Progressive Briefing for Monday, August 27

DNC strips superdelegates of power, 70% of Americans support Medicare for All, John McCain dies, and more.

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Breaking: DNC votes to cut power of superdelegates

In what is being called a landslide victory for progressives, the Democratic National Committee has dramatically reduced the power and influence of superdelegates in presidential nominating power.

Members of the DNC gathered over the weekend in Chicago and were expected to make decisions about the system, which has come under fire even more heavily the last three presidential election cycles.

John McCain, longtime senator and Trump antagonist, dies of brain cancer

Relatives for US Senator John McCain, 81, the Republican stalwart from Arizona, announced on Friday that he would no longer be receiving treatment for terminal brain cancer. Late Saturday, he succumbed to his illness.

Family and friends had gathered to be near him in his final hours as tributes poured in from both Republicans and Democrats for McCain, who in 2008 was his party’s presidential nominee.

Less than 24 hours after Senate rejected effort to curb slaughter, 26 more children killed by US-backed bombing in Yemen

Judge strikes down Trump executive orders in huge win for federal unions

A judge on Saturday struck down key parts of the executive orders President Donald Trump signed in May that would make it easier to fire federal workers.

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled Trump’s actions would “impair the ability of agency officials to bargain in good faith as Congress has directed.”

The decision marked another recent triumph for unions after many years of bad news from the Supreme Court and numerous states like Wisconsin. Missouri voters handed a resounding defeat to an anti-union law in a referendum earlier this month.

Sheriff: ‘multiple fatalities’ after shooting in downtown Jacksonville

A “mass shooting” has taken place at a shopping center in downtown Jacksonville, Fla., according to the sheriff’s office, resulting in “multiple fatalities.”

It happened at a Madden video game tournament, according to multiple reports.

‘Incredible’: New poll that shows 70% of Americans support Medicare for All includes 84% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans

As its progressive wing and a groundswell of new and energetic candidates continues to move the Democratic Party to the left, a new Reuters poll out Thursday shows that support for a key plank of this insurgency—Medicare for All—has hit an all-time high with 70 percent of all Americans now in favor of a such program, including nearly 85 percent of Democrats and a full 52 percent of Republicans.

With such levels of popularity, as an accompanying article exploring some of the tensions within the party makes clear, Democratic leaders are being told they ignore the push for Medicare for All at their own peril.

 

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