Maine sees evictions drop when healthcare access increases.

U.S. Representative Jared Golden is determined to expand healthcare for rural Mainers and Maine’s veterans. Maine’s unemployment rate is rising, right along with the rest of the country. The national unemployment rate has risen faster during the pandemic than during the two years of the Great Recession. Unemployment in the state jumped from 3.0% in May 2019 to 9.3% by May 2020. Counties in the 2nd Congressional District feel this national problem acutely with the highest unemployment rates in the state. Add to that 99,000 veterans relying on VA healthcare and Medicaid and the need is clear.. 

Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the availability of enrollment in health insurance exchanges in 2013 slashed the number of uninsured Americans—a notable 27.9% decrease in Maine. Following in 2017, Maine passed Question 2, the Medicaid Expansion initiative, the first state to vote for expansion through a citizen initiative. As of August 3, 2020, 59,797 people are currently enrolled in MaineCare through the expansion. 

In his first term in Congress, incumbent Representative Jared Golden worked to expand healthcare coverage. His “healthcare roadmap” shows the path to a single-payer system, starting with protection for patients with pre-existing conditions (H.R. 986), maximizing Medicaid expansion (H.R. 584), lowering prescription drug costs (H.R. 1188, H.R. 478, H.R. 1046), Medicare buy-in for adults between the ages of 50 and 64 (H.R. 1346), and the Medicare for All Act. Mindful that many residents in ME-02 rely on rural hospitals to be their direct access to healthcare, Golden has introduced legislation to amend the Small Business Act to include critical hospitals, such as Calais Regional and Penobscot Valley, in the Paycheck Protection Program. H.R. 584, co-sponsored by Golden in March, would make Maine eligible for increased federal funding for Medicaid expansion.

ME-02 Republican nominee Dale Crafts is in line with President Trump, opposing the ACA and increased access to Medicaid. Crafts calls Maine the “second-largest welfare state in the nation.” Arguing for rollbacks of Medicaid and the ACA, even as Mainers vote for further expansions, his campaign website now touts his dedication to keeping Medicare on “sound fiscal footing.”

Protecting the high-risk veteran population in the pandemic is a priority for Golden, a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He sponsored a bill to extend VA programs to include fertility treatments, counseling, and other family-related healthcare. Golden plans to continue to improve VA healthcare for senior veterans, and his support of Medicaid expansion and an eventual Medicare for All system would benefit veterans who are not eligible for VA benefits. Medicaid is a critical source of coverage for veterans, which provides all healthcare to 40% of non-senior veterans.

Medicaid is a critical source of coverage, especially for veterans. Of the non-elderly veterans who receive Medicaid, 40% get healthcare coverage through it alone. Though most veterans are eligible for VA coverage, for those who are not, Medicaid fills the gaps. Access to affordable healthcare helps in ways beyond merely medical care. Veterans are disproportionately affected by homelessness, which is often caused by unexpected and high medical expenses. Since the ACA Medicaid expansion came into effect, evictions have fallen, indicating that providing coverage to low-income Americans will keep them housed as well. Without continued support for expansion of healthcare coverage, vulnerable citizens, particularly in predominantly rural and working-class districts, will be increasingly at risk. 

Written by Left of Center Maine Specialist Emma Plante.

FL-16 - Waterways in Jeopardy

Florida’s natural environment is threatened. Fragile flora and fauna, which sustain locals and tourism alike, are dying. Thirteen contaminants in drinking water were sampled across the Sarasota County water supply, according to a study on drinking water quality by nonprofit Environmental Working Group. Red tides and contaminated stormwater runoff, FL-16’s biggest threats, must be contained immediately.

In 2019 Sarasota County was sued for violating the Clean Water Act by dumping excessive gallons of treated wastewater and nitrogen into the county’s surface waters. Nitrogen is one of the most prominent pollutants in the Sarasota bays, found in the raw sewage negligently emptied into waterways leading into Sarasota Bay, Roberts Bay, Dona Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. In Sarasota Bay, red tide, caused by algae that pollutes the water by releasing toxic chemicals, has found a home. These harmful blooms stimulate health complications in those who rely on the water, such as respiratory illnesses, neurotoxicity, and gastrointestinal disorders.

FL-16 incumbent Republican Vern Buchanan claims to be an environmental advocate, but his voting record tells otherwise. Under his watch, water pollution and water quality issues in the Sarasota area have continued to decline in importance. He has voted against all attempts to combat the warming of Gulf Waters and maintain water pollution. Buchanan even co-sponsored a bill to oppose expanding the Clean Water Act to protect more Florida streams and rivers. He continues to boast his sponsorship of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Control Amendments Act of 2017, moving red tide and oxygen deficiency to NOAA oversight where research and funds are more limited. Vern Buchanan’s false persona as an environmental activist stems from his long history of supporting only environmental bills that will never come into fruition.

