motherjones--2020-03-05--On a Bad Night, Bernie Won Big With Latinx Voters. Here’s How He Did It.

When I first met Oscar Ortiz at his job in downtown Coachella , California , I noticed two things right off the bat .
One , he ’ s very tall—like , 6-foot-enough to make it awkward for this 5-foot reporter to walk next to him and get a microphone anywhere near his mouth .
And two , he ’ s got a pretty chill demeanor—at least until he mentions Bernie Sanders .
That ’ s when his voice gets a little louder , his smile wider , and his hands join the conversation .
Ortiz , 30 , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Coachella office , and when I arrived in town late last week , he was busy making calls .
As we walked around the park across the street before more volunteers arrived for the 6 p.m. meetup , he told me about how he was born in the Mexican border city of Mexicali and how his family moved two hours north to the Coachella Valley when he was just a toddler .
Like a lot of people his age , his mom cleaned houses and his dad worked in the fields @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school— “ I was a nerd who looked like a cholo , ” he said—and eventually left the valley to get a chemistry degree at Stanford .
After graduating , he worked for a pharmaceutical company for a while , and then in the cannabis industry .
But eventually he returned home to Indio , next door to Coachella , because he wanted to be involved in the community that raised him .
He started attending city council meetings and in 2018 decided to run for a seat .
His campaign was inspired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though he had only $ 8,000 in his war chest , he knocked on hundreds of doors and won the seat .
Since then , he said , he ’ s focused on “ changing the conversation around a lot of issues that were being ignored ” —namely , immigration , affordable housing , and climate change .
Listen to MoJo ’ s Fernanda Echavarri going door-to-door with a band of young Latinx Bernie Sanders supporters in California , a state that gave the senator a fighting chance to stay in the presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mother Jones Podcast : So when Ortiz heard that Sanders was opening up an office in Coachella , a city of about 45,000 people where almost 98 percent identify as Hispanic or Latino—the kind of place that presidential candidates typically ignore—he quickly contacted the campaign seeking a paid organizing position .
He started working for Sanders ’ campaign in December and was thrilled seeing people “ put in so much effort to get Bernie as our representative in the White House…Just imagine , we could go from Trump to Bernie Sanders by grassroots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Four years ago , when Sanders faced off against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination , there was no Oscar Ortiz running a campaign office in the 36th Congressional District , which encompasses Coachella , glitzy Palm Springs , and a slew of mostly working-class , mostly Latinx communities in the arid region of eastern Riverside County known as the East Valley .
That ’ s because there was no office , and the nearest Sanders outpost was a communal Democratic Party workspace 20 miles away .
Sanders performed worse in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , winning just 37 percent of the vote to Clinton ’ s 62 percent .
Clinton , of course , went on to win the California primary en route to sealing the nomination .
Sanders was criticized in 2016 for not directly appealing to people of color—for framing his candidacy around an economic determinism to which matters of culture tended to be subordinate .
But his efforts among Latinx voters in California point up a shift in emphases from 2016 to 2020 .
There are a record 32 million eligible voters who identify @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the first time will make up the largest voting bloc of people of color in the country .
At about 13 percent of the electorate , Latinx voters will slightly outnumber Black voters in 2020 .
This cycle , the Sanders camp has prioritized Latinx voters and underserved communities in California with “ a significantly larger operation ” than it had in 2016 , with 23 offices and more than 100 staffers , said Jon Jacobo , the campaign ’ s California Latino press secretary .
Opening up field offices in places @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you , we hear you , and we ’ re here to work with you , ” Jacobo added .
“ It ’ s easy to buy airtime and radio slots , but it ’ s another thing to intentionally invest resources into a community that is often overlooked.
” And rather than simply hire a large consulting firm , the campaign tapped “ talented leaders within the community , ” who can better connect with the local activists and organizers .
The efforts have started to pay dividends : Across the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their support behind Sanders , from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Mijente , which describes itself as “ a national hub for Latinx and Chicanx organizing.
” In Nevada , the first primary contest with a large Latinx electorate , entrance polls showed Sanders winning 53 percent of Latinx voters—more than three times as much as former vice president Joe Biden ’ s 17 percent .
And on a disastrous Super Tuesday during which Joe Biden swept the Southern primaries , it was in California that Sanders held the line , picking up nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 72 percent of Latinx voters under 30 , according to initial exit polling .
He won the state thanks in large part to the work being done by people like Oscar Ortiz in places like the Coachella Valley .
Here , the ideas and ideals of Bernie-style democratic socialism found a natural home among the sons and daughters of the people who helped reconstitute the New Deal for an era of multicultural politics .
Located in the heart of the city , the Sanders campaign ’ s Coachella office is in the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Cesar Chavez organized farmworkers in the 1960s .
