Kaniela Ing-- Standing Up To Oligarchs In Our Own Country

Friday, DFA announced their endorsement of Kaniela Ing in the crowded congressional primary for the open seat in Hawaii's first district. DFA's chairman, Jim Dean, made the classic case for the candidate:

Kaniela Ing. Remember that name, because he is going to be one of the most important leaders in the Democratic Party-- if you can help him win his primary for Hawaii's 1st Congressional District.

Kaniela Ing is a Native Hawaiian and a progressive legislator who fights for working families because he comes from one. His entire life and career show how racial justice and economic justice are inextricably linked.

During his six years as a state legislator Kaniela Ing has always put people over profits, and refuses to take corporate money. He fought for marriage equality when it wasn't popular and has taken on the private prisons that oppress the people of color who make up the majority of Hawaii's population.

Kaniela Ing is running on a platform of Medicare for All, free college, criminal justice reform, and getting big money out of politics. He will be a transformative leader in Congress just as he was in the Hawaii legislature. But he needs your help right now to win his primary-- against a former corporate lobbyist and anti-LGBTQ state rep who opposed raising the minimum wage.

...If we are going to win in 2018, we need candidates who understand that our present national crisis is about much more than the greedy, bigoted man who occupies the Oval Office. Kaniela Ing gets that:

"I am running for Congress because everyday people are being left behind and need a representative who understands today's struggle of paying for college, buying a home, and raising a family. Standing up to Donald Trump is important, but "no" is not enough. Together, we will bring a new generation of progress beyond resistance and defeat big-money corruption."

We need to support candidates who reflect their communities and are committed to fighting for a just economy and society. Kaniela Ing is the embodiment of that vision.

As a student leader in college, Ing helped organize to make sure every student had a free transit pass -- eliminating a costly barrier to low-income students' ability to attend college and finish their degree. He understands what it means to build an economy that works for everyone, not the wealthiest few. Meanwhile, one of his primary opponents-- a pro-corporate, anti-LGBT former State Senator-- actively fought against raising the minimum wage at a time when so many Hawaiian families are struggling to make ends meet.

As a state legislator Kaniela helped stop a plan to use private prisons to incarcerate thousands of Hawaii residents, many of them people of color. One of his opponents in this year's primary was hired by the private prison industry to lobby for that bill.

With these opponents-- a corporate Democrat who worked with Republicans to block wage increases and marriage equality and another candidate who was willing to take money from and lobby for one of the most odious industries in America-- there could not be a clearer choice in this primary. We have a chance to support an amazing leader and legislator who can steer Congress in a truly progressive direction.

Kaniela Ing is a transformative leader who will help create a Democratic Party that is committed to an inclusive populism rooted in racial and economic justice. But he needs your help right now.

Earlier in the day, a top DFA staffer sent me a note with his own personal explanation of the endorsement-- open that mirrors my own thoughts: "Of all the amazing candidates DFA has endorsed this year, Kaniela is one of the ones I'm particularly excited about.  He's running a bold, grassroots campaign that's driven by the big, progressive ideas that Democrats need put out there to win in November AND, when he wins, he'll be a generational game-changer in Congress."

  

This isn't going to be an easy win for Kaniela. He's viewed by the establishment as "too young" (even though he's been successfully serving in the state legislature for nearly 6 years and has risen up the leadership ladder fighting for cutting edge, progressive values. Many people seem frightened to stray from the "safe" establishment candidates. And fighting for working families, Kaniela has made plenty of enemies in Hawaii's powerful establishment. They will fight tooth and nail to tear him down and drown him out-- as they always do with transformational figures. They don't want transformation. They want to preserve the status quo and see things remain the same because they're already at the top of the heap. And they own the mainstream media and they will attack Kaniela every step along the way and do whatever they can to put obstacles in his way. Please, if you can, consider contributing to his campaign by clicking on the Blue America congressional thermometer on the right. I can tell you one thing, oligarchs like Mark Zuckerberg sure aren't going to finance Kaniela's campaign. In fact, below is a guest post Kaniela wrote for BuzzFeed this week that explains that better than I could:

We Beat Mark Zuckerberg In Hawaii, And We Can Beat Him In Washington
-by Kaniela Saito Ing

Mark Zuckerberg is now working overtime to convince the American people to trust him with their personal data. Facebook knew tens of millions of Americans had their personal information stolen by Cambridge Analytica for the purposes of helping Steve Bannon and billionaire Robert Mercer elect Donald Trump, but only took responsibility for the breach after it became international news-- two years after the fact.

Facebook’s lack of transparency is part of a broader pattern by its leadership. Mark Zuckerberg is an unelected, unregulated oligarch who controls industries and shapes the fate of our democracy without our consent. Congress must stop relying on his empty promise to self-regulate his monopoly, and take action to protect the American people.

Politicians shouldn’t be afraid to take on Zuckerberg-- I’ve done it myself, and won. In 2014, he bought 700 acres of beachfront land in my home state of Hawaii. He built a wall around the property and then tried to force hundreds of Native Hawaiians to forfeit their gathering rights to the land by suing them. This same tactic was used by sugar barons in the Gilded Age to displace thousands of Native Hawaiian families from their ancestral lands.

Instead of letting a billionaire buy another vacation home and displace local families, I introduced a bill that would keep Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands. We organized thousands of Native Hawaiians and residents to fight back, and we won; Zuckerberg dropped the lawsuits.

Washington needs to learn from the people of Hawaii. We need bipartisan congressional investigations into unregulated monopolies like Facebook, and once Democrats retake the House in 2018, we need to push for bold new antitrust policies that challenge corporate power.

Hawaii has a long history of dealing with oligarchs like Zuckerberg. After it was annexed by the United States in 1898, five families quickly consolidated control of the sugar industry and rigged the political system to their favor. The attorney general of Hawaii, Edward Dole, said that the government of Hawaii was “probably almost as much centralized as it was in France under Louis XIV." At the height of the Gilded Age, these ultra-wealthy monopolists had an iron grip on our island, much like the railroad tycoons and robber barons on the mainland.

Today, we’re seeing a new generation of billionaires take control of our democracy. The growth of unregulated giants like Facebook has given rise to a digital oligarchy and a new Gilded Age. Our democracy is on the brink of collapse because our economy is owned by a handful of enormous corporations and our elections are being manipulated by a small group of billionaire donors.

Facebook has grown into a monopoly the size and scope of which the world has never seen, and the lack of oversight and competition encourages reckless behavior, stifles innovation, and leaves the rest of us bearing the personal and financial risks. Facebook strives to be a public utility that informs and connects the public, but unbeknownst to many of its users, it acts like a surveillance machine that sells our data to enrich billionaires.

It’s not enough for Mark Zuckerberg to say that he’s sorry, or promise to strengthen privacy standards. The promises Zuckerberg made this week were the ones Facebook made after a major privacy breach in 2011. Those steps were never taken, so we can’t trust those promises now. Facebook is one of the most dangerous unregulated monopolies because of the central role it plays in informing the public and shaping our elections. We must take action now.

