In this interview on NBCs Meet the Press, Bernie Sanders says the following about running for president: The truth is, profound anger at both political parties, more and more people are becoming independent, the negative is, how do you set up a fifty-state infrastructure as an independent? THIS GROUP ANSWERS THAT QUESTION. But first, we have to acknowledge two important points: (1) Bernie Sanders will not be on any ballot, period, if he joins the Democrats. He will most certainly lose to Hillary Clinton if he joins the Democrats. So joining the Democrats is the major ballot-access problem he faces, not not joining them. (2) Sanders alone has no infrastructure in place for an independent-loner campaign. Instead of those two dead ends, this group proposes that Sanders should unite a multi-party coalition of existing left-wing third parties. Bernie Sanders should seek nominations from the largest, most successful, and most energetic left-wing, independent parties in the nation. These parties include the Green Party, the Vermont Progressive Party, Socialist Alternative, and perhaps one or two others. The Green Party is the largest progressive party in the nation, BY FAR. The Greens currently have ballot access in 20 states and plan to have ballot access in 30 states by the end of 2015. No other left-wing party comes close. A couple other left-wing parties have ballot access in one or two states, and thats all. Does everyone here know what ballot access is? If not, please ask. (The Green movement is a global movement, with parties in nearly every nation. In England, Bernie Sanderss brother, Larry Sanders, is a Green who is running for UK Parliament. Larry has been elected to council positions twice as a Green.) The Vermont Progressive Party has ballot access in Vermont, and Sanders could seek its nomination in that state, so that would be 31 states right off the bat where Sanders would be on the ballot. He is informally linked with that party and often endorses its candidates. In select areas like Washington State, Sanders could seek the nomination of Socialist Alternative, which is an energetic, dues-paying party with serious activists deeply involved in the $15/hr minimum wage movement and anti-foreclosures, among others. They are growing. Socialist Alternative is the party of Kshama Sawant, who won a seat on the Seattle City Council as an open socialist. In the remaining states, the Greens currently have parties but no ballot access, but Greens and other activists could achieve ballot access for Sanders by November 2016. (Voters could vote for the Green Partys presidential candidate Jill Stein in 44 states in 2012, and she was relatively unknown; a well-known candidate like Sanders would easily be on the ballot in all 50 states if Stein could achieve 44.) The Greens have the infrastructure Sanders needs. Vermont Progressive Party has a solid footing in Vermont politics and could eclipse the Republicans there as the No. 2 state party. These groups plus Socialist Alternative are bigger than Sanders alone. They have the activists on the ground and the donor lists. They have the platforms. They activists rooted in the most pressing social issues of our time, ready to spark mass movements. A Sanders candidacy with nominations from these parties would result in many wins down-ticket for these parties in city councils, state legislatures, and even US Congress, and it would ignite mass movements on issue after issue that the Democrats will not touch because they are subservient to corporate power. That is how you change the system. You do not change the system by falling into the black hole of the Democratic Party or by running for president as an independent loner. Ignoring the Greens and these groups would be a major mistake. #GoGreenBernie nbcnews/meet-the-press/independent-sen-sanders-thinking-about-presidential-run-n203026
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 05:08:01 +0000
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