Colorful murals honoring the 1965 grape boycott adorn the facade of the one-story duplex known as Casa Del Trabajador ( House of the Worker ) .
On one side , blue and white “ Bernie 2020 ” signs cover the windows .
On the other side of the building , a small tax preparation office serves mostly farmworkers ; when I went in to speak to the gentleman working there , he showed me the small stack of Bernie 2020 brochures at his desk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Ortiz told me excitedly about Sanders ’ visit to the area in December .
“ He actually came here to Coachella !
” Ortiz said , noting that Sanders was the first presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy to visit the area .
It was JFK ’ s “ Viva Kennedy ” campaign , in fact , that first attempted to forge out of many disparate communities a pan-ethnic “ Latin American ” voting bloc , as Benjamin Francis-Fallon documents in his 2019 book , The Rise of the Latino Vote .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the birth moment for ‘ Latino politics ’ as one can identify.
” Some 50 years later , the mayor and the city council stood alongside Sanders outside the campaign office while the candidate riffed on immigration reform and the Green New Deal to a crowd of about 500 fans .
Sanders ’ presence—his office , his staffers , his visit—meant something to the people here .
While most people outside of Southern California hear “ Coachella ” and think of the massive annual music festival or the Instagrammable Joshua Tree National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families who have been in the area for generations and whose histories center around farmwork , immigration , and deep connections to Mexico .
“ His ideas are spreading a lot faster , and they resonate so well with our communities , ” Ortiz tells me .
The Latinx voters I talked to said they ’ re supporting Sanders because he wants to get big money out of politics , address income inequality , reverse the Trump administration ’ s anti-immigrant policies , and prioritize the country ’ s response to climate change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one , Ortiz emphasized : About 100 years ’ worth of pesticides have drained into the nearby Salton Sea , and as the water evaporates , the toxic dust that ’ s left behind has caused a spike in asthma and cancer rates .
And as housing costs in and around Coachella continue to rise , Ortiz said , more and more people are moving to the Salton Sea area , where housing is cheaper because of the health hazards .
“ I think it ’ s easy to see that he ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re focused on , right ?
So , we see affordable housing is a big issue out here , right ?
And that was one of the main points in our campaign , as well .
And we see Bernie has this huge plan to make , like , 10 million affordable housing units throughout the country .
And we see his focus on climate change , his focus on the minimum wage , his focus on income inequality .
It just resonates so well with us here .
The connection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Roybal saw as much in the 1970s , another era of federal retrenchment .
The first Mexican American to sit on the Los Angeles City Council and the first Latino in the modern era to be elected to Congress , Roybal was a pioneer in Latinx politics .
In 1976 , testifying before the Democratic Platform Committee , he argued that Democrats “ needed to develop policies with [ Latinos ’ ] specific needs in mind , ” Francis-Fallon writes .
Roybal ’ s vision of the “ Latino community ” was inseparable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Deal of an aggressive federal commitment to securing economic justice for all Americans .
It was the Bernie Sanders agenda , with a Latinx emphasis .
Friday evening at the campaign office , Ortiz and a few volunteers were packing up tote bags for the canvassers who were planning to go out .
The next morning , I spoke with a couple of young men in their 20s who drove down from nearby cities in the valley—Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City—to pick up their campaign materials .
A few more volunteers stopped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been involved in local politics and organizing for years , especially after she saw the increase in Border Patrol ’ s presence in the community during the Trump administration .
Just as Ortiz was about to lock up for the night , Chapa brought over a neighborhood staple , 73-year-old Miguel Vargas , who lives just around the corner and is a big Sanders fan .
He walked in using a worn wooden cane and eased into a chair at a folding table , eager to share stories from his past .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fields for decades picking lettuce , cantaloupe , and celery , work that left him with several back injuries .
“ I didn ’ t go to school—I taught myself how to read and write , ” he told us in Spanish , adding that his perspective wasn ’ t worthy of an interview .
“ But I ’ ve worked since I was a young boy and I ’ ve done my part.
” Vargas , whom Ortiz and Chapa would later describe as “ a Coachella O.G.
, ” is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as “ a man of the people , ” far different from other candidates both past and present , he said .
“ From the beginning , this country has only belonged to a few families when it should belong to the people at the bottom who are working and are paying taxes , ” he said .
“ The working people are hungry for justice.
” Vargas spoke passionately for almost an hour about how much he believed in Sanders and about his time working the fields in the days Cesar Chavez @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were in .
We all listened quietly .
Then , as he walked out of the office , he looked back at the volunteers and said he hoped more young people like them would follow in Sanders ’ footsteps , even if he doesn ’ t become the next president of the United States .
“ Even if he doesn ’ t win , ” Vargas said , “ at least he ’ s opened people ’ s minds to new ideas.
