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*People Power* Beat Big Money in Chicago - Lessons for Progressives
People Power Beat Big Money in Chicago
Rahm Emanuel, with his $30 million war chest, may have been the headline in the build-up to Chicago's municipal election, but the real story in Chicago on Tuesday happened in neighborhoods.
Here are the top lessons for populist progressives across the country:
Lesson 1: People power can beat big money.
Big-monied interests spent $8,168,898 to try and re-elect the Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the aldermen that routinely rubber stamp his agenda. Even flush with all that cash to spend on mailers and TV ads, they failed to defeat a single sitting progressive alderman....
Lesson 2: Organizing works.
When neighbors talk to neighbors, progressives win. Reclaim Chicago volunteers put in more than 4,980 hours and reached out to 58,773 voters over the last four months. These volunteers didn't just give voters a canned pitch on the candidates. They started by asking voters what issues they cared about....
Lesson 3: Progressives with a bold platform can win.
....Each and every Reclaim Chicago candidate pledged: "With your support and agitation, I will fight for our shared vision." Then they ran on that vision, and won.
Lesson 4: A new candidate pipeline is in motion.
Coming out of the 2014 midterms, progressive populists bemoaned the tepid and unambitious agenda of many Democratic candidates. The good news is that a new pipeline of candidates is being built -- candidates who will stand up to abusive corporations and fight for racial and gender justice....
*****************
...A new movement to put everyday people first is rising across the country.
Cynics said Rahm and his cronies on the City Council could not be beat.
Plutocrats spent millions trying to make sure they were right.
A group of dedicated grassroots activists just proved that they were wrong.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-goehl/people-power-beat-big-mon_b_6764394.html
Rahm Emanuel, with his $30 million war chest, may have been the headline in the build-up to Chicago's municipal election, but the real story in Chicago on Tuesday happened in neighborhoods.
Here are the top lessons for populist progressives across the country:
Lesson 1: People power can beat big money.
Big-monied interests spent $8,168,898 to try and re-elect the Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the aldermen that routinely rubber stamp his agenda. Even flush with all that cash to spend on mailers and TV ads, they failed to defeat a single sitting progressive alderman....
Lesson 2: Organizing works.
When neighbors talk to neighbors, progressives win. Reclaim Chicago volunteers put in more than 4,980 hours and reached out to 58,773 voters over the last four months. These volunteers didn't just give voters a canned pitch on the candidates. They started by asking voters what issues they cared about....
Lesson 3: Progressives with a bold platform can win.
....Each and every Reclaim Chicago candidate pledged: "With your support and agitation, I will fight for our shared vision." Then they ran on that vision, and won.
Lesson 4: A new candidate pipeline is in motion.
Coming out of the 2014 midterms, progressive populists bemoaned the tepid and unambitious agenda of many Democratic candidates. The good news is that a new pipeline of candidates is being built -- candidates who will stand up to abusive corporations and fight for racial and gender justice....
*****************
...A new movement to put everyday people first is rising across the country.
Cynics said Rahm and his cronies on the City Council could not be beat.
Plutocrats spent millions trying to make sure they were right.
A group of dedicated grassroots activists just proved that they were wrong.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-goehl/people-power-beat-big-mon_b_6764394.html
If we organize like Chicago, all across the country, we can bring Democrats back to being Democrats!!!
I love this story. Thank you Chicago Progressives!!!
(Xposted in GD.)
2 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Great deal! 
