Florida has an especially bad congressional delegation-- but this is the bottom rungEarlier today I blamed voters, particularly Bernie voters, for not paying attention to primary races for Congress, for skipping the vote on down-ballot candidates altogether or for even blundering into voting for atrocious Blue Dogs and New Dem
Tuesday 7 of the most progressive members of Congress-- Barbara Lee (D-CA), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ),Mark Pocan (D-WI), Mike Honda (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), all members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus-- published an open letter to all the presidential candidates, from progressive Bernie Sanders to conservatives John Kasich, Hillary Clinton, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz and even fringe lunatic Don Trump, urgin
Matt Cartwright moved the grassroots progressive agenda forward yesterdayHillary won all 5 states last Tuesday, although, it's still really too close to call in Missouri, 310.602 to 309,071, a bit over 1,500 votes separating them. Each has been awarded 32 delegates. Illinois was also close... 68 delegates for Hillary and 67 delegates for Bernie. Even Ohio, which was a much bigger win for her, the delegate count was 79 for the establishment and 62 for Bernie. The two Confederate states, of course, were much more strongly in Clinton territory.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus has between 70 and 80 members. It was started in 1991 by Bernie Sanders (I-VT) along with Ron Dellums (D-CA), Lane Evans (D-IL), Tom Andrews (D-ME), Pete DeFazio (D-OR) and Maxine Waters (D-CA). Members still in Congress now who were the very first to join up were Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and-- believe it or not-- Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Bernie was elected chairman.
by Gaius PubliusThanks to the Democratic primary, there's been a lot of discussion on the left about the benefits and ills of ACA, the Obamacare public health law, versus single-payer and "Medicare For All," which Bernie Sanders is advocating. Clinton is a strong defender of the ACA and a strong, if disingenuous, critic of Sanders' Medicare For All.
Wednesday the Congressional Progressive Caucus elected-- mostly reelected-- it's caucus officers. With no opposition, Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) were again voted caucus co-chairs and Barbara Lee (D-CA) was reelected whip. Freshman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) was made a vice chair/liaison to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Matt Cartright was also named a vice chair/liaison for new members.
Not everybody studies the records of politicians asking for their votes. I do. But for many people, at least some of the time, it's pretty much essential to consider what a trusted organization recommends. When I see the DCCC has jumped in strong for a candidate, it always makes me reticent and makes me wonder what's wrong with the candidate. Are they weak on core progressive values? Are they prone to taking orders from the top? Are they prone towards corruption?
Last year, Honolulu City Councilman Stanley Chang wrote a guest post for us explaining why he wants to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus. This week, in their first round of 2014 endorsements, the CPC endorsed Chang, who's in a crowded 9-way August 9th primary for the seat New Dem Colleen Hanabusa is giving up. Stanley's opponents are, first and foremost transactional careerists rather than principled, values-driven leaders.
We've been talking about the race in MA-05 to replace Ed Markey for some time now. It's just a month away and there are 7 Democrats running. Six of them are garden variety Dems and one, state Rep. Carl Sciortino, is a proven, dedicated progressive leader, which is why we endorsed him-- and why progressive organizations from People for the American Way, Progressive Mass and Mass Equality to the Human Rights Campaign and Grey2kUSA have also endorsed him. This week-- starting today-- we're launching a fundraising drive to help Carl pay to run his amazing TV ad (up top).