Margaret Good, FL-16 Democratic nominee, will strengthen Florida's fragile environment. Her voting record proves that. Good consistently advocated for vulnerable ecosystems in the Florida House of Representatives and as she served on the Transparency and Public Management Subcommittee. She has publicly pushed for increased examination of red tide and its effects on the natural environment, as well as stricter regulations. During the 2019 legislative session, Good filed a bill (HB 737) that would cut back on herbicides sprayed into Florida waters. She is pushing for stormwater drainage improvements to reduce oil, pesticides, toxins, bacteria, and other pollutants that contaminate local waterways. “We cannot continue to use chemicals to treat bodies of water without considering their impact on our water supply,” stated Good. 

Good makes the case clear on the dire need for more stormwater regulation. Florida’s stormwater rules have not been updated since 1995. As the Sarasota area continues to urbanize, pollutants have increased access to numerous waterways. “Because clean water is a priority in Southwest Florida, I believe we need to take actual, substantive policy action to correct what we have done to Florida’s environment,” she said. In order to have adequate water quality, Good believes Florida must take measures toward cleaning stormwater runoff before it enters the waterways. Citizens, wildlife, tourists, and all of the environments are deeply impacted by water welfare. Poor water quality poses a risk to people’s health and the functionality of ecosystems. Understanding the need for decisive action to prevent further damage is one of the biggest issues facing FL-16. A brighter future for Florida includes brighter waters. 

Written by Left of Center Florida Specialist Elle McMahan

Left of Center Remembers Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Left of Center sends our sincerest sympathy to the family and close friends of our nation’s beloved Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Tonight our hearts are heavy. We have lost a personal shero, a trailblazer and champion for women, families, and justice.  Tomorrow we resolve to fight harder than ever to live up to the promise of Justice Ginsburg's legacy.

We will continue the hard work of democracy. We will dedicate our efforts to chart the current course of our national agenda towards the arc of justice.  We will honor Justice Ginburg’s life by giving our all to saving America’s soul. Rest In Power, Justice Ginsburg. Your grit, intelligence, grace under fire, sense of humor, uncommon common sense, and that lovely lace collar will forever be our guide to build better for tomorrow.

America will miss your wit and wisdom, and so will we.

Written by Left of Center Co-founder and Treasurer Deb Kozikowski

Healthcare In North Carolina Falters Due to Failure To Expand Affordable Care Act

Record unemployment is increasing pressure to expand access to quality, affordable healthcare, but North Carolina remains one of only 12 states to resist expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Pre-pandemic, without Medicaid expansion, close to 650,000 in the state remained uninsured. Today the number of people who fall into the Medicaid “coverage gap” – a group whose income is above eligibility for Medicaid but too low to qualify for healthcare tax credits – is likely much higher.

NC-09 is a district that truly encompasses the urban-rural divide. Mecklenburg county is the second-most populous county in NC and its most expensive county to live in; the median household income was $64,312 in 2018, about $3,000 more than the national average and $12,000 more in-state. Robeson is a rural area composed of coastal plains and sandhills– it is also the poorest county, with a median household income of $32,407 in 2017 and a 29.2% poverty rate, more than triple the national average and double in-state. These county discrepancies reveal how affordable healthcare would be crucial towards fostering equality across the district.

Since 2005, there have been 173 rural hospital closures in the United States, according to UNC researchers. 11 total in North Carolina, and 8 since 2010. COVID-19 has put increased stress on hospitals all over the world, but for NC-09 there has been irrevocable damage to rural community hospitals. Serving as both care and employment hubs, rural hospitals are vital fixtures in their communities and often people’s only choice for emergency healthcare. Shutdown orders caused these hospitals to lose millions, likely condemning some to permanent closure. Patients suffer the most, having to drive long distances to their next closest hospital or forgo medical care at all. A possible way of avoiding more rural hospital closures would be expanding Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. The added revenue from expansion would significantly lessen the impact of this pandemic on rural communities by allowing funding to recruit physicians, make infrastructure improvements, but most importantly, prevent these hospitals from being at-risk of closure. To reap the benefits of doctors and development, hospitals must stay open.

Republican incumbent Dan Bishop opposes expanding health insurance coverage. Electing Democratic nominee Cynthia Wallace is the only route to making sure all North Carolinians have quality, affordable healthcare. Wallace has already stated that her first priority in Congress will be to healthcare access for rural counties. “Since Medicaid expansion has not occurred here in North Carolina, access to healthcare has been a challenge for all parts of the state but especially in rural areas,” said Wallace.

