The general membership of the New Progressive Alliance last week voted to endorse each of 54 alternative party candidates in 23 states running for offices at the local, state, and national levels.

These men and women, seeking seats ranging from school board to sheriff to U.S. Congress (both houses) to the presidency – THREE for that office alone! – are blazing the trial for the future of democracy in America. It is a trail very different than that which the Democratic and Republican parties take us down election after election, with the same predictable result: A disenfranchised working class and an ever-more enriched military-industrial-Wall Street complex.

These candidates, listed by state below, have endorsed the Unified Progressive Platform, a clarion call for peace, people, and protecting the planet. The statements and content included are from the candidates themselves or their websites. (You can access a version of this post which includes links to candidate websites here.)

The Unified Platform is an amalgam of the beliefs of four current and two legacy Progressive organizations. It includes objectives sourced largely through comments by participants here at MyFDL, where the NPA was founded in 2010. Its ten planks:

- Peace First
- Full Employment at a Living Wage
- Saving the Environment
- A Real Social Safety Net
- Medicare for All
- Fair Trade
- Human Rights/Civil Liberties
- Election Reform
- Corporate Accountability/Reform
- Infrastructure Investment/Ownership

These are simple, people-first principles to which any human – any human who actually cares about the other humans, at least – should readily agree. Should an endorsed candidate or partner organization of the NPA renege on their promise to support the Unified Platform in word or deed, we will very publicly and unceremoniously disavow them – because, in order to progress, we need to avoid empty promises, and justifications such as that we hear all too often from adherents of the corporate-run parties: “Sometimes you just have to hold your nose and vote for the lesser of two evils!”

The lesser of two evils is still evil - so, to reverse our country’s near half century of decline, we must abandon the duopolist demagoguery which landed us here. We must start supporting (or opposing) candidates based on their records, not their rhetoric. We believe brave candidates like those listed below, who are not merely willing but PROUD to embrace TRULY Progressive ideals like those contained in the Unified Platform, represent the beginning of that process.

Anthony Noel is a facilitator of the New Progressive Alliance.

President/Vice President of the United States:

- Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala of the Green Party (Stein’s is the Green Party presidential campaign ever to qualify for federal matching funds.)

- Rocky Anderson and Luis Rodriguez of the Justice Party.

- Stewart Alexander and Alejandro “Alex” Mendoza of the Socialist Party USA.

- Kent Mesplay Mesplay endorsed the Unified Platform while contending for the Green Party’s presidential nomination.

Arkansas:

US HOR District 4: Joshua Drake

Arkansas voters deserve a choice other than the Democrat and the Republican since there is no longer a real difference between the two. Let’s give voters in Arkansas’ 4th district a real choice in November. Last election I received over 32,600 votes across the 4th district. Let’s get out the word that voters of south Arkansas have a choice in this election and should choose the person that will fight for the working people of Arkansas.

California

President of the United States: Stewart Alexander (Socialist Party USA)

Everything in the Unified Progressive Platform is a step forward, but not necessarily the destination.

Medicare for all is not enough – we must remove the profit motive from America’s healthcare system completely by taking control over the pharmaceutical companies and instituting a system of national healthcare where there are no premiums, no copays, and where your doctor calls the shots, not some bureaucrat at an insurance company.

I call for a proportional representation and runoff systems which eliminate any false dilemma voters have about voting their conscience rather than the lesser of two evils.

I call for public financing.

I also believe we must go much further than regulating corporations, chopping off the leaves of the weed. We must remove this corrupt system by the root and replace the corporate capitalist system with one of economic democracy where the workers both own and control the means of production.

President of the United States: Kent Mesplay (See top of list under President/Vice President for details.)

Vice President of the United States: Luis Rodriguez, Justice Party (See top of list under President/Vice President for details.)

Colorado

US HOR District 1: Gary Swing (Green Party)

Implementing proportional representation voting systems for legislative elections is the most critical election reform. “Ranked choice voting,” as mentioned in the United Progressive Platform, can refer to either the winner-take-all voting system known as instant runoff voting (IRV) or the proportional voting method known as the single transferable vote (STV). IRV should only be used to elect executives. Legislative offices should be elected by proportional voting methods like the party list system or STV. I propose that legislators be elected by the voting system used for Australia’s Senate, which gives voters a choice between casting a simple vote for the party of their choice or a ranked choice vote (STV) for individual candidates. In practice, more than 95% of voters choose to vote for their favorite party rather than ranking individual candidates.

Connecticut

US Senate: Jeff Russell (Green Party)

I endorse the policies of the Green New Deal Coalition:

Cut military spending at least 70%;

Create millions of green union jobs through massive public investment in renewable energy, mass transit and conservation;

Set ambitious, science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and enact a revenue-neutral carbon tax to meet them;

Establish single-payer “Medicare for all” health care;

Institute tuition-free public higher education;

Change trade agreements to improve labor, environmental, consumer, health and safety standards;

End counterproductive prohibition policies and legalize marijuana;

Enact tough limits on credit card interest and lending rates, progressive tax reform and strict financial regulation;

Amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish corporate personhood; and

Pass sweeping electoral, campaign finance and anti-corruption reforms.

State Senate, District 30: Don Alexander

[...]career politicians are one of the main reasons that this country is in trouble. As long as we keep voting Republicans and Democrats into office, there will be no real change. If elected, I will work for the following changes.

Economy – Help the economy by tax credits to companies to start up or relocate here, tax breaks for employing and retaining Connecticut residents, incentives for clean energy and energy saving, penalize companies that send business overseas, making low interest loans available, and increasing jobs in education.

Education – Expand educational opportunities

Health Care Reform – Use a single payer plan to provide competition and thus ease the burden on business and increase our competitiveness with other states.

Human Rights – should be for all including women and the LGBT community.

Marijuana – Regulate, meaning additional taxes for the state to build infrastructure.

Grassroots Democracy – I will meet regularly with voters at “town hall” type meetings.

State Senate, District 33: Melissa Schlag

I wholeheartedly support the Unified Progressive Platform and have been fighting for such a progressive system in Connecticut for the past year and a half. Corporate welfare has run amok in Connecticut; last year I spent countless hours fighting a large corporate giveaway of state owned conservation land overlooking the Connecticut River and was successful. The website I created that received national attention for my group: www.landswap.org The residents of the 33rd district have been ignored over the past decade, their needs replaced with the needs of special interests and debilitating party politics; it is time for an independent candidate to break the political chains in Hartford to allow for positive and successful growth. You deserve a fresh, independent voice, someone who will not only listen to you but will hear you.

State Representative, District 125: David Bedell

Having read in detail the ten sections [of the Unified Platform], I can say with enthusiasm that I endorse it. What a wonderful group of organizations you’ve selected for source material!

The first priority for the legislature must be to address our stagnant economy. A green jobs and green loan program will put people back to work insulating old buildings, retrofitting homes and schools with solar panels, and developing new industries for fuel cells, photovoltaics, wind turbines, biofuels, LED lighting, better batteries, and other clean energy technologies. As more people go back to work and earn a living wage, their spending will stimulate business and restore the state economy.

ISSUES:

Reform election laws to encourage new candidates with fresh ideas.

Enact a Connecticut Health Plan to insure all state residents.

Close Indian Point and Millstone nuclear plants; promote sustainable energy.

Support mass transit and Smart Growth; contain sprawl and overbuilding.

Equalize education funding by relying more on state revenues, less on local property taxes.

Enable all towns to implement Land Value Tax as an alternative to traditional property tax (currently permitted only in New London).

End the Drug War that imprisons our youth and sparks gun violence.

