This statement is not an endorsement of any candidate by Indivisible Action or the Indivisible movement, neither of which have endorsed in the primary; it was issued by organizations who are backing Warren, backing Sanders, or who have not made an endorsement of either of these two candidates, to speak out in favor of a constructive primary focused on progressive issues. Leah and Ezra have discussed how the organization is engaging in the primary in more detail in a post on Medium. Senator Warren and Senator Sanders scored #1 and #2 on Indivisible’s scorecard, respectively.
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Today, seven national organizations representing millions of progressive activists have joined forces to issue the following: “A Progressive Unity Statement on the Democratic Presidential Primary.” The signers of the unity statement include groups that support Bernie Sanders or support Elizabeth Warren or currently are not supporting any candidate for president.
For more information or to arrange interviews, contact:
Jeff Cohen at 914.388.1431 or jeff@rootsaction.org
Rob Duffey at 646.463.3267 or rduffey@workingfamilies.org
Paco Fabián at 202.412.9969 or Paco@ourrevolution.com
Zina Precht-Rodriguez at zina@sunrisemovement.org
Neil Sroka at 847.219.8491 or nsroka@democracyforamerica.com
Justice Democrats at press@justicedemocrats.com
Emily Phelps at press@indivisible.org
A Progressive Unity Statement on the Democratic Presidential Primary
The importance of defeating Donald Trump in 2020 requires no explanation.
In 2016, mainstream conventional wisdom asserted that Hillary Clinton would easily triumph over Trump. Today, some still argue for a return to pre-Trump policies and politics as the safest path to victory. We disagree. Going “back to the future” does not offer the best path to Trump’s defeat. Nor does it move our country forward in terms of the enormous challenges and inequities facing the American people.
We offer this statement as independent organizations. Some support Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren or are not currently supporting any candidate for president. For those with a declared preference, this statement in no way signals the slightest decrease in that commitment. Instead, this statement is a shared declaration of our belief that the surest way to defeat Trump is for the Democratic Party to nominate either Warren or Sanders, as these are the candidates best able to energize voters by providing a vision of a decent society and a fair economy. This vision is sorely needed, as is an administration that will implement far-reaching reforms toward a more just society.
Our best chance of defeating Trump does not lie with an establishment or corporate Democrat. The anti-establishment, anti-corporate awareness and anger that characterize American society today are justified, and it would be a huge mistake to once again yield that ground to a phony like Trump. We can do better, and will work to persuade Democrats to choose a strong, progressive nominee.
Sanders and Warren, as well as their campaigns and supporters, will need to find ways to cooperate. The crossfire amplified by the media is unhelpful and does not reflect the relationship between two Senate colleagues who broadly worked well together for most of the last year. We hope to build solidarity between delegates affiliated with these two candidates prior to the convention and will encourage the campaigns to work towards a unified convention strategy after the final primaries on June 2nd.
While we firmly believe that either Warren or Sanders should lead our nation in 2021, we will in the end go all-out to defeat Trump no matter who the Democratic nominee is. We urge all American progressives to adopt this view. We owe no less to ourselves, our nation and our world.
Signed by:
Yvette Simpson, CEO, Democracy for America
Larry Cohen, Board Chair, Our Revolution
Norman Solomon, Co-Founder and Coordinator, RootsAction.org
Varshini Prakash, Executive Director, Sunrise Movement
Maurice Mitchell, National Director, Working Families Party
Alexandra Rojas, Executive Director, Justice Democrats
Leah Greenberg, Co-Executive Director, Indivisible
Ezra Levin, Co-Executive Director, Indivisible