Latest news with #post-Sanders
Politico
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Bernie Sanders partners with Run for Something to train candidates
Bernie Sanders, who has been calling for progressives to run for office on his 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour, is putting more organizational muscle behind his appeal. The Vermont senator is teaming up with the liberal group Run for Something and other outside organizations to provide support to potential candidates, according to plans shared first with POLITICO. The effort, if successful, could help push the party at least incrementally in Sanders' direction. And it is almost certain to draw the ire of some Democrats, as Sanders and some of his allies help both Democrats and independents run for office. More than 5,000 people have signed up with Sanders' operation to explore campaigns, his team said. 'We want to make sure that we're not just going into these spaces and holding rallies and disappearing, and we're not just asking people to run for office,' said Jeremy Slevin, a top Sanders adviser. 'We're giving them the tools they need to actually do it.' Sanders has long encouraged people to run for office, but some progressives in his orbit have complained in the past that he hasn't done enough to prepare those in his movement for a post-Sanders future. Sanders, who is 83, appears to be attempting to burnish that part of his legacy, including by touring the country recently with younger progressives and populists such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.). 'It is really exciting to see Bernie model bringing in a new generation of leaders for all other older Democrats,' said Amanda Litman, president of Run for Something. She argued that 'it is not enough to just be at the front — you got to build power that sticks behind you.' Sanders sent an email to his supporters recruiting candidates and held a Zoom call with people who are eyeing a run. Potential contenders 40 and under are being connected with Run for Something, which focuses on younger candidates, while others are working with the organizations Contest Every Race and National Democratic Training Committee, Sanders' team said. Slevin said the groups will provide candidates 'with resources and trainings of how to file, how to hire a staff, how to set fundraising deadlines and comms goals — basically, how to run a campaign.' Sanders has openly encouraged both Democrats and left-leaning independents to run for office, and a questionnaire from his team asked potential candidates which of the two they consider themselves. Litman said that all candidates in her organization's pipeline, regardless of party, have access to resources. Run for Something currently endorses Democratic candidates only. But she said that the group is weighing changing that to include independents, as a growing number of Democrats and liberal strategists consider whether shedding the party label could help some candidates in battleground and red states. 'We're considering it because there's certainly some places where it might be a more valuable way to move forward,' said Litman. 'I actually don't know where we'll land.'
Boston Globe
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
As the left looks to 2028, it waits on Ocasio-Cortez's big decision
Interviews with nearly 20 progressive Democrats about the left wing's future revealed a faction that sees the ideas Sanders has championed — reducing the power of billionaires, increasing the minimum wage, focusing more on the plight of workers — as core to the next generation of mainstream Democratic politics. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Although there is little agreement about who will emerge to guide progressives into a post-Sanders era, virtually everyone interviewed said there was one clear leader for the job: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Advertisement And it just so happened that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez spent three days last week on a 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour through Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado. In Denver, they drew 34,000 people, what Sanders aides said was the largest crowd of his career. Neither has so much as obliquely referred to the torch-passing nature of their trip, and in an interview, Sanders declined to answer questions about whether Ocasio-Cortez, 35, would inherit his mantle. But the subtext of their travels appears clear. She is what's next — if she wants it. 'Alexandria has been doing an extraordinary job in the House,' Sanders said. 