Last night I attended a screening of the film “Fixing the Future,” which mentions, among other economic innovations, the establishment of Benefit Corporations. These are now recognized in seven states, with legislation pending elsewhere. It might be possible to move forward legislatively on this which would match the goals of section 9 of the Unified Progressive Platform on Corporate Accountability/Reform.

State Representative, District 148: Rolf Maurer

Promote more alternative transportation options, including mini-vans, additional bus service and, where practicable, intra-urban light rail.

Provide incentives for CT-based manufacturers of packaged goods to distribute products, like laundry detergent and other cleansers, via bulk dispensers, where practical, in retail settings, much in the manner of penny candy or soft drink fountain dispensers. This would save packaging and marketing costs for manufacturers, while reducing excess use of paper, plastics and metals.

A “Victory” community garden program would help localize food production, foster a sense of community and curb fuel consumption associated with chain supermarkets. School costs could be reduced and food quality could be improved by encouraging students to grow food on site for consumption in the cafeterias.

Advocate for state-level repeal of FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510), as proposed in Vermont, which could jeopardize local farms.

Support legislation to require labelling of GMO (genetically-modified organism) produce and salmon in Connecticut.

More state funding for education would alleviate burden of CT towns paying for most of their own school systems through property taxes. This would make it easier to cut funding for for-profit charter schools. Free tuition should be applicable at state and community colleges.

A statewide initiative in technical schools could train a new generation of mechanics and aftermarket specialists in the service and gasoline engine-conversion to alternative energy vehicles (electric, biofuel, etc.) as outlined by journalist Edwin Black’s “The Plan: How To Rescue Society When The Oil Stops–Or The Day Before.”

Support the creation of a state-level bank, patterned after North Dakota’s 100-year-old Bank of North Dakota, which, because of its autonomy from dubious investment vehicles, like subprime mortgages, has rendered the state immune from the economic upheavals devastating the rest of the United States. Impressed with North Dakota’s low unemployment rate (3.7% as of last August ) and robust local financial situation, Florida and other states are looking into emulating this model.

A mandatory living wage should be introduced, subsidized for small business employers, where necessary.

Put an end to the practice of municipal tax giveaways to corporations in exchange for doing business in the state. This way all CT towns will be on a level playing field instead of competing in a race to the bottom.

To help promote local and state economic strength, major corporations–especially transnationals–should be required to open their corporate accounts in local credit unions/community banks and in the proposed Bank of Connecticut, rather than in regular commercial institutions. Privatizing of city and state services should be eliminated.

Support legislation for a statewide single-payer healthcare program.

End the wasteful, needless War On Drugs. Legalization would obviate need for funds and resources that could be used more productively elsewhere, as well as facilitate development of hemp-based industry that would provide less environmental destructive/resource depleting alternatives to traditional paper and petroleum-based plastics and fuel production.

Delaware

US Senate: Andrew Groff

I fully endorse this platform and call on other true progressives to review and sign on to this movement. As an “Occupy Delaware” organizer, I feel that it is vital that the critical issues of our day be embraced by all people of good will and that we join together in a great voice that will be heard above the commercial news clatter.

Florida

Monroe County Mosquito Control Board, District 1: Oliver “Ollie” Kofoid

I decided to run for Monroe County Mosquito Control, Dist 1 to give a voice to saying no to the release of genetically modified mosquitoes herein Key West. The Unified Progressive Platform is an extension to the Green values I believe in.

It’s time to crush the 1 percent! Of course I’m talking about the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. This pest is the domestic terrorist of the Keys. It has the ability to harm our health, passing denque fever amidst the population. It has the capability to ruin our economy, through employee reduction, and negative national press. It has the capacity to deplete our Mosquito Control funds, demanding up to 80 percent of operating cost.

Georgia

State HOR District 57: Kwabena “Cubby” Nkromo

The responses of Georgia Democrats to the machinations of the Right have often been as unimaginative as they have been ineffective. With the redistricting process as well as other issues such as charter school and transit policy, the minority caucus seems to unsure of how to respond to the persistent manipulation of public opinion by the party in power.

Fortunately, the voters of District 57 and eventually other areas of metro Atlanta area have another choice. I am running as a Green Party candidate for the House of Representatives in the Georgia General Assembly and am busy collecting the necessary signatures. I believe it is more important than ever right now is Georgia to focus on binds people together as citizens, rather than what divides us.

That is why I have chosen the “commons” as a theme for my campaign and the centerpiece of my policy platform. As Jay Walljasper explains in his book “All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons,” the term may seem unfamiliar to some but it is actually an idea that has been around for centuries. The commons is a new use of an old word, meaning “what we share” – and it offers fresh hope for a saner, safer, more enjoyable future.

Walljasper further notes:
“The commons refers to a wealth of valuable assets that belong to everyone. These range from clean air to wildlife preserves; from the judicial system to the Internet. … Anyone can use the commons, so long as there is enough left for everyone else. … At least that’s how the commons has worked throughout history, fostering democratic, cultural, technological, medical, economic, and humanitarian advances. But this natural cycle of sharing is now under assault. As the market economy becomes the yardstick for measuring the worth of everything, more people are grabbing portions of the commons as personal property. Many essential elements of society – from ecosystems to scientific knowledge to public services – are slipping through our hands and into the pockets of the rich and powerful.”

Solutions to current economic and sociological calamities will require more than administering the tweaks to the operating system that are usually offered by either of the main two parties. Particularly in our communities with the greatest challenges, a complete new approach is needed – a paradigm shift that revises the core principles that guide our culture top to bottom. I believe at this historical moment, the commons vision of a society where “we” matters as much as “me” shines as a beacon of hope for the citizens of District 57 and beyond. My name is Kwabena “Cubby” Nkromo and I am asking you to join our campaign for a brighter day.

Vote your hopes, not your fears!

Richmond County Commission Race, District One in Augusta: Denice Traina (Green Party)

I am enthusiastic in signing on to the Unified Platform. Although my campaign is non-partisan in nature I stand committed to the principles outlined by the plan and look to the day when truly progressive values are evident in our society.

Indiana

US HOR District 2: Andrew Straw (Green Party)

Medicare for All – Despite widespread popular support for a public option and single-payer healthcare, the Obama administration and Congress cut a deal with the insurance companies to protect their profits despite the fact that a single-payer plan would reduce both public and private costs dramatically and ensure that everyone would have access to high-quality health care without fear of long-term debt or even bankruptcy. Andrew Straw recognizes that a fair, comprehensive health care reform is necessary to the well-being of the U.S. as we move forward into the 21st century.

Public Education, Preschool to College – In recent years we’ve seen our elected officials falling over themselves to cut education funding and other programs that benefit millions of Americans. At the same time, student loan debts are spiraling out of control. The need for quality, affordable education has never been greater. 60% of new jobs require some form of post-secondary education, and if America is going to stay competitive on the world stage a highly-educated workforce is more important than ever. Public investment in education is proven to spark economic growth, and the availability of higher education to all Americans would provide a long-term stimulus.

Creating 25 Million New, Sustainable Jobs – Despite some gains in employment, millions of Americans remain out of work. Millions more remain underemployed. There is a desperate need for new jobs! At the same time, we are in the midst of a great transition: we must develop a sustainable economy, or face the consequences as oil prices continue to rise and climate change accelerates. Andrew Straw proposes a full-employment program that includes an economic bill of rights for all workers in areas like renewable energy, public transportation and infrastructure development, clean manufacturing, local and sustainable agriculture, and many more.

A Green New Deal for America! Let’s face it, Washington has forgotten something very important: they are supposed to work for us! It’s time for the government to stop working for only a few. It’s time to stop wasting money on wars and Wall Street bailouts and making the 1% richer, and make our money work for us.