If we’re serious about fixing our democracy and creating an economy that works for all of us, we must break up monopolies like Facebook and regulate them like utilities. Congress should require Facebook to split off Instagram and WhatsApp, which would break its advertising monopoly. Then, Congress should pass data rules to treat Facebook as the "social utility" Zuckerberg once said it was.

It won’t be easy to get there: At this point Facebook, with its 2.2 billion users and $500 billion in market capitalization, is more powerful than many of the national governments that would like to regulate it. Even in the US, many politicians are scared to take on a global enterprise that decides what information their constituents see. There is nothing stopping Facebook from altering its algorithms to push negative news against activists or elected officials who call for more regulation.

But in this moment of rising oligarchy, Democrats have a choice: Do we stand with the American people against oligarchs like Zuckerberg, or so we continue to offer them aid, comfort, and impunity? I trust that my fellow Democrats will rise to the occasion, and join the fight against the oligarchy on behalf of the American people.

DFA Moves Quickly To Make Sure Howard Dean Can't Disgrace The Group

Long before he sold out and became a Big Pharma lobbyist, Howard Dean started DFA-- then Dean for America, now Democracy for America, and run by Howard's brother Jim Dean. After Howard Dean embarrassed himself and everyone else by endorsing very right-wing Blue Dog Gwen Graham for Governor of Florida, DFA felt compelled to refute Howard Dean's outrageous bullshit about Graham being a progressive.

Like Blue America, DFA has endorsed Andrew Gillum, the actual progressive-- the only progressive-- in the race. Yesterday, Graham's campaign sent out an endorsement e-mail ostensibly from a hero-turned-lobbyist: "I got to know Gwen more than 10 years ago when she joined our fight for progressive values. We worked together for universal healthcare, to end the Iraq War, and to empower the American people. I am proud to give Gwen Graham my full support today because she has spent her life fighting for those same shared values. Will you chip in to help Gwen win the primary and take back control of the Governor’s Office? ... As governor, she will fight for a public option to expand healthcare, ban assault weapons, and defend Florida families from Donald Trump's attacks.

A congressman who served with Graham during her single term in Congress was nearly doubled over with laughter when he got the Howard Dean e-mail. "This is shocking to me," he said. "I have nothing against her personally, but Gwen even refused to vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. I guess that 'progressive' now means 'Blue Dog who wants progressive votes and contributions.' Dean says 'she will fight for a public option to expand healthcare.' She never did when she was in Congress.  This is disingenuous."

It's also embarrassing. I mean I can see a centrist sell-out like Dean backing a conservative Democrat like Gwen Graham in November against a Republican, when-- if she wins the primary-- she's the lesser of two evils. But calling her "progressive" is just pure bullshit and demeans the word "progressive," the way people like Howard Dean watered down the word "liberal" and made it useless. But in primary season, there's no reason to back someone like Gwen Graham, and certainly not when there's a candidate like Andrew Gillum in the race, who, unlike Graham has a long record as a progressive, not someone who just calls himself one. I'd like to see her or the other crappy conservative dare to run on the kind of progressive platform Andrew is running on. By all means read it-- and if you agree with it, please consider tapping on the Blue America gubernatorial thermometer on the right and contributing what you can to Andrew's very grassroots campaign.

Is Dean Phillips A Good Candidate? How Will He Be If He Gets To Congress?

How would a New Dem "repair" the government? Turn it over to the banksters?

Last night one of my favorite candidates of the cycle was in town and we had dinner. He was very enthusiastic about another candidate he had just met in Minnesota, Dean Phillips, the DCCC-favored candidate to take on Republican incumbent Erik Paulsen in the suburbs west of Minneapolis (MN-03), an arc that goes from Bloomington, Edina and Eden Prairie, through Minnetonka, Plymouth and Maple Grove up to Champlin, Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids. Obama won the district both times and Hillary beat Trump by 9 points. The district's PVI is D+1. Still, Paulsen was reelected with an even bigger margin-- 56.7% to 43%-- than the Clinton win over Trump. He ran against a weak DCCC/EMILY's List centrist candidate, Terri Bonoff. The DCCC spent $3,330,152 attacking Paulsen and Pelosi's SuperPAC threw in another $568,897. And the DCCC wants to make sure it runs another centrist (of course). There are 4 Democrats running but the DCCC isn't waiting for MN-03 DFL voters to pick one; they've already added Phillips to their Red to Blue page in an attempt to clear the field of the other, more progressive, candidates. Voters don't like when the DCCC does this, but the DCCC is incapable of learning anything. They exist in a self-referencing DC bubble and have no understanding of America at all-- which explains why they've been on an uninterrupted losing streak since Pelosi took over.

Phillips' bio says he's the grandson of Dear Abby and that he went to work in the Phillips Distilling Company warehouse and rose to be CEO... albeit without mentioning his dad owned the company. His bio also doesn't mention he's a New Dem. The graphic above is from the DCCC website and the one below is from the New Dems website.

I have to admit, I've never spoken with Phillips and he may be a lovely man. But I do know that the New Dems have very stringent vetting process and they will not endorse anyone who doesn't fit the Wall Street agenda they are all about. Along with the Blue Dogs,the New Dems are the heart and soul of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. An overwhelming number of New Dems, in fact, are also Blue Dogs, and almost every Blue Dog is a New Dem. Good members of Congress-- those fighting for ordinary working families-- are not in the New Dems. The New Dems exist to serve special interests, especially Wall Street special interests.

I met Harley Rouda, one of the candidates running to replace Putin's favorite congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, in Orange County's CA-48, a few months ago. He came over to my house and we had a great chat and he seemed like a personable guy and a decent candidate. Then the New Dems endorsed him and I started viewing him through that prism. He's probably going to win his race-- and he's decidedly better than the DCCC's first choice in that district, Hans Keirstead-- but I already know what his voting record is going to be like in Congress. The New Dems don't endorse people unless they're very sure there won't be any tendencies to be "too" progressive. It's a Wall Street-owned PAC and they don't fool around. So far Rouda, an ex-Republican, has self-funded 60% of his campaign ($730,500). That kind of attitude about buying a congressional seat should always set off alarm bells.

In CA-48, I've spent time-- online, on the phone and in person-- with Laura Oatman, the progressive in the race. My bet is that she's make a much better member of Congress, but she's being drowned out by the 2 New Dems, Harley ($1,225,534) and Hans ($855,340, of which $220,400 is self-funding). Another candidate in that race, carpetbagger Omar Siddiqui, has self-funded 80% of his campaign ($458,498) and campaigns openly as a "Reagan Democrat." Laura's campaign is more of a grassroots effort and she's raised $213,268. Perhaps she's waiting for the DCCC to bigfoot into the campaign against her, a move that could bring her more attention, the same way it did Laura Moser in Houston.

So... back to Minnesota. I don't know the 4 DFL candidates and I'd rather see who MN-03 voters decide the nominee is before wading into that one. The DCCC and New Dems sitting on the scale for Phillips, though, makes me very suspicious that he'd be a terrible member of Congress, just like almost all of the New Dems already in Congress are.

