Socialists Just Showed the Democratic Party How to Win Across the U.S.

[Omaha Steve]

Democratic socialist Seema Singh Perez will be the first Indian-American member of the Knoxville city council. (Facebook/Elect Seema Singh Perez City Council 3rd District)

WEB ONLY / FEATURES » NOVEMBER 8, 2017

Tuesday night’s progressive electoral wave is proof that embracing a bold left agenda is the key to victory.

BY MILES KAMPF-LASSIN

One year ago, a wave of disbelief, gloom and rage washed across the country. A vile orange manifestation of America’s darkest id had won the presidency, Republicans held control of all three branches of government, and new nightmares awaited.

Trump is still president, the GOP still has the House and Senate, and every day we witness new threats to the environment, the social safety net and—with an incoherent man-child’s hands on the nuclear football—the very future of humanity.

But last night we saw a very different kind of wave, one that moves us towards a politics that rejects the horrors of Trumpism—and instead embraces a bold progressive vision for the future. Across the country, candidates running from the Left won—and many of them won big.

Larry Krasner, a civil-rights attorney who has represented activists from Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street, was elected as Philadelphia’s new District Attorney in a 40-point blowout. Krasner ran on a platform of stopping mass incarceration, ending bail and civil asset forfeiture and explicitly renouncing Trump. Following his victory, he told Business Insider, “I think the Democratic Party should be madly wrapping its loving arms around progressives.”

FULL story: http://inthesetimes.com/article/20682/socialists-democrats-larry-krasner-election-2017?link_id=1&can_id=a9cf23302332fb8fa0573509116ae7fe&source=email-socialists-just-showed-the-democratic-party-how-to-win-across-the-us-meet-phillys-new-progressive-da&email_referrer=email_261353&email_subject=socialists-just-showed-the-democratic-party-how-to-win-across-the-us-meet-phillys-new-progressive-da

[Madam45for2923]

1. Is this a new meme? I feel like I missed the memo!

DEMS FTW!

[sheshe2]

20. Here I thought Democrats swept VA. NJ. WA.

Sad they aren't recognized.

[ehrnst]

58. Yeah. Does that mean we're the underdog now?

[sheshe2]

59. Lol

[lapucelle]

32. Both of these winning candidates are actually Democrats who ran as Democrats

with the help and support of their local Democratic parties. There's a whiff of desperation in trying to spin the Democratic Party's sweeping victories into some type of defeat of the party and its platform.

We have a big tent party. We always said it, we always meant it, and the hundreds of victories on November 7 (including 15 by Democrats whose political philosophy leans socialist) proves it.

A better title to the story would be

"Democrats Just Showed the Democratic Party How to Win Across the the U.S".

https://krasnerforda.com/events/

http://www.knoxvilledemocrats.org/candidates

[George II]

48. Exactly, they won as Democrats on Democratic policies. Some want to redefine "Democrats" and....

....and the Democratic Party.

I wonder why some have to take credit away from the party under which these huge victories were won.

[sheshe2]

60. This This This

[Progressive dog]

2. I don't get how progressive and socialist became

synonyms and nobody told the dictionaries.

[David__77]

7. There are socialist and non-socialist progressives.

...

[Progressive dog]

12. So what.

[David__77]

13. Theyre not synonymous.

Draw conclusions, if you wish.

[Progressive dog]

14. I replied to a post that implied they were synonyms.

I'm glad that you agree with me and I apologize for my previous reply.

[Blue_Tires]

3. It didn't help that many of these "socialists" were shitting on "corporate" Northam

But that being said, it's time to move on.....

[Madam45for2923]

5. Did they endorse the Democratic nominee in 2016?

[Blue_Tires]

8. Some did, some didn't...

You want me to name names?

[Madam45for2923]

10. The DSA.

[lapucelle]

54. No. They didnt endorse the Democratic nominee.

[David__77]

9. Some socialists voted for the Democratic candidate and some did not.

There are many socialists who supported and voted for Clinton in the general election.

