This morning I read that despite the DCCC ignoring the Rob Quist congressional race in Montana, Bernie says he's willing to go campaign for him there. Remember, although Montanans went for Trump over Hillary last november Bernie won Montana 274,120 (56.5%) to 174,521 (36.0%), Sanders won the Montana primary 51.1% to 44.6% and his brand of progressive populism is still very popular in the state. Our Revolution has already endorsed Quist.Bernie will be visiting 9 states with new DNC chairman Tom Perez after Easter. He said that Quist is "a very strong candidate who stands up for working people, understands that we need a government that represents all of us and not the one percent. So if we can be of help to Quist, happy to do that as well... The idea that we have a major political party today, which has essentially given up on half of the country is beyond absurd. It is pathetic, because many of those states are some of the states in the most economic distress."Our Revolution listed 15 planks in Quist's platform that make him a candidate worth supporting:
• Protecting ranchers and farmers that receive the lowest prices for their grain and stock.• Supporting legislation that will streamline student lending and cap interest rates for student loans at no more than 3%. Further, Quist will support additional programs which expand opportunities to forgive student debt with a two year service commitment to AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.• Supporting veterans with top quality health care and job training.• Believes everyone should love and marry whom they choose regardless of their orientation.• Supporting women's right to choose without exception.• Believes unions have been decimated to the point that a once robust middle class is now fading away, and that unions balance industry to ensure a safe workplace and a livable wage.• Will fight for teachers, who are underpaid and overworked, and to expand programs teaching life skills such as finance, the importance of good credit, job interview skills and resume building, personal health and nutrition and expanded citizenry and community volunteer work.• Supports wind and solar power energy.• As a small business owner, Quist supports simplifying and streamlining the tax code so that it works for everyone.• Believes public lands must be protected for future generations.• Supports tribal sovereignty and the right of self determination for all native peoples.• Supports development of new sustainable logging practices to protect our forests and preserve jobs.• Believes Social Security and Medicare is not an “entitlement”, but a necessity for many Montanans and must be protected.• Stands with “Montanans who have spent their lives becoming resourceful to survive in a system that has, in many ways, become geared against them.”• Supports preserving the arts in our education system.
Our Revolution has also endorsed James Thompson, the Democrat running for the open seat Mike Pompeo gave up in Kansas' 4th district (Wichita). That election is tomorrow! Jon Ossoff's in GA-06 is two weeks from tomorrow. Beto O'Rouke is running for the Texas Senate seat held by Ted Cruz. He doesn't take PAC money-- one of only 6 members of Congress who doesn't-- so he's getting an early start and is out talking to Texas voters across the state, including in areas the Democratic Party has written off.The Democratic Party is helping Ossoff-- and that's a good thing-- but the party is ignoring Montana and Kansas and hoping for a more corporate-oriented candidate in Texas. Blue America started a new ActBlue Page today that isn't as "purist" as our normal endorsement pages are. This page is about fighting tooth and nail to save America from the existential dangers of very real Trumpist tyranny. We're not going to be adding any Blue Dogs or Republican-lite candidates but we're relaxing the strict standards that measure every candidate against models like Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, Alan Grayson, Barbara Lee and Pramila Jayapal. For this page we just want good Democrats who are campaigning on Democratic values and who have a reasonable chance to help in the movement towards slowing down and stopping Trump.We're starting with 3 House candidates and one Senate candidate-- all good good, solid Democrats with good policy positions that fit their districts. On May 2, there will be a primary to pick a Democrat in the race to fill the seat right-wing extremist Mick Mulvaney abandoned to become the Trump Regime's OMB head. (The actual election is June 20.) The 3 Democrats in the primary race are military veterans Alexis Frank and Les Murphy and Goldman Sachs veteran Archie Parnell. This is the toughest of the 4 House races for the Democrats and we're holding off on this one until after the primary. This is the FlipCongress thermometer that will take you to the ActBlue page: