Audience to include grassroots activists who have pledged to run for office.
WASHINGTON – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will speak to a thousand activists on Monday, including at least 50 who are pledging to run for office on a bold “protest to power” political platform, as part of the People’s Action “Rise Up: From Protest to Power” convention.
The “Movement Politics: Protest to Power” session with Sanders is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Monday (April 24) in the Regency Ballroom of the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
“The resistance is alive and well, beating back attacks on health care and more. Now we are electorializing the resistance – taking the energy of marches and town hall takeovers to the ballot box to elect truly progressive candidates and ideas,” said George Goehl, co-director of People’s Action.
People’s Action will also launch a series of “Protest to Power” assemblies this summer and fall to train people for the next phase of the resistance, recruit and develop candidates to run for office, and to build mass door-knocking operations for upcoming elections. One of these assemblies will take place in Iowa on July 15 and will include Senator Sanders and other progressive leaders.
People’s Action has been one of the organizations at the heart of the resistance, organizing 330 actions to block repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Seventy percent of those events were held in Republican congressional districts. The organization has been central to the #ResistTrumpTuesday effort, and regular Sunday evening conference calls with MoveOn.org and others that have attracted anywhere from 25,000 to 60,000 people.
Activists from throughout the country are gathering for the three-day conference, which starts Sunday. They will develop strategies and tactics that will expand the political force of People’s Action. The conference will also kick off candidate recruitment, training programs and events in key congressional districts to bring more working-class people into our political system.
Sanders’ appearance will cap off a session that includes prospective candidates sharing their stories about why they will run for office. The “Protest to Power” platform will be officially presented during the session as well.
Other lawmakers speaking during the three-day conference include Democratic National Committee Vice-Chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).