Sanders supporters "coordinated insurgency" to defeat chairman of WA Dem Party

[portlander23]

Tina Podlodowski challenges state Democratic party chairman
Jerry Cornfield
HeraldNet

Jaxon Ravens’ bid for re-election as chairman is in jeopardy as supporters of Bernie Sanders carry out a coordinated insurgency to defeat him and elect Tina Podlodowski when the party’s central committee votes next month in Olympia.

One-by-one, Sanders loyalists are winning seats on the powerful 176-person panel that is made up of one man and one woman from party organizations in each county and legislative district. They’ve secured committee seats in several counties, including King, Pierce and Jefferson, with the process continuing at party meetings around the state through mid-January.

Their latest display of force came with a bit of drama Saturday at a meeting of the Snohomish County Democratic Party.

Mario Brown of Edmonds, a Sanders supporter, won the chairmanship by beating incumbent Richard Wright of Lynnwood in a contest that required two rounds of voting to decide.

A short time later, Jason Call captured one of the critical state committee seats by beating Todd Nichols. Call had gone on Facebook days before the vote to declare he’d back Podlodowski if he won.

“I do believe there is a movement to make change in the statewide party,” said Brown, who had urged Call to seek the seat.

Gonna be interesting to see what the Democratic Party looks like by 2020.

[H2O Man]

1. recommended.

[msongs]

2. no big deal compared to the coordinated insurgency to defeat hillary clinton nt

[Skittles]

4. small consolation

yup

[Maven]

16. +1

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. The key will be to accept limited change between now and 2018.

If your belief is the Democratic Party is not liberal enough, too often sides with the interests of the wealthy, but your candidate in 2018 is old school, go along to get along, moderate Democrat, maybe a little too chummy with wealthier interests, do you not show up?

If not it will guarantee a cementing of the right's power for a long time to come, especially if that happens again in 2020 when redistricting is done.

Demanding a level of purity resulted in the disaster known as Trump, let's hope we dont make that mistake again.

[white_wolf]

5. See, THIS is what the Greens SHOULD have been doing.

If they actually wanted to make a difference then they would be doing stuff like this instead of running spoilers every four years.

[eleny]

6. They aren't despairing - they're showing up and fighting

Credit to them. They aren't giving in to the American right wing but making a difference in their own backyard.

[pnwmom]

7. We have 2 great Democratic Senators, a popular Democratic governor,

and Democratic mayors all over the western part of the state.

We have a low unemployment rate and good success with the ACA.

Why should they be despairing?

[eleny]

9. They lost and they're doing something about it

I just want to give credit to people who roll up their sleeves, are on the left wing of politics and are getting to work on their beliefs.

I often feel like I'm not doing enough. So when I see people on the left getting very busy it gives me the shove in the back to get off my ass and do more. That's really all there is to it.

[pnwmom]

12. We don't need the people running who state who produced 4 faithless electors.

No thanks.

And we have two great Senators and we should be supporting them, not helping the Rethugs defeat them next time.

[eleny]

18. The other side showed up and they won

I bet that many people are kicking themselves for not showing up to the meetings and voting.

That's why voter suppression and the gutting of the voting rights law, imo, is a major reason Clinton isn't president elect. People couldn't show up to vote.

It's worse when people don't show up by choice. Blaming them makes more sense.

[Luminous_Animal]

13. Because down ticket, Dems have been losing ground for the past 10 years

"The letter points out a reality in Washington politics. Democrats win at the top, and come up short particularly in races for the Legislature.


...


"We have consistently lost seats in the state house for the past 10 years, and now cling to a one vote majority," the letter said. "Since 2013, Republicans have controlled the state senate. In this 2016 election, we lost countless county-level races across the state previously held by Democrats.

"Sweeping this election under the rug and simply carrying on as we have been is a recipe for disaster. We need to look at the warning signs that were ignored, the opportunities that were missed and how we avoid making these mistakes in the future."

The losses are, said the letter, "where our blue streak ends." Democrats have held the governorship for 32 years, but . . ."

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Disastrous-results-signal-challenge-to-10629179.php

If the claims in this letter are true, then a change in direction is necessary. Tina Podlodowski been endorsed by both Clinton and Sanders supporters.

[pnwmom]

8. Why do we need to defeat someone who's doing such a great job?

We have a very strong Democratic party in Washington.

What we do need to do is get rid of the unrepresentative caucus system and replace it with an inclusive primary.

[eleny]

10. That's what happened here in Colorado

We're going back to having primaries and I'm delighted that this has been decided.

Now if we can get slavery out of our constitution. It was on the ballot to get rid of it but I heard that people were confused by the wording even though the issue of backwards wording was settled a while back. Somehow, people still got confused and voted to keep slavery in. It should be gone next statewide voting cycle.

[DemocraticWing]

14. The article seems to suggest anger over the Republicans controlling the legislature?

I guess as an outsider I don't know much, but it is surprising that such a progressive state has such a regressive legislature.

[pnwmom]

15. And yet this "regressive" legislature did approve the Washington Healthfinder

for Obamacare, among other things. We also have a law that requires full funding for education.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. Only one reason I'd support Podlodowski

is if she got rid of the caucus system and recognized the state primary election. Seeing that she's a Bernie Sanders supporter it's pretty much assured she won't.

[PotatoChip]

17. Most Bernie supporters dislike the caucus system too.

For me, it's the lack of privacy that I hate... Back in 08 when I caucused for Obama, I had a woman that I've known for years scream at me for not supporting the woman candidate. Not sure why she singled me out, but whatever. She was totally unhinged.

Thankfully, this past caucus was nothing like that, but I still would prefer voting the 'normal' way, and I know many other Bernie supporters who feel the same.