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Friends -
Last night, Donald Trump won the Iowa Caucus, putting the most dangerous president in American history one step closer to returning to the White House.
Now, I don't have to tell you what this election is all about: it will determine whether our country continues as a democracy or whether we move aggressively down the path of authoritarianism and oligarchy.
But what you may not know is that our political revolution has a very important role to play in determining the outcome.
If you already know and understand we have important work ahead, I am asking you to make a contribution to help me get that done:
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Otherwise, let me explain a little more about the difficult and complicated political situation which we are confronting.
We have all seen poll after poll showing Donald Trump has an excellent chance of being re-elected next November.
But when you dig deeper into the numbers you see Joe Biden struggling with groups that we have historically done very well with and who have been part of our coalition - young voters, working people, and people of color.
Frankly, these voters are not happy with some of what the president and his administration have done - or has not done. I get that. And I, personally, don’t disagree. There are a number of ares where the Administration’s response has been inadequate or dead wrong. But, sitting out this election or even voting for Trump is definitely not the answer. That leads to catastrophe.
So, what do we do?
First, we make it very clear to the president and Democrats everywhere that if they want to win this election they must have the guts to stand up to powerful special interests and campaign on progressive principles. Millions of working families are hurting, and they must respond to that pain. Further, we expect Joe Biden's second term to be far more progressive than his first.
During the campaign our job will be to aggressively educate and organize at the grassroots level around our progressive agenda. The American people are deeply unhappy with the economic and political status quo. They want change, real change. That means we must roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of reaching new people.
But our work must not stop with the presidential race.
As we speak, parts of the Democratic Corporate Establishment are spending a huge amount of money trying to defeat strong, progressive members of Congress, including a number of women of color.
One group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has pledged to spend $100 million to defeat progressives members of Congress like Ilan Omar, Cori Bush, Rashida Tlaib, and other allies of ours in Congress.
What this super PAC is doing is outrageous and speaks to the corruption of our political system. When we talk about billionaires and big money buying elections, this is exactly what we are talking about. This is the Oligarchy at work. These big money interests will do and spend whatever it takes to try to stop our progressive movement and maintain the inequalities and injustices that exist. We must fight back, and with your help we will.
So there it is. A lot of important work ahead of us. And not to scare you, but nothing less than the very future of our country and our democracy is on the line.
Now, you know that since our presidential campaign I have rarely asked directly for contributions, but today I am once again asking for your financial support:
Can I count on you to make a contribution of $27, or whatever you can afford today, to help fund our work to defeat Donald Trump and elect progressive members of Congress? Can I count on you to help us make Joe Biden's second term more progressive than his first.
CONTRIBUTE: [link removed]
There is an enormous amount of important work to be done. Let’s go forward together and do it.
Thank you for all you've done — and will do — to fight for a government that works for all of our people, not just the 1%.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
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