Swordsmyth
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In a significant escalation of her activism-driven approach to politics, Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has urged other progressives to mount primary challenges against some of the more conservative Democratic members of Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez delivered the appeal in a phone call on Saturday with some 700 progressive activists organized by Justice Democrats, the group of alumni of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid.
“Long story short, I need you to run for office,” Ocasio-Cortez began her remarks. “We all need to run at all levels of government, but I really hope that many of you join me here in Congress.”
Justice Democrats recruited Ocasio-Cortez to run and played a key role in her upset of Rep. Joe Crowley, a House power-broker, in New York’s Democratic primary in June. Ocasio-Cortez then easily won the seat Crowley has held since 1999 in this month’s general election.
The group is calling its new campaign #OurTime. The initiative asks Justice Democrats’ army of activists to help identify Democratic House incumbents who are “demographically and ideologically out-of-touch with their districts,” and identify people who might make good primary challengers to them.
Joining Ocasio-Cortez in backing the #OurTime initiative is Rep.-elect Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
Justice Democrats’ inclusion of demographic criteria likely means that even some reliably progressive white Democrats who represent more diverse districts won’t be safe from such challenges in 2020. The group already showcased that approach with its support for Ayanna Pressley, a black Boston city council member who unseated progressive Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) in a primary in September.
“There are some good people who want to push for stuff, but they don’t have the backup right now to do anything big,” said Saikat Chakrabarti, a founder of Justice Democrats who is headed to Washington to serve as Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff. “So we need new leaders, period. We’ve got to primary folks.”
“If we don’t have folks who are mission-focused, and laser-focused on solving these gigantic problems, we just aren’t going to get them solved in time,” he added.
It is highly unusual for a member of Congress to support a massive number of primary challenges targeting party colleagues.
More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-blesses-push-165234319.html
Ocasio-Cortez delivered the appeal in a phone call on Saturday with some 700 progressive activists organized by Justice Democrats, the group of alumni of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid.
“Long story short, I need you to run for office,” Ocasio-Cortez began her remarks. “We all need to run at all levels of government, but I really hope that many of you join me here in Congress.”
Justice Democrats recruited Ocasio-Cortez to run and played a key role in her upset of Rep. Joe Crowley, a House power-broker, in New York’s Democratic primary in June. Ocasio-Cortez then easily won the seat Crowley has held since 1999 in this month’s general election.
The group is calling its new campaign #OurTime. The initiative asks Justice Democrats’ army of activists to help identify Democratic House incumbents who are “demographically and ideologically out-of-touch with their districts,” and identify people who might make good primary challengers to them.
Joining Ocasio-Cortez in backing the #OurTime initiative is Rep.-elect Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
Justice Democrats’ inclusion of demographic criteria likely means that even some reliably progressive white Democrats who represent more diverse districts won’t be safe from such challenges in 2020. The group already showcased that approach with its support for Ayanna Pressley, a black Boston city council member who unseated progressive Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) in a primary in September.
If I made people mad, they could have put me on the dog-walking committee or whatever. They still might. Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)
Ocasio-Cortez and leaders of Justice Democrats say they are driven by a conviction that most current Democratic members of Congress are not up to the task of enacting the radical solutions to address the country’s ― and the planet’s ― most pressing problems. The most urgent of those crises, they said, include climate change, widening economic inequality and persistent racial injustice.
“There are some good people who want to push for stuff, but they don’t have the backup right now to do anything big,” said Saikat Chakrabarti, a founder of Justice Democrats who is headed to Washington to serve as Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff. “So we need new leaders, period. We’ve got to primary folks.”
“If we don’t have folks who are mission-focused, and laser-focused on solving these gigantic problems, we just aren’t going to get them solved in time,” he added.
It is highly unusual for a member of Congress to support a massive number of primary challenges targeting party colleagues.
More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-blesses-push-165234319.html
