Bernie supporters organizing nationwide House/Senate campaign for 2018.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

The guy was on Rachel Maddow last night.

What is it called?

[Fresh_Start]

1. Brand new congress

because throwing away incumbent advantage...makes a lot of sense when you are trying to win control of the congress.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

2. Saikat Chakrabarti, co-founder of Brand New Congress

Yes, that is dangerous.

But it would be awesome if we got hundreds of new, untainted liberals in our government.

[Hortensis]

13. Yes it would, but we won't. It is by nature an

anti-establishment movement, and as we've seen here on DU those farther left than the typical mainstream liberal regard mainstream liberals as the enemy to be defeated, not allied with.

That means that in order to build the numbers needed to succeed, and of course to succeed in conservative states, they will have to join with those they have more emotionally in common with anyway, anti-establishment conservatives, particularly those who are current Trump supporters/previous tea partiers.

This wouldn't be the first time the far left and the strong-far right joined together to form a critical mass, but in the end they always battle for supremacy and either one side loses and the other takes over or the whole thing falls apart. If that happens, it's likely to be the plain old establishment right and left groups who step in to pick the pieces.

But I love the idea and do wish you the best of luck in rousting a bunch of these way too safe and comfy incumbents who like their jobs way too much for our good. As Rachel also pointed out, the only congressman to lose in the primary this year did so because he was on his way to prison! Even only partial victories would be great.

Identifying and running good new people is going to be problematic; government is no more a job for amateurs than law or medicine is, and there's the little probity problem; lots of people who seem honest and trustworthy, even to themselves, are not. In red states... Well, the trumpsters will be choosing them. One thing you guys do need to realize, btw, is that people in a lot of districts actually like their congressmen and do fight to keep them. It wouldn't actually be a bad idea to identify good reps and not attack them, mainstream liberal as that may sound.

[misterhighwasted]

18. Brand New Congress Koch Libertarian Tea Party ! Go bern!

Divide & Conquer. That is how the TP overthrew the Republican Party.
Seems an uncanny remake of that going on this year in the Dem Party.
So I've noticed. There's a pattern about it, and a certain method to their madness.

It is THAT obvious.

Epic Fail by the usurper.

Divide & Conquer. Oldest game in the book.

[CBHagman]

20. "Untainted liberals"?

I don't care for putting people through ideological strainers, holding highly judgmental attitudes, and the like when it comes to our future, which is precisely what is at stake in elections. I'm not in favor of keeping a nice long list of people too impure to serve or even associate with.

As for new lawmakers, yes, there is value in fresh perspectives and varied life experiences one would hope accompany the newly elected, but of course there is also value in experience, in knowing how the system works and having made the mistakes on the way to using it.

[floriduck]

3. Awesome. It takes a very coordinated effort and I applaud it wholeheartedly!

[whatthehey]

4. Good. That's the idea

A political revolution works best with a base. Hopefully local and state races will get some love too. The Tea Party didn't take over the GOP by running a presidential race first. Any attempt to take over the Dems will be more successful with lower level primaries as the first step too.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

5. Using terms like "take over" hopefully wont be used by those in charge.

But clearly we need some major change.

For instance, the words "health" and "insurance" do not belong together, ever, in the same sentence.

The words "tuition" dont belong in a conversations when discussing education.

The word "cost" should never be heard when discussing child day- care.

etc

[whatthehey]

9. True. There's a reason I'm not in marketing...

but a takeover is what the TP actually achieved, in a shockingly short time. If there really is a group who will dedicate enough time and effort into moving the Dem party further left, much if not quite all of which I'd support, then they need to follow that example. We need a sane health care with ar least firm price controls, investment in education so that no student who can benefit from higher education lacks the means, wages that mean a full time job equates to an acceptable life, a military only a few times better than anyone else's, and taxes assigned in the Willie Sutton method for a start.

[Hortensis]

15. The TP managed an infiltration and occupation

while attempting a takeover, resulting in a broken party and Congress, and that seems like something we need to worry about.

As for what would happen in the extreme unlikelihood that these intrinsic incompetents actually managed a real putsch, I'm remembering what they say about the devil needing to assume the attributes of divinity if he were to take over.

I agree with all you support except for now--surprisingly and extremely regrettably for me--the military. Absolutely yes to smashing the giant wealth vacuum military spending is a huge part of. But very, very slow on altering the planetary balance that was built on American military might as an enforcer and stabilizer, especially with global warming promising enormous change and unrest. That is if we choose to do even some of what we can to save whole populations.

[Hortensis]

14. Oh, forgot to mention THIS little problem.

Thanks, Whatthehey.

The KOCH BROTHERS and their friends and operatives came up with the idea for the Tea Party and organized, energized, funded, publicized, and directed it. It was never a true grassroots movement, the excited and committed people involved only thought they were part of one.

When we elected Obama, over 700 billionaires and megamillionaires joined the Kochs to make sure we didn't upset their plans. Plus there are other coalitions formed by people who don't care to join the Kochs. I think the leaders of your movement should expect that they will consider your plans for a new anti-establishment movement their new opportunity. Your leaders are going to have to figure out how to keep them from taking over, if only by supplying you and your red-state allies all the new congressmen you could want, already vetted, ALEC-trained in all the most useful catch phrases, and ready to slot in...

[tonyt53]

6. Seems a bit late

Odd how Bernie and his followers didn't realize before now that it will take at least a Democrat majority in the Senate to get any change moving. Bernie has done nothing to help anybody running for the Senate. All he has done is criticize fundraisers held for their election efforts. His followers have not voted in the down tickets races either.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

7. This is for 2018 and I dont get the snark. Do you want healthcare to be a right?

Do you want social security to be increased, not lowered?

[Dawgs]

8. Um, Hillary hasn't either. Or, haven't you heard? n/t

[zalinda]

11. But, she or the DNC has promised lots of money to those already there. eom

[Cary]

10. It's not too late to talk policy

[k8conant]

12. Brand New Congress ...

[misterhighwasted]

19. Wasn't this the whole purpose of BSanders running in the 2016 race in the first place?

To begin the process of Dividing & Conquering the Dem Party.
That is the only reason he was ever in the race.

That has been obvious since about November 2015.

Sneaky but it all starts somewhere, thats how the Kochs did it.
Bernie Sanders is simply the Sara Palin of 2016.
Divide & Conquer..that's all its been about.

[CBHagman]

21. I went hunting for the basic info and found...

...the link and the step-by-step process, which I'll present without commentary.

[url]http://brandnewcongress.org/home[/url]

April 2016
Propose this idea to the Bernie movement and to America.
We're pitching this idea to volunteers in the Bernie movement, and getting to work with people who like it.

May 2016 to
February 2017
Recruit candidates and organizers
We are asking supporters to organize events for a Barnstorm tour to hit a whole bunch of cities in the country. We'll spread the idea, recruit organizers and scout candidates. Local organizers will continue the Barnstorms themselves to every Congressional District in their area.

March 2017
Announce all 400+ candidates
We will make announcements prior to this when we reach 10 and 100 candidates, fueling our volunteer base and donations each time.


Read further details at the link.