” Shortly after noon the next day , young Latinas arrived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pick up their materials and go knock on some doors .
It was striking : At one point I looked around the room , and all the volunteers were Latinas under 30 years old .
Ortiz , wearing a black shirt with “ Bernie ” in colorful block letters , stood in the front of the room , giving them canvassing tips .
He went over how to use the mapping app on their phones , and in the middle of his training a young man showed up wearing a shirt that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ♥ Tío Bernie !
He has my vote.
” Most of the seven volunteers had done work for the campaign in previous weeks .
Before heading out , they were chatting about how often they talk to their older relatives about Bernie .
One of the women said her mom already likes Sanders and calls him the “ el viejito ” — “ the old man.
” Another said some older relatives thought they should vote for Mike Bloomberg because all the commercials they saw on television were about the billionaire former mayor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lead .
Some joked about having to constantly step in and say , “ No , mom , what you saw on Facebook or TV isn ’ t true .
Let me explain.
” Overall , I picked up that while there is support for Sanders from older voters , like Vargas , there ’ s work being done by younger Latinx to make the case at home .
I tagged along with one of the volunteers , Alva Perez , as she canvassed in a neighborhood not far from the campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s been a fan of the Vermont senator since his last campaign , but things were different back then—for starters , she said , Bernie supporters who volunteered to phone-bank at the closest Democratic office , in Cathedral City , had to share the space with Clinton supporters .
“ Everyone there was over 50 .
Every time I was there , there were no young people , but it ’ s super different this time around , ” Perez said .
“ I don ’ t know if reality set in or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there was a big bystander effect .
Everyone thought , ‘ Oh , someone else would vote and we ’ re already winning , ’ but after the Trump turn , it ’ s been harsh .
I think a lot of people have woken up and have gotten involved for that reason.
” Perez has a 4-year-old son and has been living in the valley since her family relocated from Northern California about a decade ago .
She told me her mother aligns with her politically but not her father .
Her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinks it ’ s “ ridiculous ” that she ’ s doing work for the Sanders campaign for free : “ He ’ s a Trump supporter , he doesn ’ t speak English , and he was undocumented for the bigger part of my life , so it ’ s very confusing to me.
” With the sun shining on an 82-degree afternoon , Perez stopped by dozens of homes Saturday , trying to persuade residents to vote for Sanders .
Some people were not home ; some were out in their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One woman came out to her front yard and enthusiastically explained that she ’ d already voted by mail and that she and her husband had voted for Sanders .
Other people who answered the door seemed unsure of whom they supported but were polite when Perez interrupted their Saturday afternoon .
One man in his 40s said he voted Republican when he served in the military in the George W. Bush years , but that now , he would vote for “ anyone but Trump ” —and likely for Bernie .
Perez @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so she could refill her tote bag with campaign materials and more water .
Despite the heat , she went on to canvass more homes while I stayed behind to catch up with Ortiz .
He was constantly on the phone helping out volunteers who had questions from the field and organizing a second group for Sunday .
He was proud of the number of homes already reached by volunteers across the valley , especially in places that are more isolated and often forgotten .
I drove back to Los Angeles and got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying they had knocked on over 2,000 doors in the district over the weekend .
By 7 a.m. on Super Tuesday , Ortiz and his volunteers had checked on polling locations around the district to make sure they were open .
As the day went on , Ortiz ’ s phone kept ringing and people came and went , trying to volunteer as much of their time as possible before the polls closed .
Perez had to work that evening but still showed up early to help canvass for a few hours before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find people who still didn ’ t know it was primary day .
By nightfall , people had gathered at the campaign office for a little party— “ nothing big , but we just wanted to show appreciation for the volunteers who were exhausted , ” Ortiz told me over the phone Wednesday morning .
They hired a taquero and played music while the news was on in the background .
Ortiz was surprised and disappointed to see Sanders ’ results in the rest of the country but was optimistic about what he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where votes were still being counted and would be for some time : At the end of the day on Wednesday , Sanders and Biden were neck and neck in the 36th district , separated by some 400 votes .
Even though the primary had come and gone , Ortiz told me that his fellow volunteers were planning a “ Bernie Journey ” for a group of people to drive out to Arizona to canvass for the next round of primary elections on March 17 .
Despite the gains they ’ d made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long way to go .

When I first met Oscar Ortiz at his job in downtown Coachella, California, I noticed two things right off the bat. One, he’s very tall—like, 6-foot-enough to make it awkward for this 5-foot reporter to walk next to him and get a microphone anywhere near his mouth. And two, he’s got a pretty chill demeanor—at least until he mentions Bernie Sanders. That’s when his voice gets a little louder, his smile wider, and his hands join the conversation.