Sunday, DFA sent out an email to their members entitled "Some Democrats just never learn." It was more about Senate Democrats than the House Democrats we usually deal with here at DWT. "Donald Trump's allies in the Senate decided to move forward with the Bank Lobbyist Act, a bill that would massively deregulate the majority of big banks and make it easier for banks to use discriminatory and fraudulent practices," they wrote. "One would think that this would be a no-brainer bill for Democrats to oppose. Democratic voters are not clamoring for bank deregulation-- in fact, quite the opposite. Ten years later, many working families are still recovering from the last financial collapse caused by greedy big banks. But 16 Senate Democrats voted to help destroy key regulations against the big Wall Street banks. This is unacceptable. And it's exactly the type of behavior that could reverse the 'blue wave' Democrats are dreaming of in November. The young voters, voters of color and working families that the Democrats need to turn out this fall want to see representatives who will fight for them-- not give everything away to Wall Street."

That's the New Dem mentality they're railing against. They quoted Elizabeth Warren to illustrate what they're talking about:

"There’s Democratic and Republican support because the lobbyists have been pushing since the first day Dodd-Frank passed to weaken the regulations on these giant banks. People in this building may forget the devastating impact of the financial crisis 10 years ago, but the American people have not forgotten... the millions of people who lost their homes; the millions of people who lost their jobs; the millions of people who lost their savings, they remember and they do not want to turn lose the big banks again."

And, as DFA said-- We can't afford to keep electing Democrats who are bought and owned by Wall Street. We need progressive fighters who will push back on corporate corruption in every sector, from every level of government. If someone is a New Dem or a Blue Dog, you can be very sure they are exactly the problem DFA and Elizabeth Warren are talking about. Don't be fooled again.

What Lessons Will Be Learned If Northam Loses In Virginia Tuesday?

I recall a progressive political action committee withdrawing support-- loudly and publicly-- from a candidate they had endorsed over some kind of bullshit and inconsequential disagreement and thinking how I'd probably never trust that PAC again. But that isn't what happened when Blue America withdrew our support-- in 2006-- from our favorite Senate candidate. Then-Congressman Sherrod Brown was running for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Mike DeWine. And then he voted for Bush's torture bill. He was the only progressive in the House to back it. He was still a better candidate that Mike DeWine-- and in some important ways a really great candidate-- but torture seemed too important an issue to urge our members to contribute money to him. So we threw him off the Blue America endorsed candidates ActBlue page. Fortunately, he won anyway-- and he's been an excellent senator (mostly) and admitted and apologized that he's made an error in voting for the torture bill, a stupid political calculation.

Thursday, DFA announced that it would cease its support of an ultra conservative Democratic candidate, Ralph Northam, who it was backing in the Virginia gubernatorial race. Why were they backing him in the first place? Northam is absolutely horrible. Obviously, his Republican opponent is much, much, much worse... but he's terrible anyway. So Northam is the lesser of two evils... evil but not as evil. Why would a trusted group like DFA debase themselves by endorsing him and lending their good name to his foul name? Because the Virginia race is just too important? I guess that's what they-- and lots of other groups-- were thinking. The Blue America perspective was to just ignore the gubernatorial race and urge our members to support progressives running for the state legislature.

By endorsing a crap candidate like Northam, DFA was put in the awkward-- and dangerous-- position of having to withdraw their endorsement after Northam said he would sign a bill banning sanctuary cities in the state if one of Virginia's cities tries to become one. DFA issued this statement: "Ralph Northam's gutless, politically senseless, and morally debased decision yesterday to openly backtrack on his commitment to standing up for immigrant families is a picture-perfect example of why Democracy for America never endorsed him in the primary and focused the entirety of our efforts in Virginia on down-ticket races, like Justin Fairfax's campaign for Lieutenant Governor. It's also why, today, we're announcing that we will no longer do any work to directly aid Northam's gubernatorial efforts."

Politico's Kevin Robillard tweeted that Gillespie's campaign started running a digital ad highlighting DFA's criticism of Northam, seeking to hold down Democratic turnout (which, of course, could hurt Justin Fairfax, Mark Henning and all the really good House of Delegates candidates DFA is backing.

Digby was the first to sound the alarm at Blue America. She pointed out that immigrant rights people on the ground are terrified that if Gillespie wins they'll be using his ads all over the country and ginning up more hatred for Latinos. They don't have the luxury of boycotting Northam. And a few hours later, Chris Hayes was tweeting that "A Gillespie win in VA would send the signal to every GOP pol that the way to win is Trumpian white identity politics, full stop."

Meanwhile over the last week, Northam's big lead from mid-October has cratered into a November dead heat-- 45-45 according to Republican polling firm Rasmussen and 47-47 according to non-partisan Roanoke College. (A New York Times/Siena poll out this morning has Northam up a feeble 43-40%.) Their analysis bodes badly for Tuesday:

More than half of those polled (53%) disapprove of the way President Donald Trump his handling his job, and just over one-third (36%) approve. At the same time, a majority (55%) of respondents have an unfavorable view of him, while 34 percent have a favorable impression of Trump.

Almost half (43%) approve of the job Terry McAuliffe is doing as governor, while 36 percent disapprove. McAuliffe is viewed favorably by 38% of respondents.

The Republican Party is viewed unfavorably by 43 percent of likely voters (39% favorable), while the Democratic Party is also viewed unfavorably by 43 percent and favorably by 42 percent.

"Gillespie has improved his position among self-identified Independents," said Harry Wilson, director of the Roanoke College Poll. "More of those respondents say they lean toward the Republicans than we saw in our most recent poll and they moved the results favorably toward Gillespie and Republicans, but not President Trump. As we noted in the last poll, Republicans closed well in the 2013 and 2014 elections. This one may be following the same script."

...Which candidate would do a better job on the issues?

Ed Gillespie

• Economy: 47%
• Healthcare: 37%
• Jobs: 44%
• Immigration: 44%
• Education: 40%
• Taxes: 47%
• Guns: 45%

Ralph Northam

• Economy: 39%
• Health Care: 49%
• Jobs: 40%
• Immigration: 39%
• Education: 46%
• Taxes: 37%
• Guns: 39%

So-- never mind the Republicans learning to use xenophobia and racism as election tools (they've been doing it for decades, no?)-- what lesson will the Democrats learn if Northam loses? Not to back crappy conservative candidates who will drive down enthusiasm and hope down Democratic participation? Of course not; they never learn anything. With polling numbers like the ones Fox reported last week, why would the Democratic Party run conservative, Republican-lite candidates?

Kevin De León For U.S. Senate

I had an idea Kevin de León was about to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate Dianne Feinstein had grown stale in when I saw he had hired the video team that made that awesome Randy Bryce video to do a shoot for him. And sure enough, he launched yesterday-- with the clip (above). Although the whole Democratic Party establishment has been lining up to back DiFi-- from Adam Schiff on the right to Ted Lieu on the left-- the first congressmember to endorse de León was, predictably, the most seriously progressive member of the state's delegation, Ro Khanna. "Kevin de León," he told me a few hours before the official launch, "has a proven track record of implementing bold and innovative policies. He has been a leader on alternative energy, on single payer healthcare, and on on debt free college. He will bring the best of California to Washington at a time our nation desperately needs leadership." Blue America agrees and we immediately endorsed Kevin as well. If you'd like to help him stand up to the shockingly corrupt Feinstein money machine... that's what the Blue America Senate thermometer below can help you with.