On the Republican side, Trump wants to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act and force the 12.5 million people who rely on the act to lose their insurance. Bishop, who is a Trump loyalist, has previously stated that he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and allow uninsured people to find coverage in the competitive market. In the current competitive market, the rate of uninsured people in North Carolina is 12.7%. In the three most rural counties of NC-09, this rate is higher– Scotland County 14.5%, Hoke County 15%, and Robeson County has 18.5% uninsured individuals. Wallace recognizes the need for aid among these populations, whose rural hospitals have been hit hardest during the pandemic.

Hospitals contain and sustain the entire lifecycle of humanity. In rural communities, this is especially true. Lack of affordable care negatively impacts both the institutions and their patients—something turned even more deadly in a pandemic situation. NC-09 must act now to increase insurance coverage and put an end to rural hospital closures.

Written by Left of Center North Carolina Specialist Sofia Noorouzi

A Tremor in the Middle of the Iceberg — Part Three*

In January, 2019, pollsters took the temperature of state residents regarding the flag and the results continued to be discouraging. Fifty-four percent of the state would vote to keep the flag and only 43 % would vote to remove it.  But in the polls in mid-June this year, the results had flipped:  55% of voters said they would vote to remove, with 41% voting to keep it.  When the phrase “In God We Trust” was offered as a choice for a new flag, the number to remove the flag shot up to 72% percent.  

What caused this shift?  In the spring, a courageous, young and talented black football player, Kylin Hill, announced he would no longer play for Mississippi State because of the state flag.  Other allies joined the call, including some who had long resisted the move—the Mississippi Baptist Association said it was time to go and even the powerful Pentecostals said it was at least worth a discussion.  Thirty-two municipalities had already removed the flag from government flagpoles. All eight public universities had taken it down by demand of student activists.  Twenty-one private, community and junior colleges joined them, along with over 100 businesses throughout the state.  When Senator Chad McMahan of Tupelo, a Republican, rose to the well of the Mississippi Senate to advocate voting to remove the flag last Sunday, he noted that 15,000 of his constituents had contacted him with their wishes.  He was voting yes to remove because 10,000 of them—a two-to-one margin—told him to change it.  

Ultimately, no outside force or pressure moved Mississippi officials.  A majority of Mississippians, black and brown and white moved them.  The shift in attitudes and convictions did not happen overnight and came at the cost of blood and sweat and tears, of civil rights movement activists and the local leaders they supported. But finally, enough of us said with one voice, “It’s time.” 

I have always loved the color purple.  There was a brief moment in the seventies, when I learned that the teenybopper singer Donny Osmond’s favorite color was purple and I abandoned my first love; Osmond wasn’t cool, and at the age of thirteen, I aspired to coolness. 

I matured enough in my twenties to realize that Osmond and I could both like the same color without my “cool” factor being undermined; truth to tell, I had never been cool in the first place. But for me and purple, it has been full steam ahead ever since. My first big furniture purchase, when I could finally afford something that wasn’t a hand-me-down, was a purple couch. You get the point.  So, this is the place where I get to say I told you so. 

In 2018, I declared we were purple and I bid us claim it and build on it.  Mississippians did—not because I asked, mind you—but because enough of us understood what I said in my column two years ago: "You can’t be a Confederate American."

The work before us is still overwhelming:  In 2016, the National Center for Children in Poverty noted that 49 percent of Black children in Mississippi live in poverty. Last year, the Clarion-Ledger found that Black Mississippians are twice as likely to be denied home loans as whites. The CDC revealed that Black women are at least three times as likely to die from complications in childbirth as white women. The Center for Social Inclusion found that school districts with higher proportions of Black children also have higher numbers of non-certified teachers. Added to these disparities, many in the state legislature are determined to limit Black and poor Mississippians’ voting rights.  

We enter what I believe will be a dangerous time, when those who wanted to keep the flag will feel cornered and angry, a frightening combination anytime. But we can move forward with momentum now because we showed the world, and most importantly, we showed ourselves that we have changed.  The stories we tell ourselves about who we are shape what we believe and how we behave.  Most often unconscious, those narratives nevertheless have great power.  The story we’ve told ourselves about Mississippi—as individuals who live here and as outsiders who look on in chagrin and disappointment—is that Mississippi is a backwards, racist state that will never change.  It’s a comforting story, if you live outside of the state.  It allows others to estimate their progress by comparison and feel better about where they are.   

Last weekend, Mississippians said, “No more.” 

