I've always felt like the structures of American party politics lend themselves to proper left-wing insurgency by adopting bloc politics. Fantastic to see someone put that into action. Really hopeful for many of these candidates - interested in how you're thinking about some of these races where AFightWorthHaving would be supporting multiple runners in the same race? Is it simple cross-endorsement, or is there any plan to exert any pressure to encourage consolidation of the left-wing vote so that progressives don't wind up splitting votes from each other in a race against an establishment Dem?
The goal would be to see who’s willing to take part in being a bloc during the election. That coupled with leadership pledges and a Medicare for All floor vote are intended to be a filter. I think it’ll be a fairly fine filter.
Brad Lander and Mamdani formed a relationship despite being oppositional candidates. It has served them well. I'd love to see cooperation grow as a democratic value.
I agree 💯 Marsha. I think Corbin is on to something. I dont think many citizens realize how "the party" (D or R) sucks up all the newbies instantaneously.
In my opinion, I think someone who really knows how to articulate such things should come up with a realistic picture of what Medicare for All looks like in practice, because a lot of people do not know. The knee jerk reaction of most people I have talked to is, “But our taxes will skyrocket!” Some taxes may go up, but people don’t figure in the hundreds or thousands of dollars spent every month by employers and employees to pay the premiums. They don’t consider the percentage that is pure profit for private insurers. They don’t consider the unnecessary “overhead” that is involved in advertising and luxurious office spaces.
I am on Medicare. It is not free. I pay a Medicare premium of $202.90 - taken out of my Social Security check. I have a supplemental plan that costs $89 a month and covers all my other expenses. So, yes, I pay about $310 a month, but I have had three physicians’ appointments and over 20 physical therapy sessions this year and have met my annual deductible of $283, it is all gravy for the rest of the year. I call that a pretty decent deal. (I think people under a certain income level do not have to pay that $202.90, but I am not sure.)
Anyway, just a thought. If we could get people to truly understand M4A, more would jump on the bandwagon. And yes, Corbin, I am aware of the obstacles we will encounter, such as personnel and infrastructure. Those need to be addressed, as well.
I’ve watched both Sam Forstag (include him!) in MT and Platner in ME. and thought just what you’re proposing here.
The three hurdles I saw for them were: 1)The DNC, 2)AIPAC and 3)the DC establishments corrupting influence, which will be their primary reason to band together. I will donate!
I like this list, but am curious, why Antonio Reynoso instead of Claire Valdez NY-07?
She has endorsement from Mamdani, Sanders, the head of the UAW, she's a past union organizer herself...I like Reynoso too but will be voting for Valdez in the primary.
Donated after last post. Retired on fixed income so won’t be donating often. Too bad the one candidate in Nevada is not in my district. If someone good is running for Amodei’s seat let me know.
As has been mentioned before, the strongest element of the Corbin's strategy is the unity attempted to be created among the supported candidates. And mutual endorsement is one of the ways to demonstrate this unity. There is no need to run a poll to prove it. This is exactly how most people vote all the time. Very few people vote for a specific person. The majority votes for a party or block representatives or some endorsees (MAGA, DSA, Trump, Sanders, etc.). The main problem Corbin is facing is to create a cohesive group of candidates that agree to run on a common agenda, not a few slogans, which seem to constitute his "litmus test". In this case cross-endorsement will be natural. So far, the list doesn't look very consistent, based on fundamentals, rather than a few superficial features (no AIPAC or corporate PAC support, anti-war, changing Democratic leadership, etc.). There is no doubt that many people on this list will be reluctant to endorse each other. Kshama Sawant is a great example. How many "progressive" candidates are going to endorse her. Certainly not Bernie Sanders. So, it's going to be a very messy business for Corbin to "reconcile" these candidates.
Virginia's primary is in September. Beth Macy is running for the house and is not accepting corporate donations. VA decides redistricting on April 21st. If it fails she is set to trounce the Democratic competition. If VA does redraw the map she will face Tom Perriello in the primary. He's been endorsed by Bernie in the past.
Your pick in Washington is Kshama Sawant. I remembered noticing her a couple of times but didn't remember if it was positive or negative. Looking back at my blog items, both were positive. The first was a millionaire tax in 2017, which was finally passed by the state this month. The second was a straightforward recognition of the new influence of Indians in tech and finance. She proposed banning discrimination by caste. Indians are honest about caste. Westerners are not. Caste and status are REAL AND PERMANENT parts of human nature, no matter how often we spew delusional lies about equality.
I gotta call bullshit on Cory Booker, because he is not pushing for new leadership. His 25-hour speech took hear off Chuck Schumer after the March 2025 betrayal. Booker then backed Schumer's choice, Brian Shatz, to replace Dick Durbin.
He took millions from AIPAC and he doesn't belong on this list!
Also, Rebecca Bennett is a lifelong Republican who fought for oil as a Navy helicopter pilot & told me she aspires to be like John McCain (a conservative Republican). She's a top fundraiser in a district with far better Democrats.
As a Bernie Sanders supporter of 1984, 2016 & 2020, I am not sure Cory Booker and Rebecca Bennett belong anywhere near this list.
I'll share this and talk it up. Excellent basic plan it is, to attach bodies to nodes in a net of shared purpose for good governance.
Thanks!
What about Brad Lander in NY10? Trying to flip the seat from Aipac whore Goldman.