Kentucky

State HOR 45th District: Geoff Young (Green Party)

The Green Party believes in solutions that work. We are pro-environment, pro-working people, pro-diversity, and pro-peace. If you have any questions, would like to make a donation, or would like to help with my campaign, please call me at (859) 278-4966 or email me: energetic_at_windstream_dot_net.

Maine

State Senate District 8: Asher Platts (Green Party)

I once wrote, “I want to see the people occupying Wall Street bring about the major reforms they are demanding. It’s my hope that they will carry this energy and excitement to their home towns, and run as candidates in 2012. And in 2013 we hope to see them occupying their state capitols not as protesters, but to claim seats of power in government.”

Now, coming back from nearly three months of being in DC and on Wall Street, I have been presented with the opportunity to take my own advice. The Green Party has long recognized that the wealthy elite have polluted our electoral system with unlimited campaign contributions. This in turn has perverted the act of public service, as politicians put the needs of Wall Street before those of the people they are elected to serve. I am done with the qualifying period, and I will not be taking any money from any private donors to run this campaign.

State HOR District 39: Carolyn Blackfeather Rae

I endorse the clear statement supporting Peace, People, and of course this precious Earth.

The people are tired of leaning in the boat of politics too far to the right or too far to the left trying to catch the fish they need to survive and make it to achieve even simplicities.

I feel confident that I have the skills to advocate for the people of Maine and our Country with 13 years of college achieved. I have a Masters in Public Administration and a Bachelors in Behavioral Science, as well as an Associates in Liberal Studies. I am Licensed as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor working with servere opiate addicted patients. I am currently working on the design and implimentation of a three tier recovery program that really gets the job done.

My mind works like an engineer, I expose myself to environmental and social conditions and instinctively conduct observations of what is healthy and functional, quality vs quantity as well as effectiveness vs efficency.

Our place is to be good and respectful to each other. I also want to work on the implementation of “ground zero” application with energy infrastructure. I designed the off grid home I live in. The people of this Country are ready to become a part of the solution in that area and this design would allow them to.

There is a lot on the table and many corrective discussions to be had. Please feel free to email me at anytime, carolynrae41_at_gmail_dot_com

State HOR District 118: Tom MacMillan

Tom has a passion for Maine and the intimate knowledge of the hardships faced by Mainers which will make him a true representative of the West End, Libbytown and St. John Valley. Tom is an independent voice who will never take corporate money because politics is about serving the interests of the community, not enriching the few.

Tom supports marriage equality, voting rights, the rights of workers, and public transportation.

Maryland

US HOR District 8: George Cluck

George is clean, mean, and green.
- Clean – no PAC, corporate or union contributions; solely individuals and no more than $100
- Lean – both an efficient campaign and a more efficient government, getting better results with less funding
- Green – champion of environmental and sustainable business

Massachusetts

President of the United States: Jill Stein (Green Party) (See top of list under President/Vice President for details.)

Michigan

US HOR District 4: Pat Timmons

The choices in this campaign are clear. We can use our strength and courage to persist in the industrial, growth economy. Or, we can use our strength and courage to adapt to a sustainable, steady state economy.

Delaying a decision is possible, but the costs of doing so are adding up quickly. Our grandchildren are standing in the doorway, waiting for us to show them the way.

America faces a multitude of problems to solve, and I have selected three that I judge to be most pressing:

- Reform our government

- Repay our debt

- Restore our environment

US HOR District 9: Julia Williams (Green Party)

Julia Williams, RN, has a new prescription for our district: A Representative that will fight for citizens, not corporations.

I stand for the citizens of this district. My goal is to improve the economic, physical, and political health of the people who live here. I will fight for the well-being of our families, not banking profits. I support HR 676, “Medicare for All,” rather than mandated profits to insurance companies. And I will demand an end to our “endless wars” and the suffering they cause.

Clean air, water, and food, are basic needs for everyone, and without a viable environment, all other arguments are moot.

As a committed Green, I, like our Presidential candidate Jill Stein, believe the Unified Progressive Platform reflects the 10 Key Values of my Party and represents my values as well.

I endorse the Unified Progressive Platform, and look forward to seeing our values and our vision implemented.

Michigan State Board of Education: Dwain C. Reynolds III

My campaign for Michigan’s State Board of Education is concerned with the spreading of equality and the use of our public education system as a “great equalizer”; where all students are granted the same opportunities. I am also against the for-profit charter schools system which the Democrats and Republicans are forcing onto our communities.

As a candidate, member, and representative of both the Socialist Party USA and the Green Party I fully believe in and support/endorse the Unified Platform.</blockquote>

Michigan State Board of Education: Candace Caveny

I believe in:
- A Woman’s Right to Choose
- Peace Now
- Fair Trade
- Universal Health Care
- A Clean Environment
- Equal Rights for Gays and Lesbians
- Alternative Energy
- Human Rights
- Mass Transit
- Corporate Accountability
- Internet Accessibility

Calhoun County Clerk & Register of Deeds: John Anthony LaPietra

I endorse the full Unified Progressive Platform, with one exception. I think the Electoral College still offers some advantages over a single nationwide count built up from 51 separate elections with different rules for who can vote, how and when — enforced by partisan officials and thus open to “majority fraud”. When all US citizens have the same Presidential voting rights and power, we can consider abolishing the EC; until then, I do support some EC reforms, including proportional splits of each state’s electoral votes.

The County Clerk and Register of Deeds runs elections, keeps property and court records, and more. To do the job, you need to be fluent in Legalese, Red Tape, and plain English. And to do it right, you have to care more about people than parties – or credit. I have ten years’ experience making state and local governments work
fairly and efficiently; I’ve practiced administrative, election, and civil-rights law. With your help, I can bring these skills to our county government. I’ll take 100% of anyone’s vote; I won’t take over $100 from any real person – or any corporate money. Join my campaign; let’s make sure county elections and records work – for the people.

Newberg Township Clerk, Cass County: Korine Bachleda

I have read the Unified Progressive Platform and wish to endorse this noble venture. I was appointed as Township Clerk in June of 2006, elected in November 2006 by write-in and re-elected in 2008 on the ballot as a Green Party candidate. I am seeking re-election this November (without opposition) and have been nominated by the Green Party. This is a small un-zoned rural community with 1,200 voters. I am an environmentalist and strong advocate for sustainable living. I believe we must find peaceful ways to resolve conflicts. And, I believe it starts in our own communities. I hope the votes I secure as a local leader will help spread the awareness of the Unified Progressive Platform.

Minnesota

United States Senate: Michael Cavlan (Minnesota Open Progressives)

Michael Cavlan is fighting for universal health care (Medicare for all, everyone covered), he is fighting to end corporate personhood, avoiding a war with Iran, bringing the troops home, campaign finance reform by taking the big money out of politics, opening the debates, is for ranked choice voting, and supports marriage for all.

Minneapolis School Board: Doug Mann (Green Party)

I believe that education is a right, not a privilege. A quality public education should be available to all on an equal basis. Most children of color get an education of inferior quality due to factors like high teacher turnover, overexposure to inexperienced teachers, and placement in watered-down curriculum tracks. Teachers are arbitrarily fired and replaced during their 3-year probationary period. Demand low teacher turnover rates in all schools, the elimination of watered-down curriculum tracks. Let’s fix the public schools instead of herding students into charter schools. Preserve due process, tenure and seniority rights for teachers.

Candidate background: Nurse (LPN), Associate Arts, Minneapolis Community Technical College, Languages: French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Swedish. Learning Russian. Volunteer English as a second Language tutor 2009-2010. Past member: NAACP education advocacy committees (Minneapolis branch and state conference), and Parents Union board of directors.

New Jersey

-US Senate: Ken Wolski (Green Party)

I proudly endorse the Unified Progressive Platform. I will be on the ballot as New Jersey’s Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate in the upcoming election. The Greens are a refreshing alternative to the two-party monopoly that has dominated politics, stifled debate and led to Tweedledee-Tweedledum governance in this country.

