Dear Friend -- It's time once again for our Top 10 highlights of the year! We love looking back on how much we accomplished together. As always, we couldn't do it without you. What a year of resistance...and moving forward.
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1. We were first to endorse Elizabeth Warren for President! After running the original "Draft Elizabeth For Warren" campaign in 2011 and coining the phrase "I'm from the Elizabeth Warren wing of American Politics," we were proud to support her on Day One -- exactly one year ago today!
Elizabeth Warren is the most electable Democrat and she consistently wins when voters are asked who would be the president. To defeat a corrupt president, we need someone who provides a clean contrast to Trump -- challenging corporate power, systemic corruption, and a rigged system. Rejecting big-money influence. Fighting for economic freedom and open markets for small businesses, students, farmers, and families. Claiming power for everyday people. That's Elizabeth Warren.
The PCCC is the top-cited surrogate making the case for Warren in the New York Times, Associated Press, Boston Globe, Politico, and Hill TV, and elsewhere. We identified thousands of people who switched to Warren over time at SwitchToWarren.com.
PCCC members across the nation have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars through thousands of grassroots donations to her presidential campaign. We will dream big, fight hard, and win in 2020!
2. We endorsed bold progressive candidates -- the next Squad! For Congress, we endorsed Kara Eastman (NE-2), Jessica Cisneros (TX-28), Morgan Harper (OH-3), Arati Kreibich (NJ-5), JD Scholten (IA-4), Dana Balter (NY-24), and Marie Newman (IL-3). We also endorsed Stephen Smith for Governor of West Virginia. PCCC members made over 9,500 donations so far to their campaigns -- join the momentum today!
Together, we pushed back against the DCCC blacklist of progressive candidates. PCCC Press Secretary Maria Langholtz told Huffington Post that the Squad is "pushing forward the biggest, boldest ideas within the party right now" in Congress -- and we are adding to their ranks!
We also endorsed 80 state and local candidates. Some of our notable primary victories this year included Ali Brown, a champion for mass transit who won her primary for Indianapolis City Council; Debbie Ortega, an affordable housing activist who won re-election to Denver City Council; Corryn Kronnagel, who won her primary for Magisterial District Judge in Morrisville, Pennsylvania; Lloyd Snook, who has successfully argued death penalty cases before the Supreme Court and won his primary for City Council in Charlottesville, Virginia; and Angela Riley, a community advocate who won her primary for City Council in Binghamton, New York. You can read more about all the candidates here on our website.
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3. We trained 1,536 candidates! By popular request, we brought our candidate training program to 10 swing states this year -- Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, and New Hampshire. We trained teachers, nurses, community leaders, moms, dads, students, and others to run for everything from school board to Congress! We proudly partnered with amazing local, state, and national organizations -- everyone from Win Virginia to NARAL to ActBlue.
We also ran 10 training webinars, covering topics from winning endorsements to social media to debate prep. (If you're running for office, sign up for our training and resources here!)
As Erin Rosiello, running for Trustee Hamilton Township in Ohio, said, "I loved this training because it covered all aspects of running a campaign and put it in easy to understand terms." Analise Ortiz, who is running for Arizona state legislature, said, "As a young woman of color, it is easy to constantly doubt yourself and feel like you are not ready. This training helped me put those doubts aside and empower me to know I am more than ready to run and start creating change." Carol Lawrence, who is running for Florida state legislature in district 27, said that the first time she ran, "I crafted my campaign myself. I was a first time candidate running against a third-term, heavily-funded Republican. I earned 45% of the vote. If I had attended this training before I ran, I believe I would have had the tools and resources to win. This training is pure gold." Carol is running again, and we’re excited about her and all our other incredible training alumni.
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4. Medicare for All. The Progressive Change Institue, PCCC's sister organization, spearheaded the most cutting-edge Medicare For All polling to date, showing Medicare For All is popular and remains popular after attacks if our side makes the case. Co-founder Adam Green presented these findings to Congress.
Politico reports: "Pramila Jayapal and about 20 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus attended a Medicare for All closed-door briefing Tuesday. Informed by new polling paid for by the Progressive Change Institute in partnership with Public Citizen and Business for Medicare for All, the session offered strategies to respond to the most common attacks on Medicare for All, particularly that it will result in massive tax hikes and eliminate private insurance...'This polling is really helpful because now we know that we can proceed with confidence,' said Adam Green."
You can view poll results here, listen to our media call here, and read coverage about it in the Washington Post, Reuters, Huffington Post, and Politico.
In 2020, the Progressive Change Institute will do the most cutting-edge polling on the Green New Deal. Make a tax-deductible donation to this work here.
5. 300 candidates used our campaign technology. Adding to our candidate support, over 300 candidates ran their campaigns using our technology this year. Our technology (called "PIES") allows progressive candidates to build and host beautiful, best-practices websites, manage their email lists and donor lists, design postcards and door hangers, and more! Our technology is a huge reason why we're able to give real support to so many campaigns. (If you're running for office, sign up for our training and resources here!)
