The NY Times split their Democratic presidential primary endorsement between Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. It was a move that many thought was ridiculous. Leave it our national union, the AFT, to go one better by splitting our support in three. Our union is for Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and/or Elizabeth Warren. Why did they leave out Amy and Pete?
We figured there was no way AFT President Randi Weingarten would support Bernie in the primaries so we have to admit we were 1/3 wrong. That said, this three way support and help is a fairly lame move that leaves Randi wiggle room as a superdelegate (party leader) to maneuver if no candidate gets a majority of the delegates out of the primaries, which would result in no candidate having enough delegates at the Democratic convention in July to secure the nomination in the first round of voting.
The candidates and the media have deduced that Bernie might end up with the most delegates but maybe not a majority (50%+1). His plurality (most delegates but not 50%) would necessitate a second ballot where the superdelegates would vote. The superdelegates are no longer involved in the first ballot because of rule changes made after 2016. If they steal the nomination from the candidate with the most votes, all hell will break loose.
Randi says 300,000 members were involved in the process. Were any of you involved? I was not asked nor was my wife.
Finally, I must admit that watching Bloomberg getting destroyed at Wednesday's debate was quite enjoyable. At least Randi is not considering a Bloomberg endorsement currently.
The resolution in full:
AFT SUPPORT FOR 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
WHEREAS, one year ago, the American Federation of Teachers executive council adopted a resolution establishing the AFT’s 2020 presidential endorsement process, and, since that time, the AFT has conducted the most intensive, inclusive, transparent and engaging presidential endorsement process in its history; and
WHEREAS, unprecedented engagement has led to more than 300,000 members having participated in the endorsement process to date, including in the public education forum the AFT co-sponsored with union and community groups; 10 separate candidate town halls involving every constituency; five regional meetings with state and local leaders; and numerous telephone town halls, member surveys and polls; as well as state and local affiliates conducting their own programs of member engagement; and
WHEREAS, the following membership consensus has emerged:
1. Donald Trump is an existential threat to the values and aspirations of our members and those we serve;
2. While several candidates share our values, three—Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren—share our values and have significant support within our membership; and
3. In our quest for a better life for our members and the communities we serve, to preserve our democracy, and to defeat Trump, we must ultimately be unified and support the eventual Democratic nominee; and
WHEREAS, Vice President Biden, Sen. Sanders and Sen. Warren have a record of working with us over the years and standing with us on public education, higher education, healthcare, and labor and civil rights, and, as a result, they have received the highest levels of support of our members, including endorsements from AFT affiliates at the state and local levels, as well as AFT members running as delegates in support of their candidacies; and
WHEREAS, the majority of delegates will be allocated in the next two months, and it is critical that members, affiliates and leaders at the national, state and local levels continue to grow our engagement and ensure our collective voices are heard and influence the political dialogue; and
WHEREAS, Trump and his appointees, including Betsy DeVos, threaten our democracy, climate, public education, healthcare, public services, freedoms and way of life; and
WHEREAS, the stakes in this election require our solidarity; nobody can be on the sidelines, and the energy of educators, nurses and public service professionals must be supported, nurtured and activated in this election; and
WHEREAS, we are unified both to defeat Trump in the 2020 elections and to elect someone who will join us in fighting for these values:
RESOLVED, until the American Federation of Teachers decides to make a national endorsement in the primary process or at the AFT convention, the AFT urges the affiliates, members and leadership, including the three AFT national officers, to be actively involved in supporting and helping Vice President Biden, Sen. Sanders, and/or Sen. Warren.
12 comments:
Let the bs begin
Nothing to see here. NYC public school students, young ones at that, are murdering people in the park and sticking people with dirty needles. That is on top of the rampant grade fraud and everyday disrespect. I cant believe how oblivious everyone is. How dangerous is this for us?
Well, that doesn’t help anyone, or perhaps it would be better said that it hurts Bernie. Anything that hurts Bernie, helps Bloomberg. He’s there spending hundreds of millions to make sure Bernie loses. Bernie is the real existential threat with his universal healthcare. Not just to Bloomberg, but to the whole establishment and the status quo.. The Democratic Party would prefer Trump is re-elected over a Bernie presidency. Weingarten is trying her darnedest to appear more ‘transparent’. She couldn’t be more transparent if she were made of glass. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was helping Bloomberg practice for the next debate. Hey, what are friends for if not to help when things go wrong? Don’t count Bloomberg out yet - he’s our (and Bernie’s) existential threat.