I am campaigning to:
- end the influence of corporate money on elected officials;
- end the destructive and ineffective war on drugs; and
- ensure free and universal health care for all Americans.

I’m not a politician. I’m a registered nurse. I’ve practiced in New Jersey for 36 years. With your support, together we can nurse our country back to health. I encourage voters to vote for something they can believe in — vote Green for a change.

US HOR District 1: Bill Reitter (Green Party)

I hereby heartily endorse the Unified Progressive Platform. Thanks for all the hard work you are doing to unify and strengthen the Green and Progressive movement in America. This will certainly bear fruit in the coming years.

Think Green, Live Green, Vote Green.

US HOR District 5: Patricia Alessandrini (Green Party)

The Unified Progressive Platform presented is certainly in line with the Green Party’s Ten Key Values. My policies are “Green Party” values and Universal Values! If you agree, vote for a candidate who supports policies that represent you, the people.

Important Issues:
- Health care for all with savings of billions by cutting out the profit margin of insurance companies and pharmaceuticals.

- Ensure a living wage by increasing the minimum wage to $12 now and $14 by 2012. This is a human right.

- Real electoral reform, providing public funding based on the Maine example. Citizens have the constitutional right to vote for candidates who represent their needs and not those of large corporations.

- Restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act which prevented banks and other financial institutions from investing our savings and retirement funds in unsound portfolios. Impose a moratorium on home foreclosures with renegotiation of mortgages based on current property values and interest rates.

- End the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. These unnecessary wars have cost taxpayers one trillion dollars thus far, and the toll in deaths and injuries to both civilians and our troops are unjustifiable. The military budget should be cut by 30% by 2012. These savings to be used primarily for care for veterans!

- Resolve conflicts through international consensus rather than forcefully and unilaterally. Restore membership in the International Court of Justice.

- Enact and enforce higher standards for our environment. New technology must be employed to produce renewable energy and curtail global warming.

- End torture, rendition, and the death penalty.

- Support of re-negotiation of trade treaties to stop corporations from exploitation of workers in poor nations imposing unsafe working conditions and environmental damage.

- Increase the number of inspectors in agencies enforcing health, safety, and environmental laws. Make the penalties for violations serious deterrents; the collection of fines prompt.

- End any and all use of weapons that can cause the death of civilians and environmental damage such as depleted uranium, cluster bombs, white phosphorus, drones, and land mines.

- Support the “Employee Free Choice Act” so that workers can join unions without being subjected to employer intimidation.

- Provide foreign aid only to states not in violation of international law.

- Tax corporate incomes at the same rate as individual incomes. Close all loopholes allowing them to avoid taxes.

New York:

United States Senate: Colia Clark (Green Party)

The Colia Clark for US Senate campaign is pushing forward a Freedom Agenda that includes: Constitutional Right to Vote, Constitutional Right to a Universal Education, An Economic Bill of Rights and more…There will be an addition of criminal justice component which addresses the war on Blacks and Browns with intent of repealing all federal legislation which provides the base of support for the US criminal injustice system. The Unified Progressive Platform as stated would be essential in the thrust for a Freedom Agenda. The Colia Clark for Senate Campaign strongly endorses the Unified Progressive Platform and looks forward to working with the New Progressive Alliance in building a campaign to bring true democracy to the US.

US HOR District 6: Evergreen Chou (Green Party)

The only reservation I have for the Unified Progressive Platform is I am only in favor of medical marijuana and not its recreational use. I am of course in favor of de-criminalization of marijuana.

Jobs: New Green Deal
Housing: Housing should be a right. Affordable Housing for all. Mixed income housing developments.
Health Care: Single Payer Universal Health Care For All
Environment: to stop the carbon/fossil fuel addiction to oil and coal and to stop nuclear; anti-fracking
Energy: Using renewable resources; moving away from a carbon economy; stop Nuclear Power Plants.
Solar panels
Wind turbines
Wave and River Currents
Geothermal
Education: Universal Free Education to College/University
Where will the money come from: Stop Wars, Progressive taxation, Tax Wall Street and Corporations.
Unbought and Unbossed! Forward Ever – Backward Never!

US HOR District 11: Hank Bardel (Green Party)

If you like Occupy Wall Street then you will like my campaign. I am for Peace, Single Payer Health Care, the Environment, Education, Jobs, and the Economy. Give people a choice! I have been a member of the Green Party since 1996 and have been fighting for justice since I was in my 20s.

US HOR District 14: Anthony Gronowicz (Green Party)

The Green New Deal is a continuation and expansion of the principles contained in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1944 Economic Bill of Rights that called for:

- A living wage and full employment through public works as in the New Deal’s WPA program
- Affordable housing
- Health care for all
- Free college (as was the case with the City University from 1847 to 1975)

US HOR District 16: Joseph Diaferia (Green Party)

US HOR District 24: Ursula Rozum (Green Party)

I need your support in our campaign for a Green New Deal of economic security, environmental sanity, and real democracy because real solutions can’t wait! Please help our grassroots campaign gear up by making a donation today.

Our generation is losing our future. The hottest year ever recorded just reminded us of the fast-approaching climate catastrophe. Unemployment is high and persistent. Giant banks and corporations call the shots in our government. Student loan debt just surpassed $1 trillion. People are losing their jobs, homes, and prospects for economic security. It doesn’t have to be this way! Whatever you can give, it’s an investment in our people-powered campaign.

Ohio

US HOR District 14: Elaine Mastromatteo (Green Party)

I’m here because I think that the Republicans and Democrats in Washington have forgotten who they work for. They have spent so much time pandering to the wishes of their wealthy campaign donors that they’re willing to put our lives and our democracy and our constitution aside. They not only work for the wealthy and powerful special interests and that’s how we ended up with the biggest wealth gap in our history. They’ve bailed out the banks, bailed out auto manufacturers, they’re sending money to the states in a mortgage fraud settlement, but we’re not really seeing any more jobs. That’s because they haven’t bailed out the real job creators: The American people. Put money back in the pockets of ordinary Americans and watch the jobs come back! Despite higher productivity on the part of the American worker, wages have remained stagnant at 1970’s levels while the one percent hoards all the rewards. If those profits had been returned to ordinary American workers I’m convinced that we would not be in the situation we are now.

Oregon

US HOR District 3: Woodrow Broadnax Jr.

- Reform tax codes to achieve a fair tax in which the rich pay their fair share to relieve the burden on the poor and re-establish the middle class by ensuring a return to prosperity and equality.
- Close tax loopholes exploited by the super-rich, and seek a return to the tax equality that Americans enjoyed during the period of the Great Society.
- Promote a higher EPA standard that ensures clean and accessible drinking water.
- Introduce legislation to prevent water utility corporations from exploiting their communities with arbitrary rate hikes.
- Pursue solutions to ensure the quality of water infrastructure throughout the community is protected.
- Increase affordable education by regulating for profit schools, increasing the availability of federal student loans and student loan forgiveness programs.
- Fix roads and infrastructures (bridges, highways) and create jobs that can implement and sustain needed repairs
- Modify the Education Sustainability Act to support equitable academic programs, curriculum and practices will make education accessible and affordable for all Oregonians.
- Keep a hands-off policy regarding Social Security and Medicare, opposing any attempt to privatize these vital programs.
- Utilize wind and solar power.
- End wars that divert our treasury from the domestic needs of the public.
- Support equal rights and with it the rights of people to marry whom they choose.
- End Marijuana prohibition in matters of health
- Clear legislation that insures mass transportation and reforestation believing it will stimulate the economy and conserve resources for future generations
- End the judicial doctrine of corporate personhood, which is undermining the democratic process.