Ortiz, 30, is the field organizer for the Sanders campaign’s Coachella office, and when I arrived in town late last week, he was busy making calls. As we walked around the park across the street before more volunteers arrived for the 6 p.m. meetup, he told me about how he was born in the Mexican border city of Mexicali and how his family moved two hours north to the Coachella Valley when he was just a toddler. Like a lot of people his age, his mom cleaned houses and his dad worked in the fields. Growing up, Ortiz excelled in school—“I was a nerd who looked like a cholo,” he said—and eventually left the valley to get a chemistry degree at Stanford.
After graduating, he worked for a pharmaceutical company for a while, and then in the cannabis industry. But eventually he returned home to Indio, next door to Coachella, because he wanted to be involved in the community that raised him. He started attending city council meetings and in 2018 decided to run for a seat. His campaign was inspired by Sanders, he said: Even though he had only $8,000 in his war chest, he knocked on hundreds of doors and won the seat. Since then, he said, he’s focused on “changing the conversation around a lot of issues that were being ignored”—namely, immigration, affordable housing, and climate change.
Listen to MoJo’s Fernanda Echavarri going door-to-door with a band of young Latinx Bernie Sanders supporters in California, a state that gave the senator a fighting chance to stay in the presidential race, on this episode of the Mother Jones Podcast:
Listen to the latest episode of the Mother Jones Podcast: Subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.
So when Ortiz heard that Sanders was opening up an office in Coachella, a city of about 45,000 people where almost 98 percent identify as Hispanic or Latino—the kind of place that presidential candidates typically ignore—he quickly contacted the campaign seeking a paid organizing position. He started working for Sanders’ campaign in December and was thrilled seeing people “put in so much effort to get Bernie as our representative in the White House…Just imagine, we could go from Trump to Bernie Sanders by grassroots organizing—it’s so exciting!”
Four years ago, when Sanders faced off against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, there was no Oscar Ortiz running a campaign office in the 36th Congressional District, which encompasses Coachella, glitzy Palm Springs, and a slew of mostly working-class, mostly Latinx communities in the arid region of eastern Riverside County known as the East Valley. That’s because there was no office, and the nearest Sanders outpost was a communal Democratic Party workspace 20 miles away. Sanders performed worse in the 36th than in any other California district, winning just 37 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 62 percent. Clinton, of course, went on to win the California primary en route to sealing the nomination.
Sanders was criticized in 2016 for not directly appealing to people of color—for framing his candidacy around an economic determinism to which matters of culture tended to be subordinate. But his efforts among Latinx voters in California point up a shift in emphases from 2016 to 2020. There are a record 32 million eligible voters who identify as Hispanic—a group that skews younger and for the first time will make up the largest voting bloc of people of color in the country. At about 13 percent of the electorate, Latinx voters will slightly outnumber Black voters in 2020.
This cycle, the Sanders camp has prioritized Latinx voters and underserved communities in California with “a significantly larger operation” than it had in 2016, with 23 offices and more than 100 staffers, said Jon Jacobo, the campaign’s California Latino press secretary. Opening up field offices in places like Coachella means “that we see you, we hear you, and we’re here to work with you,” Jacobo added. “It’s easy to buy airtime and radio slots, but it’s another thing to intentionally invest resources into a community that is often overlooked.” And rather than simply hire a large consulting firm, the campaign tapped “talented leaders within the community,” who can better connect with the local activists and organizers.
The efforts have started to pay dividends: Across the country, Latinx leaders and organizations have thrown their support behind Sanders, from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Mijente, which describes itself as “a national hub for Latinx and Chicanx organizing.” In Nevada, the first primary contest with a large Latinx electorate, entrance polls showed Sanders winning 53 percent of Latinx voters—more than three times as much as former vice president Joe Biden’s 17 percent.
And on a disastrous Super Tuesday during which Joe Biden swept the Southern primaries, it was in California that Sanders held the line, picking up nearly half of the Latinx vote, including 72 percent of Latinx voters under 30, according to initial exit polling. He won the state thanks in large part to the work being done by people like Oscar Ortiz in places like the Coachella Valley. Here, the ideas and ideals of Bernie-style democratic socialism found a natural home among the sons and daughters of the people who helped reconstitute the New Deal for an era of multicultural politics.
Located in the heart of the city, the Sanders campaign’s Coachella office is in the same building where civil rights legends Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez organized farmworkers in the 1960s. Colorful murals honoring the 1965 grape boycott adorn the facade of the one-story duplex known as Casa Del Trabajador (House of the Worker). On one side, blue and white “Bernie 2020” signs cover the windows. On the other side of the building, a small tax preparation office serves mostly farmworkers; when I went in to speak to the gentleman working there, he showed me the small stack of Bernie 2020 brochures at his desk.
