Today I received an email from Nick Brana, the National Coordinator of Movement for a People’s Party. I’m actually a member, although I don’t think I’m going to be voting MMP, at least not this year. Nevertheless, Nick sent me an email asking for my vote and a donation. His email celebrated MPP’s National Convention several weeks ago. He said: “The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of forming a major new party and we were covered in The Washington Post, Politico, The Guardian, MSN, and many other outlets. Our reach on social media has exploded, with 9.7 million impressions on Twitter alone in the last month. The movement has grown to more than 115,000 members and we’ve started more than 55 local People’s Party Hubs nationwide, with dozens more in the works.”
This is all to the good. But MPP got started late and isn’t running candidates. Moreover, Nick Brana didn’t tell me how to vote. But Susan Sarandon, whose Twitter was included in his email, did. And she took the position that I and many others have been forced to take since Bernie Sanders was defeated in his effort to win the Democratic Party’s nomination. She said: “I’m voting for Biden against Fascism & for down ballot candidates who support GND, M4A and BLM.” Which means Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and Black Lives Matter. I support her all the way. Apparently, Soledad O’Brien doesn’t, because MPP included her tweet response to Susan Sarandon, “(Rich white lady reminding people of color why they shouldn’t trust her take on anything).”
I know little about Soledad O’Brien, but Susan Sarandon supported the MPP convention. At the same time, Nick Brana said there was no difference between Trump and Biden. The inclusion of O’Brien’s negative comment about Sarandon points up how divided the progressives in America can be.
Do I support Biden as such? No, but I support him as the boot that will get rid of Trump. And starting in November, I – like Susan Sarandon and many another – intend to move forward to form a new party. I sincerely hope that it will draw the progressives from both of the major parties, and I also hope that it will attract members of PLS, MPP, BLM, M4A, and GND to make a mass movement. I’ve asked for progressives to band together before, and I ask them to do it now.
The late Kevin Zeiss used to accuse those of us who supported Bernie as “sheeple.” He was a strong supporter of Howard Hawkins and the Green Party. Yet Bernie and Howard Hawkins had little to disagree on. Yes, bringing people into the Democratic Party has not proved successful in changing that party. But dumping on Bernie and his supporters will not help progressives gain traction.
I have been a progressive since I understood what it meant. Even when I was young, I admired Eugene V. Debs. I wanted Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Michael Dukakis, and Walter Mondale. In my view, they were all progressives. I thought I was for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. I voted for them, only to find that they had sold out to the corporatists in the Democratic Party.
I am glad to hear that more and more young people in America think that the name “socialist” is good. Four out of 10 Americans embrace socialist ideas. In 1942, only 25% said they thought socialism would be a good thing. In 2019 it was 43%. But NPR disagrees with these findings.
Although many Bernie-ites favor socialism, you don’t have to favor it to want major programs that Bernie advanced. Medicare For All is socialist, but 42% of Americans strongly supported it, while 28% somewhat supported it. That was in 2018. By 2020, the strong support was up to 56%. Similarly, there is support for free college tuition. (While I’m a socialist, I think that any family that has $2 million or more in assets can afford college tuition).
My greatest wish is two-fold: that Trump (and Pence) will no longer be in office after January 2021, and that by the end of 2021 there will be a large and united progress party, ready to run candidates in 2022 and thereafter. That should solve the problem of the conservative Congress and also SCOTUS. The United States should return to the days when improving society becomes the hallmark of the country, and the reign of capitalism shall begin to wind down swiftly.
I said I’m voting Biden against Fascism & for down ballot candidates who support GND, M4A & BLM. After Nov, I will still stand w/ Ryan to form a People’s Party free from corporate/Wall St ties. Maybe use your shaming energy to phone bank & ask @JoeBiden to update his website(1/6) https://t.co/knOiwr6Ejx
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) September 9, 2020
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