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Too many on the left say progressives should not be focusing on the Russian interference in our democracy. They say it is just an excuse to allow the failure of Clinton and Democratic leadership to offer the public good policies that help people instead of just helping corporations and the rich slide. Some even say it is just old 1950s-style red-baiting.

Criticism of Russia is not related to previous pre-1990s criticisms of communism or socialism. Russia is not that. Today it is a kletocracy run by one guy and a bunch of oligarchs, sort of the perfect Koch/Thiel/Trump/corporate state that Republicans are trying to bring about here.

They Did It

The Trump campaign did do this and the Republican Party is running cover for it, just so they can continue to loot us with tax cuts for the rich and taking away the things our government does to make our lives better.

Its better for progressives if the spectrum of power goes from the left to centrist Dems, instead of from centrist Dems to the far right as it does now. Using Russia to get lots of Rs out of power and move that spectrum left only helps us obtain an environment in which Medicare-for-All, free college and university, allowing everyone to vote, restoring taxation and regulation on corporations, breaking up monopolies, bringing racial and gender justice, ending privatization, finally fighting climate change and all the other things needed to heal the country and planet are possible to achieve.

We need the public to understand that conservative/Republican/corporate rule is anti-democracy and not legitimate. Focusing on Russia helps us get there.

The Russia Story Isnt Going Away

Its not like the Russia story is going to drop from the news, allowing other things to be discussed. So ride the wave instead of fighting the tide.

The Russia story actually gives us an opportunity to talk about good policies instead of policies that hurt the country, by tying that discussion to Russian efforts to hurt us. All the talk about Russia gives us the opportunity to tie Republican anti-government policies to the ways Russia hoped to benefit from their interference in our democracy. Russia helped put them there in an effort to hurt the country and Republican policies hurt the country.

The Russia story delegitimizes Republicans by exposing their lack of legitimacy. (Along with voter suppression, gerrymandering and other ways they are not legitimately in power.) The more they and their policies are delegitimized the more progressive policies fill the vacuum.

Note how Medicare-for-All is being widely discussed, even while the Russia story dominates.

All the talk about Russian interference in democracy offers us a chance to remind people of what democracy means. erference in our democracy.

. Bookmark the

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Excerpt from:
Progressives Should Focus On Russia - Seeing the Forest

Progressives dial up pressure on Republican moderates over Senate health bill Sacramento Bee Moderate Republican senators who opposed the original Obamacare replacement bill will face increased pressure from health care advocates to hold the line next week in a possible vote on the revised legislation. Republican senators who are on the fence ... and more »

Original post:
Progressives dial up pressure on Republican moderates over Senate health bill - Sacramento Bee

By KRIS CRAIG

In the aftermath of the Democratic National Committee unapologetically rigging its primaries against progressive Bernie Sanders supporters in 2016, a growing number of progressives and young voters are choosing to leave the Democratic Party, citing what they describe as irreparable corruption.

Many others, however, believe the best way to fight back is to effect a hostile takeover of the party from within. The fact that we have these competing views is not a problem.

What is a problem, however, is the prevailing assumption among both factions that these two strategies are mutually exclusive. I dont believe that they are.

Proponents of an internal revolution within the Democratic Party, led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, will tell you that the two-party duopoly makes any effort to run for higher office outside one of the two major parties virtually impossible. Instead, theyre focusing on taking over the party at the local levels and launching primary challenges against the establishment-supported incumbents. These are sound ideas, though detractors are quick to point out that they do have flaws.

Progressives who have decided to kick the Democrats to the curb argue that fighting for equal representation within a party that has already demonstrated that its willing to violate even its own rules in order to prevent that from happening is a futile endeavor. After all, if too many people are voting for the candidate that party leaders dont like, they can always just prevent people from voting again by altering their party affiliations in closed primary states without their consent like they did in 2016.

Thats in addition to the corporate media already declaring the establishment candidate the winner before a single vote is cast. These folks, often identified by the #DemExit label, mostly believe that starting a new party or joining an existing third party is the only answer.

Therein lies the problem, according to many Berniecrats. While theres a consensus among #DemExit supporters that its time for progressives and young people to leave the Democratic Party, nobody can seem to agree on exactly where we should all go from there. In our severely outdated first-past-the-post voting system, scattering votes across many different candidates and parties essentially guarantees that your movement will have little to no representation.

Both of these factions make valid arguments, which has led to a lot of debate and disagreement. Unfortunately, this also has resulted in a growing amount of animosity and division among progressives.

In some cases, Ive even seen outright in-fighting where each group accuses the other of not being progressive and/or trying to sabotage the movement. This needs to stop as it accomplishes nothing and plays right into the hands of those in the political establishment who would like to see us remain marginalized and ignored.

So which strategy do I think is best? Thats simple: Both. Theres no reason why we cant fight to take over the Democratic Party from within while also putting pressure on them in the form of outside challenges, especially if the two factions coordinate their efforts.

