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Cenk Uygur, founder of the Young Turksvideo network that has become virally popular among progressive voters, is launching a project called Justice Democrats to defeat members of the Democratic Party who have cast votes seen as unacceptable.

The aim in 2018 is to put a significant number of Justice Democrats in the Congress. The aim for 2020 is to more significantly take over the Democratic Party,Uygursaid. If they're going to continue to be corporate Democrats, that's doomed for failure for the rest of time.

Justice Democrats cohered after the 2016 election, when Uygur began talking to veterans of the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) about ways to challenge Democrats from the left. The Justice Democrats project counts Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley, two tech veterans of the Sanders campaign, among its founders; their first goal was to provide the infrastructure and resources for progressives who wanted to challenge corporate Democrats.

In the near term, that meant finding people who could run against the 13 Democratic senators who opposed a Sanders-backed measure to make it easier to import prescription drugs from Canada.

Some members of the party that are already in the Progressive Caucus, we're unlikely to primary. We want to focus on getting strong progressives into Congress, Uygur said. What's the point of primarying Representative Ral Grijalva [D-Ariz.] if you want to do that? There will be a small number of people who ran once before, and we can look at them again. But do we want to challenge Senator Cory Booker [D-N.J.]? That's a no-brainer.

The Justice Democrats platform mirrors much of what Sanders ran on, some of which had been adopted into the 2016 Democratic platform. Where Sanders called for renegotiating trade deals, the platform doubles down. Democrats have called for infrastructure spending; the platform calls for the party to invest billions in rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, schools, levees, airports etc. It goes even further than Sanders, however, in asking candidates to ban foreign aid to human rights violators.

All of that builds on what had been a time of expansion for the Young Turks. After the election, the site crowdfunded nearly $1 million to expand its team and roster of contributors. The Justice Democrats would follow the same model.

I was hoping someone else would do this, but when no one else was, Uygur said, somebody had to do it.

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Progressives launch 'Justice Democrats' to counter party's 'corporate' legislators - Washington Post

New York Times

Angry Democrats Study the Tea Party's Playbook New York Times Eight years after Republicans united after a stinging electoral defeat to oppose President Barack Obama, Democrats are channeling an even deeper anxiety over President Trump and a far shallower defeat into a newfound burst of organizing. Democrats see hope in women's marches but wonder what comes nextWashington Post Democrats' Response To President Trump Proves No Lessons LearnedForbes Senate Votes Put Pressure on These 12 Vulnerable DemocratsDaily Signal National Review -The Atlantic all 224 news articles »

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Angry Democrats Study the Tea Party's Playbook - New York Times

SACRAMENTO, Calif. For a generation of ambitious Democrats, its an almost intoxicating prize: the opportunity to serve as governor of the largest state in the nation and, along with it, become President Donald TrumpDonald TrumpTop Dem: Trump's falsehoods will hurt relations with Congress Trump bans EPA employees from giving social media updates Mexican official: We could leave NAFTA if there are no clear benefits MOREs No. 1 foil.

But even as some of the states best-known politicians begin campaigning for the right to replace term-limited Gov. Jerry Brown (D), they are coming to grips with a new California primary system where the top two vote getters will advance to the general election, regardless of party.

This is uncharted territory in the governors race, said Garry South, a longtime Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist. With the top two, you dont have to finish first. You can finish second, and youre still off to the races.

Already, three prominent Democrats Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Treasurer John Chiang and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are vying for those top two slots. The field is likely to grow: Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and state Senate President Kevin de Len are considering bids, and current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is running for reelection in March, has not ruled out a run.

The few public polls that have been conducted show Newsom in the drivers seat. A Field Poll conducted in November showed Newsom taking 23 percent; no other Democrat topped double figures. Two Republicans who have not entered the race, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and former Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, came in with 16 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Not always a good place to start, Newsom said of being the front-runner. Thats nice, but not something to hang your hat on.

Conventional, if counterintuitive, wisdom in California holds that a Democrat with a political base in the San Francisco Bay Area holds an edge over a Democrat from the more populous Los Angeles area. Bay Area voters turn out at higher percentages and vote more reliably Democratic than Angeleno voters.

But in an unconventional race, the leading contenders are spending their early days wooing voters outside their natural constituencies. Newsom took 84 trips to Southern California in 2016, while Villaraigosa has already spent more than a month campaigning in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire, some of the last Republican bastions in the state.

Historically, neither Democrats or Republicans spend a whole lot of time in the Central Valley or the Inland Empire, Villaraigosa said in an interview. Long before the November election, in the parts of the state where I had an opportunity to visit, it was clear that people are struggling and looking for jobs, concerned about the future. They feel like the economy isnt working for them.

