[ The Vermont senator noted that "47% of workers in Georgia make
less than $15 an hour and 71% of voters in Georgia support increasing
the federal minimum wage."] [[link removed]]

DEMOCRATS NEED A WINNING MESSAGE IN GEORGIA. BERNIE SANDERS SAYS
FIGHT FOR $15 MINIMUM WAGE  
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Kenny Stancil
November 10, 2020
Common Dreams
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_ The Vermont senator noted that "47% of workers in Georgia make less
than $15 an hour and 71% of voters in Georgia support increasing the
federal minimum wage." _

"If Democrats take back the Senate," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said
on Monday, November 9, 2020, "we will increase the minimum wage from a
starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to a living wage of at least $15 an
hour.", (Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

 

For Democrats to win both runoff races planned for January 5 in
Georgia and secure a Senate majority, they're going to need a winning
campaign message. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) shared a suggestion on social media: "If
Democrats take back the Senate," he said on Monday afternoon, "we will
increase the minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to a
living wage of at least $15 an hour."

Sanders' tweet implied that vocally fighting for a higher minimum wage
could be the key to victory for candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael
Warnock in Georgia, where 47% of workers
[[link removed]] make
less than $15 an hour and 71% of voters
[[link removed]] support
increasing the federal minimum wage.

As _Common Dreams_ reported 
[[link removed]]last
week, voters in Florida—despite casting roughly 370,000 more
ballots
[[link removed]] for
outgoing President Donald Trump than President-elect Joe
Biden—approved a ballot measure to establish a $15 minimum wage with
support from nearly two-thirds of the state's electorate. 

After Floridians passed a minimum wage increase by a margin of 61% to
39% while Biden lost the state by capturing only 47.8% of the vote
compared to Trump's 51.2%, progressives criticized the Democratic
Party for what some characterized as an inadequate embrace of
progressive positions, ineffective communication, or both. 

After all, critics noted
[[link removed]],
it is Biden, not Trump, who actually supports
[[link removed]] the $15 minimum wage policy
that will give nearly 2.5 million low-income workers in Florida a
much-needed raise. 

With a major potential victory for progressives in sight, Sanders
offered a campaign message for candidates Ossoff and Warnock that
could prevent the Democrats from coming up short in Georgia and
handing Senate control to the Republicans.

His messaging idea, which seeks to excite people about the possibility
of a Democratic-led Senate delivering a minimum wage hike, reflects
his desire to see Ossoff and Warnock champion a living wage policy
that can generate enthusiasm amongst voters and spark a strong turnout
for the special Senate elections in Georgia. 

As_ TIME_ reported
[[link removed]] last week, Atlanta's
above-average turnout among young voters (18-29 years old), and
particularly young Black voters, 90% of whom voted for Biden, was
instrumental in securing victory for the president-elect. If Democrats
are to win a Senate majority, replicating a high turnout of voters who
oppose the GOP's reactionary agenda will be crucial.

Data
[[link removed]] from
Oxfam America and the Economic Policy Institute suggests that strongly
advocating for a living wage, which researchers have pointed out
[[link removed]] would
substantially reduce racial inequality, could propel a high turnout
among working class populations that are electorally significant but
often underrepresented at the polls. 

In Georgia, 69.4% of Hispanic, 59.4% of Black, 41.9% of Asian
American, and 39.9% of white workers make less than $15 an hour.
Furthermore, of the workers in the state who make less than $15 an
hour, 24% are under 25 years old while 36% are between the ages of 25
and 39. 

In other words, Sanders is suggesting that many of the same Atlanta
residents and other people around the state in young and nonwhite
demographic categories who voted overwhelmingly for Biden are probably
more likely to support Ossoff and Warnock in January 2021 if the
candidates' campaigns make it clear that low-income workers in Georgia
stand to benefit from a Democratic Senate majority. 

As _HuffPost_ reported
[[link removed]] last
week, organized labor played a key role in successfully rejecting
Trump at the ballot box in 2020, with union leaders encouraging
members and other working class households, particularly Black and
Hispanic voters in urban areas of swing states, to get to the polls to
support a Biden administration, which organizers said "would protect
their healthcare and do more to raise their wages."

Sanders is now highlighting how a Democratic-led Senate could pass a
$15 minimum wage and advocating for the party to make the case to
Georgians that they'll benefit from helping to defeat the Republican
Party and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. 

_KENNY STANCIL [[link removed]] is
a staff writer for Common Dreams. Follow him on
Twitter: @kenny_stancil [[link removed]]_

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