SANDERS AND OCASIO-CORTEZ WENT TO WAR WITH PARTISANSHIP IN KANSAS

[DKW 86 7,440]

 

Quote

 

BERNIE SANDERS AND ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ WENT TO WAR WITH PARTISANSHIP IN KANSAS

Though the first of two rallies held Friday was ostensibly in support of James Thompson, a candidate for Kansas’s 4th Congressional District, the gestalt of the day’s remarks was something bigger than any one race. The speeches — particularly Sanders’s — announced a unifying theme that felt too coherent to have been thrown together for a House primary or two. Individually, the remarks were compelling. Together, they comprised an unabashed declaration of post-partisan movement building — a rebuke to those in power who fetishize every identity-based division in order to diffuse the largest coalition in the country: the working class.

Backed by groups like Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Thompson and Brent Welder — for whom Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders campaigned in Kansas City later in the day — are competing to represent their state’s 4th and 3rd Congressional Districts, respectively. Welder is a former labor lawyer who one poll put seven points ahead of the Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder. But he still has to win a six-way primary battle, in which EMILY’s List has recently thrown substantial funds — $400,000 from its super PAC— behind Sharice Davids — a Native American lesbian former Obama fellow who represents inspiring diversity, but who has taken comparatively moderate positions on single-payer and a prospective repeal of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts. Welder, a senior adviser to Sanders in 2016, is running in a district which Hillary Clinton won in the last general election.

If Davids is more moderate than Welder, Tom Niermann, a teacher at a prestigious private school in the area, is the unabashed centrist in the race, and he recently picked up the endorsement of a prominent Republican in the state. The contest between Davids and Welder could create an opening for Niermann to slip through the primary.

His near-win is evidence, to some, that Sanders’s platform is as pragmatic as it is progressive.

If Welder represents the best pickup opportunity for House Democrats, Thompson is an even better opportunity to prove the Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez case. Thompson is looking to fill the Wichita seat — home of Koch Industries — once held by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Thompson made waves last year when he came close to defeating Republican Ron Estes in a special election in a solidly red district, falling seven points short ahead of this year’s rematch. A civil rights attorney with no prior electoral experience, his near-win is evidence, to some, that Sanders’s platform is as pragmatic as it is progressive. “They say we should be more centrist,” Thompson said to supportive boos before arguing that if Kansans wanted a moderate, or a “Republican-lite,” they would’ve voted for Clinton in 2016.

 

2

 

[homersapien 11,447]

Very interesting piece.  A reason for hope.

Thought this part was good:

"Establishment Democrats tend to see registering new voters as the path toward victory in 2020, often referencing demographic trends that anticipate growing numbers of non-white Americans who historically vote for Democrats in disproportionate numbers. They also look to those who sat out of the 2016 election altogether. But rarely is there critical attention paid to why voters chose to stay at home. And this is important given that disproportionate numbers of oft-vaunted black voters opted out in 2016.

Yes, Republicans have restricted the franchise, but two critical reasons Americans abstained in 2016 were: 1) they didn’t like the candidates or campaign issues, and 2) they didn’t feel like voting would make a difference — both factors that could be cured by a popular independent candidate like Sanders, who speaks out boldly against the “rigged economy” and a “corrupt campaign finance system.” Ocasio-Cortez won her race by turning out voters who hadn’t been expected to vote in a midterm primary."

[DKW 86 7,440]

4 hours ago, homersapien said:

Very interesting piece.  A reason for hope.

Thought this part was good:

"Establishment Democrats tend to see registering new voters as the path toward victory in 2020, often referencing demographic trends that anticipate growing numbers of non-white Americans who historically vote for Democrats in disproportionate numbers. They also look to those who sat out of the 2016 election altogether. But rarely is there critical attention paid to why voters chose to stay at home. And this is important given that disproportionate numbers of oft-vaunted black voters opted out in 2016.

Yes, Republicans have restricted the franchise, but two critical reasons Americans abstained in 2016 were: 1) they didn’t like the candidates or campaign issues, and 2) they didn’t feel like voting would make a difference — both factors that could be cured by a popular independent candidate like Sanders, who speaks out boldly against the “rigged economy” and a “corrupt campaign finance system.” Ocasio-Cortez won her race by turning out voters who hadn’t been expected to vote in a midterm primary."

Maybe there is hope for you yet. 

[homersapien 11,447]

11 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

Maybe there is hope for you yet. 

You too, as long as you start paying more attention instead of immediately indulging your fixations.