Our Movement Is Ascendant
In the lead-up to Election Day, Our Revolution is focused on our 4-POINT PLAN to fight for a progressive future. We must (1) beat Trump by organizing to win back working class voters in the Midwest; (2) elect more progressives to Congress and flip & fix the Senate; (3) build a down-ballot bench who will fight to win progressive policies locally that can be models nationally; and (4) organize a powerful movement to fight for change both inside the halls of power and outside in the streets.
MORE ABOUT OUR 4-POINT PLAN BELOW!
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#1 — We must go all out to defeat Donald Trump by winning back working class voters in the Midwest.
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In 2016, Trump ran as a “worker champion,” promising to end offshoring and deliver “more jobs and better wages.” Trump’s false populism worked — he flipped 208 counties — most in key Midwestern battleground states — that voted for Obama-Biden in 2008 and 2012. During this election, Trump’s campaign is using the same playbook again. That’s why Our Revolution is launching our Midwest “Pivot County” Campaign — we’re organizing our members in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and other swing states to speak-out and expose Trump’s broken promises so we can win back the working class.
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In addition to the grassroots organizing by our local groups in the Midwest, Our Revolution kicked-off our National “Dump Trump” Phonebank. Between now and Election Day, we’re enlisting an army of volunteers to make calls into key swing states to get out the vote. Sign-up below to join our team!
Help Our Revolution win-back working class voters in key battleground states!
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#2 — We must elect more progressives to the US House and flip & fix the Senate to advance policies like Medicare for All and a Green New Deal.
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Over 27,000 people joined our Monthly Revolution Report Call,
which tackled the urgent and critical issue of changing U.S. Senate rules like the filibuster that kill debate and stall action on needed change. Our Revolution Board Chair Larry Cohen pointed out that even if Democrats flip the Senate, the GOP minority can use antiquated and anti-majoritarian rules to block not just progressive priorities, but even the moderate proposals that Biden hopes to enact. “The rules matter as much as the rulers, and we need to get ready to govern in January by pressuring Senate Democrats to reform the rules now.”
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Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who’s leading the fight for rules reform in the Senate Democratic Caucus, joined the call to brief our members on why this issue is central for progressives. “The Senate has been rigged by the powerful, for the powerful. We have to un-rig it if our voices are going to matter. It will require advocates on the inside, and an irresistible public force on the outside, demanding change.”
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We also heard from two state leaders who are pressing their Democratic senators to commit to reforming Senate rules.
Leyna Negron of Our Revolution East Valley called out Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema for her resistance to rules change. “The GOP is killing meaningful legislation on issues that disproportionately affect people of color and indigenous people. Supporting the filibuster is greasing the wheel of systemic racism. We need to keep pushing Senator Sinema, because the consequences if we don’t will be disastrous.”
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We also heard from Amar Shergill, Chair of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, who said corporate Democrats are an obstacle to reforming Senate rules, and that Gov. Gavin Newsom — who will appoint Sen. Kamala Harris’s replacement if Biden wins — will need to feel pressure from constituents. “We can organize all day long for a Green New Deal and College for All, but if we don’t fix the Senate, it’s all for nothing.”
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Our Revolution is working with a national coalition of progressive groups to put pressure on Senate Democrats. Sign-up below to get involved!
Help Our Revolution Fix the Senate!
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#3 — We must build a bench of down-ballot progressive elected officials and policies to fight for change from the bottom up.
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ILLINOIS FAIR TAX ENDORSEMENT!
On this week’s September State Organizing Call, Our Illinois Revolution endorsed the Fair Tax initiative, a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that aims to ensure that the wealthy finally pay their fair share. The Fair Tax proposal would raise taxes only on those who can afford it while addressing the state budget deficit and putting Illinois on the path toward fiscal sustainability. The call featured Vote Yes for Fairness Chair Quentin Fulks, who said, “The only progressive solution is a graduated income tax system. We can’t continue to cut our way out of the problem — it’s not a spending problem, it’s a revenue problem.”
