Down ticket progressives

Submitted by burnt out on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 7:28pm

One of the Stop Bernie tactics I've seen implemented revolves around the idea that Bernie's plans will get no support in Congress. Realistically it's hard to completely dismiss that. Money will flow in the halls of Congress like the Mississippi River at flood stage in attempts to stop any bills that coincide with most of what he's proposing. So when I got an email from his campaign this evening asking for a donation that would be divided up between him and twelve other progressive candidates it caught my eye. There are several names on the list that I know absolutely nothing about and a couple that I've never even heard of but I'll trust Bernie's judgement on this and suspect those living in the respective states will recognize them and can make up their own minds.

I've sent a few small donation already but hadn't planned on sending any more until the general, (if he makes it there) but the fact is he will need progressives in Congress to help get anything worthwhile passed so I sent one more small donation tonight and I'm adding the link at the end of this note in case anyone here wants to do the same. Here are the beneficiaries of any donations received through this link.

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Jessica Cisneros, Ayanna Pressley, Andru Volinsky, Ro Khanna, Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jayapal, Ilhan Omar, Mark Pocan, Peter Welch, Georgette Gómez, Reggie Jones-Sawyer

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bernie-february-split?refcode=em200214...

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Bernie 2020
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Submitted by humphrey on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 8:06pm

If he is elected he will need plenty of help in both the House and the Senate.

An improvement would taking on the present leadership.
Shahid Bhutar is running against Nancy Pelosi.

https://shahidforchange.us/

McKayla Wilkes is running against Steny Hoyer.

https://www.mckayla2020.com/meet-mckayla

In the Senate.

Andrew Romanoff is running against John Hickenlooper

https://www.andrewromanoff.com/

There are plenty more that I could add but at least this is a start.

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Submitted by Pricknick on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 8:08pm
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That's the argument. You can bet your ass he doesn't for those who would oppose him.
I'm making it my personnal journey to absolutely screw with any setting congresscritter who fights his agenda if he wins and his agenda is worth fighting for.
Time will tell. I've been fooled before.
I'm retired now and have pleanty of slightly used sneakers to wear out.
Scorn me mother fuckers. I'm the beast your nightmares have never considered.

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Submitted by Centaurea on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 8:48pm
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@Pricknick
Bernie is going to have huge coattails. They're just not the kind that the establishment will appreciate.

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
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~Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by Marie on Sat, 02/15/2020 - 12:29pm

@Centaurea
the only option because Bernie won't have huge coattails in 2020 for the simple reason that there are very few well positioned House and Senate candidates that could ride in with him. (That had to get started right after the 2016 election; yet another reason for the DP promotion of "Russiagate"). That's really not as bad as it seems. Democrats put all their eggs into presidential election cycles, win the WH and Congress, don't accomplish much in the first two years, lose the House and/or Senate, then spend the next six years promulgating a Republican agenda.

Still time to take a couple of scalps in 2020. Better if Bernie wins the nomination, but not impossible if the DP succeeds in its mission in handing the nomination to not Bernie and hands Trump a landslide win. That would create the opportunity to open up a huge amount of political space on the left.

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/15/2020 - 7:17pm
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@Pricknick

You plan on ducking 2, but 3? Who'd think of that?

Smile

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Submitted by Le Frog on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 8:50pm

I never thought I'd have a reason to share this not-complete list of candidates I'm following (* means most closely):

Cori Bush*

Anthony Clarke*

Shahid Buttar*

Lindsey Boylan*

Elijah Manley*

Isiah James*

Heidi Sloan*

Mike Siegel

Melanie D'Arrigo

Donna Imam

Wilmot Collins*

Albert Lee*

Jen Perelman

Maebe A. Girl*

Sakhina Lee Lehtola

Meredith Mattlin

Antonio Cortez Hicks

Betsy Sweet*

Robert Emmons Jr.