For example, Berniecrats who manage to gain enough control at the state level can push the states to adopt ranked choice instant-runoff voting, which would mean that independent and third-party candidates would no longer be at a disadvantage because lesser-evilism would no longer apply. Everyone could vote for whom they want without having to worry about helping the Boogey Man du jour win.

This will enable the #DemExit faction to start really making gains, diminishing the power and resources of the two major parties as they lose seats all across the country. That, in turn, should weaken the neoliberal party establishment enough for the Berniecrats to finally succeed in claiming the Democratic Party as their own.

The blueprint to our success lies in mutual cooperation, not converting everyone to the same way of thinking. People who want to leave the party should do so, while those who choose to remain should not be discouraged.

Instead of focusing on trying to convince the other side that your way is better, try to think of how you could use the benefits of your way to help them with what theyre trying to accomplish. Diversity of perspectives is not a weakness.

It is perhaps our greatest strength. So lets use it and work together toward our common goals.

Kris Craig is a software engineer from College Place, Wash., who is active in progressive politics. He served as both precinct captain and local delegate for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders during the primaries.

Read the original here:
Kris Craig: Berniecrats and #DemExit progressives must work together - WatertownDailyTimes.com

To the editor:

I echo the sentiment of a previous letter-writer who called out The Sun Chronicle for being more a cheerleader for progressives than a purveyor of fair and balanced journalism.

Ive seen many changes in this newspaper over the decades, a few of them good. I would like to see more changes, that I think would give your publication broader appeal.

Well, maybe it might appeal to conservatives, if we count for anything.

Try some conservative columnists. Sure, Massachusetts is a progressive commonwealth, but Id guess 20-30 percent, maybe more, of us are conservatives. Throw us the occasional bone with columns from folks like Star Parker, a black conservative woman, or Michelle Malkin, or, heaven forbid, Ann Coulter. Or how about R. Emmett Tyrrell, Charles Krauthammer, or George Will? How about a Black conservative male columnist, like Ken Blackwell?

We conservatives are a diverse bunch. The way I see it, while liberals are always preaching diversity youre not referring to a diversity of ideas that depart from the progressive agenda in any way. How about it? Is The Sun Chronicle up for the challenge?

Sincerely,

Henry V. Soldat

Norton

More:
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Sun Chronicle is a cheerleader for progressives - The Sun Chronicle

Democrats risk losing election after election if they focus too much on winning back white blue-collar voters from PresidentTrump, according to progressives worried that young minorities are abandoning the party.

We are not going to get back to national majorities again without these voters, said Cornell Belcher, the top pollster who worked on both for former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaTrump aims to use UN climate fund for coal plants: report Trump will ask Supreme Court to block judge's order on travel ban Axelrod: 'Implausible' POTUS didn't know about Trump Jr. meeting MOREs campaigns.

Belcher recently conducted focus groupsin Florida and Wisconsinfor theCivic Engagement Fund that point to the problems Democrats have with millennials of color. The group, founded by progressive leader Andrea Hailey, analyzes data from past elections to increase voter engagement.

Research conducted by the Brookings Institution shows that millennials will be the largest voting bloc in the U.S.by 2020. As of 2015, 44.2 percent of millennials are people of color.

You're damn right, I don't have any loyalty to Democrats, one participant in the Florida focus group said. If Republicans want to get real about shit that's happening in my community, I would vote for every one of them. Thenmaybe Democrats would take usserious too.

The Civic Engagement Funds work found that a number of black and Hispanic millennials either voted for a third-party candidate last year or stayed home.

In the focus group conducted by Belcher, millennials said they had no regrets about electing Trump through their actions.

Though they hold strong negative views of Trump and feel his presidency is an embarrassment, these voters do not regret voting third party or choosing not to vote in the 2016 election, the Civic Engagement Fund wrote in their report, provided to The Hill.

They view their decision as an effective means to shake up the system in 2016 and in future elections.

To win the voters over, theCivic Engagement Fund says Democrats shouldembrace issuesthat it says would appeal to young progressives.

In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonRussian lawyer who met with Trump Jr. was in touch with top Russian prosecutor Kushner scheduled to address congressional interns next week Artist fills a giant snow globe with Hillary Clintons unused election night confetti MORE did about as well as 2004 Democratic nominee John KerryJohn KerryWhite House says US-Russia cyber unit would not share intel 2 years in, Iran nuclear deal needs a healthy dose of transparency Progressives: Dems at risk of perennial election defeat MORE with black and Hispanic voters, but fell well short of Obamas numbers.

She won 88 percent of the black vote compared to just 8 percent for Trump. In 2012, Obama won 93 percent of the black vote compared to 6 percentfor Republican Mitt Romney.

In 2008, Obama won 95 percent of the black vote.

