John,
I know it’s a holiday, but I’m writing because we’re announcing something really important we’ve been working on, and I wanted you to hear first:
This week, we’re kicking off a democratic process to decide whether Sunrise should make a 2020 Presidential endorsement—and if so, who we should endorse! As a supporter of the movement, we wanted to make sure you know about our process, why we’re initiating it, and who is eligible to vote. Whatever choice we make, we want to make sure our supporters know how we made and that the leaders of our movement are behind it.
With that in mind, I want to take the time here to explain exactly how our endorsement process will work. This email is gonna be a little longer than usual, so hang in there!
We’ve already had a dramatic impact on the 2020 Presidential election. Together with our allies, we’ve already made all major Democratic candidates: sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge, release comprehensive climate plans in the shape and vision of the Green New Deal, and push action on the climate crisis to be a top priority in the race for the first time.
But we’re initiating this process now because we know that the 2020 Presidential election could be the most important of our lives, and we want to make sure that we leave all options for how we engage with this race on the table. This election could determine whether we have a government that’s ready to set the Green New Deal into motion and stop this crisis—or that will keep us on the same disastrous path we’re on now. With such high stakes, we need to consider every tool available to us to make sure we start 2021 on the right path.
Our endorsement process will have three phases: education, discussion, and voting.
First, our national political team will share educational materials about the different candidates and their positions as well as how an endorsement would shift our movement strategy, so that everyone in the movement can get informed about the choices available to us.
Next, we’ll organize spaces for conversation across the movement, where our members can discuss and debate the different candidates and their policies, as well as the basic decision of whether to endorse. Sunrisers will have these conversations locally with their hubs, and nationally through an online discussion forum as well as Sunrise’s monthly State of the Movement call for members of the movement.
Finally, once all our members have had a chance to think through the options, we’ll hold an online vote. Sunrise members will have the chance to vote on two questions: Should we endorse? And if yes, who should we endorse? Because we want our Presidential endorsement to be something that grows the movement, not fractures it, we are requiring 2/3rds approval (66%) on the question of whether to endorse for an endorsement to occur. If that threshold is reached, we will tally the results of the vote, and if any candidate wins at least 50% of the vote, we will endorse that candidate.
Once the votes are in, we’ll announce the results by early January. If we don’t endorse a candidate in January, our national Political Team may call a vote again in February or March should we determine that political dynamics in the Presidential race merit re-visiting the decision.
You can read about the full process, including more detail how voting will work and who will be eligible to vote, here.
As we move toward the possibility of making a Democratic primary endorsement, there’s one thing we want to make clear: Our movement knows that, if we want the federal government to take any kind of action on climate in 2021, we have to defeat Trump. So if we do endorse a candidate for President, and that candidate doesn’t win the nomination, we won’t get stuck. No matter what happens, we will unite our movement behind the Democratic nominee to defeat Trump and his fossil fuel cronies at the ballot box in November—because millions of lives and the places we call home depend upon it.
Thanks for being a part of this moment in history with us. I can’t wait to see where we’ll go.
Varshini Prakash
