Category Archives: PDA

2022 Election, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Democrats, elections, PDA, Pittsburgh, Women

Summer Lee, Declaring Victory In Pennsylvania, Puts Dark Money Democrats On Notice

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Summer Lee with Bernie

The United Democracy Project, a super PAC for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, poured millions to defeat Lee in a Pennsylvania House primary. Similar dark money groups have targeted several progressives.

BY ABIGAIL TRACY
Wanity Fair

MAY 19, 2022 – Around seven weeks before Pennsylvania’s primary elections, Summer Lee commanded a lead of 25 points over rival Steve Irwin in the race for Pennsylvania’s 12th District, a blue stronghold encompassing Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs. It appeared that Lee, 34, a Black woman and progressive activist who currently serves as a Pennsylvania state representative, would make history.

Then came the outside money. By election day, Democratic groups had dumped more than $2 million into the primary race to defeat Lee—dwarfing the outside money spent attacking Irwin, a mere $2,400. Specifically, the United Democracy Project (UDP)—a political action committee for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)—spent $2,025,297 against Lee and $660,317 in support of Irwin, 62, a Pittsburgh lawyer and county Democratic Party organizer. The ads painted Lee as anti-Israel and claimed she was “not a real Democrat,” following a playbook that moderate groups have run against other progressives nationwide, including against Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman.

Lee declared victory on election night, at 12:30 a.m.; as of midday Wednesday, news outlets still hadn’t called an official winner—the race was too tight. Progressive groups and lawmakers including Senator Bernie Sanders congratulated her on the win. Lee declared, “This is the mightiest movement in the land!” Much of Pennsylvania’s Democratic establishment, including the retiring representative Mike Doyle, whose seat Lee and Irwin are after, had thrown their support behind Irwin. “They say a Black woman can’t win. Well, we came together. We can’t be stopped. We have a lot of work ahead of us. When we set out to do this, we believed a better world was possible; now we have to go do it,” Lee said in her remarks early Wednesday morning.

But the efforts to stop Lee are part of a broader trend in Democratic politics, as super PACs with big budgets have sought to prevent progressives—often women of color—from winning races across the country. “It’s really concerning to see the huge influx of outside money flowing into this race and the disingenuous effort to paint a progressive woman of color and the only sitting elected official in the race as an opponent of the Democratic Party,” a senior progressive official in the House told me.

Continue reading Summer Lee, Declaring Victory In Pennsylvania, Puts Dark Money Democrats On Notice →
2016 Election, PDA, Sanders

Bernie Sanders Supporters Say He Changed the Campaign, Prepare to Back Clinton

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randy-bernie

By J.D. Prose

Beaver County Times

July 13, 2016 – As a member of the Progressive Democrats of America, New Brighton resident Randy Shannon was one of those who wanted self-described democratic socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders to run for president.

With Sanders, of Vermont, conceding Tuesday that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic presidential nominee, the dream of a Sanders presidency is over, but Shannon, who was elected a Sanders delegate from the 12th Congressional District, was not too upset.

“I’m pretty satisfied with the progress that’s been made,” he said, pointing to issues such as expanding Medicare and Medicaid, protecting Social Security and replacing free trade deals with fair trade that he said would have gone ignored if not for Sanders.

Sanders, Shannon said, also forced the Democratic Party back to representing interests of regular Americans. “That’s what Sanders was running against,” he said, “the corporate takeover of the Democratic Party.”

Beaver Falls resident Linwood Alford stood behind Sanders with other supporters during an address on labor issues before a Pittsburgh rally in March during the primary and ran unsuccessfully to be a Sanders delegate.

Alford was happy about the endorsement. “We don’t want Trump in there so you know that was going to happen,” he said.

Sanders spotlighted issues that “have to be dealt with,” such as mass incarceration and raising the minimum wage, Alford said. “They’re part of the problem that’s going on in America,” he said.

Coleman Leggett, a 22-year-old Florida native now working as an organizer in Allegheny County for the Clinton campaign, was initially a Sanders supporter up until a few months ago.

Leggett said the supposed political divide between Clinton and Sanders has been greatly exaggerated. “More or less, Sen. Sanders and Hillary Clinton have more in common than people give them credit for,” he said.