'You can't sit back. You can't wallow in despair. You've got to stand up, fight back and get involved in every way that you can. There's nobody I know who can do that better than Alexandria.' Ocasio-Cortez, who declined an interview request, has said nothing publicly about her political plans. Several people who said they had spoken with her relayed that she was far from making any decisions. Advertisement But the fourth-term member of Congress has three clear options. She could focus on the House, where she has become a well-liked and respected member of the Democratic caucus, and try to become a committee chair if Democrats win back a majority in next year's midterm elections. She could run for the seat now held by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader. Or she could seek the presidency in 2028. (Ocasio-Cortez has also mused about dropping out of politics altogether, the people who had spoken with her said. This seems less likely, given her lengthy admonition Thursday to a crowd in North Las Vegas, Nev., to stay involved in the fight against the Trump administration.) Her evident frustration with Schumer after he greenlit the passage of a Republican spending bill this month heated up the long-simmering conversation about whether she might run for his seat in 2028, whether he seeks a sixth term or not. A person who has worked with Ocasio-Cortez on campaigns, and who insisted on anonymity to discuss private outreach, recounted being inundated with calls from Democrats — and not just those on the far left — after Schumer's vote, asking about Ocasio-Cortez's future and encouraging her to consider higher office. The question of who could assume the Sanders mantle — at least in part — is all but certain to come to a head in the next presidential election. In some ways, the jockeying is already evident. 'I don't think there's going to be, in my view, a standard-bearer or two standard-bearers or three standard-bearers for the progressive movement,' said Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, who has had conversations to game out a potential 2028 presidential campaign of his own. 'We're going to see the beginning of a new progressive era where we're going to see successive progressive nominees.' Advertisement Of course, there are deep divides in the party over how far to the left Democrats should go. But some also argue that the tensions in today's Democratic Party no longer center on the kinds of ideological clashes that characterized the 2020 primary race — left versus moderate and litmus tests on issues like single-payer health care. At least for now, these Democrats say, the debates concern how and where to draw the line against President Trump and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. Several mainstream Democrats, including Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois, himself a billionaire, have drawn attention from progressive activists because of their vigorous pushback toward the Trump administration. 'The biggest split amongst Democrats is between those who want to stand and fight and those that want to play dead,' said Representative Greg Casar, Democrat of Texas, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 'We need more leaders from the stand-and-fight wing of the Democratic Party.' This article originally appeared in
Boston Globe
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Democrats are waiting on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's big decision
Interviews with nearly 20 progressive Democrats about the left wing's future revealed a faction that sees the ideas Sanders has championed -- reducing the power of billionaires, increasing the minimum wage, focusing more on the plight of workers -- as core to the next generation of mainstream Democratic politics. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement Although there is little agreement about who will emerge to guide progressives into a post-Sanders era, virtually everyone interviewed said there was one clear leader for the job: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. And it just so happened that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez spent three days last week on a 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour through Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. In Denver, they drew 34,000 people, what Sanders aides said was the largest crowd of his career. Neither has so much as obliquely referred to the torch-passing nature of their trip, and in an interview, Sanders declined to answer questions about whether Ocasio-Cortez, 35, would inherit his mantle. But the subtext of their travels appears clear. She is what's next -- if she wants it. 'Alexandria has been doing an extraordinary job in the House,' Sanders said. 'You can't sit back. You can't wallow in despair. You've got to stand up, fight back and get involved in every way that you can. There's nobody I know who can do that better than Alexandria.' Ocasio-Cortez's Three Options Ocasio-Cortez, who declined an interview request, has said nothing publicly about her political plans. Several people who said they had spoken with her relayed that she was far from making any decisions. Advertisement But the fourth-term member of Congress has three clear options. She could focus on the House, where she has become a well-liked and respected member of the Democratic caucus, and try to become a committee chair if Democrats win back a majority in next year's midterm elections. She could run for the seat now held by Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader. Or she could seek the presidency in 2028. (Ocasio-Cortez has also mused about dropping out of politics altogether, the people who had spoken with her said. This seems less likely, given her lengthy admonition Thursday to a crowd in North Las Vegas, Nevada, to stay involved in the fight against the Trump administration.) Her evident frustration with Schumer after he greenlit the passage of a Republican spending bill this month heated up the long-simmering conversation about whether she might run for his seat in 2028, whether he seeks a sixth term or not. A person who has worked with Ocasio-Cortez on campaigns, and who insisted on anonymity to discuss private outreach, recounted being inundated with calls from Democrats -- and not just those on the far left -- after Schumer's vote, asking about Ocasio-Cortez's future and encouraging her to consider higher office. Senator Bernie Sanders, in Denver on Friday. Chet Strange/Getty 'She's not looking to jump to the next thing or the next thing or the next thing, just for the simple reason of jumping to that thing,' said former Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, a political ally and friend of Ocasio-Cortez's. 