Join the movement.
June 17, 2016Brand New Congress
“Brand New Congress is a project launched by Bernie volunteers to heed Bernie’s call by running 400+ candidates all at once to replace Congress in 2018. Right now, we’re building the infrastructure for what will need to be the largest campaign in American history. If you have the rare combination of time to volunteer, patience to build something from the ground up for 2018, and a team-player personality, then please apply here to help lead a central BNC team (even if you’ve already signed up to volunteer with us before). But first, it’s important to understand exactly what you’re getting into:
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We want to give America a choice it’s never had before: Elect a Brand New Congress all at once — one that fights for working people because it will be made of working people.
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BNC candidates will run together in a unified campaign that will free them from talking to millionaires and billionaires all day or worrying about campaign management, enabling the best leaders in our communities to stand for election with 100% focus on their constituents.
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BNC candidates will not be career politicians, but teachers, nurses, principals, doctors, engineers, stay-at-home parents — working people who are good at what they do and stand up for those around them.
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We learned the importance of organization and execution on Bernie’s campaign. The BNC will open offices and provide campaign tools everywhere at the BEGINNING of the campaign, not the end.
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Our campaign will be led by dedicated grassroots leaders — with no artificial barriers between paid staff and volunteers. If you’re leading a BNC team, you’re an official leader.
It’s high time we had a Congress that responds to the will and the needs of Americans citizens, not the American oligarchy. Bernie’s movement has proven that together we can accomplish the impossible.”
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‘…many who have “felt the Bern” have their eye on local politics.’
‘Hundreds, if not thousands, will be heeding the call of Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison, a Sanders endorser and convention delegate. “We need people running for school boards,” Ellison told The New York Times in May. “We need people running for city council. We need people running for state legislatures. We need people running for zoning boards, for park boards, to really take this sort of message that Bernie carried and carry it in their own local communities.’
http://billmoyers.com/story/seattles-lessons-bernie-sanders-activists-elections/
‘Recent waves of social activism like the Occupy movement and Black Lives Matter show that you can fight city hall–or any other powerful entity for that matter. Now comes the playbook for citizen activists wanting to improve the world around them from Nick Licata, admired Seattle city councilmember and one of the city’s most effective leaders of political and social change since the 1960s. In this smart and powerful book, Licata explains how to get organized, congregate power, and master the tactics for change. He is insightful in comparing effective communication with methods that just don’t work. Licata’s observations on the intricacies of power will empower any activist who wants to make a difference in today’s world.’
‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’
-Margaret Mead
‘Nationally, about 400 mayors, city councilors, county supervisors and school board members use Local Progress as a think tank and clearing house for alternative public policies. Assisted by the Center for Popular Democracy in New York, the group distributes a 60-page handbook for improving labor and environmental standards, housing and education programs, public safety and municipal election practices. At annual conferences — like its national meeting in Pittsburgh on July 8-9 — local victories of the sort Licata describes in his book are dissected and their lessons disseminated.’
‘The political revolution continues.’