Building a team for real change starting in 2019- Jenny Marshall with Randy BryceOn Tuesday, Marie Newman gave Blue Dog Dan Lipinski a run for his money. With over 92,000 votes cast, just 2,000 separated them. In the end, Lipinski won the primary, 51.2% to 48.8%, although losing the suburban parts of the district where the Cook County Machine was unable to tamper with results. The next primaries up are on May 8 in Indiana and North Carolina, where we have two outstanding candidates, Dan Canon (IN-09) and Jenny Marshall (NC-05). Both are running strong, issues-oriented grassroots campaigns and both need help with the final 5-week lap. I asked Jenny and Dan what good campaign contributions do this late in the game. Here's what they told me-- Jenny first:
Our campaign has been running a strong field program, but with 263 precincts spread out over 3200 square miles we need to ensure that we reach as many voters as possible. We have been out knocking doors for a month and calling voters for the past 12 weeks, but we have many more people to reach. We need to send out 20,000 mailers to those people who live in more remote and rural areas, hire 10 additional field canvassers for those areas we can walk so we can talk to people at their homes, and purchase campaign materials including 10,000 more door hangers, 20,000 4x6 handouts highlighting our campaign, 700 yard signs and to support our digital advertising in the district. We expect to have 41,000 people turn out and vote in the primary. We estimate it will take $30,000 to secure the Democratic nomination on May 8th.
Jenny and her team have been running a bold progressive campaign to unseat arch-villain Rep. Virginia Foxx who has turned herself into a virtual rubber stamp for Trump and a terrible representative of North Carolinans. Jenny told us that while she's been out on the campaign trail, she's "talked to thousands of people who tell me that they are struggling to make ends meet and are afraid they are going to lose their health insurance. This coupled with those who just can't afford to use the insurance they pay for is just unconscionable! Rep. Foxx has ignored the needs of the people for far too long. She voted no on raising the minimum wage back in 2007 when it was just $5.85 an hour. She voted to strip healthcare away from millions of people with her vote to repeal the ACA. She just doesn't care about the daily grind the vast majority of us are going through. Our campaign speaks up for those who have been ignored and dismissed. We are here to fight for them." Jenny is eager to take on Foxx but she's got to win the primary against a centrist primary opponent first-- that's the May 8th election. Her opponent is an establishment Dem who doesn't believe in raising the minimum wage beyond $10 per hour, who doesn't support tuition free public colleges and universities and who stated that our public education system is broken and would use her knowledge of the business world to "fix it." In other words, she is all about doing just enough to look like she is on our side, but not enough to actually help our families and our communities. Jenny is committed to raising the wage to $15 an hour and tying it to inflation and fighting for healthcare for all.Dan's turn:
There’s an old adage in politics that "field wins campaigns." That is why this campaign has invested in a robust field program that has been up and running since mid-September. We have three offices open across the 9th District and have made over 125,000 (and counting) contacts thanks to a dedicated base of supporters who have been calling voters, pounding the pavement, and attending countless events since last summer. In the final month of the primary, the money you donate will be spent heavily on our field efforts to mobilize supporters and G(et) O(ut) T(he) V(ote)! By helping us keep our offices running full steam ahead through May 8th, as well as funding direct mail and digital advertising targeted to likely voters, a donation to this campaign is an investment that will help us build a movement here in the heartland.
Throughout this campaign, Dan has been a strong proponent of a guaranteed public jobs program, a national UBI pilot program, and the abolition of ICE. "I am proud to say I am the only candidate in my race discussing these ideas that are crucial to creating jobs, investing in our workforce, and ensuring the dignity of all people. Hoosiers (those of us from Indiana) are tired of the duck-and-cover rhetoric that other campaigns use, and with your help we are going to prove that progressive candidates can take bold stances that offer real solutions for real people."No one is going to be able to accuse Dan Canon of being another garden variety status quo Democrat. He's been on the cutting edge of social and economic issues for far longer than this campaign-- and his campaign has been engaging the folks in Bloomington, Martinsville and Bedford and from the suburbs south of Indianapolis to the suburbs north of Louisville in discussions from marijuana legalization to the impact of automation on job markets.
Recent estimates show 73 million jobs are on the line due to impending automation. These changes could come quickly and shifting labor demands will force many people into new fields.On the high end, more than 54 million people may have to change jobs by 2030 if technology is adopted swiftly. That equates to roughly a third of the total workforce nationwide. What’s more, automation is expected to lead to depressed wages and a drastic reduction of jobs available to people with less than a four-year degree. Almost no industry is exempt from facing these changes and the impact will be massive.Why aren’t more politicians talking about this?First off, there is little political will to change this trend. Tech is sexy. Think about the frenzy of cities competing to be chosen as the next location of huge tech companies’ headquarters. Second, special interest groups donate millions to keep the downside of job automation out of focus while they work to further it and push for ever-greater profits.I am proud to be the only candidate in this race who has worked to offer solutions on this issue. When in Congress, you can expect me to stand tall for workers every day, even when it isn’t a popular position. There are things we can do now to set people up for success in the future.• We can create a guaranteed public jobs program that provides meaningful work to people who are willing and able to take it. Let’s focus this program on rebuilding and improving American infrastructure, energy grids, and rural broadband access for starters.• We can raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour (allowing for regional variance) to help fight against impending wage decreases.• We can invest robustly in career training and transition assistance, including union apprenticeships, technical schools, and public education systems to better prepare workers to move into other fields.• We can pilot a Universal Basic Income (UBI) program to develop a foundation for providing people with basic financial security.The problems of tomorrow demand that we invest in solutions today. We cannot wait even until the next election in 2020. An estimated 5 million jobs could be gone by then.
