Mounting pressure on Lujan to address DCCC undemocratic practices, movement in gun control advocacy, and voters guides for both the Mayoral and City Council races. Tuesday I’ll report on Sunday’s tremendous Town Hall and plans for another in April.
Don’t Forget to Vote on Tuesday. But Before You Do, Check out the Mayoral Voters Guide, click here, and the
Donations Needed to Cover Ongoing Expenses
City Council Voters Guide, click here. While there have been reports that turnout in the early voting process has been heavier than past elections, it is also far short of turnout for the soda tax. This is a chance to create the political environment in which all of our local advocacy will occur over the next four years. Your vote matters. Please if you do nothing else this week, VOTE. See below for how you can help get out the vote!!!
Actions For This Week
THIS IS A CRITICAL ACTION AND IT WILL TAKE YOU TWO MINUTES TO COMPLETE. If Lujan hears from 10 of us, we can be ignored, but if he hears from 100 of us…..
C
ontact Representative Ben Ray Lujan about Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee policies and campaign practices. If we are going to influence Rep. Lujan, we need to voice our concerns again and again. Sunday, we began the effort to press Rep. Lujan to show leadership and to press the Democratic Party to be more democratic and to advance more progressive policies. This will ONLY happen if you raise your voice and Retake makes it effortless.
We have run a series of posts covering the DCCC and its policies and practices that consistently tilt the scales in favor of centrist Democrats. The best way to catch up on all of the issues raised is to use the search function on the website and search for “Lujan.” But if you want to get the gist of it, this link, click here, takes you to a post that includes links six articles. Speaking points are easy: Stop tilting the scale and undermining progressive candidates.
We are in a unique position, as constituents of the Chair of the DCCC, we have an opportunity to pressure Lujan to do the right thing. In your own words, tell him you have his back, that you want him to stop DCCC tilting the scales for centrist candidates, you want him to encourage candidates to speak out on gun control and single payer healthcare, and you want him to ensure that progressive candidates get a fair deal in the primaries. Copy and paste the summary of concerns below into an email and write to Rep. Lujan at: grassroots@benrlujan.com.
Since July, Retake has been covering the DCCC very undemocratic practices under Rep. Ben Ray Lujan’s leadership
- July 23 report on DCCC all too cozy relationship with Wall St and its corporate fundraising practices, click here.
- Aug 15 report on a meeting with Rep. Lujan where he outlined how the DCCC was keeping impartial in identifying House candidates and how the DCCC was stressing small donations over corporate support. Click here to review this report.
- Sept 13 report on how Rep. Lujan fared in terms of his support (or lack of support) of Our Revolutions 8 point People’s Platform. Click here to review that report.
- Feb 4 report on how the DCCC is systematically tilting the scale in dozens of 2018 House races and how the election of centrist Democrats with tight corporate ties leads to a Congress incapable of advancing progressive legislation. Click here.
- A Feb 24 report that focuses on a single race in Houston with the DCCC overtly undermining the campaign of a solid progressive candidate. Click here.
- On March 1, a post about the DCCC undermining single payer healthcare by telling candidates not to discuss it AND by working with a health insurance think tank to generate an alternative to single payer, Medicare Extra for All, a bogus bill that protests pharma and insurers. Click here.
No Matter Who Your Candidate, You Can Help Get Out the Vote
Contact info for all candidates provided. Each candidate will be organizing GOTV efforts today and tomorrow.
- MAYOR
- ALAN WEBBER – 505-983-4139 – alanwebber@me.com
- KATE I. NOBLE – 505-395-6771 – mayorkatenoble@gmail.com
- JOSEPH M. MAESTAS – 505-929-0955 – josephmaestasforsantafe@gmail.com
- RONALD S. TRUJILLO – 505-795-2598 – ront4mayor@isp.com
- PETER N. IVES – 505-690-8451 – ivesforsantafe@gmail.com
- COUNCILOR DISTRICT 1
SIGNE I. LINDELL – 505-570-2123 – sigforthecity@gmail.com - MARIE CAMPOS – 505-660-0002 – go.marie@outlook.com
COUNCILOR DISTRICT 2
- NATE DOWNEY – 505-690-7939 – nathanadamsdowney@gmail.com
- CAROL ROMERO-WIRTH – 505-946-8299 – romerowirth@newmexico.com
- JOE H. ARELLANO – 505-470-1615 – joeharellano4district2@gmail.com
- COUNCILOR DISTRICT 3
ROMAN “TIGER” ABEYTA – 505-919-9722 – roman@romanabeyta.com - COUNCILOR DISTRICT 4
ERIC JOHN HOLMES – 505-316-1341 – ericjholmes23@gmail.com
GREG SCARGALL – 505-365-0448 – greg4sfcc@gmail.com
JOANNE VIGIL COPPLER – 505-470-4808 – joanne4santafe@gmail.com
If you haven’t taken the Speak Up New Mexico! Legislative Priorities survey, please do so today to tell your legislators what bills you want to see become law. Click the blue button at left to take the survey. And if you want to get involved with our 2018-2018 Roundhouse Advocacy Team, we meet on Thursday from 4:30-6:30pm at New Energy Economy, 343 E. Alameda. To RSVP, just write to me at paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org. If you want to read about our 2018-2019 Election and Legislative Strategy, click here.
Roundhouse Advocacy Team. Thursday, March 8, 4:30-6:30pm at New Energy Economy, 343 E. Alameda. The Roundhouse Advocacy Team (or the Rat Pack) has been meeting for a year to develop a 2018-2019 Election and Legislative Strategy. That strategy is being launched at the Town Hall above, but the nuts and bolts process of developing a statewide network for election and legislative success happens at this meeting. We meet the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month, same time, same location. This week, we will be beginning developing our statewide Rapid Response Network and with hundreds of people signed up to be a part of it from all parts of the state, there is plenty to do. And if you can’t make it to these meetings, please just write to me, as there is PLENTY you can do from home and at your own pace. Write to me at Paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org. This is where the action is, my friends. A tremendous team doing amazing work.
