On May 1 I started a petition urging MoveOn to back Bernie Sanders.
MoveOn should back Bernie
Some of you have signed it, many haven't. However, to date 811 people have signed it. That's more than I ever expected since my resources are meager.
I have stayed up nights wracking my brain about how to promote this petition. I have sent emails to friends and family and influential people who I thought might sign it and promote it. You may have seen my comments in diaries about Bernie Sanders where I have plugged the petition.
Maybe you have seen it on Facebook, where I have promoted it in the comments on relevant articles. I have done this on Bernie’s own pages and a number of others. Some good soul promoted it on Thom Hartman’s forums. It may even be somewhere on Twitter and Reddit. I mention these different ways to promote the petition to help stimulate you to come up with your own good ideas. Bernie can use your creativity right now.
Maybe, like me, you have volunteered for his campaign. Well, so have about 175,000 others, so it might be a while before the campaign contacts you and asks you to do something. Bernie can use your help right now, and this is a good way to jump into his campaign.
Some of you who haven't signed the petition might wonder why I bother. Well, I first heard about Bernie Sanders while he was mayor of Burlington, VT. He seemed to be a very unusual politician. First, he called himself a socialist in a conservative rural state. More importantly, he has consistently stood up for the interests of working and middle class people throughout his 35 years in politics.
When he ran for Congress and the Senate, I began donating to his campaigns, although I couldn't vote for him. I have made a first contribution to his presidential campaign and have signed up as a volunteer.
To get an idea of what he has to say, you might want to read this "executive summary" article:
Why everyone including middle class Republicans needs to listen to Bernie Sanders
If you are still interested, you might want to read his
Agenda for America - 12 Steps Forward
I think that most of you are probably in agreement with most of what he proposes, but are convinced that he could never get elected, so why bother? You might be right, except for one very important factor.
Many Americans have reached a stage where they are "as mad as hell and not going to take it anymore." That's what the Tea Party is mostly about. That's what Occupy is about. Many voters, and non-voters too, are rapidly moving to the "left." That's why you keep hearing about "progressive" politicians. That's why so many middle-of-the-road Democratic politicians are suddenly proclaiming how "progressive" they are. You have probably noticed that Hillary Clinton, whose entire political career has been smack in the middle of the road, is running as fast as she can to the left, trying to keep up with the electorate. There is something of a traffic jam on the Road to Damascus.
Many people are looking for Sanders' pragmatic, progressive solutions to their problems. I think that there is a small but significant chance that Bernie Sanders can win the presidency. He can attract many regular voters from both parties, including working class white men, whom the Democratic Party abandoned long ago.
It may not seem obvious, but many Tea Party members are really progressives who haven't yet realized it. They see what's wrong, but they have been led off in the wrong direction. Many, when they hear Sanders and see his program, will want to vote for him.
Nearly half the eligible voters don't even bother to vote because neither party addresses their concerns. When they hear from Sanders, though, they could very well decide that voting is worthwhile. Together, these groups may be large enough to put Sanders in office. I think the chances of this are good enough to make an effort to get him elected
Also, Sanders has consistently confounded the pundits who claimed that he couldn't get elected because he ran as an independent, because he's a socialist or too radical. The pundits have been wrong twenty times.
That's why I'm asking you to sign the petition and to pass it along to others. If MoveOn puts its talent and energy at Bernie Sanders' disposal, instead of continuing the futile effort to draft Elizabeth Warren, we could increase dramatically Sanders' chance of winning. The earlier MoveOn moves on, the greater will be their impact.
On Sunday, at the point that I had about 200 petition signers, MoveOn contacted me and said, "We're thinking about highlighting your petition on our website or maybe even emailing it to some of our other members." I think that means that perhaps they are beginning to realize that the Warren effort has run its course and that they may be ready to switch to Sanders. If that is so, your help on this petition drive could be critical.
To clarify how MoveOn operates and why this petition might be critical to changing their policy, consider this: MoveOn decided to start the draft Warren campaign after polling the membership on what they wanted to do about 2016. Warren polled highest among potential candidates to support, while Sanders polled second. Now that Sanders is in and Warren isn’t going to get in, MoveOn should be looking for another project. If enough people petition them to support Sanders, they might just run another poll among the members. My bet is that Sanders would come out on top.
Move on has tremendous resources, talent and energy. That is clear from the way they have managed the Warren campaign. They also have 8 million members to mobilize.
So, give it a shot.
Here's the link again:
MoveOn should back Bernie
Please use it and pass it along to others. This could just be the turning point in American life that I think we all agree must come. Let's do our best to make sure it does.
Thanks and best wishes to all of you.
Unclejohn
PS: There are now 827 signers, up from 811 when I started writing this diary. Hurry and sign while there are still place. ;-)