Bernie supports these candidates, so should we.
Straight from an email from Bernie Sanders:
Lucy Flores is running in a Democratic primary against a multi-millionaire funding her own campaign and an establishment candidate with the backing of a large super PAC.
Her primary is one week from today, and she needs our help.
I endorsed Lucy and five other Democrats running for Congress because our political revolution must send a clear message about our vision for the future of the Democratic Party.....Supporting these six candidates is an extension of the work we started on this presidential campaign.
Zephyr Teachout and Pramila Jayapal are proving that you can run an unapologetically progressive campaign funded by small-dollar donors and win tough elections. Tim Canova is running in a primary against DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and doing so on the themes and issues that have powered our political revolution.
And the two new candidates I’m endorsing are Eric Kingson who has led the fight to protect and expand Social Security. He even had the courage to challenge the president when he considered cuts years ago. Second is Paul Clements, another progressive who is running against a climate denier who only won his last election because of Koch Brothers’ spending.
Not the entire email, but I wanted to get the six candidates names out there. If they're in your voting district, GOTV!!!
Comments
Love Zephyr
The leader of Orange State Kos himself refused to support Zephyr when she was trying to primary Governor 1%er Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) in 2014.
Zephyr is a great progressive candidate. I only wish I was in her district so i could vote for her!
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!
didn't she
expose his Dean campaign grifting -(taking money for writing supposedly unbiased commentary) back in the day?
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
Yes
That's the reason he gave as to why he wouldn't endorse her against a Democratic Governor who actually has campaigned and supported REPUBLICANS for the state senate so he doesn't have to push through progressive laws
Also, Cuomo and Hillary are very tight
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!
Kos and Hillary
are pretty much cut from the same cloth. - its all about amassing personal capital (power and money.
I get the impression that NY Dem politics is an incestuous cesspool.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
You described NY Dem politics a little to politely
LOL
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!
heh - I was attempting to be generous :) n/t
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
Honest question.
How do we know that the candidates who profess to be liberal are actually on the left? Some of them, like Bernie and Zephyr, are national figures with established records that show where they stand on the issues, but for decades a lot of Blue Dogs and Third Way Dems have used progressive rhetoric to get elected, then governed from the center-right. We all know that we were sold a false bill of goods with Obama, but the Democratic scam happens often in a number of states. Just look at Al Franken or Barbara Boxer, for example.
Based on Bernie's endorsement and what I've seen from each of them, I've donated to a couple of campaigns, particularly Canova's, but that's mostly what I'm operating on because there's no other way to evaluate how liberal they actually are. I can review their platform and campaign promises, but even that only goes so far. It comes down to a matter of trust, and that concerns me, particularly after the other week when Lucy Flores spoke out what happened at the Nevada Convention before seeing the video footage and inadvertently reinforced the media narrative that "violence" took place by angry "Berniebros."
Now, Bernie supports her and that's good enough for me during the primary, but what assurances do we have that many of these Democrats are really on our side? Having lived in Hawaii, I also know that Tulsi Gabbard, despite her strong support for Bernie, has frequently been characterized locally as center-left, and was once an outspoken opponent against gay marriage, despite supporting equal rights for the LGBT community. Maybe she's a really strong progressive now, or someone that we need to have on our side in order to build a working political coalition, but how do we ensure that people aren't just trying to get into office or accumulate more campaign money by hitching a ride on Bernie's bandwagon? I really want to elect more liberals on the local, state, and federal levels, but how do we ensure that the people that we're electing are actually liberal?
Maybe I'm just cynical, but I feel like we've been here before, and no matter how much we try to elect progressives, we just end up with more right-leaning centrists.
Dan Rolle or Lucy Flores
I agree, cloudy_skies, it's sometimes hard to sort out the genuine article from the opportunists.
Lucy Flores did not do herself any favors after the Nevada coup. We needed a fighter, not a scold, at that moment.
Dan Rolle is also running in the NV-4 Dem primary, and he did not fall into the "tsk tsk bad manners, violent bernibros" narrative.
His website is here:
http://letsgonevada.com/
However, Bernie's recommendation carries a lot of weight for me, so it's a tough call. The worst would be a split vote against the establishment Dem.
Of course, given what we saw in Nevada, I have no confidence in any primary election result in that state, and many other states besides.
Ignore their campaign rhetoric
and check out their history - works like a charm.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
Yep
Do their actions match their words?
Love is my religion.
He endorsed 2 others today
From his campaign:
Eric Kingson is a new candidate I'm endorsing for Congress in New York. I've worked with Eric for years to help stop cuts to Social Security, and our efforts paid off this week when President Obama actually spoke out for expanding Social Security. Eric should continue this progress in Congress.
Paul Clements is another new candidate I'm endorsing for Congress in Michigan. He's running to unseat a member of Congress who denies that climate change is real, and who only won his last election because of spending by the Koch brothers.
Must say that re: Lucy Flores, I have mixed feelings. She showed courage in her early letter endorsing Sanders. But she also ran with the violence and disrespect meme from NV, her state. This is what I sent in response to a letter asking for another donation:
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
Nobody's ever going to make you happy
100% of the time.
Flores fanned flames lit with lies of thrown chairs and
violence. Her statement neither clarified what happened nor helped the situation, or the candidate whose support filled her campaign coffers beyond her wildest imaginings. Always a good idea to try to get facts straight before going public with formal statements about anything. It was a teachable moment; I hope she learned.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
Did you
ever hear back from her? I am curious to know what she has to say on the subject after the facts were clearly demonstrated over the next few days.
Love is my religion.