US HOR District 4: Mike Beilstein (Green Party)

There is not going to be an “economic recovery.” There is no magic formula to return the US and the world economies back to pre-2008 conditions. We have driven the global environment far beyond carrying capacity. Either we re-imagine an economy that can support human life on earth, or we kill ourselves trying to maintain the system that brought us to this crisis.

Pennsylvania

Vice President of the United States: Cheri Honkala (See top of list under President/Vice President for details.)

Tennessee

US Senate: Martin Pleasant (Green Party)

As we say in Knoxville, TN, Martin’s (MLK) Values are Green Values and so are the New Progressive Alliance’s values. I fully endorse the Unified Progressive Platform.

US HOR District 7: Howard Switzer (Green Party)

Humankind is facing multiple crises including a crisis of vision and faith. Much of what we once believed to be true is being proven false such as; that economic growth is essential for prosperity, that nature is a mere commodity to be used up as we see fit, that growing consumption is good for the economy, that the most important thing is getting ahead, that “my god is better than your god,” that other cultures, peoples and species don’t matter. The global industrial culture has been like the child who has eaten all the candies in the bowl and is now very sick. The symptoms are economic decline, resource depletion, planetary warming, social divisions and wars, religious intolerance, and the mass extinction of languages, cultures and species. We the People are awakening to the fact that we must change our system to eliminate these symptoms. We are growing up just in time.

Tennessee HOR District 55: Susan Shann

I have occupied many roles: singer / songwriter, music teacher, spiritual seeker, political activist, environmentalist – just to name a few. I created Earth Revolution, a local-access TV program dedicated to highlighting the good work of “green” businesses and non-profits in and around Davidson County, and started Transition Nashville, a group inspired by the global Transition Movement, which is working to turn Metro Nashville into a network of localized, resilient and sustainable communities, I see this campaign as another way to speak to my great concerns in life: the protection and preservation of our planet, and thriving, sustainable, socially just communities in which everyone can enjoy access to high quality health care, healthy food, and other necessities.

Texas

Vice President of the United States: Alejandro “Alex” Mendoza (See top of list under President/Vice President for details.)

US HOR District 2: Mark A. Roberts

I support the NPA platform and would be even more supportive of a Green New Deal and the achievement and maintenance of full employment. I would be also be more supportive of the development of equitable and sustainable local economies. I believe that each and every person should have a voice in the environmental, political, and economic decisions affecting their lives. I believe that we should end oppression based on class, race, sex, citizenship, age, or orientation. I also believe that we should live less wastefully, and refocus on developing our local communities.

As your Congressperson, I will work towards those goals.

US HOR District 33: Ed Lindsay

If you want REAL CHANGE in government, if you want to stop this nonsense in Washington, DC, if you want our government placed on a sound financial basis, if you want to see ethics restored in the political arena, if you agree with the important issues which I believe in, and if you want to see the future of this country preserved for you, your children and your grandchildren, then it is imperative that YOU tell your friends and neighbors in District 33 to vote for me on November 6th!

Texas HOR District 65: Alex Mendoza (Socialist Party USA)

Texas HOR District 124: Herb Gonzales, Jr.

I believe in:
- Reorientation of education to promote a person who can think, analyze and problem solve

- Abolition of property tax to fund education

- Education funds at the state level to be replaced by a flat percentage tax that is less then 3% of income and 12% of quarterly profits from corporations earning $100,000,000 a fiscal year.

- The current systems of fees charged for traffic violations, probation, adult and juvenile support services, and the District Courts should be reviewed for unnecessary and burdensome application.

I want your vote to affect our legislature in promoting the common good. I would like to reestablish the link to public service as a good for helping all to improve their lives. Simply, I would be in office to develop and pass laws that promote democracy and justice for all.

Harris County Sheriff: Remington Alessi

I am dedicated to ending what I regard as the criminal justice system’s war on people. I am seeking to call attention to the private prison industry’s influence in perpetuating the war on drugs, the criminalization of immigration, mass incarceration, and the general mistreatment of human beings within the criminal justice system.

Bexar County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2, Pl. 1: Joel Benavidez

I am an Air Force Veteran. I am all too aware of the challenges facing our society, both fiscally and socially. I am prepared to bring these skills to bear on the challenges facing the poor and working class people of Precinct 2 and Bexar County. All too often the system is stacked against the student, the worker, the elderly and the poor. Our politicians are aware of this and would like to help but as career politics go, voter interests almost consistently come second to securing reelection. The two aren’t always synonymous. According to city-data in 2008, 1 in 5 San Antonians were living in poverty. I promise to put voter interests, within the bounds of the law, first in every instance, without regard for my reelection. My justice will not be bought and will go to support the majority of people, not the majority of wealth.

I’m one of you. Soy tu primo, tu hijo, su nieto, tu hermano; I’m your cousin, your son, your grandson, your brother. I have not spent years studying law at a prestigious university thanks to a trust fund or rich parents. I work hard and I’m struggling like all of you; And like all of you, I want to help my brothers and sisters through their struggles. That is what I want to accomplish as Justice of the Peace and I am available to anyone who wants to talk to me. So vote for your own interests, Vote Joel Benavidez JP2.

Utah

President of the United States: Rocky Anderson (See top of list under President/Vice President for details.)

Virginia

Arlington County Board: Dr. Audrey Clement (Green Party)

Many here at the Lake went a little (more) crazy when 350.org founder and much-admired climate expert Bill McKibben folded on Keystone XL’s Tar Sands pipeline.

After staging a memorable protest outside the White House last fall, McKibben went inside – and has since loudly applauded Barack Obama’s “threats” to veto any legislation that included the approval of the pipeline’s construction, and his rejection this spring of Keystone’s permit for the cross-border section of the oil-queduct.

McKibben has cheered these developments though the only real question is which happens first: Romney’s concession speech or Obama’s approval of Keystone’s re-application to connect the pipeline at the U.S.-Canada line.

A far pithier poser: Is McKibben – whose organization is (for the moment) an ally of the New Progressive Alliance – so new to activism that he’ll believe whatever a Democrat In A Suit tells him? Or has he cashed in his activist chips for a cushy job working for Democrats In Suits?

I hate to call McKibben out publicly… okay, no I don’t.

I tried keeping it private with Cornel West. Didn’t work.

An erstwhile member of the NPA steering committee, West’s comment earlier this year that there are no realistic alternatives to the major parties was more bullshit than I could take. I told him so in an email, and suggested that if he was unwilling to even acknowledge the existence of Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson, he might not be a good fit with the NPA.

West replied with an obtuse reference to perhaps having Stein and/or Anderson on his radio show, righteous upset at my “threatening” tone, and a request that he be removed from the steering committee.

Subsequent emails between us have resulted in nothing more concrete than a pep talk (“Keep up the great work, Brother Anthony Noel”) and scrupulous avoidance of my earnest inquiry as to whether the good doctor is planning to put his money where his mouth has been for lo, these past three years.

So, until we know for sure that Dr. West really wants to create electoral alternatives and agrees that putting off doing it for one more election – because, it is, after all, the most important of our lives! (just like all the others…) – only deepens the crisis, he is listed thus on our steering committee page: Dr. Cornel West

Alas, this tale, and, I fear, Mr. McKibben’s, are object lessons in how highly effective, loudmouthed activists – people who could foment and lead movements which forever banish self-interest and greed from the equation that dictates policymaking – routinely fold up their podiums and head for the hills at the critical moment: Election time.

I’d planned to contact McKibben privately as well, to ask what the hell he’s thinking. Until, that is, I heard him shilling today on Sirius XM Left. (Even for a stalwart hockey fan like me, six weeks of listening to the reactions of the Los Angeles Kings play-by-play guy to the team’s finally winning the Stanley Cup over on XM 92 is about five weeks too many.)