In the words of Sacramento Bee political reporter Christopher Cadelago, Kevin's daring challenge to DiFi sets up "a generational confrontation over the direction of the Democratic Party between one of California’s political stalwarts and the little-known Los Angeles lawmaker. Little know to the general public but very well known in political circles as the effective president of the state Senate who has been standing up for working families even when Jerry Brown asked him to cool it on the super-progressive agenda. Yesterday he told Cadelago that "The state has changed significantly over the past 25 years and we are overdue for a real debate on the issues, priorities and leadership that the voters want from their senator. California deserves a senator that will not just fully resist the Trump presidency, but also understands the issues that most Californians face every day: That’s fighting for Medicare for all. That’s fighting for our Dreamers. That’s fighting against climate change... Change is needed to fully resist Trump’s pernicious or mean-spirited actions against our state."

De León’s entry into the Senate race aims to shake up the state’s Democrat-dominated political order that has largely been characterized by its veteran older guard relinquishing their seats only upon retirement. Next year, Gov. Jerry Brown is leaving office because of term limits. Sen. Kamala Harris last year won the Senate seat of Barbara Boxer, who retired after 24 years in the Senate.

Feinstein, 84 and elected alongside Boxer in 1992, in the “Year of the Woman,” announced last Monday that she would seek a fifth full term next year, a decision aides and confidants said she had been wrestling with for months. Feinstein commands respect in Washington, where she holds esteemed positions on the judiciary and intelligence committees. But she has periodically upset activists back home, who chide her for being too accommodating to President Donald Trump and for clinging to a collegial approach with GOP colleagues they consider unproductive and out of touch.

It is from that dynamic-- amid a growing resistance to Trump-- that de León, 50, sees the opportunity to capture an improbable victory over Feinstein.


...In The Bee interview, de León noted Feinstein’s remarks this fall calling for “patience” with Trump and suggesting he could still be a “good president.”

“He cannot be a good president, at all, whatsoever” he said. “His values are antithetical to the values of the state of California.”

The sleaze bag who runs Feinstein electoral operation immediately attacked Kevin for not being a Bernie supporter and trying to paint him as inauthentic in his progressivism. Feinstein was a Clinton fanatic and Kevin's record stands as astonishingly progressive. As Cadelago pointed out, Kevin "has made his mark as the leader of the Senate. Since Trump’s election in November, he’s helped lead the body’s resistance to the president. As a lawmaker, he is known for carrying far-reaching legislation on climate change, gun-control and immigration. His emergence from the Legislature comes at a time of relative productivity, a point he makes often when comparing the passage of legislation there with what’s moving in Congress."


In his letter to supporters yesterday, Kevin emphasized that as state Senate president he worked to infuse "progressive Californian values in important policy efforts like immigration, women’s rights, quality education, civil rights, job creation, and fighting climate change" and daily Trump and his regime "wages war on our people and our progress. He disregards our voices. Demonizes our diversity. Attacks our civil rights, our clean air, our health access and our public safety."

He wants to help lead the fight against the Regime, a stark contrast to Feinstein who has urged patience with Trump and sought to normalize his abnormal behavior. Kevin emphasized what he wants to work on for California:

You deserve jobs that afford your family a better quality of life.

You deserve an opportunity for our children to have a free and equal education.

You deserve clean air.

You deserve universal healthcare.

In their instant endorsement, the first for the 2018 cycle of a Senate challenger, DFA told it's members that "When Trump became President, de León didn’t ask people to sit back and wait, hoping maybe Trump would someday turn out OK. He immediately began working to pass policies that would help the people most immediately affected by Trump’s bigoted, greedy policies. The simple fact is this: We won't defeat Trump and his Republican Party with corporate Democrats pushing Republican-lite policies and weak leadership. We win when candidates offer a progressive vision for America and fight to make it happen. Kevin de León has proven he will do both and we can’t wait to see him do it in the U.S. Senate... The race for California's U.S. Senate seat in 2018 will be a defining moment in the resistance to Donald Trump and our fight for racial and economic justice."

They made the obvious point that DiFi "no longer reflects the lived experiences or core values of Californians here in 2017. And she isn't willing to step up and lead on resisting Trump or in fighting for the issues that matter to this country in this vital moment. Sen. Feinstein voted for the Iraq War. She was a leader in passing and then expanding the Patriot Act and other surveillance programs. As one of the most Wall Street-friendly Democrats in Congress, Sen. Feinstein has always stood with corporate power. She doesn't support Medicare for All or free college. We haven't seen her show up for racial justice... That's not the leadership we need in the Senate right now. We need a proven progressive champion who will fight for California and the American people against Trump -- someone whose life experiences have made them a perfect leader in this moment.

That's Kevin de León."

And no one should imagine for a moment his campaign is all about Trump's and Feinstein's myriad shortcomings. He's been, in DFA's words, "one of the most successful progressive legislators anywhere in the country. As President pro tem and thus leader of the California State Senate, he has been a progressive champion in fighting against Trump and fighting for racial and economic justice. Kevin de León led the California State Senate in passing a single-payer health care bill this past spring. He ensured passage of landmark legislation to fight climate change, to make housing more affordable, and to reduce sexual assault on campus. And he has done great work on passing gun safety legislation. He led the way in making California a sanctuary state. Kevin de León brings a perspective to the U.S. Senate that is clearly lacking-- and a life story that reflects the experiences of millions of his fellow Californians. The son of immigrants, he grew up in a working class family on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. He put himself through college teaching ESL. He got his start in politics fighting against the anti-immigrant Proposition 187. California has never elected a Latino to the U.S. Senate. In a state where Latinos are now the largest population group, it's long past time for this to change-- and for a progressive champion to lead the resistance in Congress... This is not just a battle for a U.S. Senate seat. It's a battle for the future of the Democratic Party and the country as a whole. Sen. Feinstein represents the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. Kevin de León represents the working people who are the true base of the Democratic Party."

And for anyone interested in DiFi's standing, ProgressivePunch rates her an "F" and notes she is one of the dozen worst Democrats in the Senate. Her lifetime crucial vote score is a disgraceful 78.73. California deserves better. (In contrast, California's other senator, Kamala Harris, is rated an "A" and has a 99.01 crucial vote score.)

Long Missing From The DCCC Equation-- Labor Solidarity

Shockingly, the DCCC doesn't recruit union activists to run for Congress any longer; quite the contrary. They have demonstrated for over a decade that they would rather recruit an "ex"-Republican or a wealthy self-funding careerist than someone who understands the concept of worker solidarity. The Democratic Party talks a good game on unions but under Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, union membership-- and power-- declined precipitously and the power of Wall Street and upper middle class professionals largely became the dominant power focus within the DC Democratic Party establishment. Anti-union twerps like Rahm Emanuel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz went out of their way-- through cult groups like the DLC and New Dems-- to cast unions out of decision-making positions and ostracize unions from all but getting out the vote on election day. Union members, sensing the change, have been increasingly deserting the Democratic Party in response.

