- Pennsylvania Among 'Terrible 10' Most Regressive Tax States
- February 4 Non-Partisan Training: HOW TO RUN FOR ELECTION BOARD IN 2013: HOW TO RUN FOR COMMITTEEPERSON IN 2014
- Republican Governors Opt-In to Medicaid Expansion
- The Reports of Unions' Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
- Ask Allyson Schwartz to run for Governor
- Mind the gap: Opting Out of Medicaid Expansion Leaves Low-income Families Behind
- Jan. 14 Workshop:HOW TO RUN FOR ELECTION BOARD IN 2013; HOW TO RUN FOR COMMITTEEPERSON IN 2014
- Seth Williams on Guns, Jasmine Rivera on School Closures @PFC Meetup Wednesday
- PA Revenue Strong Midway Through Year; Tax Cut Could Have Big Impact
- What to Make of the Fiscal Cliff Deal?
Is Maria Quinones-Sanchez Our Best Chance for a Unified Progressive Movement?
Submitted by Jen Murphy on Thu, 05/10/2007 - 12:44pm.
Amidst all of the debate back and forth about the merits and drawbacks of the various mayoral, council, and judicial candidates, there is one candidate who has bubbled to the surface as the most unifying candidate among all progressives. She also happens to be running in the most gerrymandered city council district in the country, a district that desperately NEEDS a candidate to unify these diverse neighborhoods. Neighborhoods that have been forgotten by their city and state representatives. Neighborhoods that are vibrant and craving real leadership. Neighborhoods that have been deliberately chopped up and split from one another. And all of us agree: these neighborhoods need Maria Quinones-Sanchez.
Maria is the ONLY candidate who has been endorsed by EVERY major progressive political organization in Philadelphia, including Philly for Change, Young Philly Politics, Philadelphia NOW, SEIU 32BJ, AFSCME DC47, Neighborhood Networks, Liberty City, and Americans for Democratic Action, to name just a few. Add to that endorsements from the Daily News, the Inquirer and the Northeast Times. Not to mention a national endorsement from Democracy for America (founded by Howard Dean), highlighting Maria as one of only 10 candidates nationwide to be recognized as part of their "DFA-list". Oh, and let's not forget Governor Rendell coming out of relative silence to endorse Maria - the only candidate running for any city council position that he endorsed.
Are we all in agreement for once? It sure seems that way. Many of these same organizations protested the way that this seat was filled last November (for a refresher, check out the article http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=12970&highlight=). Now it's our chance to fight back. Let's show the party machine that we will not stand for politics as usual anymore. Like the neighborhoods of this gerrymandered district, we are often disconnected from one another. It's time to join together and become a unified force.
A reporter on WHYY this morning referred to Maria Quinones-Sanchez as the candidate with the best shot of winning among all of the challengers running citywide. However, this race is far from over. Maria's major opponent, Dan Savage, has a lot more money on hand and will have the party machine behind him on Election Day. Can we just sit back and cross our fingers, hoping that she wins? Are we going to do nothing more than just pat her on the back for running a great campaign? I hope the answer is no. I hope instead we all come together and help elect this amazing woman to city council. Hell, council is a no-brainer at this point; Maria should be running for Mayor.
In short, Maria needs your help. This race may be our best shot at victory on Election Day. She might be the candidate that unifies us post-election and helps move us toward a true progressive vision for our city. We need Maria on council. Even though you might not live in her district, she will be representing the entire city. And she is the natural leader we can all get behind.
We need you - tonight, tomorrow, this weekend, Election Day - even if just for a couple of hours. Come out and knock on doors with us. Make some phone calls. We only have 5 more days. Let's wake up on May 16th even more unified and ready to move our city and state forward.
Email me to volunteer: jmurphy@temple.edu
is Maria Jesus?
No, but she's damn close.
However, I think the big question here is slightly flawed (sorry Jen):
No. Maria is one candidate. And there will always be more candidates for "us" to disagree about. However, when we better figure out who "we" are and what "our" issues are, it will be easier to have more and more unity candidates.
Of course, elections are not the only way to be "progressive" and one thing "we" need to do is work harder to figure out what "we" stand for.
Maria would be a good person to help lead this process of discovery. There's a lot to be learned from the issues she talks about and the way she talks about them to help start a real progressive movement.
And in the meantime, Maria for Council President!
And Jen, don't be afraid to reply...;)
I think there is one area
I think there is one area where Ray and I strongly agree--who is the "we" and what are the "our."
Maria is pretty cool though.
I think it's still a valid
I think it's still a valid question. Your answer may be "not exactly..." but I don't think the question itself is "flawed". I think that it is something to ponder - we (PFC, NN, LC, AFSCME, NOW) have not been as unified about anything or anyone in our short co-existence. Maybe there's something going on...
See, I can do this blog thing. But I do have to go knock on some doors, so I'll check back later.
That is true, she is the
That is true, she is the only TBOC common endorsement. By common I mean exactly what Jen said.
TBOC also uniformly endorsed Green-Ceisler & Roca
And there was no dissent on Untermeyer or Talmadge, though not all members endorsed in those races.
There is broad, if not unanimous, agreement on others: Blondell Reynolds-Brown is on all the tickets, but only as "recommended" on ADA's. Andy Toy is missing only from NOW, and they only endorsed 3 At-Large. The only dissent on Irv is NOW, which has Bass on its board. Damon Roberts almost swept except for Lib City's "no endorsement".
BTW - it looks like the site needs some updating - lots of newer PFC and NN endorsements not there, as well as the results of Lib City's reconsideration of the judicial races following Dan Anders's appointment.
And kudos again to those who brought this project together - I've found it very helpful,and have been referring lots of people there, and will refer a bunch more by e-mail over the weekend.
TBOC Updated
The "Take Back Our City" website has been updated to include all endorsements for PFC, NN, NOW, and Liberty City. Thank you for referring people. Hopefully, many voters on Tuesday will recognize that there are many candidates this year who want to take back philadelphia for its citizens.
For those of you who don't know, you can read the endorsements for Philly for Change, Neighborhood Networks, Americans for Democratic Action, Philadelphia NOW, and the Liberty City Democratic Club at www.takebackourcity.org.
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Supporting the Philly for Change Slate. Counsel to Vern Anastasio, Maria Quinones Sanchez, and Haile Johnston.
Help Jen Help Maria
Getting back to Jen's original point ... she's right.
Maria Quinones Sanchez is the one candidate the progressive community should rally around. She is at once the most experienced progressive challenger and the candidate with the best chance of winning.
Jen Murphy has spent the last month phonebanking and canvassing in the northeast to spread Maria's message and make Dan Savage nervous. Let's all help her out. If you have time this weekend or can volunteer on Election Day, drop Jen an e-mail at jmurphy@temple.edu.
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Supporting the Philly for Change Slate. Counsel to Vern Anastasio, Maria Quinones Sanchez, and Haile Johnston.