'When everyone is saying, 'Speed up,' that's actually the time to slow down.' Advertisement He added: 'You got to take a breath. That race for the U.S. Senate is three years away. Let's govern for a little bit.' Ocasio-Cortez has also had extensive conversations with House allies such as Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who said he had spoken with her about his own deliberations over whether to run for the Senate. Before last year's election, Raskin decided to remain in the House, passing on a Senate race in which he would have been a heavy favorite. Related : The Senate provides a larger megaphone for politicians, Raskin said, but he believes they can accomplish more of their policy goals in the House, a prospect that may appeal to Ocasio-Cortez -- who hardly needs a larger megaphone. 'We are in a moment of crisis, and a crisis is always a moment when new leadership surfaces to speak to the moral and political imperatives of the time,' Raskin said. 'This crisis may be the end of some people's political careers, and it may be the beginning of some people's political careers.' Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland. Kevin Dietsch/Getty 2028 Jockeying on the Left The question of who could assume the Sanders mantle -- at least in part -- is all but certain to come to a head in the next presidential election. In some ways, the jockeying is already evident. 'I don't think there's going to be, in my view, a standard-bearer or two standard-bearers or three standard-bearers for the progressive movement,' said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who has had conversations to game out a potential 2028 presidential campaign of his own. 'We're going to see the beginning of a new progressive era where we're going to see successive progressive nominees.' Advertisement Of course, there are deep divides in the party over how far to the left Democrats should go. But some also argue that the tensions in today's Democratic Party no longer center on the kinds of ideological clashes that characterized the 2020 primary race -- left versus moderate and litmus tests on issues like single-payer health care. At least for now, these Democrats say, the debates concern how and where to draw the line against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. Several mainstream Democrats, including Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, himself a billionaire, have drawn attention from progressive activists because of their vigorous pushback to the Trump administration. 'The biggest split amongst Democrats is between those who want to stand and fight and those that want to play dead,' said Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 'We need more leaders from the stand-and-fight wing of the Democratic Party.' Danielle Brecker, a leader of Empire State Indivisible, which has called on Schumer to step aside as minority leader, said she saw Ocasio-Cortez as the 'future of the party' with any number of promising paths. But she questioned the country's willingness to elect a woman in 2028. 'I sadly think that it probably needs to be some very safe white man,' she said. 'I feel terrible saying that. That wound is still very sore.' Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty How Anger May Drive Democratic Politics When Trump was in office the first time, the liberal energy was firmly with Sanders. By the time the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race began, several contenders rushed to embrace Sanders' goals on heath care and other issues -- even though most of the party's successful candidates in the 2018 midterm elections adopted more moderate stances. The party's eventual nominee in 2020, Biden, took a more moderate tack as well. Advertisement There are now signs that outraged constituents have regained the power to steer their elected officials. Anger at Schumer and Senate Democrats last month prompted futile displays of opposition to Trump's Cabinet appointments. Democrats hosting town-hall events meant to hold Republicans accountable for the Trump agenda have found themselves facing liberal pushback for not being able to change the country's course. Taking the nation in a new direction will require, some progressives said, a sustained effort to demonstrate both popular opposition to Trump's agenda and support for a liberal alternative. 'After the murder of George Floyd, you saw a massive outpouring,' said Keith Ellison, the Democratic attorney general of Minnesota, whom Sanders backed in 2017 to become the Democratic National Committee chair. 'You saw a lot of people making statements about police accountability, diversity, equity and inclusion. And then when the movement subsides, they're ready to roll it all back. 'So there's a lesson there. The lesson is you're going to have to stay in the streets.' This article originally appeared in