Whenever a strong unionist decides to run for Congress, the DCCC and their allies at EMILY's List recruit garbage candidates from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party to run against them and then bury the unionist under piles of corporate money. This is just one example-- there are hundreds-- but is how it works. When Miami union members decided to run Luis Maurice, an ILA 1922 activist, for Congress, a corrupt conservative politician was already anointed by the DCCC, Joe Garcia. The Florida Democratic establishment moved into action quickly, demanding Luis get out of the race. The ultimate bagman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz illegally offered him a state Senate seat and $10,000. The DCCC wound up with Garcia, who disgraced himself and the party, and was beaten by a Republican who still holds the seat.

That's why the stench of fear emanating from 430 So. Capitol St., SE (DCCC headquarters), is wafting over DC this week. The grassroots enthusiasm for Wisconsin iron worker and union activist is driving Ben Ray Lujan and his recruitment committee henchmen Denny Heck (New Dem-WA) and Cheri Bustos (Blue Dog-IL) up the wall. An independent-minded union Democrat with a grassroots following is the last thing in the world the Democratic establishment wants to see in Congress. Today DFA endorsed Randy.

DFA's chairman, Jim Dean: "Randy Bryce’s down-to-earth, people-oriented progressivism is a breath of fresh air. While Paul Ryan’s agenda is driven by the lobbyists who can afford to buy his time, Randy’s views on the issues are forged by his time working the iron. He support for single payer health care is informed by his concern for keeping his family covered. His commitment to racial and economic justice is drawn from firsthand knowledge of how they affect his neighbors and co-workers. We need more people like Randy, who reflect and understand their communities, to step forward and run for office across the country. Against the right person running a progressive, issue-based grassroots campaign, no amount of lobbyist and corporate backing can save Republicans in the House from losing their jobs. Our members are excited to prove that by pouring their energy into Randy Bryce’s campaign to replace Paul Ryan."

In his own endorsement for Bryce over the weekend, former Congressman Alan Grayson pointed out that "If you read what Randy Bryce wrote for DWT, you’ll find two things that are lacking in most Congressional candidates: (1) an understanding about how ordinary people (not rich lawyers or businessmen) live, and (2) common sense." BINGO! Ro Khanna's endorsement also hit it out of the ballpark: "We need leaders connected to the community who can speak with authenticity about the need for universal healthcare, better wages, and good jobs. Randy has a bold vision that is rooted in his life experience. It's heartening to see people like Randy step up to serve. That is what our founders envisioned." Too bad Pelosi, Hoyer, Crowley, Wasserman Schultz and the rest of the party leadership don't understand that need for authenticity and think it doesn't matter to voters. It very much matters.

I've been watching how progressive candidates who don't know each other are rallying around each other's campaigns on Twitter this cycle. Randy seems to have formed twitter bonds with Doug Applegate-- a strong union supporter from a military background in San Diego running for Darrell Issa's seat-- and working class North Carolina candidates Matt Coffay and Jenny Marshall. They'll make up the nexus of a strong block of anti-establishment freshmen in the 2019 Congress.

Jenny Marshall is running for the North Carolina seat help by virulently anti-union fanatic Virginia Foxx. This afternoon, Jenny told us that she "became a teacher to help those kids who fell through the cracks. I wanted to be an advocate for them and their education. So, it shouldn't be a shock to learn that I teach from a social justice perspective and believe when something is wrong you must stand up and fight back. You take it to the school board, to the city council, to the legislature, and to the streets if need be. In 2011 the GOP decided to attack public education and, more specifically, the teachers' union in Indiana. My fellow educators and I stood up to their assault and several of us created spaces where we could actively push back against their agenda and build solidarity. It was then that I started a Facebook page that grew to over 9,000 people and focused on policy and lobbying for public education. It became a go-to site for people who wanted their voice heard and empowered people to action while building solidarity among workers who continued to come together and collectively fight for a better future. We worked with labor unions and civic groups to create rallys, town halls, letter writing campaigns, etc to effect change. We ended up thwarting some of the horrible things they were trying to pass with our grass roots efforts and by bringing working class people together. Then, the very next year, they attacked organized labor turning Indiana into a right to work state. I was there in the statehouse standing in solidarity against this anti-union legislation which sought to divide working people and their families. We must be willing to stand up for each other in times of prosperity and need. We must advocate for those who hold the same ideals. We are all brothers and sisters in this fight against corporate greed and the wealthy elitism that unfortunately has corrupted both sides of the aisle. Labor used to have a heavy influence in the Democratic Party and because of this, the party represented working people. However, over the decades big business and the wealthiest of our country, who don't represent the interests of working people, have taken over both parties. We need people who know what it means to stand strong for labor, build solidarity and bring working families together. That is why I am running for Congress. I will stand up for justice and represent the working people and the most vulnerable of our communities, not the greedy interests of the 1%."

A couple of hours ago, Charles Pierce, writing for Esquire published a piece, that shouldn't-- but probably will-- make DCCC recruiters uncomfortable: An Afternoon At the Union Hall With Randy Bryce, The Anti-Paul Ryan. Pelosi should be embracing tis kind of message for her party, not fleeing it. "The hall belonging to the United Autoworkers, Local 72," wrote Pierce, "is a bell jar of days gone by, and candidates long past. There are photos of the young Walter Reuther, his skull bleeding from a policeman's nightstick, and buttons and posters, fading now from the indirect light, of candidates who came here when labor support could make or break their campaigns. Randy Bryce is kicking off his campaign in the hall on a bright Saturday afternoon. The crowd is an intriguing mixture of elderly people, obvious Wisconsin liberals and, here and there, a smattering of the kind of people for whom Randy Bryce seems more like someone you'd run into on a Friday night around the keg at a fish fry. This is the kind of crowd that all of the smart folks are saying the Democratic party needs to bring itself back from the brink." But not Pelosi, not Ben Ray Lujan-- and certainly not DCCC recruitment committee heads, the very conservative Cheri Bustos (Blue Dog-IL) and Denny Heck (New Dem-WA), who are all in for "ex"-Republicans and rich self-funders.

This is how it works these days: You're a politically active union steelworker from, say, Caledonia, Wisconsin, even though you were brought up on the south side of Milwaukee in the days when that part of town was the home of thousands of people who worked at places like International Harvester, Allen-Bradley, Allis-Chalmers, Briggs and Stratton, Harley-Davidson, or one of the several dozen breweries that helped make the city famous... You have this lost history in your bones, which is why you became politically active in the first place. So, in a moment of clarity, after a couple of losing campaigns for local office, you decide to shoot the moon and run for Congress against the sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives, a man named Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny starver from the state of Wisconsin.

So one of the first things you do is you hire some folks to make a video to announce your candidacy and to introduce yourself to your potential constituents. They do a good job. The music is evocative. There are sweeping landscapes of southern Wisconsin. There are lots of shots of people embracing each other. The folks get to meet your mom, who has multiple sclerosis. There are shots of you in your hardhat, working the steel, and wearing a shirt with an actual blue collar. And there is a tagline that people remember.

