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Our Revolution Board: "Honored to Be on Front Lines"

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

09 September 16

know that many of us have wondered what form the political revolution will take. We are finally seeing things take shape. Many are disappointed with the tax classification, which does not allow coordination with electoral campaigns. Some are siding with former staff who resigned in protest of Jeff Weaver being named president. I do not share these concerns, and here is why.

501(c)(4) Status

Our Revolution is just beginning to build an organizational infrastructure. The organization needs to create its identity not just at the ballot box but also in supporting social movements. A 501(c)(4) tax exempt group focuses significant portions of its resources on social welfare work.

Our Revolution in my opinion needs to develop its mission outside the electoral arena as well as inside. I believe that once it establishes its role in the progressive movement, supporting things like the movement against the TPP, the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, the Fight for 15, etc., the organization can take the step to form a PAC focusing more on direct electoral work.

I guess what I am trying to say is let the movement form around the issues that we support and not around the candidates in the beginning. The candidates need to gain the support of the movement, so build the movement first.

As a 501(c)(4), Our Revolution can lay the groundwork for political activity by training activists and developing candidates for the future. Our Revolution can endorse and independently campaign for candidates as long as they don’t coordinate with the campaign. While there are limitations, quite frankly, I want candidates to be independent from the influence of PAC’s anyway. I want Our Revolution to support candidates who are worth supporting because of who they already are, not who we can mold them into. If a candidate only supports the Fight for 15 because we are supporting his campaign, he can be bought later by the other side.

So 501(c)(4) now, PAC later – once we identify who we are and what we stand for as a movement. That’s the model of groups like MoveOn and Progressive Democrats of America.

And let’s be honest, none of the options are perfect. It is a corrupt political system that we have to use to take power. Once in power we can transform it.

Bernie Trusts Jeff Weaver

Originally the president of Our Revolution was slated to be Jane Sanders. Concerns rose that since it was a 501(c)(4) it wouldn’t be a good idea for the wife of a United States senator to run the organization. So the person Bernie trusts most was replaced by another longtime trusted friend and advisor he has worked with for decades.

In my year and a half of covering the campaign, Jeff Weaver was always accessible and supportive of my work. Other campaigns treat the non-corporate media differently than they treat the big boys. Whenever I saw Jeff, he answered questions and took time to come on camera. Other campaigns’ management is not as accessible. In the beginning that may have been because any media attention they could muster was important. As the campaign grew and the size of the media pool covering the campaign grew, Jeff Weaver didn’t change; he treated me the same as he did when it was only a few of us covering the campaign.

I would have concerns if Jeff Weaver were what I will call a “campaign hack,” someone who jumps from campaign to campaign adjusting to the views of the client. That is not Jeff Weaver. He has been working with Bernie for decades, and has earned our trust.

According to Wikileaks:

“Jeff Weaver attended Boston University, where he participated in civil disobedience and was eventually expelled. Weaver became active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was arrested on April 24, 1986, for disorderly conduct, along with 10 other students; they became known as the “BU Eleven.” The group began building shanties on campus and tried to prevent university employees from tearing them down.

“Also in 1986, Weaver and three other students sued the university for the right to hang banners outside their dormitories. Yosef Abramowitz and two other students had displayed signs promoting divestment of the university with companies doing business with South Africa. When Abramowitz’s sign was taken down, Weaver hung an American flag and two signs, one a Marine recruiting poster and the other reading “In Solidarity With Yosef.” The university claimed it had a policy against dormitory banner displays, but the students argued it was selectively enforced, violating the right to free speech. The courts ruled in the students’ favor, providing an immediate injunction against the students being forced to leave their dormitories, and also issuing a permanent injunction preventing the university from taking disciplinary action against the four for exercising their right of free speech.

“Weaver’s first role as a campaign staffer was in 1986 when he worked for Bernie Sanders’s gubernatorial campaign as an Independent. Weaver served as a driver for Sanders.