This concludes our three part series of A Tremor in the Middle of the Iceberg written by Susan M. Glisson, Co-founder and partner of Sustainable Equity, LLC, a social change consulting firm and part of the Inclusive Innovations Collective.  Follow Susan on Twitter @SusanMGlisson

* The title for this three part series about Mississippi is taken from a Bob Moses’ quote. Bob Moses, age 85, is an American educator, civil rights activist and hero, known for leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee on voter education and registration in Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

A Tremor in the Middle of the Iceberg — Part Two*

Today, let’s look more deeply, beneath the electoral numbers.  In January, 2017, seven cities around the state held Women’s Marches, in concert with the massive protest march in Washington, D.C. to communicate a new resistance to the promised policies and demonstrated rhetoric of Donald Trump. I was astonished by the number of marches, all well-attended and all planned with little notice or support.

Some of the march organizers in each place had been long-time activists for progressive causes. Some were new to activism and organizing.  But in each place, that early show of defiance against racist ideologies and policies emboldened progressives in the state. Since then, progressives have played defense across the state as Republicans supported or enacted every discriminatory measure encouraged by the Trump administration.  We’ve fought for Medicaid expansion.  We’ve pushed for criminal justice reform.  We’ve fought to protect the state’s only abortion clinic. 

In August, 2019, seven Mississippi communities were devastated by surprise ICE raids at chicken plants. Almost seven hundred immigrant workers were arrested and detained; some workers were sent back to places they hadn’t lived in decades.  Perhaps the Trump administration thought that reliably-red Mississippi would welcome this event. But an interesting thing happened; rural whites in those seven places got angry.  They had come to know these workers and their families, many of whom had lived in Mississippi for decades.  That anger grew and with it came new questions about the nation’s immigration policies and whether an automatic rejection of new people was wise or even Christian.  A coalition of unusual allies came together to help support the families and to help free those detained where possible. 

In the wake of the pandemic and then with the horrific murder of George Floyd by callous police officers in Minneapolis, I wondered how Mississippians would respond to the turmoil of the times.  It put my purple theory to the test.  The answer?  Over 32 communities and counting have held marches, rallies, and protests against police brutality and systemic racism.  THIRTY-TWO.  In conservative towns like Pontotoc and Picayune and Brandon. Compare that to the seven women’s marches in 2017, a number you’ll recall was astonishing to me at that time. 

Know this.  It wasn’t courageous white public officials who earned the victory lap, though I am grateful for those who voted in the affirmative.  But these are the same leaders who refused to even consider a bill on flag removal in 2015, in the wake of the Charleston massacre of 9 black churchgoers, when communities across the South distanced themselves from Confederate imagery.  In 2017, when a similar wave of decluttering the landscape of Confederate memorials occurred after the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia, the state legislature and governor maintained their commitment to the emblem of slavery and white supremacy.  There was both economic pressure and incentive then to make the switch and yet they did not.

What changed their minds?  

What gave the legislature, dominated by a Republican supermajority, and a Republican governor the backbone to do the right thing?  The people of Mississippi. You heard me. Mississippi’s elected representatives, as with most other politicians, chase the sentiment of the people.  They very rarely lead it. 

You may be asking—where is my data? Come back tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Written by guest blogger Dr. Susan M. Glisson. Susan is co-founder of Sustainable Equity, LLC. She has worked for more than 20 years to change conditions that have created a legacy of inequities. Mississippi is her home.

Come back tomorrow for Part Three of A Tremor in the Middle of the Iceberg.

* The title for this three part series about Mississippi is taken from a Bob Moses’ quote. Bob Moses, age 85, is an American educator, civil rights activist and hero, known for leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee on voter education and registration in Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

A Tremor in the Middle of the Iceberg*

Part One

On Sunday, June 28th, 2020, the Republican supermajority Mississippi House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill removing the state flag that had flown over Mississippi’s public buildings for 126 years.  The Republican governor signed it into law two days later.  It was the last state flag in the country to bear a Confederate symbol.  Previous efforts by black legislators to introduce such bills died in committee.  In 2001, in a state referendum, Mississippians voted 2-to-1 to keep that freighted and offensive symbol.  

Success has many parents, as they say, and there will be many who will take credit for this monumental accomplishment; but it was far from certain.  I know that as late as Friday night, June 26th, we still were not confident we had garnered the remaining 4 votes we needed for a 2/3 majority in the Senate to suspend the rules in order to consider a bill on the flag. We’d spent days attempting to sway a few Republican senators identified as persuadable, but went to bed Friday night uncertain. But that weekend, it got done. 

How did this happen? 

In November, 2018, in the wake of Mississippi’s senatorial election, I declared that Mississippi was now a purple state, in a late-night Facebook post.  I was shocked the next morning to see that the post had almost 2,000 “likes” and had been shared almost a thousand times—far more than my typical 30 likes and no shares (insert smiling/crying emoji here). 