I think it's time. Let's trade places. Paul Ryan, you can come work the iron and I'll go to D.C.

It rings up 450,000 views on YouTube, and you end up on MSNBC twice in a week. Whoopi Goldberg gives you a shout-out on The View. Your phone starts ringing off the hook and the 2018 midterm congressional elections begin right there on your doorstep. Your mustache, and the Twitter handle it spawned-- @ironstach-- are both judged to be cool by the mysterious unwritten standards of the Intertoobz. Suddenly, the country knows you're an Army veteran who served in Central America during the Reagan years, and that you've already beaten testicular cancer. That's how it works these days if you're Randy Bryce and people say that you're "blowing up" a year and a half before anyone votes for anybody.

If you were casting a character to run for office to address all the Democratic concerns about the white working-class-- whom, as we know, are the only voters that matter-- you would pick someone who's been an ironworker for 20 years on projects all over southeastern Wisconsin, who can look at the Milwaukee skyline and tell you how it got that way.

"We were downtown at NPR today, at that new Northwestern Mutual tower-- I was on that last winter," Bryce told me on Saturday. "We were in a swing stage, hanging off the side, 500 feet up, in wintertime, and we had like a blow-dryer to warm your hands so you could feel your fingers. And Miller Park, there's a wall there with the names of all the workers. My name's on there. And then the Hoan Bridge, there's a spot in the middle that goes over the river where you can actually walk in, so I not only worked on the bridge, but I worked in the bridge.

"I hear Donald Trump talk about being 'a builder,' and I laugh. No, I laugh because I'd love to take him on a job with me. Here, put a hard hat on and follow me, and we'll see what you can really build. Driving around the district, I can point out things. For the last 20 years, I've been building things, changing the way it works for the better, while Paul Ryan is taking things away from us."

Truth be told, despite its spectacularly fast start, it's a long haul up a dirt road for Bryce's campaign. First of all, a sitting Speaker has lost for re-election only three times in the country's history, most recently in 1994, when Democratic Speaker Tom Foley lost to Republican George Nethercutt. (The other two, Galusha Grow and William Pennington, got beat during the turmoil immediately preceding the Civil War.) Second, Bryce is facing a three-way primary and one of the other candidates, David Yankovich, moved from Ohio to Kenosha specifically to run against Ryan.

Already, there's been some intra-party turmoil. Some Yankovich people complained on the electric Twitter machine about being denied entry to an event hosted by the Wisconsin branch of Our Revolution, touching off one of those delightful mini-reenactments of the 2016 Democratic primaries that we all love so very much. (For the record, Bryce supported Sanders in the primary and worked for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the general election.) And last, of course, is the fact that Paul Ryan is the coddled child of America's plutocrats and will likely have so much money to spend on his re-election that god will ask him to float a loan.

Bryce's ready answer is that all that money is an anchor, not an engine. Ryan, he points out, hasn't been seen in the district for a while and that he's more interested in entertaining the country's oligarchs than he is in tending to business back in the Wisconsin 1st.

"He's not even here to listen to what people need," Bryce said. "It's been over 600 days, and somebody will send me something. Hey, guess what, he's going to be in Chattanooga, getting a picture taken, you know, $10,000. Now they have this new thing where they won't even tell you the location because they don't want to see you. You have to RSVP, which means you have to pay the $2,500 to put your name on a list, then they'll you where it is.

"We've had two local town halls and we had to ask Mark Pocan [the Democratic congressman from the Wisconsin 2nd] to come in, when they were first talking about the repeal of Obamacare in Congress. Nobody knows how it's going to affect us, so we had to have Mark Pocan come and we filled UAW 72. People are concerned. This is their lives we're taking about."

The central political event in Wisconsin in recent years, of course, has been the use of the state as a lab rat for conservative policies; the ascension of Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage this particular Midwest subsidiary, and his pet Republican state legislature has had the most profound effect on the state's politics since Robert LaFollette and the Progressives changed everything for the better at the beginning of the 20th century. The Walker years are a photographic negative of everything that Wisconsin had been about for nearly a century, and it all began in 2011 with Act 10, Walker's successful push to destroy the public-employee unions in the state. This touched off mass demonstrations in Madison, and an unsuccessful attempt to recall Walker. It tore a great gap in the state's political fabric between what had come before, and what came afterwards. Bryce was one of the first labor voices to stand with the demonstrators outside the Capitol because he knew that Walker and the legislature had no plans to stop merely with the public unions.

"Politically, 'labor' always has been a means to attack us," Bryce said. "Pensions, healthcare. Personally, it's always been taking care of other people, because what I do for a living is pretty dangerous. I'm used to, if I'm welding over here, and my hood's down, and a crane swings something over my head, there's another worker there to say, 'Randy, watch out. Look out over your head.' Ironworkers had one of the first protests, in Horicon. We had 250 people that met at the Machinists lodge, even though we were a private sector union and weren't going to be affected at all by Act 10, we knew we needed people to come together."

Bryce was right. During his re-election campaign, Walker dodged the question of whether or not he would sign a bill making Wisconsin a right-to-work state, saying that he didn't expect such a law to land on his desk. Almost as soon as he began his second term, a right-to-work bill indeed did hit his desk and Walker signed it. (The law is still being litigated but remains in effect.) Bryce had watched Walker operate since the governor took office, and he'd known what was coming ever since those cold days on the lawn of the state capitol.

"As soon as he said that in the campaign," Bryce said, "I knew it was a done deal."

Ryan, of course, is the apotheosis of this new, conservative Wisconsin. In fact, he got there far ahead of the rest of the state, banging the drum for radical conservative politics while Scott Walker was still a Milwaukee County executive with an office full of two-bit grifters. He is a National Figure. If he's going to get beaten, or even if someone is going to give him a serious run, it helps if that person has become a kind of National Figure almost overnight.

"The way it blew up," Bryce said. "It said a lot for me. I knew it was going to be good, because I've seen those guys' work before. I could tell right away. I knew it was going to be positive. It was just telling a story but what's opened my eyes is that how that's been everywhere, and everybody wants to ask about it.

"In the last election, there was this thirst for this Donald Trump-sounding, working class populism. It was there. Guys were, like, 'He's going to help us.' I mean, come on. A billionaire is going to help you-- a guy who has a history of screwing his workers. And there are some guys who worked on jobs of his. We had a crew when I was working on Northwestern Mutual, we had a crew from Local 63 from Chicago who had worked on Trump Tower in Vegas, and just hearing stories about stiffing the workers. I mean, come on. Really?"

"One thing you will never say," Rob Zerban, who ran against Ryan in 2012 and 2014, tells the crowd in the UAW hall, "is that Randy Bryce is an errand boy for Donald Trump."

"Randy has a much better chance of winning in 2018 than I ever stood," Zerban said. "Randy was able to capitalize on his exposure as a community organizer and as a labor activist, he had a built-in infrastructure that helped his campaign get off the ground. You've seen him on a national level already. So many people here know him-- they know he's fighting for the right cause and they know what Paul Ryan is. He can't get anything passed. People are desperate for change, in this district. I saw it in 2012 when I was running, and it's gotten worse."

