Bottom Line, from Bernie Sanders.
cross-posted from The Way Forward.
Emphasis mine.
The TLDR:
Bottom line: all across the country, in a variety of forms, the American people are FIGHTING BACK.
We build a stronger and stronger multigenerational, multiracial working-class movement. We transform the Democratic Party into a party of the working class, not one dominated by wealthy campaign contributors.
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆
Sisters and Brothers -
At a time of great political and economic anxiety, we need some good news. Well, I have some good news.
On Tuesday night, Brian Poindexter, an ironworker and union leader, won a landslide victory in a Democratic congressional primary over establishment candidates in the Ohio’s 7th Congressional District. We helped make that happen. I was proud to stand with Brian at a well-attended rally last Friday, and many of you contributed to his campaign.
Several weeks ago, the establishment candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Maine, Governor Janet Mills, dropped out of the race. Polls showed that she was far behind the progressive candidate, Graham Platner, a candidate I and many of you are supporting. Graham is running an extraordinary grassroots campaign talking about the real issues facing America’s working class.
Last month, Analilia Mejía, a labor organizer and grassroots activist, won a strong victory over her Republican opponent in a special election in a so-called “purple” congressional district in New Jersey. I campaigned with her in New Jersey. Many of you helped out as well.
On March 28th, over 8 million Americans came out for No Kings rallies in every state across the country. That was the largest day of demonstrations in the history of the United States, as people protested the authoritarianism, oligarchy and kleptocracy of the Trump administration.
Recently, the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West and other unions in California submitted over 1.5 million signatures to get a Billionaire Wealth Tax on the ballot. This proposal, if approved, would raise enough money to make certain that millions of Californians do not lose their healthcare and nutrition assistance as a result of Trump’s disastrous “Big Beautiful Bill.” Despite ferocious opposition from some of the wealthiest people in the state, polls suggest that the proposal is extremely popular.
All across the country - in blue states, red states and purple states - working people are resisting the construction of Artificial Intelligence data centers being built by Big Tech Oligarchs like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. They are opposing the higher electric bills and environmental degradation caused by these huge facilities and are increasingly concerned about the potential long-term negative impacts of an uncontrolled AI pushed by the richest people in the world.
Last November, Zohran Mamdani took on the entire Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, the President of the United States and the oligarchs of New York to win a resounding victory in our country’s largest city. Close to 100,000 people volunteered on the campaign - an unprecedented number.
Bottom line: all across the country, in a variety of forms, the American people are FIGHTING BACK.
They are fighting back because they are sick and tired of Trumpism and all its ugly manifestations. They are sick and tired of the billionaire class becoming richer and more powerful, while working families struggle to put food on the table. They are sick and tired of a dysfunctional health care system where tens of thousands die unnecessarily each year because they cannot afford to walk into a doctor’s office. They are sick and tired of paying 40% or 50% of their limited incomes on housing. They are sick and tired of the U.S. government spending billions on unnecessary and horrific wars while ignoring the unmet needs of working people here at home.
And they are sick and tired of a corrupt political system dominated by the campaign contributions of greedy and self-serving billionaires and their super PACs.
Donald Trump’s poll numbers are extremely low and plummeting fast, but the Democrats are not doing much better. Why is that? In my view, the answer is not complicated. The American people no longer support status quo politics and policies that tinker around the edges. They want a government that stands with working families and is prepared to take on the greed and arrogance of the billionaire class. They want REAL CHANGE.
And that is NOT what the Democratic Establishment is about: not on campaign finance reform, not on health care, not on taxing billionaires, not on the dangers of AI, not on climate change, not on military spending, not on foreign policy and Israel and not on many, many other issues.
So. What do we do? We keep doing what we’re doing - successfully. We lead the fight against Trump and his fellow oligarchs. We build a stronger and stronger multigenerational, multiracial working-class movement. We transform the Democratic Party into a party of the working class, not one dominated by wealthy campaign contributors.
All of this is hard work but, together, we must keep pushing forward. There is no choice. As you well know, this struggle is not just about us. It’s about our kids, grandchildren and future generations. It’s about making sure that the planet and humanity survive climate change and AI. It’s about making sure that every person in our country can live in peace, dignity and security.
Thanks for all you are doing.
Let’s go forward together.
In Solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
https://berniesanders.com/
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