From John Elfrank:
Bernie represents American values of the 60’s. The Western Europe in the last decades of the twentieth century provided ample proof that ideas which he represents and promotes brought prosperity and some measure of justice to many countries in Western Europe.
The problem is that much of Western Europe since before the nineties including the United States have abandoned the model of development and governance of Social Democrats and replaced it with radical right wing liberalism which has continuously undermined European Socialism in Western Europe (England, France, Germany) and the Roosevelt America in the United States!
Great Britain, for example, for years struggled to enter the EU, then for years has tried to exit it; the same could be said of the United States.
The changes taking place in this country over many decades are similarly contradictory: the American democracy first struggled totally to exclude the working class from the governing process when it moved all of its major industries out of the country! Then it “tries to bring” the industrial production back to the States!
We have also seen what the Democratic elites did to Bernie Sanders when they decided that the country should be led by President Obama — Bernie was forced out, and, by the way, very crudely and he, understanding the mechanics involved in governance, simply acquiesced!
Now we see signs that Bernie is being undermined again: Mr Bloomberg, a neoliberal, is building the caucus representation within the Democratic Party, who will (this remains to be seen) appoint him as their candidate with President Obama or Michelle Obama! as his Vice-Presidential running mate, a totally acceptable combination, in the forthcoming presidential election.
The point is: neoliberals do not answer to the people and Bernie Sanders might be out! The problem is this: judging by past behavior, Bernie, when that happens, will most likely acquiesce again! and with his tail between his legs, in the manner of a true Social Democrat, will again quietly walk away from the political arena, leaving the people in continuous disorganization and demoralization, not a new spectacle in American political life.
The picture is not at all rosy.
From Politico:
LAS VEGAS — Mike Bloomberg is privately lobbying Democratic Party officials and donors allied with his moderate opponents to flip their allegiance to him — and block Bernie Sanders — in the event of a brokered national convention.
The effort, largely executed by Bloomberg’s senior state-level advisers in recent weeks, attempts to prime Bloomberg for a second-ballot contest at the Democratic National Convention in July by poaching supporters of Joe Biden and other moderate Democrats, according to two Democratic strategists familiar with the talks and unaffiliated with Bloomberg.
Bernie’s message is Not Me- US. He knows he won’t be around forever and a movement is not one person. But, the tooth paste is out of the tube in terms of a new consciousness of what the threats are and what we can build in response. It cannot be undone. If they try to take away our voice from us via super delegates at the convention, it will be the end of the Democratic Party. The DNC has already cheated us with changing debate rules midstream for an oligarch. The Iowa debacle was no accident, but a coordinated effort between the DNC and corporate media to deny Sanders his victory speech right out of the gate. If he doesn’t want to carry the ball the whole 100 yards, that’s ok. We part then and get new leadership and thank him for getting the ball rolling.
Elizabeth Warren is the only viable choice. She is a woman (people still want change). She is right on the issues (break up corporate concentration of power..i.e banks, pharma, big tech... without government takeover of the economy..She's also very tough. She kicked everyone's ass on that stage the other night...Look at yesterday's NY Post headline... "Warren leads brutal Mike beatdown..." "Amy, your healthcare plan is two paragraphs..."
Some Old Major's Cabinet picks:
AOC: Secretary of Treasury
Maxine Waters: Secretary of State
Ilan Omar: Secretary of Defense
David Hogg: Secretary of Energy
Greta: Secretary of the Interior
Bette Midler: Secretary of LBGTQ+++ Awareness (new position)
Randi Weingarden: Secretary of Education
Rashida Talib: Secretary of Commerce
Ayanna Presley: Chief of Staff
--well, you get the idea...
Better than what we have now for a cabinet.
7 candidates running including Steyer. AFT backs three. That's a real bold move. NOT.
Voting against Bernie Sanders now means choosing a candidate who almost definitely won't win, but who might help steal the election from the most popular candidate- and thereby destroy the Democratic Party, America as we know it, and probably planet earth in the process.
That makes a vote for Sanders the only pragmatic choice.
Viva socialismo and beso your healthcare and 403b adios.
But like Venezuelans at least we will lose a lot of weight.
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