While we walked around the park, Ortiz told me excitedly about Sanders’ visit to the area in December. “He actually came here to Coachella!” Ortiz said, noting that Sanders was the first presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy to visit the area. It was JFK’s “Viva Kennedy” campaign, in fact, that first attempted to forge out of many disparate communities a pan-ethnic “Latin American” voting bloc, as Benjamin Francis-Fallon documents in his 2019 book, The Rise of the Latino Vote. He calls the campaign “as close to the birth moment for ‘Latino politics’ as one can identify.”
Some 50 years later, the mayor and the city council stood alongside Sanders outside the campaign office while the candidate riffed on immigration reform and the Green New Deal to a crowd of about 500 fans.
Sanders’ presence—his office, his staffers, his visit—meant something to the people here. While most people outside of Southern California hear “Coachella” and think of the massive annual music festival or the Instagrammable Joshua Tree National Park, the area is home to families who have been in the area for generations and whose histories center around farmwork, immigration, and deep connections to Mexico.
“His ideas are spreading a lot faster, and they resonate so well with our communities,” Ortiz tells me. The Latinx voters I talked to said they’re supporting Sanders because he wants to get big money out of politics, address income inequality, reverse the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies, and prioritize the country’s response to climate change.
That last point is no small one, Ortiz emphasized: About 100 years’ worth of pesticides have drained into the nearby Salton Sea, and as the water evaporates, the toxic dust that’s left behind has caused a spike in asthma and cancer rates. And as housing costs in and around Coachella continue to rise, Ortiz said, more and more people are moving to the Salton Sea area, where housing is cheaper because of the health hazards.
“I think it’s easy to see that he’s focused on the same things that we’re focused on, right? So, we see affordable housing is a big issue out here, right? And that was one of the main points in our campaign, as well. And we see Bernie has this huge plan to make, like, 10 million affordable housing units throughout the country. And we see his focus on climate change, his focus on the minimum wage, his focus on income inequality. It just resonates so well with us here. The connection is so obvious for us.”
Edward Roybal saw as much in the 1970s, another era of federal retrenchment. The first Mexican American to sit on the Los Angeles City Council and the first Latino in the modern era to be elected to Congress, Roybal was a pioneer in Latinx politics. In 1976, testifying before the Democratic Platform Committee, he argued that Democrats “needed to develop policies with [Latinos’] specific needs in mind,” Francis-Fallon writes. Roybal’s vision of the “Latino community” was inseparable from the framework established by the New Deal of an aggressive federal commitment to securing economic justice for all Americans.
He spoke of the “certain core values which the Latino community holds deeply,” first of which was “a strong and vibrant FAMILY structure.” He argued that “economic security is the social cement which holds the family together.” Full employment, domestic economic development banks, and affirmative action too were essential to supporting the Latino family, as was good housing and “full comprehensive national health insurance.” It was “unemployment, underemployment, and job discrimination,” and not the state, that were “inherently anti-family,” Roybal declared. Roybal beheld a party whose willingness to pursue economic justice was wavering during the difficult economic times of the 1970s and asked for “direct commitments” to support this agenda, steeped in fundamentally interlocking ideas of economic and cultural security.
It was the Bernie Sanders agenda, with a Latinx emphasis.
Friday evening at the campaign office, Ortiz and a few volunteers were packing up tote bags for the canvassers who were planning to go out. The next morning, I spoke with a couple of young men in their 20s who drove down from nearby cities in the valley—Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City—to pick up their campaign materials. A few more volunteers stopped by, including Gina Chapa, who has been involved in local politics and organizing for years, especially after she saw the increase in Border Patrol’s presence in the community during the Trump administration.
Just as Ortiz was about to lock up for the night, Chapa brought over a neighborhood staple, 73-year-old Miguel Vargas, who lives just around the corner and is a big Sanders fan. He walked in using a worn wooden cane and eased into a chair at a folding table, eager to share stories from his past. Vargas talked about his life working in the fields for decades picking lettuce, cantaloupe, and celery, work that left him with several back injuries. “I didn’t go to school—I taught myself how to read and write,” he told us in Spanish, adding that his perspective wasn’t worthy of an interview. “But I’ve worked since I was a young boy and I’ve done my part.”
Vargas, whom Ortiz and Chapa would later describe as “a Coachella O.G.,” is drawn to Sanders because he sees him as “a man of the people,” far different from other candidates both past and present, he said. “From the beginning, this country has only belonged to a few families when it should belong to the people at the bottom who are working and are paying taxes,” he said. “The working people are hungry for justice.”
