Why It’s Time to Move On To Bernie
UPDATE – The vote is now open. Anyone who has ever signed a MoveOn petition or signed up on their site is eligible. VOTE here!
Allow me to recap a little history for the new year. The progressive organization MoveOn.org began 17 years ago when two software engineers passed around an email petition to “censure President Clinton and move on” from the uber-partisan attacks against Bill. Today, MoveOn has a membership (really an email list) of over 7 million members and is an influential player in the Democratic party. Today, MoveOn made a very big announcement: they’ll be holding a presidential endorsement vote starting this Thursday at noon. If one of the democratic primary candidates captures 66.7% of the vote – open to all who’ve signed up (for free) on MoveOn.org before noon on Thursday – that candidate will capture MoveOn’s endorsement and a major boost in the 2016 Democratic primary election.
This is really good news for Bernie Sanders. Bernie’s still sailing on the momentum of his Democracy for America endorsement, another organization founded by a Clinton supporter – Howard Dean. MoveOn’s endorsement of Bernie would be game-changing, just as it was for Obama in 2008. It would also symbolize the beginning of the end of the Clinton dynasty, and a move to a more progressive era of politics in America.
There’s no doubt the Clintons have left their mark on Democratic politics, but it’s time to close the book on their era. MoveOn’s endorsement of Bernie would do just that.
The Democratic party is moving to the left, just as the Republican party is sprinting to the far-right. The days of centrism and neoliberal, soft-on-Wall-Street policies are over: the latest financial crisis and its stalled recovery show the need for bold economic action akin to FDR’s New Deal. The Clintons can’t provide the grassroots energy for that movement, but Bernie can.
That’s why I’m asking you to help make Bernie the MoveOn.org endorsed candidate for president. Sign up at MoveOn.org (their emails aren’t actually that bad, and you can always unsubscribe later if they bug you) before Thursday if you haven’t already and spread the word: Let’s #MoveOnToBernie!