Movement for a People's Party

The Movement for a People's Party (MPP) is an American exploratory political organization aimed at creating a new progressive political party in the United States, which would be known as the People's Party.

Movement for a People's Party
AbbreviationMPP
LeaderNick Brana
FoundedNovember 9, 2017 (2017-11-09)[1]
Preceded byDraft Bernie for a People's Party
IdeologySocial democracy
Democratic socialism
Progressivism
Left-wing populism
Non-interventionism
Anti-imperialism[2]
Political positionLeft-wing
Website
https://peoplesparty.org/

It was started by Nick Brana following the 2016 presidential election as "Draft Bernie for a People's Party." Bernie Sanders declined becoming the party's figurehead, instead again seeking the presidential nomination within the Democratic Party for the 2020 presidential primaries.

History

The organization was founded by Nick Brana, who previously worked with the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign as the National Political Outreach Coordinator.[3] In 2017, Brana had formed the group out of the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party"[1] which had failed to gain the support of Sanders.[4][5]

In 2018, the Movement for a People's Party posted their mission statement to pressure the major parties into adopting a progressive agenda.[6]

Convention

The organization held a virtual People's Convention on August 30, 2020.[7][8] The convention was covered live and viewed by 400,000 people on various social media platforms.[3][8]

Speakers at the convention included former 2020 presidential election candidate Marianne Williamson, Harvard University professor and philosopher Cornel West, Sanders 2020 co-chair Nina Turner, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, journalist Chris Hedges, and comedian Jimmy Dore and podcaster Ryan Knight.[8]

"An entirely new way of being is struggling to be born, and we need a political container for it—one that puts humanitarian values before amoral economic ones, and breaks free of a 20th-century political paradigm that no longer serves our democracy or even our survival on the planet. 'A new birth of freedom' is struggling to be born, emerging from the hearts and minds of millions of people no longer willing to go along with systems that devolve rather than evolve our life on earth."

— Marianne Williamson, before the convention[7]

The ultimate goal of the convention was intended to be to vote on forming a new political party to represent the interests of the people.[7] Supporters viewing the convention online overwhelmingly approved the measure with a 99% majority.[8]

2020 presidential election

While many of the speakers at the convention expressed frustration and distaste for the candidates for the 2020 presidential election, the organization did not contest the 2020 election and instead plans to form a party in 2021, run in the midterms in 2022 and possibly run a presidential candidate in 2024.[8][9]

MPP later organised an online rebuttal to the 2020 United States presidential debates hosted by Rose McGowan.[10]

On December 1, 2020, the first People's Party state organization was registered in Maine. On January 2, 2021, the party will begin enrolling new members and needs 5,000 in order to achieve ballot access.[11] According to Michael Sylvester, the party will mainly be focusing on pushing congressional officials into supporting a floor vote for Medicare for All.[11]

Also in December 2020, Dore began circulating a plan to make Nancy Pelosi's re-election as House Speaker conditional on Medicare for All receiving a floor vote. The plan was endorsed by Justin Jackson of the Los Angeles Chargers and political commentators Krystal Ball and Briahna Joy Gray.[12] The party launched a petition drive to support the plan, with Dore and West joining the advisory committee.[13] The Green Party of Pennsylvania announced its support for forcing the vote as well.[14]

References
  1. Ehrle, Carol (November 9, 2017). "Draft Bernie Launches 'Movement for a People's Party' Amid Explosive DNC Rigging Revelations and Record Support for a Major New Party". Draft Bernie For a People's Party (Press release). Washington D.C. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  2. Movement for a People's Party. "Our Platform". Movement for a People's Party. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  3. Roque, Lucas (October 13, 2020). "Over Politics? Hold Up, the People's Party Wants You". YR Media.
  4. Crosse, Jacob; Kishore, Joseph (September 7, 2020). "The Movement for a People's Party: No program, no principles, no future". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  5. Haltiwanger, John (September 27, 2017). "Americans are desperate for a third major political party in the Trump era". Newsweek.
  6. Walker, Patrick (April 20, 2018). "Political Dynamite: Poor People's Campaign and the Movement for a People's Party". CounterPunch. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  7. Otterbein, Holly. "Marianne Williamson is back — to talk about forming a third party". POLITICO.
  8. Griffiths, Shawn (August 31, 2020). "More Than 400,000 Tune In to 'People's Convention'; Overwhelmingly Vote to Form New Party". Independent Voter News.
  9. David Weigel (September 8, 2020). "The Trailer: It's not 2016 for third-party candidates". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  10. Movement for a People's Party (October 21, 2020). "Rose McGowan to Headline Movement for a People's Party Debate Response". PRNewswire (Press release).
  11. Collins, Steve (December 30, 2020). "Maine People's Party plans to start enrolling members this week". Lewiston Sun Journal. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  12. Burgis, Ben (December 19, 2020). "Jimmy Dore is Right About the Urgency of Medicare For All. But AOC Isn't the Problem". Jacobin. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  13. "Cornel West & Jimmy Dore join the People's Party to force the vote". Movement for a People's Party. December 19, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  14. Doonan, David (December 27, 2020). "Force The Vote". Green Party. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
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