Leveraging this 6,000-plus word article in Rolling Stone, McKibben is promoting 350’s consciousness-raising tour with Naomi Klein. It begins – wait for it – November 7. The day AFTER we (again) elect a greed-enabling corporatist, rather than a people-supporting activist. Regardless which party wins.

And that’s when it (finally) dawned on me: Publicly ambushing say-one-thing-do-another “progressives” is no more unfair to them than what they do to those who have supported them, when they publicly renege on the stated beliefs that garnered them or their organizations our moral – and more tangible – $upport.

(And let me just add, Ms. Klein: You are fast becoming a former heroine of mine, particularly since you hail from Canada and know what’s possible. Think about what you are doing, for chrissakes. Hunter S. Thompson is spinning in his grave.)

Though it surprised me, considering both the network and the show (Ed Schultz), stand-in host Mike Papantonio did a nice job of pressing McKibben, who attempted to push the (bullshit) line that blame for our still-deepening allegiance to fossil fuels has nothing to do with politicians and everything to do with the oil companies themselves.

Papantonio asked McKibben (paraphrasing from memory, here): “If I wanted to figure out who has been responsible for the continued power of the oil companies, who would I go looking for?”

McKibben: “That becomes about vengeance, and that’s really not going to solve the core problem.”

Papantonio: “But surely there are particular lobbyists who have pushed the lie about how we are not even close to climate crisis…”

McKibben: “If you want to use names, use the logos of any of the big fossil fuel companies.”

Translation: It’s not Obama’s fault, nor the lobbyists. The president didn’t have the votes in Congress anyway. (Indeed, McKibben at one point said as much.)

If it isn’t sufficiently telling that McKibben has chosen to delay his tour until the day after the election, ask yourself this: Why would a self-described climate activist not use an election, held at a time that record numbers of Americans are self-identifying as Independents, to help point voters away from the Big-Oil-bought-and-sold “leaders” who have already signaled their intention to perpetuate the climate mess?

I wrote to Dr. West, “You could be America’s Tommy Douglas.”

The same goes for you, Mr. McKibben. And like Dr. West, you have a decision to make.

350.org has done some great work, but you are putting it all at risk by kowtowing to this – or any corporate-owned – White House.

And we think you know it.

Thirty-five candidates running for everything from school board to the presidency have followed the lead of 350.org and the NPA’s other allies in endorsing the Unified Platform.

Why would you turn your back on them, Bill?

Unless, of course, you’re okay with 350 becoming another MoveOn, or PCCC, or PDA, glad handing Democrats In Suits and taking their money, despite mounting proof that they are not friends – of you or the planet.

Anthony Noel is a facilitator of the New Progressive Alliance.

Many here (myself proudly included) get pretty tough on Ed Schultz from time to time. Mainly because he’s an idiot. Still, I keep spoiling an otherwise perfectly good lunch hour by switching to his show on “America Left,” because doing so invariably helps me home in on another of the myriad reasons the Democrats lack anything resembling a clue.

Yesterday, that took all of 15 seconds.

The Edster welcomed Katrina vanden Heuvel, part owner and therefore editor-for-as long-as-she-says of the purportedly Lefty rag, The Nation.

Ed and Kat were discussing the bad bad GOP and how it may well succeed in calling the shots now that it has the House (no mention, of course, that conservatives called the shots when they didn’t have the House…). Following is my shorthand and anything-but-verbatim version of what the Big Dog and Kat screeched yesterday noon:

Ed: The midterms were all about the economy!

Kat: Mostly about the economy, a little about throw the bums out, a little about lack of enthusiasm (blah blah blah) we need to enlist not just Progressives but people from all across the spectrum who have been wronged by bad management even bad government management (which occurs in red states red states red states only) like people who have lost their civil service pensions and we need to unify them and make people aware that when one of us suffers all of us do and boats and tides and justice and whatever other peace. And civil rights, and love – a, and flowers.

Of course: No.

The cause of the Democrats’ midterm defeats is much simpler. But Schultz, vanden Heuvel and other neolibs are averse to uttering it, because they are unwilling to part with their unfounded, oh-so-up-in-their-reputedly-bright-little-heads-sounding rationales for the Party’s losses figurative-only wins during the last 30 years. How averse? So much that they are willing – borrowing a phrase from a former Alaska governor – to MAKE STUFF UP.

Voting demographics from the Midterm elections clearly show what cost the Democrats seats: The fact that LEFTIES STAYED HOME. Not NEOliberals; REAL-LIFE liberals. From the kids upon whose backs Obama crowd-surfed into office to old Bohemians – which word the sage Kat might well need a dictionary to even begin fathoming – like me, all of whom swallowed Obama’s bluster hook, line and sinker, we stayed home. Because, President-wise, HE HAS SUCKED.

Pundits like to try to tease out midterm voting from presidential election voting. But we vote in a dualistic system, and the notion that party and president are two different things is a nice idea. But that’s all it is.

We’ve watched for thirty years – thirty freakin’ years! – as neolibs have dutifully chanted mantras of peace, love and understanding, though their annointed have consistently been neither peaceful nor loving nor understanding when it’s brass tacks time. Barack Obama has quickly proved to be just the latest in that long (not)Left line of establishment Democratic Partiers.

Moreover, when one looks at the Right’s rise to dominance across those thirty years and considers the reasons why, the differences between the parties’ approaches are stark.

Abortion is MURDER!

STRONG on defense!

Tax-and-Spend LIBERALS!

Free-Market CAPITALISM!

Conservatives have kept their messages simple, provocative and consistent. Frank Luntz taught them the lesson a long time ago and they’ve been kicking Lefty ass ever since.

I made passing note of this truth in a post several months ago and suggested we take a lesson from it. So righteously indignant was one commenter that s/he jerked her/his knee along these lines: “There’s NOTHING I want to learn from conservatives!”

Of course, that is terribly shortsighted. A good Lefty friend of mine, after Al Gore waved the white flag, asked me what I thought happened.

“I’ll tell you exactly what happened,” I said. “People saw Gore as a wooden egghead that they couldn’t relate to – enough of them that it called the results into question and allowed Howdy Freakin’ Doody to claim the prize. When will the Left learn that it’s one thing to be smarter than the other side and something else entirely to come off looking too smart for your own good?”

I’m not arguing for the dumbing down of politics. On the contrary. It is the fact that on an issue-by-issue basis, Progressive values win, and that the Left seems unable to consolidate that truth into policy that I’m concerned with. How do we change it?

Rather than re-inventing the wheel (or continuing the fruitless and 30-years-and-counting refrain of kumbaya) couldn’t we maybe come up with and advocate – fiercely and consistently – for a few simple, provocative ideas of our own?

FULL Employment!

Medicare for ALL!

CIVIL Rights! HUMAN Rights! Civil LIBERTIES!

FAIR Trade!

End the Wars NOW!

Each of these have been shown again and again to be of far greater concern to Americans than any of the base-rallying, culture-warring bullshit consistently spouted by angry old white-collar criminals conservatives.

We Lefties are always saying how smart we are. Are we smart enough to build a new movement focused on issues instead of identities? On sworn dedication to clearly stated and sworn-to ideas like those above – instead of campaign promises, the subsequent ditching of which produces no consequence?

Some of your fellow FDLers think the time has come. We’re assembling right now on the ground floor of a movement we call the New Progressive Alliance, and we invite you to join us. If you’d like to help, write me, Anthony Noel: admin_at_themalcontent_dot_com

Thanks – and Happy New Year!

We did it again.

In 2008, the American electorate bit – hook, line and sinker – on the promises of a charismatic orator who promised us everything and has failed not just to deliver, but even to remember what he promised. (Please, those of you who didn’t bite, save your keystrokes. I’m employing the collective “we,” and recognize that not everyone did.)

