News Release

National Progressive Groups’ Unity Statement on Democratic Primary

Share

Today, six national organizations representing millions of progressive activists issued “A Progressive Unity Statement on the Democratic Presidential Primary.” The signers include groups that support Bernie Sanders or support Elizabeth Warren or currently are not supporting any candidate for president.

The signing organizations are Our Revolution, the Sunrise Movement and RootsAction.org (all supporting Sanders); the Working Families Party (supporting Warren); and Justice Democrats and Democracy for America (currently not supporting any presidential candidate).

JEFF COHEN, jeff at rootsaction.org, @Roots_Action

Cohen is co-founder of RootsAction.org. He said today: “When RootsAction initiated this statement a few months ago, Sanders and Warren were ‘playing nicely together.’ And the thrust of the ‘Progressive Unity’ statement is as true today as it was then: if supporters of Sanders and Warren don’t cooperate in the Iowa caucuses and before July’s national convention, neither of these two progressive candidates will likely be the Democratic nominee. Instead, a corporate Democrat will get the nomination, which could lead to re-election of faux-populist Trump.”

From the statement: “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.

“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.