Bernie’s Army Is Running for Congress

[UglyGreed]

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.

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.

Signal

The greatest gift that Sanders—the longtime independent—has given to the Democratic Party is inspiring a progressive revolution from within.

DAVID DAYEN

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.

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

[99th_Monkey]

1. K&R nt

[Le Taz Hot]

2. There are a couple of facebook pages

that are listing Bernie supporters running for office. I've got to get to work but I'll try to remember to find them later. REALLY good resource for people to support. One of them is running for Pelosi's seat but he may be a Third Party -- I'm not sure. Gotta run.

[silvershadow]

6. Ok. Don't forget. I'd love to see them. :) nt

[Le Taz Hot]

25. OK, got em!

There are 2 Facebook pages:

Bernie Democrats Running for Office:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1657426927846516/?__mref=message_bubble

and

Elect Bernie Thinkers:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/berniethinkers/?__mref=message_bubble

[nxylas]

37. Both closed groups

I can understand why they would want to protect themselves from spammers and trolls, but there needs to be a public website, preferably with an interactive map, where anybody can go and find Bernie Democrats running for office where they are.

[Le Taz Hot]

38. Well, perhaps you can do a search

and report back to DU. That would be of great help.

[Dems to Win]

3. Excellent!

[WillyT]

4. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[UglyGreed]

8. My pleasure Willy

and thanks for the help when I was on "vacation"

[SheenaR]

5. No no

I read on DU that Bernie was hurting potential progressives down the ticket. Certainly he wouldn't be inspiring them, correct?

[UglyGreed]

7. Yeah I read that myself

With the support Bernie has received with younger voters I would say the path to the right this country has taking the last thirty years is about to end.

[Amimnoch]

9. K&R!

If we can get enough actual progressives into Congress that will make Bernies vision a possible reality, He's damn well got my vote, and any other support I could throw.

Congress is where it HAS to happen first!

[UglyGreed]

10. Thanks for the

K&R

[Marty McGraw]

11. ^^That!!^^ ('-')

[one_voice]

29. +1 This is what I've been saying too!

Congress is where it HAS to happen first!

Nothing is happening without that.

Playing devils advocate here, how friendly do you think a conservative congress is going to be to someone that's talking about 'free' (that's what they'll hear) education & healthcare. Raising taxes.

It's a valid concern for either of our candidates. I think WE need to get our asses working for our congress just as much as for the White House. Just my .02

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511123350#post12

[handmade34]

36. absolutely

if Bernie supporters can get the votes in Congress then possibilities abound... without them, not much

[Ferd Berfel]

12. Bernie will have long coat tails ! Get on Board the train be rollin.

[Nanjeanne]

13. I've donated to many of their campaigns

They are our future

[LongTomH]

14. K&R For Bernie!

Here in Missouri, my friend Gary Winston Apple wants to run for lieutenant governor.

[farleftlib]

15. Big K&R

Love it! Thanks.

[AZ Progressive]

16. THIS should be the greatest result from Bernie's candidacy! Bernie needs an army to infiltrate

congress and the Democratic party.

[Uncle Joe]

17. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, UglyGreed.

[NoMoreRepugs]

18. K&R long overdue - Progressive enthusiasm

[JDPriestly]

19. K&R and bookmarked. Interesting candidates.

Flores is already on her way. I want to learn more about her. She is from California.

[OilemFirchen]

20. Lovely.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, Ohio has a real chance to unseat Rob Portman (R) with the venerable Ted Strickland (D). The polling is close, but, thus far, continues to show Strickland with a narrow lead.

However, per the standards of some of Ohio's "Bernie Army" he's not sufficiently pure, and they're primarying him with Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld. Though he hasn't a remote chance of defeating Strickland, Sittenfeld has built a modest cadre of supporters and the backing of a SuperPAC -both of which aim to create an unnecessary rift within the Democratic Party.

The real risk, of course, is that Sittenfeld may opt to run a third-party campaign and siphon off enough votes to hand the election to Portman. Certainly, if Clinton is the nominee and the Berniacs seek to "punish" the party by both withholding their Presidential vote and supporting the down-ticket Sanders stand-in, we're well and truly fucked.

Unlike the teabaggers, the left wing contrarians don't have Armey's billions to create a potent movement . They do, however, have just enough clout to prevent a Democratic takeover of the Senate.

There is a greater good at stake, despite the idealistic notions of some anti-establishment leftists (and conservative ratfuckers). Does the "Bernie Army" understand the consequences?

[cascadiance]

24. As I noted in this thread, we should check if Ron Wyden's primary challenger is pro-Bernie....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1280105604

It sounds like the basis of his campaign is being against Wyden's work on the TPP, which is a good start.

Now, I'm not sure he can win like a Peter DeFazio might in this race, but if he could at least put a lot of pressure on Wyden for his support for TPP and Fastrack, and now his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, that might be a good message to send too that decent Democrats need him to revisit some of his recent work to be more for the core progressive parts of his party.

[OilemFirchen]

26. Is it worth it?

Does the clear risk of replacing a reliable Democratic Senator with a Republican over one issue (and the audacity to support Clinton) accomplish the goals of the Sanders "revolution"? Will Wyden's Republican benefactor advance the left's agendas?

Do what you feel is right. Count me out, thank you.

[zentrum]

21. He said it was a movement!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. No more of this!!!

[SoapBox]

23. Vote, Vote, Vote!

What else is there to say...GOTV!

[Odin2005]

27. How long before DWS throws them under the bus in favor of the Republicans...

...like she did in Florida?

[Betty Karlson]

33. Step one is to select an unelectable corporate democrat.

The bus will come in handy if step one fails.

[DanTex]

28. This is good. I've always felt that the Bernie movement should start by winning some

seats in the senate and some governorships. Start at the grassroots. If there were more democratic socialists elected around the country, the presidency would be a more plausible objective. Maybe in 8 years, someone like Bernie would be a viable presidential candidate.

[JonLeibowitz]

30. I think that's why he is running. He has even admitted as much

The only way you get the ideas you want talked about is by running for president. Simply being a viable candidate is a significant bully pulpit.

Many of us understand he may be too far left this time around, but that's entirely a problem of perception. When Warren runs in 2020 (no, Hillary cannot beat the Republicans imo) she'll seem like a perfectly acceptable mainstream candidate. In fact that's one of the major reasons why I support Sanders.

Of course, his being elected would be nice too.

[Omaha Steve]

31. DU Act Blue links for several of them

Democratic Underground for Tom Fiegen for US Senate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4tom-fiegen


Democratic Underground for Tim Canova FL-23: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4timcanova


DU for MoveOn: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4moveon


DU 4 Keith Ellison MN-05: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4keithellison


DU for Rep. Raul Grijalva AZ-03: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4repgrijalvaaz-03


DU for DFA: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4dfa


DU for David Sparks OH-43: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4davidsparks-oh-43


DU for John Fetterman US Senate PA: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4johnfetterman-us-senate-pa

[Betty Karlson]

32. Oh yes: but I'm hoping for Sanders' coattails to land his army on some of those seats.

[Enthusiast]

34. Kicked and recommended!

Thank you, UglyGreed!

[eridani]

35. Good. No revolution without supporters running for office n/t