Vargas spoke passionately for almost an hour about how much he believed in Sanders and about his time working the fields in the days Cesar Chavez organized in the very same room we were in. We all listened quietly. Then, as he walked out of the office, he looked back at the volunteers and said he hoped more young people like them would follow in Sanders’ footsteps, even if he doesn’t become the next president of the United States. “Even if he doesn’t win,” Vargas said, “at least he’s opened people’s minds to new ideas.”
Shortly after noon the next day, young Latinas arrived one-by-one at the field office, ready to pick up their materials and go knock on some doors. It was striking: At one point I looked around the room, and all the volunteers were Latinas under 30 years old. Ortiz, wearing a black shirt with “Bernie” in colorful block letters, stood in the front of the room, giving them canvassing tips. He went over how to use the mapping app on their phones, and in the middle of his training a young man showed up wearing a shirt that read, in Spanish, “I ♥ Tío Bernie! He has my vote.”
Most of the seven volunteers had done work for the campaign in previous weeks. Before heading out, they were chatting about how often they talk to their older relatives about Bernie. One of the women said her mom already likes Sanders and calls him the “el viejito”—“the old man.” Another said some older relatives thought they should vote for Mike Bloomberg because all the commercials they saw on television were about the billionaire former mayor, so they assumed he was in the lead. Some joked about having to constantly step in and say, “No, mom, what you saw on Facebook or TV isn’t true. Let me explain.” Overall, I picked up that while there is support for Sanders from older voters, like Vargas, there’s work being done by younger Latinx to make the case at home.
I tagged along with one of the volunteers, Alva Perez, as she canvassed in a neighborhood not far from the campaign office. She told me she’s been a fan of the Vermont senator since his last campaign, but things were different back then—for starters, she said, Bernie supporters who volunteered to phone-bank at the closest Democratic office, in Cathedral City, had to share the space with Clinton supporters.
“Everyone there was over 50. Every time I was there, there were no young people, but it’s super different this time around,” Perez said. “I don’t know if reality set in or what, because I think last election there was a big bystander effect. Everyone thought, ‘Oh, someone else would vote and we’re already winning,’ but after the Trump turn, it’s been harsh. I think a lot of people have woken up and have gotten involved for that reason.”
Perez has a 4-year-old son and has been living in the valley since her family relocated from Northern California about a decade ago. She told me her mother aligns with her politically but not her father. Her parents often disagree, and her father thinks it’s “ridiculous” that she’s doing work for the Sanders campaign for free: “He’s a Trump supporter, he doesn’t speak English, and he was undocumented for the bigger part of my life, so it’s very confusing to me.”
With the sun shining on an 82-degree afternoon, Perez stopped by dozens of homes Saturday, trying to persuade residents to vote for Sanders. Some people were not home; some were out in their yards, working on their cars. One woman came out to her front yard and enthusiastically explained that she’d already voted by mail and that she and her husband had voted for Sanders. Other people who answered the door seemed unsure of whom they supported but were polite when Perez interrupted their Saturday afternoon. One man in his 40s said he voted Republican when he served in the military in the George W. Bush years, but that now, he would vote for “anyone but Trump”—and likely for Bernie.
Perez and I went back to the office so she could refill her tote bag with campaign materials and more water. Despite the heat, she went on to canvass more homes while I stayed behind to catch up with Ortiz. He was constantly on the phone helping out volunteers who had questions from the field and organizing a second group for Sunday. He was proud of the number of homes already reached by volunteers across the valley, especially in places that are more isolated and often forgotten. I drove back to Los Angeles and got a text from Ortiz the next day saying they had knocked on over 2,000 doors in the district over the weekend.
By 7 a.m. on Super Tuesday, Ortiz and his volunteers had checked on polling locations around the district to make sure they were open. As the day went on, Ortiz’s phone kept ringing and people came and went, trying to volunteer as much of their time as possible before the polls closed. Perez had to work that evening but still showed up early to help canvass for a few hours before her shift. She was frustrated to find people who still didn’t know it was primary day.
By nightfall, people had gathered at the campaign office for a little party—“nothing big, but we just wanted to show appreciation for the volunteers who were exhausted,” Ortiz told me over the phone Wednesday morning. They hired a taquero and played music while the news was on in the background. Ortiz was surprised and disappointed to see Sanders’ results in the rest of the country but was optimistic about what he’d seen out of California, where votes were still being counted and would be for some time: At the end of the day on Wednesday, Sanders and Biden were neck and neck in the 36th district, separated by some 400 votes.
Even though the primary had come and gone, Ortiz told me that his fellow volunteers were planning a “Bernie Journey” for a group of people to drive out to Arizona to canvass for the next round of primary elections on March 17. Despite the gains they’d made in Coachella, they still had a long way to go.


motherjones--2020-03-05--What Elizabeth Warren Taught Us

What Elizabeth Warren Taught Us

On the morning of the South Carolina primary , reporters swarmed Elizabeth Warren in a tiny side room after a canvass kickoff in Columbia—her final event in the Palmetto State before departing for myriad Super Tuesday destinations .
