AOC v. Bernie on leading the left, Sunrise Movement endorses incumbent challengers
AOC v. Bernie on leading the left, Sunrise Movement endorses incumbent challengers
Plus COVID-19, music, etc.
Alex here reporting exclusively from my couch. I am on day 14 of my corona-beard and can now say I’ve watched every Fast & Furious movie (I had skipped some b/c you can watch them out of order and still follow the plot).
Thanks for reading and forwarding this to people. You doubled the number of subscribers over the last two weeks!
I’m slowly going crazy not just because I am cooped up alone but also I feel helpless being told to stay inside. If you are also trying to figure out some way to help, I stumbled upon these two charities that are doing good work and sent them some $$.
Some tunes.
And now the news. It’s mostly bad again.
As of today, more than 2,400 people have died from the coronavirus in the US, according to the CDC.
Congress just passed the largest economic relief bill in history at well over $2 trillion and now they are thinking of ditching Washington for a month “as the coronavirus makes even the routine act of legislating a dangerous risk for new transmissions.” My colleagues Burgess Everett, Heather Caygle, and John Bresnahan report—MORE HERE.
This grim headline from NYC may be a preview of what awaits other areas as the virus spreads. Nurses Die, Doctors Fall Sick and Panic Rises on Virus Front Lines. Read the on-the-ground reporting HERE.
Less bleak content here in the form of Sesame Street’s new PSA about washing your hands starring Elmo and some chicken characters I don’t recognize/remember.
My latest stories are COVID-19-free.
With my fabulous fellow chronicler of the left Holly Otterbein (who you should follow), we dug into a shift in AOC’s theory of change over her first 14 months in Congress. Here’s the full piece but a few points:
After AOC won in 2018, she encouraged people to follow in her footsteps and run for office—even against powerful Democratic incumbents—with the group Justice Democrats.
But now AOC has only endorsed 2/6 primary challengers Justice Democrats has fielded this cycle as she has begun to prioritize her relationship with the Democrats already in Congress.
AOC originally planned to create a disruptive Freedom Caucus among House Democrats in order to move Pelosi further left. Those plans have been shelved.
Some of the outspoken radicals at the top of her staff—who co-founded Justice Democrats—have been replaced by more traditional political professionals.
The moves are part of a larger, coherent attempt by AOC to build more coalitions and make the left more inclusive to the rest of the Democratic Party. Some on the left—discouraged by Biden’s likely victory over Bernie—think it’s a more viable path forward to victory while others believe Pelosi has simply worn AOC down and co-opted her. MORE HERE
And speaking of incumbent primary challengers….
Sunrise Movement, the left-wing environmental group instrumental to pushing the Green New Deal into the political mainstream and helped Bernie Sanders consolidate the left behind him in the presidential race, announced a pair of endorsement to two such challengers, I scooped last week. MORE HERE on how the left if trying to figure itself out in a Biden is the likely Democratic standard-bearer world. You can also click here.
No sports, no problem. ESPN has the last three decades of court/field content on-hand it seems and has been just re-upping. Still, I’m into it. Here’s MJ.
Also, in addition to Fast & Furious, I watched this fun slasher flick—Happy Death Day—which is sorta Groundhog Day crossed with Scream 2. On HBO or for digital if you want something to watch while inside.
And I leave you with the lede to this story which is about as light as any Corona content you’re going to get.
“In a scramble to escape the coronavirus, a couple drove more than 3,400 miles across Canada and then flew another 500 miles deep into the northern Yukon territory. Upon their arrival in the remote community of Old Crow, the visitors were swiftly ushered into self-isolation and eventually sent packing.” MORE HERE.
—Alex
PS for fun