Independence... From Inside-The-Beltway Corruption

There's an avatar of fierce progressive values in this photo

The first time I ran for office was at PS 197 in Brooklyn. I won by one vote and was elected Secretary of my class. My opponent cried and the teacher asked if we could become co-secretaries of the class. I happily agreed... handing Norm Coleman his first chance at public office. There were two other future U.S. Senators in my high school, James Madison, Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders. At the time, my political mentor was my grandfather, a dedicated Socialist, who taught me that the Republicans were the sworn enemies of working families and that Democrats were untrustworthy allies who were largely controlled by Southern racists and northern careerists without values. The Southern racists deserted for the GOP not long after... but the careerists-with-no-values problem still haunts the Democrats to this day, Democratic congressional leaders like Steny Hoyer, Steve Israel, Rahm Emanuel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz being just the most repulsive tip of a deadly Establishment iceberg.

Bernie Sanders' moved to Vermont after college and he was eventually elected mayor of Burlington as a Socialist, defeating a 6-term Democrat. He was reelected for 3 more terms and in his last term (1987) he beat a candidate that ran on both the Democratic and the Republican lines. The first time Bernie ran for Congress, he came in second, between a Republican and a Democrat. Two years later (1990) he beat the Republican incumbent, becoming the first Socialist to be elected to Congress in 60 years. When the Democrats ran some hack against him in 1996, Bernie won 55%, the Republican 33% and the Democrat 9%. He had an ambivalent relationship with the House Democratic leadership, although he represented core Democratic values far better than the Democratic leaders did and in 1992 has was a co-founder (and chairman) of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. When Bernie ran for the Senate in 1996, Schumer, then chair of the DSCC, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, and DNC Chair Howard Dean all immediately endorsed him. (So did Illinois Senator Barack Obama.) He refused the Democratic nomination though, and won the general election against a Republican, 170,866 (65%) to 84,527 (32%). He won every county in the state and every township except tiny Granby, where 33 people voted, and Waterford, which was a 287-287 vote tie. He caucuses with the Democrats and is chairman of the Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy of the Environment and Public Works Committee. He's the only member of the Senate endorsed for reelection by Blue America this cycle. He continues to sound more like a Democrat than most DC Democrats. Saturday he sent an e-mail to his supporters, for example, castigating the way Big Money has come to dominate and corrupt our political system:

In his famous speech at Gettysburg during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln talked about America as a country “of the people, by the people and for the people.” Today, as a result of Citizens United, we are rapidly moving toward a nation of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. Despite having the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth, millionaires and billionaires want more, more and more.
 
In recent weeks, multi-billionaires such as the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson have made it clear that, as a result of the Citizens United decision, they intend to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to buy this election for candidates who support the super-wealthy.
 
We must overturn Citizens United if we are serious about maintaining the foundations of American democracy. We need to pass the Disclose Act, which will come to the floor of the Senate in a few weeks, if we want to diminish the decision’s horrendous impacts.

...At a time when all Republicans and some Democrats are supporting cuts in Social Security, Bernie has a different approach. Raising the Social Security payroll tax cap on incomes above $250,000 would make Social Security strong for the next 75 years while affecting only 1.4 percent of the wealthiest workers in the United States. That’s what the Center for Economic and Policy Research concluded in an analysis of a bill Bernie introduced. “The report makes clear that if we simply asked the top 1.4 percent of Americans to pay their fair share into the Social Security Trust Fund, Social Security would be solvent for the next 75 years,” Bernie said.

Another Blue America candidate, Nick Ruiz in FL-7, agrees with Bernie, and would like to improve and upgrade Social Security even further; by lowering the retirement eligibility age to 55 and increasing the benefit payout by 20%. With so many people unemployed, and countless retirees living in poverty, Ruiz maintains that such an upgrade would create more opportunities of employment for workers, while increasing the quality of life for retirees. Ruiz's plan includes raising the tax cap like Bernie's plan, but also includes applying it to capital gains income and corporate executive bonus income that exceeds $500,000 per year. Now that's progressive! He ran in 2010 as a Green Party write-in candidate and this cycle he was the first candidate endorsed by Blue America. Don't look for him on any DCCC lists like Red-to-Blue... unless they have a list of candidates who are a threat to careerist hacks.

Angus King, a former governor of Maine, is no Socialist and no Bernie Sanders, but he's looking like he's going to be crowned senator, after the reign of Queen Olympia. But, like Bernie, he isn't interested in the nomination of either DC party. He's running as an independent and refuses to say which party he'll caucus with, although he's hinted it would likely be the Democrats. I'm guessing it'll likely be whichever party has the majority. But there are more Democratic candidates running for House seats who are very much like Bernie in several ways-- strong progressive values and strong distaste for the corruption and careerism of the DC Democratic leadership.