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6. Organized a Swamp Tour! The Progressive Change Institute partnered with the Revolving Door Project on a Swamp Tour of Washington DC to highlight Trump's wide array of corruption.
We flew in longtime Republican and Independent voters from swing states, put them on a tour bus with reporters, and took them to buildings that represent the most corrupt parts of the Trump administration — from the Trump International Hotel to the Department of Education to the palatial mansions of Steven Mnuchin and Ivanka Trump. We received news coverage from NBC News, VICE, Young Turks, and Cheddar. You can watch the VICE coverage here, and view the website to download fact sheets about Trump administration officials here. You can also make a tax-deductible end-of-year donation to keep this innovative work going!
7. Fighting Big Pharma. We kept up our activism for real prescription drug reform. The Progressive Change Institute partnered with Social Security Works to create the first-ever scorecard to grade Congress on prescription drug issues, which we announced at a press conference at the National Press Club on May 1. (Click here to see remarks from our co-founder Stephanie Taylor, as well as coalition partners Alex Lawson of Social Security Works, and Richard Master and Wendell Potter of Business Initiative for Health Policy.)
The Progressive Change Institute also polled three frontline House districts on a range of prescription drug proposals: IA-04, NH-01, and SC-01. These three swing districts are currently represented by Steve King, a Republican, and Democrats Chris Pappas and Joe Cunningham. All are districts in important early presidential primary states. We polled Republicans, Independents, and Democrats, and the results were shocking (in a good way). We found overwhelming bipartisan support for Medicare drug price negotiation. We even found overwhelming support for the idea that the government should break monopolies on drugs so that other companies can manufacture generic alternatives. (In South Carolina, 71% of Trump voters agreed with this idea!) Stephanie Taylor and Alex Lawson wrote an editorial on the poll results that appeared in AlterNet, Common Dreams, and Salon.
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8. Impeachment! PCCC members helped lay the groundwork for impeachment this year -- funding early polling, running ads that ran during presidential debates, and participating in rallies.
Polling from the Progressive Change Institute in partnership with By The People showed: Not only do a majority support impeachment, but among those who oppose impeachment, 30% only oppose it because they are concerned that it will make it more difficult for Democrats to defeat Trump in November. In other words, as our co-founder Stephanie Taylor told the Washington Post, "Many previous polls show majorities favoring action on impeachment — but our poll reveals that many who supposedly oppose impeachment actually agree with Democrats and are just scared about the politics.”
Our polling was also covered by Roll Call, American Prospect, The Intercept, and Alternet. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee ran ads on impeachment (you can see one here) and partnered with MoveOn, Indivisible and other allies for impeachment rallies.
9. Pushing back on bad definitions of electability. We've pushed back all year on pundits who define electability as old, white, male, and conservative. We're convinced Joe Biden is the least electable Democrat.
In a popular NowThis video, Stephanie Taylor argued that we should define "electable" candidates by how much enthusiasm they generate among voters. "It’s about ideas, energy, and inspiration. And what’s inspiring voters right now? Bold change to improve the lives of millions of Americans." As Adam Green said in The Guardian: "We’re still living in an outsider moment. To defeat Trump, we need someone who is seen as an equal and opposite change agent and who will shake up the system, but do it for real on behalf of regular people and not the special interests." Check him out in Time as well, wearing his #WarrenWing lapel pin at the first Democratic debate, and making clear that progressive ideas "might be on the outside in Washington, but are clearly in the center of where the American people are.”
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10. Stephanie wrote a children's book! Finally, our co-founder Stephanie Taylor wrote a children's book, published by our friends at Strong Arm Press! I Can Change Everything teaches kids their power -- from changing their socks and shoes to changing the world. As Stephanie says, "This is my small contribution to the larger project of empowering the next generation to take on big challenges -- and make the world a better place." You can order the book at your local bookstore or online here. (You can also read Stephanie's Reddit "Ask Me Anything" about it here.)
What a year! We have lots more to do in 2020, like beat Trump and elect a progressive President! But for right now, we're grateful for your activism as a PCCC member. There is a tidal wave of support for progressive ideas in this country -- and it's because of the work we are doing together.
Thank you!
The PCCC Team (Stephanie, Adam, Jackie, Ethan, Keith, Maria, Rachel, Emma, Lilia, Amanda, Kayla, Kenton, Claire, Lizzie, and Kristin)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told PCCC members, "The majority of Americans are with us on the policies. Americans support Medicare for All, expanding Social Security benefits, gun reform, debt-free college, and a $15 minimum wage. Bold progressive values are popular EVERYWHERE. Together, we have the people. Together, with your help, we’ll have the votes." Chip in $3 here.
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