[Madam45for2923]

11. How about the DSA?

[Demsrule86]

25. Those who did not are REPUBLICANS PERIOD... I vote for the person with a 'D' next to his/her name.

[George II]

49. Excellent point - but Northam won, so now (in some minds) he's "ours".

[SandyZ]

4. I perused the article and found nothing outstanding that the Democratic Leadership and base does not

stand for. There was little to no discussion on political positions. Only ownership of all victory with Democratic wins last week.

A note: I posted this on the same article, but I did not see it anywhere. There must be another posting, so copy/paste reply.

[NCTraveler]

6. .

[Madam45for2923]

15. Hmmm, about that source?

[KTM]

17. What about it ??!??

Do tell, whats your issue with the source ?

"In 1976, author and historian James Weinstein founded In These Times with the mission to "identify and clarify the struggles against corporate power now multiplying in American society....

Weinstein (1926-2005) was joined in establishing this independent magazine of news, culture and opinion by noted intellectuals Daniel Ellsberg, E.P. Thompson, Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, Julian Bond and Herbert Marcuse, all of whom were among the original sponsors of the magazine (see full list of founding sponsors below).

In These Times has frequently scooped the mainstream media on stories ranging from the first coverage of global warming and extensive investigative reporting on the Iran Contra scandal in the '80s to early in-depth coverage of the genocide in the Sudan in 2004. Such reporting has earned In These Times more Project Censored awards than any other magazine.

Over the last 28 years, In These Times has distinguished itself by producing high-quality journalism that treats women, communities of color, working people and other groups ignored by the mainstream media as legitimate audiences, sources and subjects for the news.

The late Sen. Paul Wellstone, one of the first subscribers to In These Times, put it this way: "Meaningful democracy cannot survive without the free flow of information, even (or especially) when that information threatens the privileged and the powerful. At a time of growing media concentration, In These Times is an invaluable source of news and information that the corporate media would too often prefer to ignore."

Oooooooh.... sounds suspicious !

[Madam45for2923]

18. I guess when it comes to DEMS they are just not feeling it!

Saw lots of neoliberalism this & that. You know all that charming talk.

[KTM]

19. Spell it out....

Im sorry, maybe Wellstone just wasnt your kind of Democrat....

Be honest - Can you point to ANYTHING about the source that calls it into question, other than the fact that they support DSA ?

[Demsrule86]

26. Yes, in the past they have attacked Democrats and the party.

[Omaha Steve]

55. Links please

[Demsrule86]

64. It is right on your link...

http://inthesetimes.com/features/left_organizing_donald_trump_zack_exley.html

[Omaha Steve]

66. Zack Exley is a former senior advisor with the Bernie Sanders campaign

So you not agreeing with him is expected.

OS

[Hekate]

16. Candidates who don't embrace the (D) after their name and the Democratic Platform...

...are not going to win Democratic elections.

Claiming we just had a Socialist sweep is disingenuous at best.

[sheshe2]

61. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[brooklynite]

21. You'd have an argument if any of them were Socialists...

...if they're not proposing to have the community control the means of production, they're not socialists (perhaps Social Democrats), no matter what they call themselves.

[Omaha Steve]

23. We have public water and electric power

85% of our city has a 20% lower cost for natural gas because they have a public utility. We have to pay more so Black Hills can pay its dividend etc: (Dividends Our annual dividends have increased every year since 1971: https://www.blackhillscorp.com/investor-relations/shareowner-services)

80% of Nebraska has public electric power from NPPD. Next year our city electricity from OPPD will be 40% green renewable and the nuclear plant is now closed.

We belong to two credit unions.

We prefer union labor and products etc.

I like the Democratic Socialist way including Social Security and healthcare.

OS

[Demsrule86]

27. You have screwed women with abortion bills from hell which Mello helped to pass...some progressive.

You voted for pipelines...you have a great deal of work to do. I would think you need to concentrate on your state.

"Nebraska Presidential Election Voting History. Nebraska entered the Union in March 1867, 13 years after it became a territory under the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the first state admitted after the end of the Civil War. The state is strongly Republican in presidential elections – it last voted Democratic in 1964."