I've always felt like the structures of American party politics lend themselves to proper left-wing insurgency by adopting bloc politics. Fantastic to see someone put that into action. Really hopeful for many of these candidates - interested in how you're thinking about some of these races where AFightWorthHaving would be supporting multiple runners in the same race? Is it simple cross-endorsement, or is there any plan to exert any pressure to encourage consolidation of the left-wing vote so that progressives don't wind up splitting votes from each other in a race against an establishment Dem?
The goal would be to see who’s willing to take part in being a bloc during the election. That coupled with leadership pledges and a Medicare for All floor vote are intended to be a filter. I think it’ll be a fairly fine filter.
YES!! This is organizing at an appropriate scale.
Brad Lander and Mamdani formed a relationship despite being oppositional candidates. It has served them well. I'd love to see cooperation grow as a democratic value.
I agree 💯 Marsha. I think Corbin is on to something. I dont think many citizens realize how "the party" (D or R) sucks up all the newbies instantaneously.
In my opinion, I think someone who really knows how to articulate such things should come up with a realistic picture of what Medicare for All looks like in practice, because a lot of people do not know. The knee jerk reaction of most people I have talked to is, “But our taxes will skyrocket!” Some taxes may go up, but people don’t figure in the hundreds or thousands of dollars spent every month by employers and employees to pay the premiums. They don’t consider the percentage that is pure profit for private insurers. They don’t consider the unnecessary “overhead” that is involved in advertising and luxurious office spaces.
I am on Medicare. It is not free. I pay a Medicare premium of $202.90 - taken out of my Social Security check. I have a supplemental plan that costs $89 a month and covers all my other expenses. So, yes, I pay about $310 a month, but I have had three physicians’ appointments and over 20 physical therapy sessions this year and have met my annual deductible of $283, it is all gravy for the rest of the year. I call that a pretty decent deal. (I think people under a certain income level do not have to pay that $202.90, but I am not sure.)
Anyway, just a thought. If we could get people to truly understand M4A, more would jump on the bandwagon. And yes, Corbin, I am aware of the obstacles we will encounter, such as personnel and infrastructure. Those need to be addressed, as well.
I’ve watched both Sam Forstag (include him!) in MT and Platner in ME. and thought just what you’re proposing here.
The three hurdles I saw for them were: 1)The DNC, 2)AIPAC and 3)the DC establishments corrupting influence, which will be their primary reason to band together. I will donate!
I like this list, but am curious, why Antonio Reynoso instead of Claire Valdez NY-07?
She has endorsement from Mamdani, Sanders, the head of the UAW, she's a past union organizer herself...I like Reynoso too but will be voting for Valdez in the primary.
I'm not flush with cash, but this inspired me to make a modest contribution.
Donated after last post. Retired on fixed income so won’t be donating often. Too bad the one candidate in Nevada is not in my district. If someone good is running for Amodei’s seat let me know.
As has been mentioned before, the strongest element of the Corbin's strategy is the unity attempted to be created among the supported candidates. And mutual endorsement is one of the ways to demonstrate this unity. There is no need to run a poll to prove it. This is exactly how most people vote all the time. Very few people vote for a specific person. The majority votes for a party or block representatives or some endorsees (MAGA, DSA, Trump, Sanders, etc.). The main problem Corbin is facing is to create a cohesive group of candidates that agree to run on a common agenda, not a few slogans, which seem to constitute his "litmus test". In this case cross-endorsement will be natural. So far, the list doesn't look very consistent, based on fundamentals, rather than a few superficial features (no AIPAC or corporate PAC support, anti-war, changing Democratic leadership, etc.). There is no doubt that many people on this list will be reluctant to endorse each other. Kshama Sawant is a great example. How many "progressive" candidates are going to endorse her. Certainly not Bernie Sanders. So, it's going to be a very messy business for Corbin to "reconcile" these candidates.
Virginia's primary is in September. Beth Macy is running for the house and is not accepting corporate donations. VA decides redistricting on April 21st. If it fails she is set to trounce the Democratic competition. If VA does redraw the map she will face Tom Perriello in the primary. He's been endorsed by Bernie in the past.
Why do you list Heidi Hall for CA-3 and not Chris Bennett? He’s been gaining a lot of support.
Alex Bores? He's running against Michah Lasher whom I don't trust. But I have concerns.
Your pick in Washington is Kshama Sawant. I remembered noticing her a couple of times but didn't remember if it was positive or negative. Looking back at my blog items, both were positive. The first was a millionaire tax in 2017, which was finally passed by the state this month. The second was a straightforward recognition of the new influence of Indians in tech and finance. She proposed banning discrimination by caste. Indians are honest about caste. Westerners are not. Caste and status are REAL AND PERMANENT parts of human nature, no matter how often we spew delusional lies about equality.
https://polistrasmill.com/2023/02/22/marker-of-group-power/
The has come. Are you the Walrus?
I gotta call bullshit on Cory Booker, because he is not pushing for new leadership. His 25-hour speech took hear off Chuck Schumer after the March 2025 betrayal. Booker then backed Schumer's choice, Brian Shatz, to replace Dick Durbin.
He took millions from AIPAC and he doesn't belong on this list!
Also, Rebecca Bennett is a lifelong Republican who fought for oil as a Navy helicopter pilot & told me she aspires to be like John McCain (a conservative Republican). She's a top fundraiser in a district with far better Democrats.
As a Bernie Sanders supporter of 1984, 2016 & 2020, I am not sure Cory Booker and Rebecca Bennett belong anywhere near this list.
Are you confusing Cori Bush with Cory Booker?
I could have saved myself five minutes of rereading if I had read this reply first. LOL