Clinton won 66 percent of the Hispanic vote compared to 28 percent for Trump. That compares to 71 percent for Obama in 2012 and 27 percent for Romney.

The drop in support from Obama could have cost Clinton, who won the popular vote over Trumpby 2.9 million votes, in key states.

In Milwaukee County in Wisconsin, Wayne County in Michigan and Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania, Clinton failed to turn out as many black voters as Obama. She lost all three states, the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so in decades.

The third-party vote also hurt Clinton, and the Civic Engagement Fund argues that an important number of those voters are millennials of color.

Belcher pointed to statistics thatshow that 8 percent of black voters ages 1829 voted for someone other than Clinton and Trump, while 6 percent of Hispanic voters of the same age group voted for someone other than the two candidates. In 2012, just 1 percent of black voters in that age group and 3 percent of Hispanic voters in that age group voted for third-party candidates.

Their breakaway cost Hillary the election, Belcher said.

In Florida, where Trump beat Clinton 48.6 percent to 47.4 percent, 3 percentofvoters backed a third party.

In Wisconsin and Michigan, 5percent backed a third party.

Its not about what Donald TrumpDonald TrumpRoger Stone says House testimony is delayed Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr. was in touch with top Russian prosecutor Foxs Shep Smith on Trump Jr. meeting: Mind-boggling deception MORE did, Belcher said, making the point that Trump matched Romneys numbers in 2012. Its what she failed to do.

Belcher and others argue that its not just a matter of a natural drop in black voter support for Democrats with Obama, the nation's first black president, off the ballot.

Clemmie Harris, a visiting assistant professor of political science at Syracuse University who specializes in African-American studies, said he warned Kerry of the dangers for Democrats12 years ago.

He argued that the message Democrats used for past generations of minority voters might not work for millennial minorities.

I stated that the Democratic Party will likely continue to fail in its desire to attract younger generations of blackvoters because its strategies for outreach to the African-American community were based on a civil rights era paradigm, Harris said.

I pointed to the party's continued reliance on traditional modalities of black leadership from the baby boomer generation rather than build a new brand that would point towards the future by cultivating a new post-civil rights generation of African American leaders.

The pressure from progressives comes as other Democrats say the party must do more to win back white working-class voters from Trump who rolled up figures across the country that surprised members of both parties.

The tensions within the Democratic Party over these issues can be seen everywhere from Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersMajor progressive group endorses Martha McSally challenger OPINION | Sanders triumphs over Trump in healthcare's battle of ideas Progressives: Dems at risk of perennial election defeat MOREs (I-Vt.) rise in power to the debate over whether Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) should stay on as the Democratic leader in the House.

It is important for the Democrats to regain their standing with working-class voters, but not at the expense of other core constituencies like African-Americans or immigrants. That would be a huge mistake, said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. If the Democrats treat this as a zero-sum game, they will further hurt their coalition rather than strengthening and growing it.

Former aides to Clintonacknowledged that they could have done more in the campaign to win over young black and Hispanic voters.

There were a lot of levels of engagement, but ultimately I don't think we did enough,said one former Clinton campaign aide who dealt with millennial outreach.And I dont think we did a good job in creating a message that resonated with everyone.

An aide at the DemocraticParty also acknowledged the party's lack of focus on the key demographic."They're right. No doubt. And the numbers bear out."

Democratic National CommitteePolitical Director Amanda BrownLierman took it a step further.

It's not enough to show up at a black church or a historic black college every fourth October," she said. We want to be a presence every month, every year.

Brown Lierman said the party has taken steps to improving upon grassroots efforts in all 50 states andpromoting "the values we share"including healthcare, jobs and education as well as "pushing back against this administration's assault on civil rights.

Focusing on young voters can be a risky business.

Millennials are less likely to go to the polls than senior citizens. During the 2012 presidential election, 72 percent of Americans 65 and older cast their ballots, while only 41 percent of those 1824voted.

Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist, says the party needs to make a more concerted effort to get these voters to the polls.

Weve been looking for shortcuts when it comes to campaigning, Simmons said. Much of the focus is spent trying to turn out middle of the road, right-leaning swing voters and I think the balance is wrong. Were overloaded on swing voters but were under-resourced on base color persuasion.

Simmons isnt alone in that assessment.

Rep.EmanuelCleaver (D-Mo.) said in an interview that he and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus were sounding the alarm bells to the Democratic National Committee throughout the 2016 cycle and well before that to not just focus on persuading right-leaning voters.

Every member of the CBC was preaching that sermon for a decade, Cleaver said, adding that they were dismissed by the DNC because of polling, even while experts were saying the opposite.

Cleaver said ultimately, the millennials of color were not inspired.

That was not an inspirational election that we went through. It doesn't mean we lost them, he said. We just have to do more to get them active again."

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Progressives: Dems at risk of perennial election defeat - The Hill