[Omaha Steve]

31. Obama got an electoral vote in 08 from Omaha....look it up

I never voted for Mello. But his opponent for mayor was worse.

What vote for a pipeline? The pipeline decision is coming Monday. You jumped the gun.

Nebraska Public Service Commission will deliver decision on Keystone XL pipeline next Monday: http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/nebraska-public-service-commission-will-deliver-decision-on-keystone-xl/article_e6d07636-8416-5993-b3c7-9aa3bafc5108.html

[Demsrule86]

52. one vote? It is still a deep red state...hasn't gone Dem since 1964.

[Omaha Steve]

53. We only have 5 votes as a State

How many do you have?

[sheshe2]

22. .

[Blue_true]

24. Stop this nonsense.

There are many Democrats with views that social Democracy is the best economic system. Please stop dividing Democrats. DEMOCRATS WON LAST TUESDAY.

[Demsrule86]

28. Oh, "Democrats' won across the state ...there fixed it.

[JustAnotherGen]

29. In a local Democratic Party Meeting Sunday

(Trying to ID a Mayoral and Council Candidate for 2018) -

We had a different assessment . . .

Running against Red State "ideals and people", pro business, pro prosperity, and embracing the "others" helped us secure two council seats, maintain an Assembly seat and a red Assembly seat blue.

The best thing to happen for our State and Federal very Red legislative district was that tax bill.

We will win in this now purple district of NJ by terrify people that. . .

They are going to take what little is look left of your 80K a year for your family of four in NJ and give it to undeserving drug addicts in Appalachia.

I repeat - one national message in 2018 will not work.

You in the Red States need to give those of us in Districts Clinton won but a Republican Congressman won - room to be cruel.

The message of the DA in Philly won't work in rural NJ. The message in TN won't work either.

That family of four is paying 2K a month for a half house.That doesn't include gas, water, electric and they don't have access to public transportation.

[GaryCnf]

30. I'll concede the headline is hyperbolic

BUT

It appears those who now wail the loudest are the exact same people who either outright claimed or passive aggressively insinuated that last Tuesday was a repudiation of leftist politics (apparently based entirely on Northam winning in Virginia after Pierriello and Fairfax both fought tooth and nail for him even after the former was trashed by Bernie haters and the latter's face disappeared from Northam campaign literature the moment it looked like white voters were slipping away).

[FSogol]

38. You are right that the headline is hyperbolic, but your post exaggerates even more.

Tom Perriello wasn't bashed by Bernie haters. Sanders didn't have much support in VA. Most Virginians like Perriello, but he doesn't have as good as a track record in statewide elections and didn't get much support in the primary. Northam is completing a term as Lt Gov and has much better name recognition in the Democratic strongholds (No VA, the Exburbs, Norfolk, Newport news, and Richmond).

Perriello was a help during the campaign, much like Obama and Biden, but "fighting tooth and nail"? He appeared at a couple of events and recorded a robo-call in his district. Hardly, tooth and nail.

Btw nothing Perriello's record shows he is more liberal that Northam. Both have a mixed record on Democratic issues. Sanders' support was more of a contrarian, "there must be something wrong with elected officials" than anything the candidate's records show.

Also untrue is the statement Justin Fairfax's "face disappeared from Northam campaign literature the moment it looked like white voters were slipping away." Total BS.

About 6 weeks before election day, an environmental group paid for a mailing, but only supported Northam and Herring since Fairfax didn't take a position on their issue (I forget whether it was offshore drilling or the NG pipeline). GOP ratfucker Michael Steele and Bierbart attempted to use this issue to strip off black voters from Northam and depress turnout. Fairfax ran on and didn't care about the issue. Fairfax's face and name appeared on all party literature that I saw and they had joint appearances all over the state including rural areas. The extremely likable Fairfax, at age 38, is a rising star. He'll be governor one day.