We like to promote other groups doing important work in and around Santa Fe and I was sent information about this group. See below and I’d encourage you Eldorado residents and others nearby who are alarmed by the growing use of plastics, to check them out.
Eldorado 285 Recycles. March 13th, 2018, 4pm to 6pm. Eldorado Community Center,1 Hacienda Loop Meeting Agenda They meet from on the 2nd Tues. of the month in the conference room. Below is a summary of their important and impressive work.Eldorado 285 Recycles is the largest citizen activist group for recycling in NM. They are trying to work with schools, the county, small groups, dentist offices, restaurants, all sorts of venues to bring zero waste, recycling, and waste and recycling consciousness to our area and beyond. It’s hard with little or no money and not much interest or advocacy within the government. They have turned several large Eldorado events into zero waste events, are starting a “skip the straw” campaign, and have installed over 100 worm bins in Eldorado, each keeping over 500 lbs. of food waste out of the landfill annually. But I attended a board meeting Monday night and noticed each member was given a plastic water bottle to get them through the meeting. Ugh! [Paul Comments: Maybe a good joint project would be to get elected officials in Santa Fe and surrounding jurisdictions water bottles with a Retake logo on them.]
March for Our Lives, March 24, noon to 2pm. To be honest, I do not know who is actually organizing this, but according to their Facebook event page there are 1200 folks going or interested, so there must be a there there. The details are still coming together as the group is working to get a permit and a march route. But this seems a good thing to do, to be sure. I’ll keep you posted. Click here for details and to RSVP. Already 1200 going!!! Look for info this week on how we can support the student 17 minute walkout on March 14.
A Look Back at Last Week’s Posts
We had a busy week, with posts highlighting the DCCC’s continued tilting of the scales in Democratic primaries, showing outrageous bias in backing centrist candidates and undermining progressive candidates and progressive policies. Posts also presented both the Mayoral and the City Council Voters Guides, as well as evidence of movement in the gun control debate. Read on. And share.
Supreme Court Ruling On DACA: What it Means for Immigrants Protected by DACA
City Council Voters Guide, Town Hall and More on Rep. Lujan & the DCCC (more of the same)
A Very Dark Moment Where One Too Many Moral Offenses Got the Best of Me
DCCC and Lujan….Yes, Again. This Time Squashing Single Payer Discussion
Stunning Nation Report on the Impact of Monopolies in America & Two Urgent Actions for TODAY!!
Categories: Election, Political Reform & National Politics, Personal & Collective Action
Apparently others are getting fed up with the DCCC’s centrist, pro-corporate anti-progressive stance too. I received an email from Credo Action asking me to e-sign a petition that tells the DCCC to quit undermining progressive candidates and instead push progressive values. Good.
FOLLOW-UP TO THE TOWN MEETING.
WONDERFUL IDEA, SINCE ITS LIKE GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING WITH US. I FEEL MORE INCLUDED AND ITS NICE TO FEEL THE WARMTH OF SOLIDARITY WHICH YOU CANT GET WITH JUST THE BLOG OR JUST EMAILING STUFF THAT NEEDS TO GET DONE, AS NECESSARY AS THAT IS. ON THAT NOTE, LET ME REPEAT OUR CHICAGO ORGANIZING MODEL, “THE LEFT THAT PLAYS TOGETHER IS THE LEFT THAT STAYS TOGETHER” NOTHING REPLACES FACE TO FACE CAMARADERIE. TOWARD THIS END, PERHAPS WE COULD ADOPT THE PRACTICE OF GOING OUT FOR FOOD AND WINE/BEER, FOLLOWING ALL GENERAL MEETINGS I WILL ORGANIZE. ASK HOW MANY AND MAKE RESERVATION WE DO THIS FOLLOWING HIKING AND ART CRITIQUE.. WE COULD EVEN HAVE A SIGN UP SHEET PASSED AROUND. I AM ALSO WILLING TO START UP A ROTATING HOUSE PARTY, STARTING WITH ME.
ON PLACING PRESSURE ON DCCC. MY ANALYSIS IS THAT UNTIL THERE IS A SERIOUS ALTERNATIVE (COALITION OF YOUTH, BLACK LIVES MATTER, OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR, DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS, WHITE PROGRESSIVE) THAT REPRESENT A TRUE THREAT (ALTERNATIVE VOTING CHOICE OR THREAT OF VOTING BOYCOTT OF CENTRIST CANDIDATES NO MATTER WHAT), THE DEM CENTRIST OF DEAD- BEAT- DEMS KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO THEY HAVE THE OLDER WHITE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS VOTE AS THEY DID IN THE LAST ELECTION. WHY SHOULD THEY SUBSTANTIALLY BECOME MORE PROGRESSIVE, AND RISK LOSING A FUNDING STREAM FROM BANKS, NRA, BIG BUSINESS) WHEN THEY KNOW FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THAT WE, OR MOST OF US WILL VOTE FOR THEM NO MATTER WHAT. THERE IS MORE RISK TO THEM FROM THEIR CORPORATE FUNDERS THAN FROM US. I WILL TRY TO FIND OUT HOW THE COALITION ORGANIZING IS GOING IN CHICAGO. THE MORE MODELS AND POSITIVE CASE STUDIES WE HAVE, THE MORE EMPOWERING AND ENERGYZED WE WILL FEEL. (THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT WORKING FROM WITHIN IS not ALSO VERY IMPORTANT.