People's Party (United States, 2017)

The People's Party (formerly the Movement for a People's Party) is a self-described progressive[lower-alpha 1] political organization in the United States aimed at "forming a major new political party free of corporate money and influence."[14]

Not to be confused with People's Party (United States).
People's Party
AbbreviationMPP
LeaderNick Brana
FoundedNovember 9, 2017 (2017-11-09)[1]
Preceded byDraft Bernie for a People's Party
Student wingStudents for a People's Party[2]
Ideology
Political positionSyncretic[13]
Website
peoplesparty.org

Nick Brana formed the party after the 2016 presidential election as "Draft Bernie for a People's Party." Bernie Sanders declined to be the People's Party's figurehead, instead seeking the presidential nomination in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. In the 2024 United States presidential election, the party will have ballot access in Florida.

History

In 2017, Nick Brana founded the Movement for a People's Party (MPP) out of the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party" group,[1] which had failed to gain Sanders's support.[15][16] Brana had worked on Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign as the National Political Outreach Coordinator.[17]

In September 2017, the group gave an invitation with 50,000 signatures to Sanders to lead the creation of the People's Party,[18] which Sanders ignored.[19]

In August 2020, the organization held a virtual People's Convention[20][21] that was viewed by 400,000 people on various platforms.[17][21] Speakers included former Democratic Party 2020 presidential election candidate Marianne Williamson, former Harvard University professor and philosopher Cornel West, Sanders 2020 co-chair Nina Turner, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, comedian/political commentator/satirist Jimmy Dore, journalist Chris Hedges and podcaster Ryan Knight.[21] The convention's purpose was to "vote on forming a major new political party free of corporate money and influence,"[20] a measure that was approved by 99% of those viewing the convention online.[21] While many speakers expressed distaste for the candidates in the 2020 presidential election, the party did not contest the election.[21] Brana said that their goal was "to form a party beginning in 2021, to run in the midterms in 2022 and, perhaps, to run a presidential candidate in 2024."[22]

In December 2020, the first People's Party state organization was registered in Maine.[23][24] According to Michael Sylvester, the party will focus on pushing congressional officials into supporting a floor vote for Medicare for All.[23]

In September 2021, the People's Party gained ballot access in Florida, the first state where it has done so.[25]

In February 2022, Brana was accused of sexual harassment by Zana Day, former MPP executive director,[26] which was corroborated by coworker Paula Jean Swearengin.[27] Brana denied these claims, calling them "false and politically motivated," and accused other MPP board members of a "liberal takeover attempt."[28] As a result, he forced out several MPP board members.[26]

Before the 2022 United States midterm elections, the People's Party announced that it was "aiming to run a dozen or more federal races, including a seat or two in the U.S. Senate."[29] The party never announced any candidates for the 2022 elections.

On June 5, 2023, Cornel West announced his candidacy for president with the People's Party, becoming the first person to run for office under the People's Party banner.[26] Given the group's leadership controversies, its lack of a track record and essentially no nationwide ballot access for a serious presidential campaign, West was quickly challenged and criticized for associating himself with the group.[30] Some progressives called for West to work instead with the Green Party, which has run presidential candidates for decades.[31] At the same time, some Democrats feared that, without ranked-choice voting, a third-party candidate might be a "spoiler", diverting swing state votes from the presumptive front-runner, Joe Biden, in favor of the 2024 Republican nominee.[32] On June 14, West announced that he was instead seeking the endorsement of the Green Party.[33]

Ballot access

See also

Notes
  1. The People's Party ideology has been disputed, with some commentators describing it as influenced by a variety of ideologies and views such as right-wing populism and vaccine hesitancy.[6][7][9][11][12]