Some commenters questioned my declaration; after all, the senate contest had been 3-way race, with two Republican candidates and one Democrat.  The Republican candidates split the conservative vote, with the “establishment” candidate emerging to move forward to the run-off.  Some chalked up Mike Espy’s winning of 38 counties to the in-fighting within the Republican party in Mississippi.

But I stand by my assertion then, even though Hyde-Smith won over Espy in the late November run-off.  In the run-off election, Espy lost to Hyde-Smith by less than 8 points. By comparison, Trump won the state in 2016 by almost 18 points. Espy cut that lead by more than half.  When you look at the actual vote count, Espy lost by less than 69,000. Hinds County alone, which contains the capitol city of Jackson and is predominantly black, has over 149,000 voters, almost 70,000 of whom didn’t vote in the 2018 run-off and Espy won the county by 43 points. Even more striking are the vote totals in several predominantly white counties.  In DeSoto County, near the Tennessee state line, Espy lost by less than 8,000 votes.  And more than 62,000 voters in that county failed to vote. In Madison County, a suburb county adjacent to Jackson, Espy lost by less than 3,100 votes, in a county with 73,000 registered voters, almost 30,000 of whom did not vote in the run-off.

With appropriate support and a well-run campaign with grassroots engagement, Mike Espy could win (as we may see come November this year in an Espy/Hyde-Smith rematch). And while 2019 election results were disappointing for many of us, there were signs, as in 2018, reflecting that shift has been occurring in a state from which no one expects surprises. In typically red DeSoto County, a Democratic African American woman won a state legislative seat.  To win an election, Republican candidates running for statewide offices must now win a near unanimous support of white voters.  The cracks in the facade are beginning to show. 

Written by guest blogger Dr. Susan M. Glisson. Susan is co-founder of Sustainable Equity, LLC. She has worked for more than 20 years to change conditions that have created a legacy of inequities. Mississippi is her home.

Come back tomorrow for Part Two of A Tremor in the Middle of the Iceberg.

* The title for this three part series about Mississippi is taken from a Bob Moses’ quote. Bob Moses, age 85, is an American educator, civil rights activist and hero, known for leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee on voter education and registration in Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

Meet Susan Glisson: Authenticity is her calling card.

Dr. Susan Glisson is a thinker and a doer, and a valued member of our inner circle.

Susan is an academic with incredible street smarts. Those street smarts go a long way in Mississippi, where her ideas, drive and track record of success help empower voters of all description, young or old, black, brown, white, any racial or cultural background, male or female, LGBTQ, straight, rich or poor.

Susan was founding director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, a globally recognized civil rights and social justice center located at the University of Mississippi. Susan, through her research and work at the Winter Institute and her related projects, developed effective and innovated ways to bring people together.

Susan is credited with an acute understanding that, in order to achieve results, we must begin the conversation with common ground, shared ideas and opinions that bring people together. It is a powerful tool in a time when too often a dialogue starts with what parties don’t agree on. Over more than two decades, she has made a name for herself as a true champion for people by listening, processing and sharing ideas that work.

We obviously admire her for many reasons, but most of all because, while the saying goes “talk is cheap,” Susan’s actions “speak louder than words” (as another saying goes). Specifically, Susan plays a lead role in the ongoing southern and rural strategy for registering and moving voters to the polls and protecting voters from Jim Crow and other discriminatory practices.

When others tell us, “This state or that state (and we hear Mississippi a lot) is a lost cause for our candidates or party,” we say, “Well, you haven’t met Susan Glisson yet. But we would be happy to introduce you to her.”

Like Susan, Left of Center recognizes a strategy based on the recognition that every voter is an individual with unique needs and interests. The trick, as Susan has demonstrated, is to identify and amplify the intersections where individual needs and interests become shared community concerns. Political pros like to call this messaging, but for Susan it is simply living up to her values and ideals. 

We are extremely fortunate that Susan agreed to write a three-part series for Left of Center. In a three part series, Susan taps into her expertise and understanding of the shifting collective thought about racial justice and cultural insensitivity in Mississippi. While she uses one state’s actions as an example to make the case that things are changing in a good way, for us her series serves a case study in “how to do it everywhere.” The first installment of Susan’s series will appear here on our blog page beginning Monday, July 13, 2020. 

You won’t want to miss a word of it!

Written by guest contributor Ken Bazinet. Ken is a respected, longtime national reporter and freelance writer based in rural Maryland.

Join us for Jimmy Tingle's 2020 Vision; Why would a comedian run for office?

Humor for Humanity presents an online political comedy event with Jimmy Tingle and Friends, and Left of Center Co-founders Deb Kozikowski and Mara Dolan:

Who? Jimmy Tingle and YOU!

What? Jimmy Tingle’s 2020 Vision: Why would a comedian run for office?

Where? Zoom Register HERE

When? Sunday, April 26, 2020 at 4 PM

Why? Sometimes Democrats wanna have fun with their politics.