At the end of the speeches, with the requisite John Cougar Mellencamp tune bouncing off the walls, Randy Bryce walks through the crowd with his mother, who is leaning on a cane because of her MS. Like in his now-famous video, there are a lot of people embracing each other, and something is very warm here that goes far beyond the YouTube hotness of a single video. It is the start of something, the heat of first things, fueled by possibilities nobody yet understands.

The DCCC is launching a new "university." They tried hiring a friend mine to teach but he told them he'd just as soon work at Trump University and that he's not interested in working with people who follow an agenda that has led to a consistent pattern of losses. Does that rally need to be further baked into the Democratic cake? One course I'm sure they will never teach at DCCC University is anything about labor solidarity-- because it isn't something they know about or understand or encourage.

2017 Preview— Guest Post From Alice Marshall... + Battleground Virginia

If Democrats are to retake the House in 2018, they will need to start work now, in elections of 2017. In spite of gerrymandering, in spite of voter suppression, Democrats can make major gains in local elections that will set them up for success in 2018. And if Democrats are not interested in the job, that creates the opportunity for emergent parties to step forward and fill the vacuum.

I encourage progressives to take a look at the record of Virginia's Attorney General, Mark Herring. Herring is best known outside of Virginia for changing Virginia's ban on same sex marriage; but he also forced a settlement with a coal company to protect ground water, defended Virginia's ban on displaying a noose for intimidation, obtained debt relief and has generally run circles around the Republican legislature.

But the real opportunities like in the local races, state legislature and municipal elections. There is a real possibility that Virginia Democrats could retake their legislature, crucial for the upcoming redistricting in 2021. I know less about Kentucky and New Jersey, and I hope readers from those states will gives us the local outlook.

The political muscle that local parties develop in local races sets them up for victory in the federal races. It is easier to win as a congressional candidate if the local mayor and city council are members of your party. The people who volunteer in 2017 for local candidates are likely to volunteer again for congressional candidates in 2018. Moreover, they will know more about their community and will be more effective.

If you are an anti-fracking activist, you will want to be sure that your local city council will stand up to the fossil fuel industry. If you are a Black Lives Matter activist you will want to be sure that the candidates for District Attorney share your view of police accountability. If you support public education and oppose charter schools, you will want to make sure that your state legislators share your view.

Local elections are an indication of the shifts in public opinion. Electing progressive state and local officials will encourage candidates at the federal level to take a more progressive approach. It will encourage incumbent congressional representatives to “evolve” their views.

  Precisely because local elections are low turnout, individual volunteers have the opportunity to shift the election. If you are successful in identifying your supporters and getting them to the polls you have an excellent chance to win. It was with the 2017 elections in mind that I wrote my book, The Precinct Captain's Guide To Political Victory. Read it, put even a fraction of its methods described therein into effect, and you can win.

The Precinct Captain's Guide To Political Victory, now available in the DownWithTyranny Bookstore.

Alice Marshall
http://twitter.com/PrestoVivace


UPDATE: Virginia State Senate

Jim Dean sent a note out to DFA members this morning endorsing the campaign of Ryant Washington. It’s helpful and he points out that “we can win a victory against Donald Trump and the Republican Party on Tuesday.”

Ryant Washington is a progressive champion running in a special election for Virginia State Senate. If he wins on Tuesday, Democrats will take control of the Virginia State Senate. It would be a huge blow to Trump and the Republicans.

At a time when Republicans are attacking health care, voting rights, and civil rights, we need to immediately begin taking back control of state legislatures so we can resist Trump and his bigoted agenda. That's why Ryant Washington's campaign is so important.

Ryant Washington is running a great, people-powered campaign. He has deep roots in the community and a lifetime of public service. He'll fight to protect health care and fully fund public schools, both of which are under attack by Trump and the Republican Congress.

In 2009 Republicans began winning these crucial state elections, and used those victories to begin moving the country far to the right. But we can turn the tables on them. If progressive Democrats like Ryant Washington win these elections, we'll show that America is ready to rebuild at the state and local level and win against Trump and his party's extremist, hateful agenda.

Tuesday's special election will be a tough race -- but with two Republicans and one Democrat on the ballot, it's going to be won by the campaign with the best grassroots turnout operation. Ryant Washington is doing everything he can to build a strong, people-powered campaign. Now he urgently needs our help in this final weekend before the election.

Who's All In For Party Unity?

When the PA-07 progressive Mary Ellen Balchunis-- endorsed by every Democratic party organ and institutional ally in southeast Pennsylvania-- smashed the DCCC recruit who they had helped raise money and run a campaign, even adding him to their Red to Blue program, the DCCC responded by abandoning the district to GOP incumbent Pat Meehan and taking the district off the map. Pelosi's bullshit about "when women win..." was shown up to be just more of the hypocrisy her sorry later career has turned into. No Red to Blue help for Mary Ellen Balchunis. That's Pelosi/DCCC "party unity"... it's only for progressives to rally around establishment hacks, never for the establishment to rally around progressives.

The DCCC had added their pack of unimpressive hacks-- Bryan Caforio (CA), Randall Perkins (FL), Salud Carbajal (CA), Val Demings (FL), Monica Vernon (IA), Brad Schneider (IL), Bill Golderer (PA), and Colleen Deacon (NY)-- while all were engaged in active, competitive primaries against more progressive candidates, to the Red to Blue program. When Mary Ellen beat Golderer 52,792 (74%) to 18,509 (26%)-- despite the DCCC guaranteeing that Golderer could spend $239,391 (and raise $375,402) in the race while they prevented Mary Ellen from being able to spend anything but $45,541-- Lujan, Israel and Pelosi didn't add Mary Ellen to Red to Blue. They just continued telling Democratic activists to starve her campaign of contributions-- even after the AFL-CIO unanimously decided to not re-endorse Meehan and give the nod to Balchunis instead. Balchunis, who identifies as "a Warren wing Democrat" didn't endorse Bernie, although she shares his values and issues, because she has a long, friendly relationship with Hillary and endorsed her. But Hillary and her establishment wing of the party did absolutely nothing for Balchunis-- and still haven't.

Tuesday morning Zephyr Teachout, who Bernie had helped raise a great deal money through grassroots contributions, tweeted, "I am running for Congress to break down the doors of power in Washington." That isn't a phrase likely to make party hacks like Pelosi, Hoyer, Lujan, etc feel all warm and comfy.

Early Monday morning DWT got a press release from NRCC chairman Greg Walden: "Congratulations to John Faso on his hard-fought victory this evening. John has spent his career serving his community, and will do a great job representing the Hudson Valley in Congress. John understands the importance of keeping taxes low and getting government out of the way so that the private sector can create jobs. I look forward to working with him after he is elected this November."