There’s no doubt: Our electoral process is perfectly – some would argue purposely – poised to place personality above principles.

This is nothing new, of course. If we valued principles and the ability to lead based upon them, we’d have elected a long line of eminently capable, honest leaders. But any objective review of the last thirty years shows that, with perhaps one exception, it’s been all about personality and promises on the campaign trail and – upon election – to Hell with adherence to universally recognized principles of fair play, let alone concern for the basic welfare of those being governed.

From Reagan to Clinton and Bush2 to Obama, we’ve been bamboozled but good. But it goes beyond that. If democracy is really about what we’ve been told – if it really means choosing leaders who will represent the people based on our expressed desires, in order to help us actualize the nation and world we envision – we’ve been far more than just poorly led.

We’ve been RULED.

Like the despots and their people who we have so regularly starved and killed and refused refuge, we – the increasing numbers of Americans who are downtrodden to an extent heretofore unseen since this country’s organization – are starving and dying and being denied refuge and the basic welfare-providing services which any nation calling itself great should be ashamed NOT to offer.

And why?

Because the ruling class has decided – despite clear evidence from those they rule that it is not of concern to them – that the national debt and budget deficit suddenly MATTER.

Even though these were of no concern to our rulers when they decided to go after one more despot.

Even though these remain of no concern to our rulers when they are drawing up “defense” (read: WEAPONS) budgets.

And even though REAL people in REAL streets in this increasingly UNREAL land are losing opportunities for health, education, and personal welfare – each and every day of the week.

What would happen, I wonder, if we began to do democracy as it was meant to be done? If WE picked the issues – and the STANCES on those issues – that WE care about FIRST – then recruited candidates who must pledge to represent us on those issues?

Without corporate money.

Without concern for party affiliation.

Unless and until we have driven a stake through the heart of the political practices that are killing this country – and Identity Politics is at the top of the list – America will never again be a truly great nation.

An effort has coalesced here at MyFDL over the past three months that aims, first and foremost, to hold candidates accountable to issues and principles. Readers like you have named it the “New Progressive Alliance” and identified five irrefutably progressive policy concerns around which we are building the movement. They’ve also developed a list of 10 prospective candidates to challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 primary and run as true progressives in the general. Beyond the 10 you’ll find at that link, other prospects include Cindy Sheehan, Jan Schakowsky, Joe Stiglitz, Patrick Fitzgerald, and Raul Grijalva.

Volunteers are stepping up, giving whatever time they can to spread the word and organize the effort in their individual states, and I invite you to join us. If you agree Identity Politics is at the root of what ails us, and you are ready to take positive action in waking people up and offering a real alternative, I hope you’ll contact me. Please write Anthony Noel at admin_at_themalcontent_dot_com.

Thanks.

Voting took place last week here at MyFDL to choose a movement name and platform topics in the effort to mount a primary challenge to Barack Obama in 2012.

The results are now tabulated, and “MyFDL” commenters chose “New Progressive Alliance” as the effort’s name, and rated the following five topics as those most important to the Progressive cause:

1) Full Employment
2) Medicare for All
3) Civil Rights/Human Rights/Civil Liberties
4) Fair Trade
5) End the Wars Now

I congratulate all of you on these fine choices. A clearer manifesto – or more concise statement – of the principles and issues Progressives hold dear, and from which the Democratic Party has shrunk over the past 30 years, is difficult to imagine.

Of course, our goal is for the New Progressive Alliance to be a lasting force, one that can reinstate to American political discourse the uncompromising, unapologetic voice of the Left which the national Democratic Party has so thoroughly and completely ceased to be.

Challengers
Just five weeks ago, readers chose their top 10 preferred challengers to Obama (results here).

Since then, I’ve begun approaching prominent Lefties, seeking their membership on a steering committee to help (1) guide our effort and (2) bring under its umbrella the full range of groups espousing Progressive principles. Both prospective members I’ve approached thus far have agreed, and because of the delicate nature of trying to bring together prominent people of such diverse opinions, I am keeping their names confidential while those efforts continue.

What’s Next
What’s needed most at this stage is volunteers. While the work of seating a steering committee continues, we must spread word of the New Progressive Alliance throughout the blogosphere. We also need “State Founders” all across the country, to establish the New Progressive Alliance and begin seeking volunteers at the state level. A few people have already come forward, but we need many, many more.

Bloggers can make a difference in just an hour or two per week, by posting the link to this diary and future ones in comments at other sites. They’ll also help spread the word through letters to the editor in their local newspapers.

State Founders need about five free hours per week during the first half of 2011, during which they will promote and facilitate organizing meetings in order to recruit a corps of volunteers within their state. Promotional literature and tips to ensure good attendance at organizing meetings will be provided to State Founders, along with a PowerPoint presentation designed to engender enthusiasm and excitement among prospective volunteers, and to encourage them to enlist their friends and colleagues in the effort as well.

The America that FDR and LBJ worked so hard to begin building lies in ruins. Common concern for the welfare of our fellow citizens has been abandoned; corporate solvency predominates over individual rights and liberties; and – just as it never was – war is still not the answer.

The groundwork has been laid. Now the real work must begin.

Are you ready to join the fight for what you believe in?

If you are, please e-mail admin_at_themalcontent_dot_com, and encourage other readers to join you with your comments below.

Thanks, one and all, for everything you’ve done so far, and for all we still hope to achieve.

Many of you have been active participants in the effort, begun here in September, to craft a long-term response to the utter selling out of average Americans by the Washington and Wall Street elite.

jeffroby has called it “Dump Obama.” I prefer Primary Obama/New Progressive Alliance. (And the really optimistic call it pointless!)

Beyond the names (and name calling) comes a clear choice, and how we choose might very well determine whether we succeed or fail.

jeffroby is of the opinion that a challenge to Obama is the main thing, and that it might well push the Democratic Party to the Left. He further believes in a “two-track” approach, where a populist (i.e., well-known) candidate would be the primary election challenger, leading what he’s called an independent entity within the Democratic party. Upon that challenger being denied the nomination, the independent entity would then break away from the party and put up a different opponent in the 2012 general election because, as Jeff wrote a few days ago:

In any event, whoever primaries Obama will likely sell us out. I go into this with eyes wide open, you don’t have to warn me about being sold out. It comes with the territory.

I believe, since we know this already, we should take steps to counter it right from the get-go. Rather than a two-track approach, I favor a comprehensive one, whereby our challenger – in order to become our challenger in the first place – must not only agree to run against Obama in the primaries, but to run as the new party’s candidate in the general as well.

Call it a loyalty vow.

This difference in approach may seem small; something we can deal with later. There is already much agreement that the main thing is the platform on which the challenger runs. That we must get away from identity politics and focus on the issues – the Democrats’ approach to which, even as I write, is promoting militarism, destroying what’s left of the middle class, and utterly ravaging the poor.

But even at this early stage, strategy is not a small consideration. Whether we like it or not, there is a bright line between those who believe the Democratic Party – and more broadly, the two-party system itself – is utterly and finally bankrupt, and those who believe some sort of meaningful, results-for-the-victimized duality can be restored by reforming the Democratic Party.

Whichever of these beliefs you might hold, that bright line exists nonetheless – and if we are serious about changing things, we ignore it at our peril.

Here’s why.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working on seating a steering committee of prominent, respected Lefties for this effort. So far I’m batting 1.000 – the first two people I’ve approached have agreed. They are names you will immediately recognize, and while I am not ready to disclose them just yet, here’s the key point: One is willing to participate only if the goal is the establishment of a new party which seeks to bring together the disparate factions of the Left, toward the greater objective of giving the Left a real voice again. This person is even averse to a primary challenge, but would be willing, I think, to support it as a strategic first step – provided the ultimate goal is to give Lefties a unified voice which is not tied to the Democratic Party.

The ultimate form of political revolt is taking the very rules which the ensconsced powers believe protect them and turning them to the advantage of those seeking change. Our electoral process, as now operated, offers just that kind of opportunity.

Nothing is stopping us from both challenging Obama in the primaries AND running THE SAME candidate against him in the general, thereby leveraging the support that candidate – and with them, our platform – has generated throughout the primary process. Nobody is deluding themselves into thinking we can win, whether in the primaries or the general – unless “winning” is defined as launching a real Lefty counterpoint to the Right (Democratic), further-right (Republican) and daftly right (Tea) factions which now comprise our one-party system.

Moreover, naming a new candidate for the general means throwing away months of hard work in the primaries – work that could be focused on telling voters the truth: “We know we will be denied the nomination. When we are, if the movement we are building is to last, we will need your support. Won’t you become a charter member of the New Progressive Alliance, and help us provide a real voice for the Left in this country, long after the 2012 election is over?”

Insisting on the candidate’s loyalty right from the outset would also avoid the “tradition” of the challenger “throwing their support” to the nominee. This (outdated, ridiculous, anything-but-democratic) notion of “rallying ’round the victor” has clipped the wings of countless fledgling third-party efforts in the past. But by holding our challenger to a higher standard – namely, of putting our platform and its survival first, by agreeing not to “sell us out,” as Jeff puts it – we can assure that, this time, things will be very different indeed.

If the past two years have not fully and finally convinced us that the Democratic Party – and with it, the (so-called) two-party system – is irretreivably broken, I can only wonder: Are we really that stupid?

It’s been a big news day. Elizabeth Edwards’ passing; the detention of Julian Assange; President Obama’s capitulation on tax cuts for the rich.

So we’re extending until Thursday morning your opportunity to vote for names and platform topics in the growing effort to Primary Barack Obama and create an alliance of the American Left.

Consider Your Vote Thoroughly
The below list of names for our effort is straightforward, but the topic list is arranged a little differently. Some folks are writing-in topics, and while write-ins are certainly permitted, you should know that there is little chance they will register in the final tabulations; that’s why we had a nominating process which resulted in the list below. So if there is something you feel strongly about, I’d suggest choosing something from the topic list below that’s close to ensure your overall concern is registered.

Topics are grouped (as much as was possible) by category. Speaking purely for myself, the topic names leading off each category are the kind of succinct phrases I think we are looking for, for now. Policy specifics will be discussed and debated as we work on the text for each plank. That being said, if you feel any of the other phrases are better – or even if you want five phrases from the same category – that’s your call. The main reason I’ve grouped things as I did is that, as I tried to arrange this list, it seemed the easiest way to consider the many topics nominated while also capturing the general sense of the beliefs that commenters expressed in each category. That’s gotta make the next step, writing each plank’s text, a little easier.

We Need Your Help
We are at a crucial point. In addition to your votes, we need volunteers to continue building the organization around which these voices can coalesce, unify, and become established in every state. The Left is often criticized as being a “circular shooting squad.” We must change that. If you can give just an hour per week – that’s right – per WEEK – you can help put that organization in place.

Please write to me directly at admin_at_themalcontent_dot_com if you can help. And please recommend this post and vote, as directed below, before 6 p.m. Pacific today!

Thanks again, everyone, for your passion and participation.

How To Vote
Begin by copying/pasting the following in the comment box:

EFFORT NAMES
1.
2.
3.
PLATFORM TOPICS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

From the two lists below, enter your three preferred names and your five preferred platform topics. VOTE ONLY ONCE, and please VOTE ONLY; do not include comments. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated, and please recommend this thread to keep it prominent through the new deadline of Thursday at 4 a.m. (PST)

EFFORT NAMES
<250K
250K And Unders
American Citizens Party
American Peoples Party
Commonwealth Party
Federal Dollar Liberation Movement
Labor Party
Law and Order Party
Main Street Alliance
Main Street Party
Make-Work Protectionist Party
Most Of Us Party
New American Labor Party
New Deal Party
New Progressive Alliance
Party Alliance
Progressive Patriotic Alliance
Real Democratic Party
Red-Green Party
Rent Is Too Damn High Party
Rule of Law Party
Sticky Greens
Sustainable Democracy Party
Teapot Party
Workers Party
Working Families Alliance

PLATFORM TOPICS
Full Employment
Full Employment Guarantee
Living Wage
Lower Retirement Age

Peace
End the Wars Now
No Pre-Emptive Wars
Strong Defense

Civil Rights/Human Rights/Civil Liberties
Choice
Medicare for All
Citizen Empowerment
Electoral Reform
Equal Access to Education
Democratize All Institutions
Justice and Accountability
Labor Rights
Legalize Marijuana
Political Equality
Prosperity for All
Rule of Law

Environmental Stewardship
Bee Habitat
Energy Farming

A Real Social Safety Net
Economic Equality
Economic Sustainability

Federal Policy
Balanced Budget
End the Federal Debt
Bottom-Up Democracy
Campaign Finance Reform
Cut the Cost of Health Care in Half
End Torture
Presidential Powers
Progressive Taxation
Prosecute U.S. War Criminals
Sociable Urban Planning
Transparency

Commerce
Control Bankers’ and Financiers’ Greed
Corporate Regulation
Fair Trade
Financial Regulation
Hemp Reform
Exclude Corporations Who Export Jobs from the American Market
Manufacturing
Regulation of Constitutional Rights of Corporations

A week ago we voted on preferred primary challengers to Barack Obama in 2012 who might also agree to run as the nominee of a new third party in the general election.

There seems general agreement that the overarching goal of this effort is to build a broad, viable third party representing core progressive values, by using the period when Americans – and the media – pay the most attention to politics: The election cycle. An actual victory for the presidency in 2012 is not the focus, but that said, if we campaign as if it were, we greatly increase the likelihood of building a broadly based movement that is welcoming to the full range of those disgusted with the total co-option of our democratic process by profiteers and power seekers.

Our effort is being birthed under a variety of monikers, from “Dump Obama” (jeffroby) to “the movement” (Jim Moss) to Primary Obama/New Progressive Alliance (me), each of which has served its purpose. But, if we are sincere about building a new party, we’re going to need something that neatly describes our initiative – or alliance or movements – for the long term, so it can grow and prosper well beyond 2012.

We also need to build a platform. Jim Moss’s diary here floats some core platform principles, and welshTerrier2 has written that “political equity” – a hallmark of FDR’s ideology and appeal, and an overarching tenet of progressivism even before FDR – is key.

I believe the final platform should include an opening statement that covers our basic principles, followed by the platform itself, of no more than 10 planks. With this thread, I’d like us to “nominate” two different sets of things: Possible names for the movement, and titles for platform planks.

Two suggestions:

1) Remember that party names are often abbreviated into acronyms, so when you have a name you love, you’ll want to google it to check on any additional (and potentially negative) references before nominating it.

2) For platform plank titles, think as broadly as possible: Titles such as “Jobs” or “Defense” or “Environment.” As I’ve noted on other threads, one lesson we can – and I believe must – learn from the Right is the power of simply and forcefully stating where we stand. The best way to start is by keeping the plank title as direct as possible.

As you nominate party names or plank titles, read through others’ lists to avoid duplicates. There is no need to nominate 10 planks if some of those on your list are already posted. Also, when posting your ideas, please denote your lists as “PARTY NAME” or “PLANK.” Don’t worry for now about writing the text of the planks; we’ll tackle that after we’ve settled on titles.

Compared to the candidate selection process, I see this being much quicker; let’s shoot for wrapping it up over the next week.

Thanks as always, all!