Electoral Politics Being Shaken By A Rising Populist Left
The political landscape, and the subsequent paradigm of establishmentarian electoral politics, is facing a shift, as members of The House and The Senate face challengers from their left, replacing the numbing garble of ambiguous platitudes with a platform of directly stated policy positions, and the determined resolution to win.
The larger political paradigm shift can be given 3 parts. For one, an awakened public; Thanks in part to the Bernie Sanders campaign for President in 2015-2016, the body politic has been awakened from what Steve Fraser calls "The Age Of Acquiescence", and blind complacency toward the agenda of the establishment and its politicians. The public then watches the political landscape closer, subsequently noticing that their media is controlled by those same establishmentarian ideas. This inevitably gives rise to the second factor in this larger paradigm shift - the media. An awakened citizenry needs a source of independent thought from which to stay informed, while not being spoon-fed CNN's propaganda. Hence, independent news outlets begin to emerge, and CNN's viewership declines. This awakened citizenry then inevitably begins conceiving politicians of their own to run in elections to challenge the establishment's political figures, and this is the third part, and descriptive of the end result of all three- a complete populist shift in electoral politics.
The reaction to this from establishmentarian political leadership has been one of panic, turning to deceit, media blackout, smear campaigns, and desperate political measures designed to protect them from an insurgent left. For example, Sen. Joe Manchin of WV attempted to protect himself as an incumbent by trying to convince fellow Democrats not to run against other Democrats (It is, after all, the "D" in front of one's name that makes a good leader, right?) in a "pledge" proposed by him in February. He is, of course, being challenged from his left by Paula Jean Swearengin, a coal miner's daughter, representing the needs of the people of WV.
There is no doubt that being challenged from the left is terrifying if you are the establishment. What will happen to all of that corporate cash and legalized bribery? Whatever will happen to PACs, SuperPACs, and lobbyists? It's why in an article published by "Roll Call", Rep. Ted Lieu (who is himself being challenged from his left) lamented the fact that "It's hard to tell someone not to run for office", further pining that the democratic vote could be split, a standard fear-mongering tactic used to chide progressive voters into voting for "the lesser of two evils". I asked Angelica Duenas, a Green Party candidate vying to unseat Rep. Tony Cardenas in CA's 29th Congressional District, about this issue of "lesser-evilism". Her statement;
"The days of voting for the lesser are over. We have a burst of energy from the Left. Maybe it’s a new Generation tired of the mess that our elders have made of our electoral system? We are looking for people and causes to support … not people/causes to rally against. I think that we are in a place where a door has been opened for non-politicians to look at running for office as a realistic action… since the People are hungry to find leaders they can trust and support. The People are looking for a better option, not a lesser evil."
Duenas has announced that she is officially on the ballot, and has been endorsed by The Peace And Freedom Party, Gayle McLaughlin For Lt. Governor, and the ADA of Southern California.
"The days of voting for the lesser are over. We have a burst of energy from the Left. Maybe it’s a new Generation tired of the mess that our elders have made of our electoral system? We are looking for people and causes to support … not people/causes to rally against. I think that we are in a place where a door has been opened for non-politicians to look at running for office as a realistic action… since the People are hungry to find leaders they can trust and support. The People are looking for a better option, not a lesser evil."
Duenas has announced that she is officially on the ballot, and has been endorsed by The Peace And Freedom Party, Gayle McLaughlin For Lt. Governor, and the ADA of Southern California.
One of the signs of the effectiveness of this movement is the support for Stephen Jaffe, a democratic socialist running to unseat the establishment's icon in The House, Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi has been quite unpopular for some time now, being tied to the midterm elections by the GOP in a successful attempt to win on her unpopularity. Stephen Jaffe has a strong progressive platform, and addresses the issues that people actually care about. The L.A. Times took notice, and headlined the question "What Democrat Would Be Crazy Enough To Challenge Nancy Pelosi...?" The Times has since authored a couple of other condescending pieces about Jaffe, while the majority of the other mainstream outlets have blacked out on even mentioning his campaign.
In a testament to the power of this new leftist movement, there was recently a Democratic primary election in Texas for GOP Sen. Ted Cruz's seat. Contender Beto O'Rourke raised over $2,000,000. Contender Sema Hernandez raised $10,000. Sema received 23.7% of the vote regardless, after having been completely ignored and unsupported by her party, receiving no media attention (with the exceptions of TATM and Sparx Tribune), and being ignored completely by O'Rourke in a request for a debate.
After doing so well in the primary election despite having zero name recognition, and no "official" support, Hernandez may be signalling a potential run as an independent.
After doing so well in the primary election despite having zero name recognition, and no "official" support, Hernandez may be signalling a potential run as an independent.
There are many signs and symptoms that the left's movement to overtake electoral politics is strong, and getting stronger. There are a great number of candidates (too many to mention here, but my thread on twitter covers many of them, and others have added lists to my list), a great many supporters, and a great energy. The left is awake, it just needs 3 cups of coffee and a Red Bull.