Diehard Sanders supporters, some of whom have pledged never to vote for Clinton, should take solace in a Democratic campaign much more in touch with their views than presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, Leggett said.

“This is the most progressive platform and the most progressive campaign the Democrats have seen in recent years,” Leggett said.

Continue reading Bernie Sanders Supporters Say He Changed the Campaign, Prepare to Back Clinton →

2016 Election, Organizing, PDA

Progressive Democrats of America Bring Movement Pressure to Dems Through Bernie Sanders Campaign

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PDA’s Conor Boylan with Bernie Sanders

Thanks to social media campaigns and behind-the-scenes work from the Progressive Democrats of America, Sanders’ chances at president have become a reality.

By Theo Anderson
In These Times

"Bernie is a no-nonsense guy who says what he believes and has legislation to back up what he believes."

July 13, 2015 – In late April, when he announced that he would enter the presidential race, Bernie Sanders was the relatively unknown junior U.S. Senator from Vermont. Now he’s everywhere.

Though the “Sanders surge” seemed to come from nowhere, it was long in the making. Sanders’ rapid rise in the polls, and his increasing visibility over the past few weeks, are in part the result of behind-the-scenes work by organizations like Progressive Democrats of America (PDA).

PDA was founded in 2004 by progressives at the Democratic National Convention who were disappointed with the party’s presidential nominee, John Kerry, but were unwilling to give up on electoral politics. One evening, at the convention’s conclusion, about 200 people met to chart a path forward.

“PDA was founded that night with an inside-outside strategy—to bring outside energy inside the party,” said Conor Boylan, who began working for PDA in 2009 and has been its co-director since 2014. “It was almost an insurgency: We’ll be members of the party, but we’ll also form our own chapters and hold the party accountable.”

PDA now has about 90,000 people on its email list. Of those, about 35,000 members actively support and participate in its work. It is funded by donations from its membership.

In early 2014, PDA began a petition drive to persuade Sanders to run for the presidency. When Sanders attended its tenth anniversary celebration in May of that year, PDA presented him with the petition. That event marked the beginning a strong push by the organization to encourage him to run for the Democratic nomination.

The effort paid off this spring when Sanders announced his candidacy. “We’ve just caught fire since then,” Boylan said. “So it has grown from this small idea—that we have to get Bernie to run—to him actually announcing. And I’m starting to think now that he could actually win this thing. It’s been amazing the way it’s gone the past 15 or 16 months. And where’s it going to end?”

Along with its sister organization, People Demanding Action (which focuses on advancing a policy agenda rather than electoral politics), PDA’s priorities are healthcare reform, campaign finance reform and environmental and economic justice.

House parties are central to PDA’s work. Its website allows people interested in volunteering for the Sanders campaign to sign up to organize a party or find one that’s scheduled near them. PDA sends organizers a kit with information on the basics of hosting a party and assigning people to different tasks, like handing out flyers and maintaining a social media presence. (Continued)

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2016 Election, PDA

Progressive Democrats of America Endorses Bernie Sanders for President

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PDA Chapter President Tina Shannon with Democratic Presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders

Source: Progressive Democrats of America

Dated: Apr. 30, 2015

Contacts: Steve Cobble, PDA Political Director, (571)-274-5144 steve.cobble@gmail.com Conor Boylan, PDA Executive Director, (206)-965-0802 conor@pdamerica.org

Washington, D.C.–Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), a grassroots federal PAC, announced the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders for President. Speaking on behalf of PDA, Political Director Steve Cobble said, “We launched an effort just over a year ago to ask Sen. Bernie Sanders to run for President as a Democrat. We worked with our national ‘Run Bernie Run’ Team to build support for this historic candidacy, gathering more than 20,000 petition signatures, holding town hall meetings and house parties in several states, and designing social media efforts and a website, http://www.pdafund.com/

Cobble added, “We welcome the official announcement of Sen. Sanders’ candidacy today. He has been reaching out to voters across the country on his national listening tour, discussing the issues that matter most to most Americans. He has long shown a deep understanding of the systemic problems we face. We agree with Sen. Sanders when he says, ‘Most people have given up on the political process. They understand the political deck is stacked against them. They think there is no particular reason for them to come out and vote…'” PDA believes we must change this.

Cobble quoted Sen. Sanders as saying, “This country faces more serious problems than at any time since the Great Depression, and there is a horrendous lack of serious political discourse or ideas out there that can address these crises. Somebody has got to represent the working-class and the middle-class of this country.” Cobble concluded, “Bernie Sanders is a progressive, principled, politician. He has an established record of standing up to the big-money interests who have far too much power over the economic and political life of this country. Bernie will take on the big fights–campaign finance reform, global warming, wealth inequality–into the Democratic debates. We support his candidacy because he knows that his job as a candidate is to help bring together a massive grassroots populist / progressive coalition that can win elections and transform politics. That’s been PDA’s mission since our founding in 2004.”

PDA is proud that USA Today and The Nation noted that PDA launched its ‘Run Bernie Run’ campaign last spring, collecting thousands of petition signatures calling on Sanders to run as a Democrat. We will follow up by helping raise money for the Sanders campaign, operate volunteer phone banks, organize house parties, and otherwise support the Sanders for President campaign.

Contacts: Steve Cobble, PDA Political Director, (571)-274-5144 steve.cobble@gmail.com Conor Boylan, PDA Executive Director, (206)-965-0802 conor@pdamerica.org

2016 Election, Congressional Progressive Caucus, PDA

2016’s Untold Story: How The Election Could Bring A New Wave Of Progressive Warriors

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While the presidential contest consumes much of our attention, down-ballot races could power a liberal revival

By Luke Brinker
Progressive America Rising via Salon.com

March 10, 2015 – As America marches inexorably toward a presidential election that will almost certainly feature another Clinton, possibly pitted against yet another Bush, a sense of resignation and fatalism has taken hold among many observers on both the progressive left and the anti-establishment right.

While Jeb and Hillary would trade barbs on such perennial wedges issues as abortion and same-sex marriage, and Clinton may be more supportive than Bush of what passes for a social safety net in this country — just don’t mind that bit about ending welfare as we knew it, and try not to focus on that pesky vote for bankruptcy “reform” — neither Wall Street-friendly candidate poses a threat to the plutocratic powers that be. Indeed, the masters of the universe can’t quite decide which of the two they’d prefer to see elected. Either way, they rest assured, they win.

Dispiriting as the coming national contest can be, however, it should not obscure one of the less-discussed dynamics of the 2016 elections: Across the country, a crop of unapologetically progressive candidates promises to infuse a new populist energy into the fight for the U.S. Senate, and may well transform the terms of debate within a Democratic Party that has spent the better part of the past three decades reconciling itself to the Reagan Revolution and embracing neoliberalism.

Rep. Donna Edwards (D-The Elizabeth Warren Wing) is the latest progressive to toss her hat into the Senate ring, announcing today that she will seek the seat being vacated by Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski. Though she has served in Congress for six years now, Edwards is fundamentally an insurgent: The community activist won her seat after toppling a hawkish, centrist incumbent in the Democratic primary, and as a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Populist Caucus, she’s been at the forefront of the effort to move the Democrats leftward on issues like austerity, a living wage, foreign policy, and civil liberties. Befitting her congressional service, Edwards plans to run as an unabashed progressive populist.

“The corporate interests are gonna come at me with all their money,” Edwards tells voters in her announcement video. “But if you’ll join me in this fight there’s no way we can’t win. and when I step into Barbara Mikulski’s shoes as your next senator, you’ll always know where I stand — with you.”

Edwards won’t enjoy a clear Democratic field: Fellow Rep. Chris Van Hollen has already launched his bid for Mikulski’s seat, and he has secured the backing of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

Though Van Hollen has put forth some worthy proposals on economic issues, he’s hardly the most progressive nominee Democrats could field in a race their candidate is almost certain to win: Liberals haven’t forgotten, for instance, that he backed the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction framework, which would have cut Social Security benefits. Edwards, by contrast, supports Sen. Warren’s proposal to expand the program. The congresswoman has also staked out more civil libertarian positions than Van Hollen; whereas she supported the Amash-Conyers amendment to overhaul the National Security Agency’s surveillance practices, Van Hollen voted against it.

While the Edwards-Van Hollen contest sets up a potentially epic clash, former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold is unlikely to face any serious Democratic challengers as he vies to reclaim his old job next year. Feingold recently stepped down from his role as an African envoy for the State Department, stoking speculation that he’ll seek a rematch with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), the man who ousted him in the 2010 Tea Party wave election. The former senator has done nothing to discourage such speculation, pointedly referring to his “once, current, and I hope future chief of staff” in his final State Department speech and planning a “listening tour” of his state.

Feingold’s return would mark a particularly sweet victory for progressives, whose 2010 defeat ranked among the most devastating blows for Democratic liberals. (Continued)

Continue reading 2016’s Untold Story: How The Election Could Bring A New Wave Of Progressive Warriors →

2016 Election, Harrisburg, PDA, Right Wing, safety net, Wall Street

Bernie Sanders Lights a Fire under Pennsylvania Democrats at Keystone Progress’s Annual Summit in Harrisburg

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By Carl Davidson

BeaverCountyBlue.org

Feb 8, 2015, Harrisburg, PA. If the vote were taken for the Democratic presidential candidate at the Harrisburg Hilton on Saturday, Feb. 7, Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, would likely have won by a landslide.

That was the spirit in the hotel ballroom as Sanders addressed the 800 people gathered for the PA Progressive Summit. The annual meeting, sponsored by Keystone Progress, brought together progressive activists—community and trade union organizers, women’s right and civil rights groups, hopeful candidates and door knockers—all of whom made up the democratic wing of the Democratic Party, from all across the Keystone State.

“I’m going to try something a little different this morning,” said Sanders to start things rolling, “I’m going to tell you the truth.” He got a wave of laughter and cheers from people who often got something else from politicians.

Sanders with Tina Shannon
Sanders with Tina Shannon

Sanders started off with the ‘Citizen United’ Supreme Court decision taking limits off the superrich in funding elections and candidates. “It will go down is history as one of the worse ever made in modern times” Sanders said by way of description. “By a five-to-four vote, it undermined the very foundations of democracy. I know you think the situation is bad, believe me, it’s worse than you think it is.” Billionaires are not satisfied with owning the economy, he explained. They were buying government as well.”

The Koch Brothers, with 85 billion in wealth, were taken as the case in point. Sanders explained that they alone intended to spend over 900 million dollars on the 2016 election—more than the combined total of Obama and Romney in 2012. This meant these “counter-revolutionaries with a far right agenda” would wield more power than both political parties in the recent past.

Turning to the economy, Sanders said while the economy was clearly in better shape than when Obama, first took office, it was still clearly in bad shape. He explained the different meanings of official unemployment figures, with 5.8 percent being the most common number cited, but double that, near 12%, was more accurate.

Then he broke it down further: “We talk a lot about Ferguson, as we should. But we also need to talk more about Black youth unemployment, which is 30 percent. Nobody should be satisfied with where we are today. We have 45 million people living in poverty, another word we need to talk more about today.”

For those worried about deficits, Sanders noted that they had been reduced under Obama. But he also insisted that if they were truly concerned about deficits, they would have stood up against the Iraq war. This remark got wild cheers and everyone out of their seats.

Unfair Impact of Technological Change

Sanders went on to examine ‘the explosion in technology,’ not only i-Phones and i-Pads, but robotics in factories. “All of this has led to a tremendous growth in productivity on the part of American workers.” Such changes logically might suggest workers were paid more or worked shorter hours, he added, “but all of you know, tens of millions of Americans today are working longer hours for less pay.”

This meant anger and stress among workers—impacting both men and women, even if in slightly different ways—needed discussion as a national issue. There was a time, “ancient history” said Sanders, when one worker could work 40 hours and support a family reasonably well. Now women were working along with men, sometimes at two or three jobs, at long hours and low pay, to hobble together enough to support a family. “This causes a lot of anger, and often it’s being angry at the wrong people for the wrong reasons,” he added. “The average male worker, right in the center of the economy, now makes $800 a year less in inflation adjusted dollars than he did 40 years ago. The average female worker in the center makes $1300 a year, even less. They have a lot to be angry about. They want to know why, and our job is to explain it to them.”

Continue reading Bernie Sanders Lights a Fire under Pennsylvania Democrats at Keystone Progress’s Annual Summit in Harrisburg →

NAACP, PDA, Poverty, safety net, Solidarity, Voting Rights

Oct 27: ‘Moral Monday’ Rally at the Courthouse Monday Evening!

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From Tina Shannon:

Friends,

Monday, October 27th, is a big day for Beaver County.

It’s the day we’ll have our first Moral Monday rally at the Beaver County Court House.

At 6:00 PM we’ll all gather on the steps of the Court House in Beaver to announce our intentions. We intend to follow our moral compass & use our energy to address the issues facing Beaver County & Pennsylvania.

Public education is under attack. It’s harder than ever to make a living because unions are under attack too. There aren’t enough jobs. Our very water is being threatened because of cuts to the agencies that are supposed to protect it. Inequality is at an all time high, with our brothers & sisters in the African American community suffering the worst. We intend to gather people together & address these issues & other issues that hurt our beloved community.

Please please join us. It’s the beginning of coming together. It’s the beginning of reaching out. It’s the beginning of standing & listening to each other & finding the way forward.

With love & solidarity,

Tina Shannon, 12th CD Progressive Democrats of America
Read more on Moral Mondays:

http://www.thenation.com/article/180491/how-moral-mondays-fusion-coalition-taking-north-carolina-back#
Activists to Watch: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber | BillMoyers.com

PDA

Oct 18: PDA’s ‘Dinner and a Movie’

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Join Us for

Dinner and a Movie

INEQUALITY FOR ALL

clip_image002

“Robert Reich Knows What He’s Talking About” – Daily Show

“Engaging and Passionate” – Wall St. Journal

“Smart, Funny and Articulate” – Los Angeles Times

Inequality for All is an entertaining and serious examination of the economic disparity in America today. President Clinton’s Secretary of Labor explains how the massive consolidation of wealth by a tiny minority threatens the viability of the American workforce and the foundation of democracy itself.

Saturday October 18, 2014

Cash Bar 5:30

Dinner 6:00

Movie 7:00 – 8:30

Serbian Club

2619 Brodhead Rd., Aliquippa, PA

Sponsored by:

PA 12th CD Chapter, Progressive Democrats of America

Buffet Dinner with two meats, vegetables, coffee, dessert

Tickets $22

Call to purchase or reserve tickets: Tina Shannon 724-683-1925

2014 Election, Democrats, Obama, PDA

Congressional Progressive Caucus Increasingly Vocal, Critical of Obama

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progressive-caucus

By Andrew Gripp

Beaver County Blue via IVN-US

August 4, 2014 – Since President Obama’s inauguration and Rick Santelli’s movement-making call to action that inspired the tea party, national politics has been a triangular affair, with the Republican “establishment” caught in the middle between an anti-incumbent reaction and a seemingly united Democratic front. This triangular dynamic guiding policymaking in the past few years — from the credit downgrade to the fiscal cliff to the government shutdown – has led to the exclusion of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party from having much of a say in legislative affairs.

Like the Republican Party, the Democratic Party is not without its own internal fissure – one that could widen and surface preceding the presidential primary process when the Democratic Party will have to reinvent itself in the waning months of the Obama era.

An ideological and organizational X-ray of the Democratic Party in Congress reveals a surprising split: there are approximately 20 members of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition in the legislature, while the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) boasts more than 60 members. With progressive and even nonpartisan outlets and pundits calling for progressive candidates like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Governor Martin O’Malley (D-Md.) to run, progressives – much ignored in the fracas of the last several years — might begin to find venues to ventilate their ideas.

"The Better Off Budget promised to create 8.8 million jobs by 2017 — including 4.6 million after one year."

The CPC — founded in 1991 and currently led by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) — has been especially active since the 111th Congress took its collective seat in 2009 and has not been afraid to challenge the president during his politically-mandated drift rightward since taking office.

Continue reading Congressional Progressive Caucus Increasingly Vocal, Critical of Obama →