally, outright fraud)

Although you are correct that Bernie has accomplished more in 13 months than the GP has in 16 years, it's also true that each has something the other needs. Berniecrats have the momentum, the good organizing, the visibility; Stein et al have ballot access and a party framework which isn't intent on squelching the political revolution by any means necessary.

I have a hard time seeing Stein as "trying to make hay" for herself when she's willing to be the VP and give Bernie the top slot. She may be "trying to make hay" for her party, but I don't see it as a bad thing.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

darkmatter's picture

CSTS, you write, "she's willing to be the VP and give Bernie the top slot."

Did Stein say that? I thought she floated the idea of Bernie being *her* VP.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Apparently the person who wrote this Counterpunch article is also under the impression Stein said that, but doesn't have a link either. But here's the Counterpunch article, for what it's worth:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/29/the-push-to-make-sanders-the-gree...

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Glad to see the love for the Green Party growing around here.

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the Green Party has ever done for me so I could never support it. But I'm happy for everyone who thinks it works for them.

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Lookout's picture

http://www.gp.org/

We are grassroots activists, environmentalists, advocates for social justice, nonviolent resisters and regular citizens who’ve had enough of corporate-dominated politics. Government must be part of the solution, but when it’s controlled by the 1%, it’s part of the problem. The longer we wait for change, the harder it gets. Don’t stay home on election day. Vote Green.

Sad to say, but you have to educate yourself. The media will not...they want to sell you something else.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

stevej's picture

on many levels.

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“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire

Deja's picture

From flushing medication to a ground war in Asia. Strange bird, that one, even for me.

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Equinespectre's picture

"The establishment insiders tell us to vote against what we fear instead of for what we believe. But this politics of fear has delivered everything we were afraid of. "

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enhydra lutris's picture

partisan and does not endorse parties or candidates, but individual members can and do. Go check any week of the evening bllues and you will find favorable references to Jill Stein in the comments, guaranteed.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --