Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale

To members of Progressive Democrats of America


Next Steps Following our Week from Hell

Hi,

Rest assured, we certainly would have done things differently if it had been up to us; yet the events of last week are instructive, albeit incredibly disappointing. That said, Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Eric Massa need to hear from us for their brave stand against the corporatocracy when they voted against HR 3962 for the right reasons -- http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=14323226

We’ve heard from many of you--particularly over the cancellation of the Weiner amendment vote. The PDA community is angry and rightfully so. Your national team is upset and angry, too. Most responses were an expression of frustration--some called upon us to excoriate members of the CPC or run candidates against them.

We will not always agree with what progressive members of Congress do, but we do not face the immense pressure exerted on them by a centrist White House beholden to special interests.

We're building a movement here, and we don't just discard leaders within the movement because they were unable to force our issue through. We force out the opposition, the Rahm Emanuels, Joe Liebermans and Max Baucuses of the world, and replace them with progressive candidates. Once we have a Democratic progressive majority, then we can discuss firing the leaders who fail to represent our values, at the ballot box.

While anger motivates many people to action, it is too easy to over-react when angry—we need to cool down and assess the situation. This is just the first act in a three-act play:

Next, the Senate passes a bill. We need to get ready to support Bernie Sanders in his single-payer fight in the Senate. http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=14212486

Third is the reconciliation process. We need to get the Kucinich amendment inserted in the bill, and we need our progressive Congress members to make this happen. Details are forthcoming.

The reason we're active is because we recognize the system is working against the people--our democracy is broken. Our opposition is not within the progressive movement but the corporations who control our elected officials. We need to go after the cause--not the effect.

At this point, we should focus on electing candidates who are not beholden to corporate interests and are running against the Blue Dogs, not replacing incumbent progressive members of Congress.

We all need to work for candidates like Marcy Winograd (http://www.winograd4congress.com) and Mike Capuano (http://www.mikecapuano.com) and wherever else they may be, in the upcoming election--true progressive candidates. We need to get out the vote, or we could lose our majority. While having the majority has proved to be frustrating for us, it's still better than the alternative--imagine a few more Michele Bachmanns getting elected in the midterms.

Mostly we need to stay focused on the prize and get single-payer established in the states. This will do more to move our progressive candidates and us forward than focusing our ire on Congressional single-payer advocates who voted for the bill.

Later this week, look for an email in which we’ll be announcing the Brown Bag Vigils as part of the Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign.

Until then, inhale and exhale.

In solidarity,

Tim Carpenter for the PDA National Team

P.S. Read John Nichols latest article, Six Smart Progressive Complaints About House Health Bill -- http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2009-11-09-13-42-04-news.php

Please join our PDA FB Fanpage -- http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Progressive-Democrats-of-America/164462034235?ref=ts

Please join Norman Solomon on our End War and Occupation, redirect funding call tonight. RSVP here -- https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personalopt1.asp?formid=meet&c=8645634