Tomas Ramos

McKayla Wilkes*

Paula Jean Swearingen*

Lauren Ashcraft

Rebecca Parson

Melanie D'Arrigo

Adrienne Bell

Zina Spezakis

Jamaal Bowman*

Shaniyat Chowdhury

Joshua Collins*

Lee Carter*

Kimberly Graham

Charles Booker*

Chris Armitage

ETA: forgot Sema Hernandez!

ETA 2: I'm on mobile and not really able to provide links. Anyone who wants to add to this list, please do so, and I will write a more comprehensive list with links as its own post.

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Submitted by humphrey on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 9:01pm

@Le Frog I would also add Cenk Uygur (not everyone's favorite I know) but he is running against a corporate dem being touted by the establishment. Besides he is not bashful and would be a pain in the ass for the PTB.

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Submitted by Centaurea on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 9:27pm
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@Le Frog @Le Frog
I've got monthly recurring donations set up for several of the people you've got listed. There really is a dynamic political foundation being created for the progressive movement.

I'll add a couple: Marie Newman (Illinois, running against Chicago machine DINO Dan Lipinski), Eva Putzova (Arizona), and Jason Call (WA state).

Some of the people on your list are founding members of the newly-established Rose Caucus. These are socialist and democratic socialist candidates who are mostly running within the Dem party at present.

We have all taken the same pledge of solidarity, which means caucus members:

  • Publicly identify as a Democratic Socialist, Socialist, or a further left ideology.
  • Endorse Bernie Sanders for President
  • Advocate for "The Peoples' Platform", and join us in the (ongoing) democratic process of developing it further.

I loved what they said in their press release announcing the formation of the Rose Caucus:

"We will work in good faith with the Democratic party to develop strong policy, and to build power for the working class, but we will no longer be bullied into compromising on our principles."

Here's their website, with their platform and current slate of candidates:
https://www.rosecaucus.com

FB page:
https://facebook.com/rosecaucus/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/RoseCaucus

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/15/2020 - 2:10am

@Le Frog Obviously she has not been endorsed by the establishment.

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Submitted by humphrey on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 9:16pm

But it could be a good resource and many of the name are the same as those above.

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Submitted by travelerxxx on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 11:07pm
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@humphrey

Here in Texas, I'm always an early voter and this year my wife is voting by mail. We have to get a handle on who to vote for in the primary. It hasn't been easy. There are over 50 decisions on my sample ballot. Of course, many are judgeships, etc, but some are for representatives of one type or another. Trying to discern who is a corporate Democrat, who is actually standing up for the people, who is just a Republican with a D after their name, etc, is not easy. That map helped a little. Now I know to check out Senate candidate Sema Hernandez, for instance.

In the last election cycle, I found it easy to look for outspoken Clinton supporters. Didn't matter whether they were organizations or individuals. In fact, organizations were better, as they would put out a list of endorsed candidates. If they were big Clinton backers, I drew a line through those names. Nix.

About the only organization I know of at the moment that I can halfway trust is Our Revolution. There's a local chapter and they have a list of local endorsements. That's probably the best I'll be able to do to help me decide. Unfortunately, they have their list on FaceBook, and I don't do that. Therefor, I can't print the list. Their website doesn't have the list (dumb). My wife is on FaceBook, so I'll have her print the list.

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Submitted by IdealistCynic on Sat, 02/15/2020 - 12:27am
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Besides these fine incumbents, we should also be looking to support strong candidates to replace the reactionaries and corporate Democrats in Congress. Rachel Ventura, who I have met personally, is wonderful. She is running to unseat Bill Foster, a corporate Blue Dog in Illinois Congressional District 11 which is in the southwest suburbs of Chicago including the Joliet area. Here is a link to her website. She would be a great addition to the women on the so-called Squad! https://www.rachelfventura.com/

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Submitted by IdealistCynic on Sat, 02/15/2020 - 12:28am
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@IdealistCynic Rachel belongs to and has been endorsed by Our Revolution.

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