Newsom, too, said it was incumbent on him to reach beyond his existing base: The race will be won or lost on my ability our ability to successfully broaden our appeal in the southern part of the state.

The leading candidates are carving out early niches for themselves.

Newsom, who backed same-sex marriage long before it was popular even among Democrats, and who supported a ballot measure to legalize marijuana for recreational uses, is positioning himself as the liberal favorite. The California Nurses Association, which backed Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersDems unveil infrastructure plan, reach out to Trump Sanders: Trump ignored millions by moving forward with pipelines The Hill's 12:30 Report MORE (I-Vt.) in the Democratic presidential primary, is behind him.

I do think that the Bernie base will go with Gavin, said RoseAnn DeMoro, head of the Nurses Association.

Villaraigosa, a former union organizer himself, is casting himself as the experienced government executive who gets things done for blue-collar constituents. He is also the only Hispanic candidate in the race so far, a key factor in a state where minorities make up a majority of registered voters.

That community is growing, and growing quickly, said Eric Jaye, Villaraigosas chief strategist.

Chiang has less of a geographic base, though as state treasurer, he has tried to appear as the progressive but fiscally prudent heir to Browns legacy. Chiang is being bolstered by the increasingly influential community of Asian-American politicians and donors in the state.

Almost a year and a half before the primary, plenty of wildcards remain. Garcetti has not ruled out a run; in Washington last week, the Los Angeles mayor told The Hill he is only focused on his reelection bid this March.

Steyer, who spent $87 million on behalf of Democratic candidates in 2016, has yet to make up his mind. Self-funding candidates often fare poorly in California politics the most recent example is Meg Whitman, who lost the governorship after spending $144 million of her own money in 2010 but Steyer has gone out of his way to introduce himself to voters, both through his environmental activism and by backing a ballot measure to raise taxes on cigarettes in 2016.

Somebody who gets identified as being a total self-funder with very limited political experience, or none, looks opportunistic. That model has been universally a disaster, said Bill Carrick, a Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist. Tom has really worked very hard to make sure people understand he didnt wake up one morning and decide to run for public office.

But in an interview, Steyer sounded less certain of his own future than he had been before Novembers elections, when Donald Trump won the White House.

I said Im going to wait untilNov. 8with the full expectation that the decision [to run for governor] would be made under President-elect Clinton, Steyer told The Hill. The world did not play out onNov. 8the way I expected it to, and I want to make sure whatever I do is well considered and responds to the reality of whats going on.

The final wild card is the weak California Republican Party. If the party is able to line up behind one candidate, that contender has a strong chance of making the runoff. If the field is divided among several candidates, as it was during the 2016 race to replace retiring Sen. Barbara BoxerBarbara BoxerTop Obama adviser signs with Hollywood talent agency: report Democrats vie for chance to take on Trump as California governor Feinstein to hold campaign fundraisers, a hint she'll run again MORE (D), an all-Democratic runoff becomes more plausible.

Faulconer, the popular mayor of San Diego, is the only Republican who startles Democrats, several party strategists said. (The last Republican governor to win a regularly scheduled election, Pete Wilson, was also the mayor of San Diego.) Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, a prominent Trump backer, is also said to be considering a bid, though few in California believe he will run.

Though Californias next governor will take office in 2019, he or she is almost certain to become an immediate force on the national landscape. Brown and California Democratic leaders have already set themselves up as bulwarks against Trumps administration, and the next governor is likely to be seen as a potential presidential candidate.

This will be the most followed race in 2018, particularly with the election of Donald Trump, Villaraigosa predicted. People are going to be a lot more interested in the governors race in California, in no small part because California has charted a dramatically different path. Much of what President Obama tried to do and wanted to do, weve been doing.

The California governor will always play an outsized role, Newsom said. Thats our history. And its not just in our rearview mirror. I think its in our windshield.

Despite that outsized role, the next governor faces historical headwinds if he or she opts for a national run: The Democratic Party has never nominated a candidate from a state farther west than Texas. Even Brown, the seemingly undisputed king of California politics, failed to win his partys nomination on three separate occasions.

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Democrats vie for chance to take on Trump as California governor - The Hill

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Progressives could learn a thing or two from conservative activists who put targets on the backs of GOP lawmakers.

So many of today's top Republican lawmakers like Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Kentucky), and Marco Rubio (Fla.) were relative outsiders who won election in 2010 after toppling better-known and better-funded establishment Republicans (three-term Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, respectively). Even when this strategy failed (think Sharron Angle in Nevada and Christine O'Donnell in Delaware), it was a critical early Obama era effort on behalf of conservative donors and activists. They sought not only to displace Democrats from office, but also many moderate and establishment Republicans, too. And in the years since, some of the most conservative Republicans in the House and Senate have repeatedly faced either well-funded or well-supported primary challengers who are even more right-wing than they are. This is an important reason why the national GOP has skidded so far to the right in recent years.

On the other side, however, moderate Democrats have rarely faced the same challenges from their left flank. In more conservative states, the excuse is usually that moderates like Mark Pryor (Arkansas) or Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) are the best the Democrats could possibly do, given the circumstances. In liberal states, like New Jersey which has one senator who opposed the Iran deal and another who sat on the board of directors for the Alliance for School Choice with Betsy DeVos the excuse is often a lawmaker's close proximity to an industry that requires "pro-business" policies.

Enough is enough.

If Democrats want to regain national power, they must stop cynically and brazenly triangulating. They can no longer just quietly lament their centrist leaders. Progressives must fight back. They have to take on moderate, establishment-backed Democrats in primaries even, in some cases, incumbents who don't embody the core ideals of a progressive movement positioning itself to be a real alternative to the GOP.

The Democratic Party has long been averse to intra-party conflict. But you needn't look farther than the 2016 presidential race to see how hungry so many Democratic voters are for progressive alternatives.

Well before the primary officially kicked off, Hillary Clinton all but cleared the field, with only former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley given any sort of a chance. What happened instead is that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist who has railed against the two-party system for his entire career, took a longshot bid all the way to the last primary, garnering around 43 percent of all votes cast, winning 23 contests, and putting up a surprisingly strong fight in pretty much every region of the country apart from the South.

With President Trump and the Republicans now in unified control over the federal government, it's all the more important to provide real choices in what the opposition to Trump should look like. In open primaries for who gets to face Republicans, leftist activists should be organizing right now to decide who the progressive candidate will be, as establishment Democrats looking to take on Republicans in winnable seats are assuredly already making calls and lining up endorsements.

If Trump's first days in office are any indication, his presidency promises to be a historic disaster for the working class, which means that if Democrats mobilize, they'll have a tremendous opportunity in 2018. Pretty much any House, Senate, or governor's seat they could possibly dream of having a chance at may well be fair game. But incredibly, some Democrats don't see it that way; as Rachel Cohen wrote for the American Prospect, Democrats in Maryland are shying away from taking on Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of a very Democratic state who's up for re-election in 2018. Why? "He's moderate and just too well-liked," Cohen was told.

It's long past time for Democrats to shed this sense of defeatism toward races against Hogan and others, like Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), just because the GOP incumbent is popular now. A lot can change in two years, especially when the face of the Republican Party is someone as volatile as President Trump.

But while Republican-controlled seats should unquestionably be the focus, it's also true that no Democrat no senator, no member of Congress, no governor, and no state legislator should be able to take their own renomination in 2018 for granted if they cosign any part of the right's agenda to privatize everything, install the extremely wealthy in the halls of government, and roll back decades worth of social progress.

A good first litmus test for this? Votes on the confirmation of Trump's Cabinet nominees. Progressives should be prepared to fight, with full force, everyone who is willing to hand over the federal government to people like DeVos, Labor nominee Andy Pudzer, Treasury nominee Steven Mnuchin, and attorney general pick Jeff Sessions.

There is a real need for fresh blood in the Democratic Party; not just in districts that could be flipped from Republican hands, but in safe seats occupied by Democrats who came to prominence through aligning themselves with the Third Way. After all, this is the faction of the party that ultimately negotiated the public option out of the Affordable Care Act, which arguably contributed to the law's pending doom.

Trump is president. And so the clock is already ticking for 2018. Progressives have to start organizing now for better options at the ballot box, and ultimately, a better future.

Continued here:
Democrats need to start fighting with each other - The Week Magazine

Saying they fear President Trump with his finger on the nuclear trigger, two congressional Democrats introduced legislation Tuesday that would prevent the White House from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war from Capitol Hill.

Sen. Edward J. Markey and Rep. Ted W. Lieu said their bill was designed to put a check on Mr. Trump, who during the presidential campaign had sent mixed signals on his thoughts about nuclear proliferation and the possibility of a U.S. first strike.

It is a frightening reality, Mr. Lieu, California Democrat, said of Mr. Trump, saying the new president showed a lack of understanding of U.S. capabilities.

U.S. law and American military policy does give the president the power to initiate a nuclear strike. Mr. Trump during the campaign said he would not strike first but immediately added he would also be prepared and cant take anything off the table.

The two Democrats first introduced their bill during the campaign season last year, but it didnt advance. Its also unlikely their new bill would clear a GOP-controlled Congress this year.

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Democrats propose taking Donald Trump's finger off nuclear trigger - Washington Times