Article: This is What the Revolution Looks Like: Former Sanders Staffers are Launching...

[SoapBox]

THURSDAY, APR 28, 2016 07:36 AM PDT

"This is What the Revolution Looks Like: Former Sanders Staffers are Launching a New PAC Aimed at Midterm Congressional Elections"

SEAN ILLING

Bernie Sanders has called his campaign a “political revolution.” The word “revolution” is poorly defined in the political science literature, and it’s used so often in popular culture as to strip it of any concrete meaning. Generally, though, people take revolution to mean wholesale change, a rupture in the status quo. To his credit, Sanders has been quite clear about what he means by the phrase:

“What does a political revolution look like? It means that 80 percent of the people vote in national elections, not 40 percent. It means that billionaires can’t make unlimited campaign contributions and buy and sell politicians. It means that the U.S. Government represents the needs of all the people, not just the 1 percent and their lobbyists.”

Sanders has said repeatedly that his goal is to bring more people into the process. Although lost on a subset of his supporters, Sanders has spoken soberly about the prospects of radical change in this country. His speeches are full of rhetorical flourishes and grand pronouncements, but he’s admitted that accomplishing his agenda will require more a single presidential election. “I acknowledge at every speech that I give,” he told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, “that no president, not even Bernie Sanders or anybody else can do it alone.”

Real change in this country will require a sustained national mobilization, what I’ve called a counter-Tea Party movement. While their agenda was nihilistic and obstructionist, the Tea Party was a massive success by any measure. And they succeeded because they systematically altered the Congressional landscape. Our system is such that the president, no matter who she is, can accomplish very little legislatively without a majority in Congress.

...continues at link.

http://www.salon.com/2016/04/28/this_is_what_the_revolution_looks_like_former_sanders_staffers_are_launching_a_new_pac_aimed_at_midterm_congressional_elections/

[oldandhappy]

1. former Sanders staffers are launching a PAC???

I did read that correctly? I am waiting for the movement to get organized. This is not what I was expecting. No PACs puppies. No PACs. We are bringing this back to the people. Remember??!!

[Kittycat]

3. I read it differently.

More like a step between the DNC. Or near third party, but with the Dem party. We're finding out candidates. If they take corporate money, I can't do it.

Lachman writes: “Brand New Congress, which was launched Monday, is looking ahead to the 2018 midterm elections to ‘replace Congress all at once’ with lawmakers who agree with the Vermont independent’s policy positions…A timeline on the PAC’s website says that it plans to form local search committees to recruit organizers and candidates who are new to politics. The PAC says it will codify various progressive policies in a platform that its slate of candidates must support.”

Zack Exley, who helped found the PAC, explained it well: “We learned…that the grassroots are better qualified to run electoral campaigns than Democratic party operatives…They just need to be given the tools, the data, the offices and the structure to succeed.” “We want a supermajority in Congress,” Exley added, “that is fighting for jobs, criminal justice reform and the environment.”

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Sanders has yet to endorse the group, but I suspect he will after the election – and he should. His campaign has shown that the country will respond to a progressive platform if it’s couched in the right terms. Sanders has outraised the Clinton machine for three consecutive months on the backs of small individual donors and despite being far behind in the delegate count. He’s amassed a two-million-person donor list, which can be used to leverage support for progressive House candidates nationwide. That Sanders, a relative unknown on the national stage a year ago, could accomplish this much this quickly says something significant about the mood of the country.

[oldandhappy]

4. OK I will inhale!

[Kittycat]

6. I emailed

To ask directly.

[Mbrow]

7. Please post your reply from them

I'd like to get in on it. Thanks in advance.

[Kittycat]

2. I'm looking forward to this.

[libdem4life]

5. This was what I was hoping for.

A framework for progress to continue. In a way, it might be even more effective, especially before the GE. Down ticket is now the work and this looks like a great start.

[HereSince1628]

8. The article cited says Sanders hasn't endorsed it. I'll wait for that.

Last edited Fri Apr 29, 2016, 07:58 AM - Edit history (1)

the label PAC, which means political action committe, doesn't scare me. But the known unknowns make me cautious

I need to know a lot more before I climb up on that wagon, including who are Lachman and Exley and what are their interests, really? The hand-off from presidential campaign to base oriented and supported political movement will be critical and will be a make or break moment. Most reform candidates' desires to carry their work beyond campaigns don't survive that moment.

A key to growing anything out of Sanders' campaign is going to be the database of self-identified supporters. When Sanders hands that over to a group claiming leadership of the movement, that group will not only have his obvious endorsement and trust, it will immediately become an organization connected to a committed base.

That said, this PACs reported activity list has a similar focus on 2018 midterms to what I expect to see, and which also is the sort of thing professional political staff do for a living. It is also only part of what I believe will be necessary for a movement. What isn't clear to me is whether Sanders supporters want or will accept control of the movement in the hands of self-appointed and widely unknown former staffers.

From what I read in the article there was nothing stated about willingness for the PAC leadership or trustee membership to be temporary until some sort of democratic process can occur. Obviously, someone(s) must step up and get the ball rolling but one of the things I see a need for is rolling the ball toward some sort of on-line or physical convening that will work that out.

[Kittycat]

9. I agree about endorsement

But don't think a lot of time can be wasted on framework and giving people a way to stay connected. Have you visited their site yet?

[HereSince1628]

10. I agree that hitting the 2018 mid-term is important and is already in a limited window

especially if that is attempted outside the structure of an established party with easy ballot access.

Still, I don't think that turning a campaign dream of a movement into a political force at work in the states should be characterized as a waste of time.

There's no reason to think that work has to be limited to one venue.