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. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  2. "Students for a People's Party". Movement for a People's Party. August 15, 2020. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  3. "The Case For A New Major People's Party In America". Movement for a People's Party. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  4. Chrobak, John (March 6, 2023). "The Anti-War Coalition Visits Washington". Illiberalism Studies Program. George Washington University. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  5. "Our Platform". Movement for a People's Party. August 14, 2020. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  6. Jenkins, Colin (June 10, 2023). "Cornel West, the Pitfalls of Bourgeois Politics, and Forging a New Future Among the Rubble". Hampton Institute. Retrieved July 27, 2023. There are also questions regarding the new People's Party itself, which has faced criticisms about its ineffective organizing and willingness to include right-wing populists in a big-tent effort to focus on common struggles.
  7. Schwartz, Rafi (June 19, 2023). "What is The People's Party that launched Cornel West's presidential campaign?". The Week. Retrieved July 27, 2023. Cornel West linked up with a political group known for anti-vaccine members and extreme right-wing associates ... [and co-sponsoring an event that] featured a host of fringe political figures including conservative media figure Jackson Hinkle and Helga Zepp-LaRouche, widow of -- and torchbearer -- for Lyndon LaRouche's "cultlike" extremist right-wing movement.
  8. Crosse, Jacob; Kishore, Joseph (February 20, 2023). "The "Rage Against the War Machine" rally: A reactionary political freak show". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved August 31, 2023. The rally, which was moderated by Angela McArdle of the Libertarian Party and Nick Brana of the "People's Party," was sold as an opportunity by the organizers and the speakers to "bring together" the "left and the right" to oppose war. In fact, there was no left-wing perspective; the political direction was provided entirely by the right.
  9. La Botz, Dan (June 12, 2023). "Cornel West for President? What Does the Left Think? Part 1". New Politics. Retrieved July 27, 2023. The People's Party maintains its progressive program, but it has taken some stands and suffered some internal conflicts that call its ideals into question. The PP recently made a move to the right... This is what is sometimes called a "red-brown" alliance, nominally leftist parties joining with rightist parties....
  10. Scott, Cam (February 22, 2023). "Broad front or false front?". Canadian Dimension. Retrieved August 31, 2023. The latter, properly known as the Movement for a People's Party, originates from a failed petition for Bernie Sanders to break with the Democratic Party, and promises to build a major populist movement, neither left nor right, in the United States. ... Both the People's Party and CPI propose versions of MAGA-with-Medicare.
  11. Douglas, Artemis (February 2, 2021). "The 3rd Party Resurgence". Real Progressives. Retrieved August 31, 2023. The MPP has used Twitter to admit, several times, they do not want to be a left party, they want to conform to red-state voters, and they plan to use (unprincipled) populism to win elections.
  12. Heer, Jeet. "Cornel West Is the Right Man in the Wrong Party". The Nation. Retrieved August 31, 2023. He responded, "The People's Party has had some issues with regard to leadership that are definitely antithetical to progressivism." Aside from the scandal with Brana, Higgins called attention to the MPP's ties to the podcaster Jimmy Dore, who has a history of controversial views such as whitewashing the far-right Boogaloo Boys and promoting vaccine skepticism.
  13. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
  14. "The People's Party | Free Of Corporate Money". August 24, 2020. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  15. Crosse, Jacob; Kishore, Joseph (September 7, 2020). "The Movement for a People's Party: No program, no principles, no future". World Socialist Web Site. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  16. Haltiwanger, John (September 27, 2017). "Americans are desperate for a third major political party in the Trump era". Newsweek. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  17. Roque, Lucas (October 13, 2020). "Over Politics? Hold Up, the People's Party Wants You". YR Media. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  18. Sainato, Michael (August 22, 2017). "Progressives to Serve Bernie Sanders With Petition to Start New Party". Observer. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  19. Zipp, Ricky (September 11, 2017). "Draft Bernie Sanders movement plows on without the senator". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  20. Otterbein, Holly. "Marianne Williamson is back — to talk about forming a third party". POLITICO. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  21. Griffiths, Shawn (August 31, 2020). "More Than 400,000 Tune In to 'People's Convention'; Overwhelmingly Vote to Form New Party". Independent Voter News. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  22. Weigel, David (September 8, 2020). "The Trailer: It's not 2016 for third-party candidates". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  23. Collins, Steve (December 30, 2020). "Maine People's Party plans to start enrolling members this week". Lewiston Sun Journal. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  24. "Maine Becomes First State To Register The People's Party!". Movement for a People's Party. December 1, 2020. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  25. Garcia, Justin (October 8, 2021). "'The People's Party' gains ballot access in Florida and aims to challenge corporate politics". Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  26. Thakker, Prem (June 5, 2023). "Cornel West Announces Presidential Bid ... as a People's Party Candidate". The New Republic. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023.
  27. ""It Did Scare Me": Assault, Harassment Allegations Against MPP Head Nick Brana". Eoin Higgins. July 13, 2022. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022.
  28. Brana, Nick (February 23, 2022). "People's Party Blocks Liberal Takeover Attempt". Movement for a People's Party. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022.
  29. "We're looking for a new kind of representation!". Movement for a People's Party. April 23, 2021. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021.
  30. Cornel West: Running for President, Ending Ukraine War & Taking on 'Corporate Duopoly' of Dems & GOP, retrieved June 13, 2023
  31. Heer, Jeet (June 12, 2023). "Cornel West Is the Right Man in the Wrong Party". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  32. Otterbein, Holly (June 10, 2023). "Why some Dems fear Cornel West presents a unique challenge for Joe Biden". POLITICO. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  33. Gans, Jared (June 14, 2023). "Cornel West seeking Green Party nomination for presidential run". The Hill.
  34. "Political Parties - Division of Elections - Florida Department of State". Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
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