In her campaign trail uniform of black pants , black top , and jewel-toned cardigan—this one , aquamarine—the Massachusetts senator stood pressed against a wall that had been covered in her “ Dream Big , Fight Hard ” posters for the makeshift press conference .
She ’ d barely offered morning pleasantries before a television reporter barked a question her way : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winning ?
” Warren was silent for a moment .
“ No one knew what a wealth tax was a year ago , ” she finally said .
“ I ’ m loving this campaign .
This a culmination of a lifetime of work.
” Her ideas , she said , had a chance to live beyond “ the academic side of things.
” She was still five days away from ending her campaign for the presidency , which did today .
But her words sure sounded like a candidate laying claim to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in fact , what Warren had intended with that answer , she did it well .
Elizabeth Warren ran to be our president .
But the former Harvard law professor and bankruptcy expert leaves the race having accomplished something altogether different .
She focused the national conversation on the question of just who government is supposed to work for and on the many ways those vested with its power have failed us .
And she offered a detailed roadmap for solving these problems that will long outlive her candidacy .
Warren had entered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A DNA test , taken to demonstrate once and for all her Native American ancestry , had royally backfired—enraging indigenous populations reminded of the ugly role that genetic science has played in their history and handing new ammunition to her right-wing detractors .
But she kicked off her long road to recovery last February when she released the first of what would eventually be dozens of plans : A proposal to provide universal child care to all kids age five of younger , to be paid for by an “ ultra-millionaire ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 50 million .
If Warren were a typical candidate , that proposal might have been followed up a few months later with another .
But as most of her competitors were still plotting campaign kickoffs , a plan to break up Big Tech appeared two weeks later .
Another , promising to reverse decades of racist housing policies , was released just days after that .
The near-weekly roll-out of new , meticulously crafted policy proposals throughout 2019 not only generated a steady stream of media coverage , but also enabled Warren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party .
With each new plan , Warren hammered home the message that America ’ s problems—sky-high hospital bills , unaffordable childcare costs , exploding student debt , meager savings accounts , Pentagon corruption—are not a forgone conclusion , but a choice made for us by a government that has put corporate profits and personal gain before the common good .
And Warren , a gifted storyteller , could prove it , often sourcing anecdotes from her own life .
Commuter college cost $ 50 a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; the kindness of her Aunt Bee had been Warren ’ s childcare solution when she , a single mother , could afford no other .
When Warren ’ s own history wasn ’ t enough , she invoked the country ’ s past to prove her point .
She focused particularly on the experiences of brown and black Americans , for whom racism has been baked into the centuries of state and federal policy .
Warren gave five agenda-setting speeches during her campaign , using the history of place and struggle to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of systemic inequality .
Standing in New York City ’ s Washington Square Park , near the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory , Warren talked about how corporate corruption has enabled the rich to tilt the rules in their favor .
At Clark Atlanta University , a historically black college , in November , Warren honored the Washing Society—a union of Atlanta ’ s black washerwomen who launched a massive strike in the 1880s—and the struggles of domestic workers .
She gave her last one in East Los Angeles , where she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chavez and Dolores Huerta to how Latinx janitors had recently organized to protect their rights .
Warren ’ s detailed social justice agenda succeeded in drawing a devoted corps of activists to her side .
But in the end , her campaign seemed to appeal mostly to white , college-educated voters—not the folks those plans had been designed to help the most , nor the ones who make up the core of the Democratic electorate .
At times , her wonkish credentials obscured her compelling rags-to-riches origin story .
“ What too many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Law and not Betsy from Norman , Oklahoma , ” Paul Begala , a Democratic strategist who worked on President Bill Clinton ’ s 1992 campaign , told the New York Times .
Taken in sum , Warren ’ s plans offer a progressive vision .
Between the lines of them is not just a what , but a how .
Throughout the campaign , Warren repeatedly said that she would rather have a guarantee that someone else would enact her agenda than be president herself , and her exit from the race @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , of course , is whether the remaining contenders will take up Warren ’ s blueprint if they ascend to the Oval Office .
But even if that doesn ’ t happen , “ Professor Warren ” has changed the way at least some voters view the world .
At a Warren rally outside Charleston last fall , I met a middle-aged white woman who told me she ’ d never heard the term “ racial wealth gap ” before Warren began using it during her stump speech—to talk about how her plans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of color .
If that ’ s the understanding of America that Warren leaves behind , that ’ s not such a bad thing .

