Coat-Tails: Bernie’s Army Is Running for Congress

[99th_Monkey]

Bernie’s Army Is Running for Congress
Sanders Democrats like Nevada's Lucy Flores aim to amplify the Vermont senator's uncompromising message in Washington—and move the party in a populist direction.
BY DAVID DAYEN * February 3, 2016 * New Republic

Bernie Sanders’s political revolution is predicated in part on mobilizing the public to change the direction of the country. Naysayers carp, and not without reason, that this is impossible, with Republicans having a lock on the gerrymandered Congress for the near future. But to change that state of affairs, you need Sanders Democrats—progressive leaders willing to compete for marginal seats and battle from inside the Capitol Building.



The army is out there. This past week, I interviewed three candidates for Congress, all running in seats currently held by Republicans, who have endorsed Bernie Sanders. They may not all win­—some might not even represent the Democrats in the general election—but they exemplify a new energy in the party, expressing pride in liberal ideas instead of fleeing from them, ready to work the levers of the system to achieve progress wherever possible. The greatest gift Sanders—the longtime independent—has given to the Democratic Party is to inspire a progressive revolution from within.

Zephyr Teachout went from an unassuming law professor to a political rock star when she challenged New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary in 2014, faring better than anyone expected. Now she’s running for Congress upstate in the 19th Congressional District, an open-seat swing district where she beat Cuomo in all but one county, typically by a wide margin. Within a week of announcing her candidacy on January 25, Teachout attracted more than 3,000 donors and took in close to $100,000 in contributions, a signal of her continuing grassroots strength.

The low-dollar surge isn’t just an election strategy, but a commitment: Removing big money from politics is one of Teachout’s top issues. In fact, she highlights corporate concentration of power as the primary economic and political problem. “In the conversations I’ve had, people don’t love big cable companies, they don’t love big banks,” Teachout says. “People know something is deeply wrong, and they’re open to all kinds of different solutions.”

MORE: https://newrepublic.com/article/129047/bernies-army-running-congress

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I put up an OP that dropped like a rock this morning...

Deray McKesson is now running for mayor of Baltimore. While I certainly wouldn't label him as being in 'Bernie's Army', he's worth supporting, and has been meeting with Bernie to advance the issues of racial justice that CampaignZero has been advocating. I don't know that he's interested in 'backing' any given candidate, but he's an ally worth working with on issues of justice. I don't have the link handy, but the link to donate to McKesson is in my last post. I donated a bit this morning.

[99th_Monkey]

2. Cool. Thanks.

I'll check it out.