[GaryCnf]

41. Are you including

folks like Quentin James over at Collective PAC in your definition of "ratfuckers?" "Total BS" you say? "It was just Breitbart" you say? Go ahead, keep talking. Keep minimizing complaints from the black community. Keep on thinking that pandering to suburban whites wins elections.

Republicans will thank you for it, just like they thanked our establishment for handing them Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016 by doing the same thing.

[FSogol]

44. The black community turned out big for Northam. Northam with Fairfax toured the entire state.

They didn't just target white suburbs (that statement tells me you know little of VA. The suburbs are very racially diverse in VA thanks to proximity to DC and because of the tech corridor.) I work on many campaigns around the state and no one has ever mentioned Collective PAC. I do thank them for the support of some great candidates.

[GaryCnf]

47. Because we always do

Because we care more about our party than who gets credits for the wins.

Suburban Virginia diversity?

Obviously there are examples both ways, but that is a pretty bold statement given that Vienna (which is pure suburb with no historically black area of town, as opposed to, say, Alexandria, which does have a historically black population) is only 3.2% black and Virginia has a higher wealth gap between blacks and whites than neighboring Maryland.

Apart from those points, your post speaks volumes.

[stonecutter357]

33. #fakenews.

[ismnotwasm]

34. .

[Pugster]

35. Go ahead, enlighten Northam

He would love to know.

[kcr]

36. Great post, Omaha Steve.

It was a great day. It's nice to have hope again.

[NurseJackie]

37. LOL

[GaryCnf]

39. The fact is that last Tuesday

Showed us what happens when we unite, rather than exclude.

Without Tom and Justin not just sticking with Northam, but sticking HARD with him, Northam's "brilliant" strategy of pacifying white suburbanites by hiding Fairfax under a bushel basket and throwing undocumented immigrants under the bus, would have rendered the same results as it has given us nationally ever since 1992 AND the same results we got when Bernie-haters threw Bernie-backed candidates under the bus in Kansas and Montana.

We won on Tuesday because, in races like the Virginia gubernatorial election, we on the outside of the establishment responded to the voices saying "We don't need you" to immigrants, to blacks, and to working people by saying, "Our country and our state needs us." We won in races like the DA's race in Philly because we responded to voices saying "Are you really going to vote for someone who stands by the freeway blockers over at BLM and those criminals we got off the street by being tough on crime" by saying "Our country and our community needs us."

Now the naysayers will tell us that we only came together because the enemy is so horrible and that we will splinter again as soon as the threat is removed. I say, I don't care. The fact is we came together. Democrats in general finally followed example from those of us who vote 90% for Democrats year after year and put aside whether a candidate was left or right, black or white, male or female, straight, gay, or transgender and for once thought less about our bruised feelings than the common good. We came together in polling place from Virginia, to Georgia, to Philadelphia, to the Midwest, to the West Coast.

We came together everywhere but at DU.

[FSogol]

40. You are the only one saying the Northam campaign said "we don't need you" to anyone.

Your analysis on the Northam campaign is full of so many holes and mistakes it must be intentional. It is not backed by evidence.



https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029841462

[GaryCnf]

42. Repeating the same centrist talking ponts doesn't make them true. n/t

[FSogol]

45. Labeling everyone who disagrees with you a centrist doesn't make it true.

[GaryCnf]

51. Conceded

Can't really argue with that.

[NCTraveler]

43. Eye opening that people don't even know what a socialist is.

Very inaccurate headline. Then again, it's that way for a reason. Fake news.

First socialist I have seen that takes an entrenched capitalist approach to solve most problems.

[George II]

46. No, NOT a "Democratic socialist", as though that's a new party, but a Democrat who also is...

....a socialist.

Big difference.

[ismnotwasm]

50. JPR angst.

[sheshe2]

62. ;)

[Omaha Steve]

63. Why not mention the "fool on the hill" group while your at it

Many well known DUers belong to it too. Acts like JPR for certain minded D's!

OS

[lame54]

56. And then there's Alabama

[mcar]

57. Democrats showed how to win last week

There, fixed it for you.