“In 1987, one year after his involvement with the Sanders gubernatorial campaign, Weaver launched a campaign of his own, running for St. Albans City Ward 4 alderman. He was 21 years old and known locally for his efforts to register new voters. In 1990, Weaver challenged incumbent St. Albans mayor Ron Firkey for his seat. Weaver ran as an Independent and lost with 40% of the vote. In conceding the race, he said, “People haven’t seen the last of Jeff Weaver.”

“Weaver was a staffer for Sanders’ successful 1990 congressional race. Following the race, he worked as a legislative assistant, eventually working his way up to chief of staff. Weaver later managed Sanders’ successful 2006 Senate campaign and served as chief of staff.

“In 2009, following his role as Sanders’ Senate chief of staff, Weaver left the political scene to run a comics and gaming store, Victory Comics, in Falls Church, Virginia.

“In May 2015, after a break from politics, Weaver was appointed campaign manager for Sanders’ presidential campaign. The New York Times described Weaver as “a long-trusted adviser to Mr. Sanders, who has developed a reputation inside and outside his campaign as a hard-charging operative often willing to go further than the candidate himself.”

That is hardly a guy looking to continue politics as usual, as alleged by some of the former Our Revolution staffers.

I don’t want to take sides, and I understand that some of the concerns raised by the former staffers are legit. However, Bernie Sanders ignited this movement, and I trust that he knows the best way to keep it burning.

Our Revolution on Wednesday released the following statement, adopted unanimously by all 11 board members:

Founding Statement of Our Revolution Board of Directors

We are all honored to be members of the Board of Directors of Our Revolution, inspired by Bernie Sanders and his historic presidential campaign. The campaign was always about the movement we were building, as well as supporting a truly amazing candidate.

We are all volunteers in Our Revolution, as we were in the campaign, and we are honored to be on the front lines with tens of thousands of volunteers and millions of supporters. The launch of Our Revolution was viewed by more than 400,000 of us, including more than 60,000 who attended the 2,600 events.

We are committed to the following:

1. Great groups – We pledge to support the diversity of the groups and networks that made Bernie 2016 unique. We will not all agree on everything, but we will work towards unity on many things.


2. Great causes – We will support movements organizing around the critical issues facing us. Sometimes these issue campaigns will stretch out for months or years, like the campaign to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But we are also prepared to seize the moment, supporting campaigns like the fight against the Dakota Access Bakken pipeline in North Dakota and Iowa.


3. Great candidates and ballot measures – We will back candidates in primaries and general elections. We will back ballot measures that help create a 21st century democracy and help get big money out of politics, as well as other issues that promote racial, environmental and economic justice.

We are all committed to Bernie’s bold progressive agenda. We are committed to conducting state-based outreach and political strategies. We are committed to leadership diversity, not only for this board, but in our staffing and leadership at all levels. We are committed to democratic decision-making, transparency, political independence and small-dollar fundraising.

Full board list:

• Nina Turner – Fmr. Ohio State Senator


• Deborah Parker – Native American Leader


• Ben Jealous – Civil Rights Leader


• Jim Hightower – Political Leader, National Radio Commentator & Writer


• Jim Zogby – Arab American Human Rights Leader


• Huck Gutman – Former Chief of Staff for Senator Bernie Sanders


• Jane Kleeb – Environmental and Rural Activist


• Lucy Flores – Fmr. Nevada Assemblywoman


• Larry Cohen – Labor Leader


• Catalina Velasquez – Immigration, Reproductive Justice and Trans Queer Liberation Activist


• Shailene Woodley – Actress and Environmental Activist

Will Our Revolution instantly transform America? Of course not. Will it succeed if we sit back and watch Nina, Ben, Lucy, and Jeff do all the work? Of course not. Our Revolution will go as far as we take it. It is dependent on grassroots participation.

Join us … It’s Our Revolution.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.