Jimmy Tingle is a comedian, commentator, actor and founder of Humor for Humanity. He is a graduate CRLS, UMASS Dartmouth and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and was a 2018 candidate for LT Governor of Massachusetts.  He has worked as a humorist and commentator for 60 Minutes II and MSNBC and has appeared on The Tonight Show,  Conan O’Brien,  CNN, FOX, Fresh Air with Terry Gross and in his own HBO half-hour comedy special.  Humor for Humanity is a new social enterprise which aspires to raise spirits, funds and awareness for nonprofits, charities, political groups and social causes through Jimmy's expertise as a comedian, emcee and auctioneer. 

Left of Center is woman-run SuperPAC working in neglected areas rich with untapped Democratic votes. We believe in thought leadership that bubbles up from the grassroots to accomplish our collective goals. Our work in the critical swing states of Florida, North Carolina, and Maine is just the beginning. Our mission is to support candidates and volunteers who are ready to make change happen now. Our team approach works to protect our candidates by using communications and organizing strategies to help elect Democrats to the U.S. House who will hold the center, strengthen our democracy, and increase Democratic performance margins to help Democrats win up and down the ballot.

Left of Center is proud to sponsor Together for 2020 (T2020). T2020 efforts have focused on building an effective online community of trained volunteers as we now try to deal with our new normal of COVID-19 organizing readiness. The pivot to online training and action looks like it’s destined to be a long haul strategy. The tireless response from all partners has been phenomenal. Help us support our partner volunteers and as well as our congressional district targets. We are all in this together for 2020 and beyond!

Written by Left of Center Co-founder Deb Kozikowski

Locked, Loaded & Linked: Democrats are Ready to Win in 2020

Left of Center was first approached about helping build a community of volunteers called Together for 2020 by three rock star volunteers of political and community organizing. Michael Ansara, Kate Kavanagh, and Susan Labandibar were part of a team of people with an idea for an exclusive new partnership project. Experienced volunteer leaders were ready to train and deploy thousands of canvassers, callers, and GOTV teams to reach voters where they live, complete with personal conversations known to make a difference in winning elections.

T2020 is exactly the kind of effort we have championed and built our model for supporting and endorsing candidates in winnable congressional districts. Savvy volunteers mentoring newcomers to making our democracy stronger safer, and yes, saner … electing Democrats to get it done. The premise was right up Left of Center’s alley.

When novel coronavirus burst onto the scene, plans and promise could have been upended. But you know what? With no hesitation, T2020’s phenomenal leadership team pivoted immediately to building an effective online community of trained volunteers to deal with our new normal of COVID-19 organizing readiness for what could be a long haul strategy.

The website team rose to the occasion, and at 4:45 pm, April 14th, Senator Elizabeth Warren opened T2020’s launch on Zoom to discuss the connections between COVID-19, the economy and the election. Left of Center couldn’t be prouder to sponsor this amazing group of activists and advocates for their work in securing a better America by working their hearts out to elect Democrats. 

I know you’ve heard it every cycle, I sure have. And I’ve rolled my eyes at the feverish pitch of how important it was to get involved with the usual “now more than ever” tactic. But this time, in the age of COVID-19 amid dangerous, irresponsible and dishonest leadership from most Republican leaders, it really is the most important election of our lives.

Click here to get all the information upwards of 770 participant volunteers came to learn about Together for 2020 and how you can participate in changing the world from anywhere, even in the safety and comfort of your own home with Together for 2020.

Written by Left of Center Co-founder Deb Kozikowski

Political Bullying, As Dangerous to Our Democracy as Voter Suppression.

As A Matter of Fact, That’s Exactly What It Is.

We are all Chelsea Clinton. If you haven’t seen the clip of her being bullied by an angry member of the far left (and yes, she was angry), count yourself lucky. It’s disturbing to see a patient, pregnant Chelsea Clinton respond repeatedly with kindness while being accused of somehow contributing to the massacre of Muslims in New Zealand.

But haven’t all reasonable people been there? You take some responsible position like, say, putting political resources into turning winnable red seats blue instead of using them on pushing safe Democratic seats farther to the left, and the next thing you know someone is accusing you of supporting the corporate agenda and maybe even contributing to climate change.

Enough. We cannot beat Trump if we are beating up on each other. Democrats must treat one another with respect and consideration. We must remember what Democrats stand for: opportunity, equality, protecting the earth, and strengthening our democracy. Democrats are not the problem. It’s the far right that’s the problem. They don’t believe in opportunity for anyone but themselves. They believe that equality would put them at a disadvantage, and that environmental regulations hurt their bottom line. Above all, they believe in suppressing the vote. They do so because they know that the fewer of us who vote, the more likely they are to win.

The irony. While we are fighting to increase voter participation, some of the folks on the far left are engaging in bullying and intimidation tactics that make people want to turn away from politics. But that’s the very last thing we want people to do. What we need more than ever is to draw people in, make them feel welcome, and want to be part of the solution, with voting as its ultimate expression. It’s called democracy, and that’s what’s really worth fighting for.

Written by Left of Center Co-founder Mara Dolan

Finally ... Purple Reigns in Mississippi

Drew Lefmann & Jarrius Adams, proud progressives. Oxford, Mississippi

A day after the November 6, 2018, mid-term election, as I counted up the counties won by the top two voter winners in Mississippi, my ninth-grade art class came to mind. Thirty-eight blue counties and forty-one red ones. Blue and red make purple. A mathematician from Princeton first published a “purple map” of the United States after the 2000 elections, in part to refute the superficial observations of the pundit world of a polarized and divided America. Since the backlash to civil rights advances in the nineteen sixties and the “Southern strategy” that effectively transformed the “Solid South” from reliably Democratic to Republican, Mississippi has been defined and described as a red state, completely lacking in political nuance.

This characterization has never been true. As Reverend William Barber observed in this election cycle, "Mississippi isn’t a red state, it’s an under-organized state.” A widely-cited study of three decades of voting trends found that Mississippi has the widest turnout gap between self-described conservatives and self-described liberals in the country. There are deep-seated racial and socioeconomic reasons for depressed Democratic turnout, which continue to be exploited by Republicans through voter suppression tactics such as Voter ID. GOP leaders have also reinforced barriers to voter registration. Approximately 416,000 of the state’s eligible voters are unregistered. For reference, Trump’s 18-point victory over Clinton had a margin of 215,000 votes. Demographic and cultural trends are working in favor of Democrats.

The mid-term results reflected this growing potential and put the run-off outcome in play, aided by unforced errors by the Republican candidate, whose public comments caught on video tapped into the state’s violent racist history. Running against a respected African American candidate, as the November 27th run-off approached, polls tightened, forcing Republican strategists, monies and volunteers to respond to Mike Espy’s growing advantage. It was always going to be an uphill strategy. And yet, despite losing the race, Espy “lost forward,” expanding the electoral map for Democrats in remarkable ways.

As noted by the candidate himself in an e-blast, “From scratch- in a short eight months, combining “old-school” methods with tech-savvy means, we were able to build the largest grassroots organization in Mississippi’s history; we unearthed and persuaded over 140 thousand new Democratic voters to turn out; we measurably increased Democratic turnout within the three weeks between election day to runoff; we hit all of our internal targets, garnering more votes than Hillary Clinton in all 82 of Mississippi’s counties- and more than President Obama in 55 of those 82 counties. Nine counties that had voted for Trump in 2016 were flipped from red to blue; we made significant inroads in garnering white crossover votes in the Mississippi “suburbs”- and in residual benefit, the massive turnout helped to elect AA judges across the state.” And Republicans had outspent Democrats in the state by four to one to secure their ultimate outcome.

While many dismissed these results as typical, wiser and more observant pundits outside the state noticed the tremendous change. Within the state, the progressive community is ecstatic and eager to build on these results.

We still have an uphill battle. This is the Mississippi I've come to know in the last 22 years. I know that of the over 720,000 children in the state, 30% of them live in poverty. And 86% of Black, 81% of Hispanic and 62% of White 4th grade public school students cannot not read at grade level. I know that 62% of business leaders in the state believe that their children will have to leave the state to get a good job. I know we are largely last in every indicator that gauges the well-being of our people.

In our culture of immediate gratification, we expect difficult cultural change to occur in an instant, by fiat or tweet. It never has and never will. There are no shortcuts to the everyday process of building inclusive relationships and trust in order to change mindsets and actions. An election is not a movement. 

A movement for liberation requires long-term commitment. It requires truth-telling and courage and patience. And a movement should celebrate moving the needle, as Mississippians did. And that work didn't just happen in the last six months. We must not let the forward movement of the Espy campaign obscure the grassroots leadership across the state over the last 60 years and especially since the 2016 election that made his strong showing possible.  

That year, a small group of women in north Mississippi began having regular lunches every Friday. Hesitantly, one Friday one of the women confessed somewhat timidly that she was a Democrat. One by one, the remaining women shared that they, too, were Democrats. It has been beaten into our psyches for so long that Mississippi is so reliably red that the words "progressive" or "liberal" became shibboleths in the state. But the more we declare our belief in justice and equality, in compassion and mercy and love, the more of us we see live here. This election was simply one more invitation to come join this movement for liberation.

In his now iconic essay, "The Case for Reparations," Ta-Nehisi Coates calls for the "full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences." He elaborated, "What I’m talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal. Reparations would mean the end of scarfing hot dogs on the Fourth of July while denying the facts of our heritage. Reparations would mean the end of yelling “patriotism” while waving a Confederate flag."

If we spend the next two years focusing all of our attention on the political races in 2019 and 2020, we will have failed our state (and our nation). We need a full reckoning. In one community in the Delta right now, they're pondering how a landmark civil rights case from 1969, which ordered that municipal services must be distributed equally in black and white neighborhoods. It's almost 50 years later and they're still not. I know of one community in east MS whose white Baptist Church built a new basketball court but fenced it in because they didn't want black kids to play on it. And my neighbor across my backyard ravine, who flies a U.S. flag just above a Confederate flag, somehow doesn't have a psychological break down every time he looks in his backyard and sees the flag that represents folks who seceded from and tried to destroy the constituency represented by the other flag, all over being able to own and exploit other human beings. You can't be a "Confederate American." But if we work hard, we might be able to use what is best about being Southern to redeem what is worst.

We must have a state reckoning in Mississippi that leads to a spiritual renewal. We must honestly engage the sordid racial histories of every single town and learn how to repair the breaches created by those divides. It starts with relationship and trust-building, because that work allows us to hear hard truths without shutting down. Blaming and shaming are not effective in this "politics of invitation." Listening to understand allows new ideas to emerge, ones we may not even be able to imagine right now. And it would serve all fifty states to do this work; in many ways, as the poet said, "We are all Mississippians."

So, my friends and I will be working hard on getting folks registered to vote and on encouraging new folks to run for office. But we must dig deeper than that, into changing mindsets and cultural attitudes based on fear. We all must find our roles, using our unique gifts. And I hope some of us will take up the work of reparation, which means acknowledgement, atonement, amends and absolution.

On December 3rd, Oxford, MS, held its annual Christmas parade. For the first time in their history, the Lafayette County Democratic Party created a float with a progressive Christmas list of wishes. We’ve gone from quietly and sometimes timidly sharing with trusted friends our political dreams to declaring them in the public square. We move forward with hope.

Written by guest blogger Dr. Susan M. Glisson. Susan is co-founder of Sustainable Equity, LLC. She has worked for more than 20 years to change conditions that have created a legacy of inequities. Mississippi is her home.

Espy for U.S. Senate in MS Runoff

Left of Center is proud to announce our first endorsement, for Mike Espy for U.S. Senate.

We wholeheartedly support his platform of protecting Social Security and Medicare, making sure no one is denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition, and keeping rural hospitals open. We believe Mississippi can and should elect Mike Espy to the United States Senate this Tuesday, and are strongly encouraged that Mike Espy has the right work ethic and attitude to become the first Democrat to represent Mississippi in the United States Senate in nearly 40 years.

We have grave concern over the record of his Republican opponent, Cindy Hyde-Smith, who has demonstrated a lifelong pattern of support for racial discrimination and refusal to condemn racism. She has said she would sit in the front row at a public hanging, expressed support for making it harder for students from liberal colleges to vote, and has posed for photographs wearing a Confederate uniform and carrying a Civil War rifle. We are encouraged by the corporate donors who have asked for their money back, including AT&T, Walmart, Boston Scientific, and Union Pacific.

Also deeply troubling is Cindy Hyde-Smith’s platform, which includes absolute adherence to the Trump agenda, without room for doing what is best for all of Mississippi. In a time where there have been unprecedented attacks on freedom of the press, elected officials must show their respect for the people they represent and the Constitution. Instead, Interim Sen. Hyde-Smith excluded both citizens of Mississippi and members of the press from the one debate she agreed to and sent a surrogate to answer questions from the press afterward.

There are a record number of applications for absentee ballots and growing support for Mike Espy as someone with an economic platform which includes paid family leave, increasing the minimum wage, and raising the earned income tax credit, all measures proven to strengthen and expand opportunity for working families. There is a clear contrast between Mike Espy’s pro-Mississippi agenda and Cindy Hyde-Smith’s divisive and racist positions which pose a real threat to the economic well-being of Mississippi.

Electing Cindy Hyde-Smith to the United States Senate would be a stain on Mississippi and on the United States of America. Left of Center believes that all people are created equal, and that we must never tolerate discrimination of any kind. Mike Espy’s record of supporting voting rights, civil rights, and equal protection under the law show that he will be a strong defender of Constitutional rights as United States Senator.

Left of Center is proud to support Mississippi Democrats as they fight to be represented by someone who will speak well of their state, and who they can count on to support all working families. We endorse Mike Espy for United States Senate.

Written by Left of Center Co-founder Deb Kozikowski