Still no word from Lujan and the DCCC. I'm sure some kind of grudging statement of support will arrive eventually. For now, though, Teachout's wonderful volunteers will have to make due with congratulations from the grassroots groups like DFA, Blue America and PCCC who have endorsed her from day one. DFA members were sent an inspiring statement from Jim Dean:

"Zephyr Teachout’s primary victory tonight isn't just an important win for the political revolution behind Bernie Sanders, it's an important win for anyone who believes that our country needs bold leaders in Washington who will stand up to a corrupt political system and work hand-in-hand with the grassroots to deliver on populist progressive priorities.

"Few candidates are better prepared than Zephyr Teachout to run and win the kind of aggressive, people-powered campaign needed to beat back the wealthy hedge funders like Paul Singer who are already pouring millions into SuperPACs designed to aid whichever Trump-enabling Republican she faces in November.

 “Wall Street is scared to death of being held accountable by Zephyr Teachout in the halls of Congress and we couldn’t be more excited to work our hearts out over the next 132 days to make sure they are.

...Just like Bernie, Zephyr Teachout is fighting back with people power. She's been doing it for years. From her memorable leadership on Gov. Howard Dean's online organizing team in 2004, where she helped transform grassroots presidential campaigning, to her 2014 primary fight against corporate Democrat Andrew Cuomo-- holding him accountable on immigration justice, raising wages, and public financing-- Zephyr Teachout has the knowledge and vision needed to win.

...Zephyr Teachout is a leader in the fight to get corporate money out of our politics, overturn Citizens United, and take on Wall Street. She's been a core leader in creating an up-and-down-the-ballot political revolution for more than a decade. Her victory in the primary is a big step in a bold, populist direction for Democrats.

But the biggest battle is still to come. Wall Street has targeted Zephyr for defeat in November-- because they see her as a threat in the mold of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Wealthy hedge funders are already pouring money-- including a whopping $500,000 a few days ago-- into a Super PAC for her Republican opponent in this swing district.

Zephyr Teachout's big win in the primary proves our political revolution can win when people mobilize against the forces of wealth and power. Now she's taking on Wall Street in what will be one of the most important elections of the fall.

In NY-19 Tuesday 30,720 residents had voted, 13,714 Republicans and 17,006 Democrats. John Faso, the GOP winner took 9,126 votes (66.55%) and Zephyr took 12,409 votes (72.97%). She is the front-runner by every conceivable criteria except one-- party support. The GOP has rallied around Faso and is filling his archest. As of the March 31 FEC filing deadline he had raised $1,078,898 (and his GOP opponent Andrew Heaney had raised $1,229,257), Zephyr had raised $530,733. A right-wing SuperPAC spent $915,271 on helping Faso defeat Heaney.

Will Pelosi order his Lujan lackey to get behind Teachout now and help her access institutional Democratic contributors? Or would the corrupt Democratic establishment rather not turn this red swing district blue, too fearful that the outspoken, principled congresswoman that Teachout (like Balchunis) promises to be, would be too disruptive their their foul establishment control?

Bernie sent a strong warning to the Democratic establishment last night in the form of an Op-Ed in the New York Times telling them they need to wake up. Pelosi and her cronies should read it carefully and understand it's being addressed towards them:

Surprise, surprise. Workers in Britain, many of whom have seen a decline in their standard of living while the very rich in their country have become much richer, have turned their backs on the European Union and a globalized economy that is failing them and their children.

And it’s not just the British who are suffering. That increasingly globalized economy, established and maintained by the world’s economic elite, is failing people everywhere. Incredibly, the wealthiest 62 people on this planet own as much wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population-- around 3.6 billion people. The top 1 percent now owns more wealth than the whole of the bottom 99 percent. The very, very rich enjoy unimaginable luxury while billions of people endure abject poverty, unemployment, and inadequate health care, education, housing and drinking water.

Could this rejection of the current form of the global economy happen in the United States? You bet it could.

During my campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, I’ve visited 46 states. What I saw and heard on too many occasions were painful realities that the political and media establishment fail even to recognize.

In the last 15 years, nearly 60,000 factories in this country have closed, and more than 4.8 million well-paid manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Much of this is related to disastrous trade agreements that encourage corporations to move to low-wage countries.

Despite major increases in productivity, the median male worker in America today is making $726 dollars less than he did in 1973, while the median female worker is making $1,154 less than she did in 2007, after adjusting for inflation.

Nearly 47 million Americans live in poverty. An estimated 28 million have no health insurance, while many others are underinsured. Millions of people are struggling with outrageous levels of student debt. For perhaps the first time in modern history, our younger generation will probably have a lower standard of living than their parents. Frighteningly, millions of poorly educated Americans will have a shorter life span than the previous generation as they succumb to despair, drugs and alcohol.

Meanwhile, in our country the top one-tenth of 1 percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. Fifty-eight percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent. Wall Street and billionaires, through their “super PACs,” are able to buy elections.

On my campaign, I’ve talked to workers unable to make it on $8 or $9 an hour; retirees struggling to purchase the medicine they need on $9,000 a year of Social Security; young people unable to afford college. I also visited the American citizens of Puerto Rico, where some 58 percent of the children live in poverty and only a little more than 40 percent of the adult population has a job or is seeking one.

Let’s be clear. The global economy is not working for the majority of people in our country and the world. This is an economic model developed by the economic elite to benefit the economic elite. We need real change.

But we do not need change based on the demagogy, bigotry and anti-immigrant sentiment that punctuated so much of the Leave campaign’s rhetoric-- and is central to Donald J. Trump’s message.

We need a president who will vigorously support international cooperation that brings the people of the world closer together, reduces hypernationalism and decreases the possibility of war. We also need a president who respects the democratic rights of the people, and who will fight for an economy that protects the interests of working people, not just Wall Street, the drug companies and other powerful special interests.

We need to fundamentally reject our “free trade” policies and move to fair trade. Americans should not have to compete against workers in low-wage countries who earn pennies an hour. We must defeat the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We must help poor countries develop sustainable economic models.

We need to end the international scandal in which large corporations and the wealthy avoid paying trillions of dollars in taxes to their national governments.

We need to create tens of millions of jobs worldwide by combating global climate change and by transforming the world’s energy system away from fossil fuels.

The notion that Donald Trump could benefit from the same forces that gave the Leave proponents a majority in Britain should sound an alarm for the Democratic Party in the United States. Millions of American voters, like the Leave supporters, are understandably angry and frustrated by the economic forces that are destroying the middle class.

In this pivotal moment, the Democratic Party and a new Democratic president need to make clear that we stand with those who are struggling and who have been left behind. We must create national and global economies that work for all, not just a handful of billionaires.

We need international efforts to cut military spending around the globe and address the causes of war: poverty, hatred, hopelessness and ignorance.

We need more couregous leaders like Zephyr Teachout, Pramila Jayapal, Alan Grayson, Tim Canova, Nanette Barragan, Ruben Kihuen... not more of the corrupt establishment garbage the DCCC, the DSCC and the GOP all encourage. America doesn't need a Faso or a Patrick Murphy or Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Isadore Hall or Cresent Hardy. The DCCC and the DSCC are no more on the side of ordinary Americans than the Republican Party is. Please consider contributing to the progressives running for the House and Senate... here: