One of the hardest things in electoral politics is to make an effective case to oust an incumbent in a primary. We’ve just endorsed two congressional candidates who are working towards doing just that– Christine Olivo in South Florida (FL-24) and Jason Call in northwest Washington (WA-05). Both are running in solid blue districts where the primary is more important than the general.
Olivo and Call are running for seats occupied by generic Democratic who have outlived their usefulness as representatives, although it is arguable if either ever had much of that to begin with. Call’s district is represented by corporate shill and New Dem Rick Larsen, a typical centrist money sponge for the toxic special interests he serves. Call went right for the jugular in a guest post on Saturday, delineating a powerful case against Larsen. A day earlier, Olivo was more circumspect about Frederica Wilson, concentrating instead on an issue that is of growing importance in her hard-pressed district, rampant food insecurity.
Olivo possesses a strong sense of class solidarity and she told me she knows Call and that he had invited her to be a guest on his podcast. “Jason,” she told me yesterday, “is passionate about people and he embodies what the progressive movement is all about. Washington will be lucky to have him.” She looks forward to serving with him in Congress. Another candidate we endorsed, Ally Dalsimer, in a similar situation– tough primary against a New Dem, Gerry Connolly– happened to mention she too had met Jason Call early on. “When we first started thinking about running,” she said, “we reached to Jason for advice. He immediately replied and took time from his schedule to talk with us about what a progressive race for Congress might look like, what challenges we would face, and how we might deal with those. He was one of the first to endorse our campaign. He is the real deal and I look forward to working with him in Congress in 2023.”
Call feels the same way about Olivo. In fact, he told me that “Christine is a fiercely passionate working mother and community activist. She knows her community and her history deeply, and is driven by the fight for justice and systemic accountability. We need her progressive voice in Congress.”
These are both top-notch progressive candidates, eager to get to Congress to continue fighting for a more equitable system that includes the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. The only way we’re ever going to achieve that, is to elect passionate young leaders like Christine and Jason in the place of careerist Democrats who don’t get passionate about anything besides their own career trajectories.
Remember when Hillary said “It takes a Village?” We are attempting to do just that, but instead of a Village, we’re creating a #Squad. Help us build a solid, passionate team of Fighting Progressives who are well-equipped to take on the Special Interests that are keeping us from having real, Representative Democracy.
If you can (and we really mean it– IF you can) please consider contributing to Jason and Christine here at the Blue America 2022 congressional page.
If donating isn’t feasible and you have some time, consider going to their web sites and signing up to phone/text bank, write postcards to district voters, and boost their presence on social media. We can all do something to make this a better world.
Thanks for always doing what you can,
Howie, for the entire Blue America team
PS: Yesterday was Howie’s Birthday, and he’s been telling people who wanted to send him gifts to consider contributing to Blue America candidates instead. Even $5 or $10 is a help in grassroots campaigns like Christine’s and Jason’s.
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