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Populism Even Republicans Can Get Behind
A new campaign aims to oust every single member of Congress — from either party — who's backed by Big Money.
Aug 01, 2016
What if organizers and volunteers joined forces to run a nationwide campaign to replace today's corporate-owned congress -- all at once?
Yes, one sweeping campaign against all incumbents of either party who owe their jobs to Big Money.
A new campaign called Brand New Congress is trying to do just that, aiming to oust those congress critters with hundreds of coordinated campaigns running simultaneously in every state. They'll back local candidates publicly pledged to fight for an agenda of economic, social, environmental, and political justice.
Sound impossible? Not in the minds of the plan's architects, which include several of the former Bernie Sanders staffers who conceived and implemented the Vermont senator's successful grassroots campaigns.
They trained and empowered tens of thousands of far-flung volunteers to be autonomous organizers, digitally linked into a nationwide network, eliminating the need and cost of a rigid hierarchy of "leaders" to boss volunteers, recognizing instead that volunteers are already leaders. Now they're applying this model to Brand New Congress.
It's a true bipartisan effort. They're planning to run Democrats in blue districts, Republicans in solid red ones, and independents wherever that makes sense.
But wait -- how can they get Republican candidates to run on progressive values? By recognizing that true populism is neither a right nor left theory, but a top vs. bottom reality that even middle-class and lower-income Republicans can relate to.
Indeed, outside of the right-wing Congress, many rank-and-file Republicans support stopping global trade scams and repealing Citizens United. Many also support health care for all, recognizing climate change, and standing up to bigotry.
A message of authentic populism and a shared agenda of populist policy proposals could finally turn the tables on Big Money.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the books "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow" (2008) and "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion" (1998). Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
What if organizers and volunteers joined forces to run a nationwide campaign to replace today's corporate-owned congress -- all at once?
Yes, one sweeping campaign against all incumbents of either party who owe their jobs to Big Money.
A new campaign called Brand New Congress is trying to do just that, aiming to oust those congress critters with hundreds of coordinated campaigns running simultaneously in every state. They'll back local candidates publicly pledged to fight for an agenda of economic, social, environmental, and political justice.
Sound impossible? Not in the minds of the plan's architects, which include several of the former Bernie Sanders staffers who conceived and implemented the Vermont senator's successful grassroots campaigns.
They trained and empowered tens of thousands of far-flung volunteers to be autonomous organizers, digitally linked into a nationwide network, eliminating the need and cost of a rigid hierarchy of "leaders" to boss volunteers, recognizing instead that volunteers are already leaders. Now they're applying this model to Brand New Congress.
It's a true bipartisan effort. They're planning to run Democrats in blue districts, Republicans in solid red ones, and independents wherever that makes sense.
But wait -- how can they get Republican candidates to run on progressive values? By recognizing that true populism is neither a right nor left theory, but a top vs. bottom reality that even middle-class and lower-income Republicans can relate to.
Indeed, outside of the right-wing Congress, many rank-and-file Republicans support stopping global trade scams and repealing Citizens United. Many also support health care for all, recognizing climate change, and standing up to bigotry.
A message of authentic populism and a shared agenda of populist policy proposals could finally turn the tables on Big Money.
Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the books "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow" (2008) and "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion" (1998). Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
What if organizers and volunteers joined forces to run a nationwide campaign to replace today's corporate-owned congress -- all at once?
Yes, one sweeping campaign against all incumbents of either party who owe their jobs to Big Money.
A new campaign called Brand New Congress is trying to do just that, aiming to oust those congress critters with hundreds of coordinated campaigns running simultaneously in every state. They'll back local candidates publicly pledged to fight for an agenda of economic, social, environmental, and political justice.
Sound impossible? Not in the minds of the plan's architects, which include several of the former Bernie Sanders staffers who conceived and implemented the Vermont senator's successful grassroots campaigns.
They trained and empowered tens of thousands of far-flung volunteers to be autonomous organizers, digitally linked into a nationwide network, eliminating the need and cost of a rigid hierarchy of "leaders" to boss volunteers, recognizing instead that volunteers are already leaders. Now they're applying this model to Brand New Congress.
It's a true bipartisan effort. They're planning to run Democrats in blue districts, Republicans in solid red ones, and independents wherever that makes sense.
But wait -- how can they get Republican candidates to run on progressive values? By recognizing that true populism is neither a right nor left theory, but a top vs. bottom reality that even middle-class and lower-income Republicans can relate to.
Indeed, outside of the right-wing Congress, many rank-and-file Republicans support stopping global trade scams and repealing Citizens United. Many also support health care for all, recognizing climate change, and standing up to bigotry.
A message of authentic populism and a shared agenda of populist policy proposals could finally turn the tables on Big Money.
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