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The Illinois Organizing Call also featured State Rep. Carol Ammons, nationally endorsed candidate, who spoke about the unprecedented message she is hearing from the White House around voter suppression. “The GOP’s plan is to disenfranchise as many voters as possible so they don’t get kicked out of office. We have to pull the covers off their plans so we can have a more Democratic process.”
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Meet Our Featured Down Ballot Candidate:
SCOTT FEULESS
Scott Feuless — a leader of Our Revolution Harris County, TX — is an example of how we’re working for change from the bottom up. The Houston metro area has become America’s ground zero for flood risk and extreme rainfall, the role of drainage commissioner is an important one. “Hurricanes Laura and Marco didn’t impact the Pearland area, but what they highlighted was the fact that not only are storms getting worse, they are getting more frequent,” Feuless said. “In my district we are currently pretending that 10 year or 25 years storms only happen once every 100 years. That’s insane. We are building structures that we know will flood, and the short term thinkers don’t care. That’s why we need representatives at every level that believe in climate change, from Drainage District Commissioner, city council and mayor all the way up to president.”
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Help us build a bench of progressive candidates and policies up and down the ballot!
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#4 — We must build a movement in the streets and inside the halls of power to win progressive change.
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Congratulations to Our Revolution Essex County, New Jersey! Our activists in the county pushed hard for the County Freeholders to pass a Medicare for All resolution. The move represents yet another local jurisdiction calling on the federal government to take action on the issue, and puts more pressure on the New Jersey congressional delegation to get fully on board. “We thank our progressive allies for fighting for this issue, and we look forward to helping our communities gain access to the services they need during these times,” Essex Freeholder President Brendan Gill said. This is the third local resolution that Our Revolution New Jersey members helped to pass recently!
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Congratulations to Our Revolution Missouri — St. Joseph co-founders Andrea Cole and Derek Evans for winning the 2020 Kelsy Beshears Racial Justice Award! The award is presented each year by the YWCA St. Joseph and the NAACP St. Joseph branch to an individual, group or organization that demonstrates a strong commitment to promoting racial justice and eliminating racism.
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Our Revolution Maryland’s State Organizing Meeting featured House of Delegates member & Our Revolution local leader Sheila Ruth who talked about what’s at stake for our movement on November 3rd. “The way I see it, we can spend another exhausting 4 years in the streets trying to stop Trump from destroying everything we care about — the Post Office, election integrity, clean air, clean water, public education, immigrant families, Blafck Lives — with very little hope of success. Or we can spend 4 years in the streets pushing Biden and Congress on our priorities, and maybe making some progress. I know which one I prefer, and it isn’t Trump.”
READ SHEILA’S FULL REMARKS HERE
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Hundreds of Our Revolution members stood with post office workers, and tens of thousands have signed a petition to support their fight to #SaveThePostOffice. If you haven’t yet, you show your support by clicking on the link!
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Our Revolution HQ is doubling down, organizing across the country to make change at the local, state and national levels.
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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED ORGANIZING MEETINGS!
Our Revolution Missouri’s meeting features unapologetically progressive candidates on the November ballot, as well as hear from activists about our “Vote No on Amendment 3” campaign to prevent gerrymandering of voting districts.
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Our Wisconsin Revolution is gathering this week to hear from a slate of progressive candidates running to win state house districts in key swing counties.
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Our Revolution Arizona will meet on Wednesday to hear from Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, who is running for Pima County Recorder. Activists will also discuss the “Invest in Education Act”, an effort to tax the wealthy in order to fund Arizona schools and preview efforts to pressure Senator Kyrsten Sinema to support reforming the Senate rules.
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PHONEBANK TO WIN! Between now and November 3rd, We are calling every day across the country to defeat Trump, flip the Senate, and support our nationally-endorsed candidates up and down the ballot. JOIN US!
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