Bold Progressives Drafted Elizabeth Warren - Let's Keep Doing That

[MineralMan]

42. And if they decide to stick to legislative races?

From my own point of view, there is nothing more important than the makeup of Congress. Not the President. Nothing. We've seen the result of a Congress that obstructs. We get a chance to change that every two years. I can't think of anything more important right now than gaining control of Congress in 2014. Not a single thing more important than that, in my opinion.

Once the 2014 election is over, I'll start thinking about the 2016 election, again, primarily from a Congressional and state legislature point of view.

Why? Because the Republicans gained control of both houses of the Minnesota state legislature in 2010. The result was disastrous. We had, for example, a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2012 that would have made marriage equality almost impossible. Finally, Democrats in Minnesota got the picture, and we regained control of both houses again in 2012 and voted down that amendment, along with a voting restriction amendment. In 2013, our new Democratic legislature passed a marriage equality bill and the Governor signed it. We retained our open elections in Minnesota, too, and restored funding to our schools.

That's the kind of difference I'm working toward. And that's just one state. We stand an excellent chance of picking up a couple of Congressional seats in 2014, too, and both of our Senators are sure to be Democrats again. A lot of the reason for that is that we turn out our Democratic voters in large numbers.

The President? I campaigned for President Obama, too. He got elected. But I know for a fact that I had very little to do with that. However, I did help a progressive state senator win election and helped convince an anti-labor state senator in that district to drop out of the race. All of that happened in our local district convention and caucus system.

I know what change I can work to make, and it all happens at the state and district level. My opinion of who the candidate for President should be is completely irrelevant. My opinion of these local elections and candidates is not irrelevant. So, I put my energy where it will be relevant.

Your organization is doing the same things. And they're being very successful with that. They may decide that is the best way to proceed. On a national level, nothing is more important than the makeup of Congress, in my opinion. Nothing.