An inside look at our inside strategy.
Hi John,
I’m writing to tell you about the major work we’re doing to transform
politics and the Party. The DNC is holding its first full meeting of the
year this weekend, and Our Revolution is ready: mobilizing the growing
block of progressive members to ban dark money from primaries and win
other vital reforms.
[ [link removed] ]Dark money groups are gearing up to fight back, and we need your help.
Join Our Revolution's Transform the Party team by clicking here to commit
$5 a month to fund this critical work!
While Republicans now control the U.S. House, we’re not slowing our
efforts to transform U.S. politics. This includes building progressive
majorities in state-level parties and changing internal rules to ban dark
money in primaries.
The most dramatic gains over the past year can be seen in the growth of
the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). After the 2022 midterms,
thanks to organizing by Our Revolution and our allies, the caucus now
claims an all-time high of 103 members — nearly half of all House
Democrats.
[ [link removed] ]Our Revolution has made significant progress, but with corporate
Democrats having access to unlimited big money, we need to keep pushing.
Can I count on you to donate just $5 a month to become an official member
of our Transform the Party team?
Internal CPC rules reform has helped discipline and unify the caucus as a
bloc to counterbalance the power of corporate Democrats. Along with such
policy wins as including $1,400 stimulus checks and expanded unemployment
benefits in 2021's American Rescue Plan, the CPC has helped shape the
Democrats' national priorities under the leadership of Rep. Pramila
Jayapal.
Party reform is also growing at the state level. Thanks in part to Our
Revolution's organizing, 20 states now have progressive reformers serving
in top elected leadership positions, and often as party chairs. As a
result, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) now boasts its largest
progressive faction in decades.
Progressives won big in Party elections last weekend with my union sister
Yolanda Bejarano winning a contested race to become the new Chair of the
Arizona Democratic Party — and our candidates swept 10/10 executive board
seats!
State party elections will be held this month in California, Washington,
and Iowa, — and progressives are expected to do well. State parties can
adopt their own platforms and rules for nominating candidates.
Collectively, they can have a major impact on the orientation of the
national party and its rules, including party positions on key issues as
well as the presidential nominating process.
This year, DNC reformers (including myself) have again submitted a
resolution banning dark money in Democratic primaries. (We unsuccessfully
submitted a similar resolution in 2022.) The DNC and Democratic state
parties around the country also have extensive rules relating to the
nominating process, which provide many opportunities to block dark and
dirty money.
Independent expenditures targeting progressive candidates in Democratic
primaries skyrocketed in 2022, part of a broader campaign to trounce
challengers in the party. For example, millions of dollars were spent to
defeat Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) in a paid media blizzard which helped
lead to his loss to corporate Democrat Haley Stevens.
Similarly, progressive challengers like Nina Turner in Ohio and Jessica
Cisneros in Texas fell short after facing massive expenditures for paid
media designed to terrify the public and increase turnout from
unaffiliated (and even Republican) voters.
One of the leading culprits behind this dark money effort was Sam
Bankman-Fried, CEO of crypto firm FTX, who is now facing a long prison
sentence for illegally using billions of dollars of customer deposits. His
expenses included nearly $40 million in contributions to national
Democratic organizations and independent expenditures to elevate corporate
candidates in their primaries.
[ [link removed] ]Getting this corrupt corporate cash out of primaries is critical if we
want to elect grassroots challengers running for office. Join our
Transform the Party Team with a donation of $5 a month to help us take on
big money!
What happens inside the Democratic Party and inside party caucuses of
elected Democrats is frequently ignored by progressives, who are generally
more comfortable protesting and working solely outside the party. Of
course, protest is essential, and new party-building is fine.
But for those of us who believe we must fight in every possible way to
advance progressive issues and win real power, we ignore party reform at
our peril, even as we demand broader electoral reforms, such as fusion and
ranked-choice voting, proportional representation, and more.
[ [link removed] ]It's the rules and not just the rulers that determine much of our
political success. Our Revolution is leading this fight for fair rules,
and you can join us as an official member of our Party Transformation Team
by pitching in $5 a month!
When we organize, we win.
Larry Cohen
Board Chair
Our Revolution
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Our Revolution is the largest entirely grassroots funded progressive
group in America.
[ [link removed] ]Help us defend democracy and take the fight directly to the
establishment by committing as a 2023 Movement Builder with a recurring
donation of just $10 or more a month!
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