There was a time when everyone running wanted to get on the DCCC's Red-to-Blue list, a signal to donors that the DCCC was prioritizing a race. Now being on that list is a badge of shame and a reason to look at a candidate and wonder what's wrong. Almost all the Red-to-Blue candidates have, at best, a loose sense of ethics and a tendency in the direction of corporate fealty. Most progressives are uneasy accepting an embrace from the DCCC. One-- with impeccable progressive values-- told me, "I'm running to represent the people in my district, not a bunch of corporate whores in Washington, whichever political party they're from. When I look at the leadership coming up behind Nancy Pelosi I want to throw up. I wish I could run as an independent." I got an interesting memo last week from Bob Eleveld, the legendary former chairman of the Kent County Republican Party (that's Grand Rapids). He's co-chairing the Trevor Thomas election committee. The title is Democrat Trevor Thomas Best Positioned to Win in 3rd District. Let me share it with you:

My name is Bob Eleveld. I am an attorney in Grand Rapids, and I have been involved in the West Michigan community and in politics in the area over thirty years. As the former Chair of the Kent County Republican Party, I have supported a lot of winning campaigns over the years, and most of the time the winners have been Republicans like me. This year, something different is happening: I am supporting Trevor Thomas, a Democrat. I strongly believe that West Michigan needs to get Justin Amash out of office, and Trevor Thomas is the best positioned candidate to do that. Here’s why:

• First, I know from experience that Republicans and moderates are not going to vote for a candidate whose “strength” comes from union endorsements and the Democratic establishment.  Republicans and moderates will only vote for a Democrat who presents a new, different message that goes beyond the traditional constituencies. Trevor Thomas grew up in a union household, and he will be able to connect with the union rank-and-file on election day, but at the same time he is taking independent positions. When Trevor Thomas wins the Democratic primary without widespread interest group support, voters will know that he is not beholden to those interests, and they will appreciate that independence.

• Second, for a Democrat to win in West Michigan that Democrat must be able to appeal to voters across party lines and energize a committed base of voters. Trevor Thomas is a new kind of Democrat-- socially progressive and fiscally responsible-- who can appeal to people across the political spectrum. He is the only candidate in this election who has endorsements and support from Republicans and Democrats. That is important for a Democrat to be able to win in November.

• Third, Trevor Thomas is successfully appealing to women, something that no other candidate in this race is able to do genuinely. It is clear that the national debate will continue to focus on women’s issues. While both of Trevor Thomas’s opponents have taken distinctly anti-women positions in the past, Trevor Thomas has been adamantly pro-woman. Anecdotally, I can tell you that Republican women in West Michigan are hoping for a candidate they can back who will stand up for them. The poll numbers bear this out-- women are going to be a decisive voting bloc in November, and a candidate who cannot gain the enthusiastic support of women will have trouble winning in Michigan’s Third District. As the only candidate with a strong record on women’s issues, Trevor Thomas is the strongest option to defeat the incumbent by taking advantage of the current sentiment among women that cuts across party lines. This was validated by the endorsement of the Progressive Women's Alliance.

• Fourth, the 2010 congressional election showed that West Michigan voters are tired of professional politicians. That sentiment still exists today, but voters have quickly soured on the incumbent as well-- he has shown himself to be totally out of touch with our community, matching the out-of-touch of the professional politicians people are sick of. Amash cannot and will not be defeated by a professional politician who voters will see as more of the same. Trevor Thomas has never run for or held political office, and in the general election this year in particular that will be a significant advantage.

• Fifth, the only way for a Democrat to win here in West Michigan is to outwork the Republican opposition. Trevor Thomas is a Democrat who is able to go beyond party labels and present himself to voters as the real deal-- someone who has lived and breathed the West Michigan community his entire life, and who will fight for us in Congress. I have already seen Trevor Thomas’s work ethic and commitment firsthand-- I wouldn’t be surprised if he manages to meet every darn voter in the Third District before this is over. That spirit and drive is what it will take for any Democrat to win in this District, and Trevor Thomas is the only candidate who brings that energy to the race.

• Finally, I recognize that the Third District is different than it was two years ago-- redistricting has removed some of the most conservative areas, and added some more progressive areas. The result: a Tea Party Republican will have trouble holding on to the seat in the new Third District. This vulnerability creates an opportunity, but there will be no Democratic coronation to replace Justin Amash. To win, a Democrat will have to work hard to run a sharp, focused campaign, and will have to connect with voters. The answer is not to turn to the typical old-school Democrat running a typical campaign fueled by institutional Democratic Party endorsements-- even with redistricting, that type of candidate cannot and will not win. But Trevor Thomas is a Democrat who can appeal to Republicans and moderates, can win women, and has the energy and profile to win in the current environment here in West Michigan. All of that means that Trevor Thomas has the best opportunity to win.  

I want Justin Amash to be defeated in November, and that’s why I am supporting Trevor Thomas and serving as his Campaign Co-Chair. I hope you will join me.

There's something powerful going on outside the Beltway and it's a revulsion with the two party establishments and with the blatantly disgusting corruption party leadership is based on. Boehner, Cantor, Wasserman Schultz, Hoyer, Israel, Sessions... it's all about the cash and all about selling out on every conceivable level. Associating with these people is poison. Steny Hoyer worked hard to crush Matt Cartwright when he ran an insurgent campaign against the dean of the Pennsylvania delegation. Tim Holden. Hoyer and his most trusted lobbyist cronies were in the district trying to persuade influential Democrats to help them destroy Cartwright. Hoyer actually succeeded in what he was trying to accomplish but he forgot to factor in Democratic primary voters-- and they sent Holden packing, by a landslide. A few weeks later a similar scenario played out in El Paso, Texas, where independent-minded insurgent Democrat Beto O'Rourke routed another cog in the Democratic Machine, Silvestre Reyes.

Thank God, not many Blue America candidates have been endorsed by Red-to-Blue. They're fighting the good fight for progressive values and they're the ones most worthy of support. You can find them here... along with Trevor Thomas.