Email from Bernie: we all need to support progressives in red states a lot more
A major concern of mine is that the national Democratic Party has essentially turned its back on large parts of this country -- leaving them in the hands of right-wing Republican members of Congress, governors and legislatures. Rather than putting resources into the South and other "red states," they are focusing virtually all of their attention on "battle-ground" states. This is a mistake -- from both a public policy and political perspective.
I feel very strongly that if progressives and Democrats are going to take back the House and protect the Senate in 2014, and become a strong national movement into the future, we need to take our progressive message to all corners of the country, including the South and some very red sates.
Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit with progressives in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. At these meetings, which had great turnouts and a lot of enthusiasm, I met with trade unionists, progressive Democrats, Independents and others to talk about the economic issues facing America. We discussed how we create millions of livable wage jobs, stop cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, make sure our kids have access to an affordable college education, and how we build a progressive movement in the South and throughout the country to challenge Wall Street and the Big Money interests. We also discussed how we can convince white working class voters in the South to stop voting against their own self-interests.
There are some very good people in the South who are working hard to take on the right-wing -- the people who dominate the politics in their states -- and it is time that progressives and Democrats give them a hand. That is exactly what I was doing in the South and what I intend to do through my Leadership PAC, Progressive Voters of America (PVA).
We cannot continue to turn our backs on huge parts of this country which are dominated by right-wing governors and legislatures. We should be educating, organizing and supporting good candidates in every state in the country, and at every level, where working people are struggling to survive economically -- including the deep South. As progressives we must do this in 2014 -- and into the future. Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and other "red" states will never become "battleground" states unless we work with our allies there -- and give them the support they need.
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which are dominated by right-wing governors and legislatures."
The Republicans want to keep us divided. I prefer to join with people like Sen. Sanders who are working hard to unite progressives and strengthen our collective voice in the process.
Thanks for posting this!