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On the morning of the South Carolina primary, reporters swarmed Elizabeth Warren in a tiny side room after a canvass kickoff in Columbia—her final event in the Palmetto State before departing for myriad Super Tuesday destinations. In her campaign trail uniform of black pants, black top, and jewel-toned cardigan—this one, aquamarine—the Massachusetts senator stood pressed against a wall that had been covered in her “Dream Big, Fight Hard” posters for the makeshift press conference.
She’d barely offered morning pleasantries before a television reporter barked a question her way: “When are you going to start winning?”
“No one knew what a wealth tax was a year ago.”
Warren was silent for a moment. “No one knew what a wealth tax was a year ago,” she finally said. “I’m loving this campaign. This a culmination of a lifetime of work.” Her ideas, she said, had a chance to live beyond “the academic side of things.”
She was still five days away from ending her campaign for the presidency, which she did today. But her words sure sounded like a candidate laying claim to her legacy. If that was, in fact, what Warren had intended with that answer, she did it well.
Elizabeth Warren ran to be our president. But the former Harvard law professor and bankruptcy expert leaves the race having accomplished something altogether different. She focused the national conversation on the question of just who government is supposed to work for and on the many ways those vested with its power have failed us. And she offered a detailed roadmap for solving these problems that will long outlive her candidacy.
Warren had entered the 2020 primary with a belly flop. A DNA test, taken to demonstrate once and for all her Native American ancestry, had royally backfired—enraging indigenous populations reminded of the ugly role that genetic science has played in their history and handing new ammunition to her right-wing detractors. But she kicked off her long road to recovery last February when she released the first of what would eventually be dozens of plans: A proposal to provide universal child care to all kids age five of younger, to be paid for by an “ultra-millionaire” tax on households with assets greater than $50 million.
If Warren were a typical candidate, that proposal might have been followed up a few months later with another. But as most of her competitors were still plotting campaign kickoffs, a plan to break up Big Tech appeared two weeks later. Another, promising to reverse decades of racist housing policies, was released just days after that. The near-weekly roll-out of new, meticulously crafted policy proposals throughout 2019 not only generated a steady stream of media coverage, but also enabled Warren to set the much of the agenda for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
With each new plan, Warren hammered home the message that America’s problems—sky-high hospital bills, unaffordable childcare costs, exploding student debt, meager savings accounts, Pentagon corruption—are not a forgone conclusion, but a choice made for us by a government that has put corporate profits and personal gain before the common good. And Warren, a gifted storyteller, could prove it, often sourcing anecdotes from her own life. Commuter college cost $50 a semester when Warren attended in the 1960s; the kindness of her Aunt Bee had been Warren’s childcare solution when she, a single mother, could afford no other.
When Warren’s own history wasn’t enough, she invoked the country’s past to prove her point. She focused particularly on the experiences of brown and black Americans, for whom racism has been baked into the centuries of state and federal policy. Warren gave five agenda-setting speeches during her campaign, using the history of place and struggle to weave together a narrative about the legacy of systemic inequality. Standing in New York City’s Washington Square Park, near the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Warren talked about how corporate corruption has enabled the rich to tilt the rules in their favor. At Clark Atlanta University, a historically black college, in November, Warren honored the Washing Society—a union of Atlanta’s black washerwomen who launched a massive strike in the 1880s—and the struggles of domestic workers. She gave her last one in East Los Angeles, where she connected the legacy of farmworker organizers Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta to how Latinx janitors had recently organized to protect their rights.
Warren’s detailed social justice agenda succeeded in drawing a devoted corps of activists to her side. But in the end, her campaign seemed to appeal mostly to white, college-educated voters—not the folks those plans had been designed to help the most, nor the ones who make up the core of the Democratic electorate. At times, her wonkish credentials obscured her compelling rags-to-riches origin story. “What too many voters see is Professor Warren from Harvard Law and not Betsy from Norman, Oklahoma,” Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist who worked on President Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, told the New York Times.
Taken in sum, Warren’s plans offer a progressive vision. Between the lines of them is not just a what, but a how. Throughout the campaign, Warren repeatedly said that she would rather have a guarantee that someone else would enact her agenda than be president herself, and her exit from the race speaks to that desire. The question, of course, is whether the remaining contenders will take up Warren’s blueprint if they ascend to the Oval Office.
But even if that doesn’t happen, “Professor Warren” has changed the way at least some voters view the world. At a Warren rally outside Charleston last fall, I met a middle-aged white woman who told me she’d never heard the term “racial wealth gap” before Warren began using it during her stump speech—to talk about how her plans would level the playing field for people of color. If that’s the understanding of America that Warren leaves behind, that’s not such a bad thing.


motherjones--2020-03-05--Trump Unleashes More Coronavirus Misinformation on National Television

As health experts sound the alarm over the Trump administration ’ s woefully inadequate response to United States ’ unfolding coronavirus outbreak , President Trump continued to push misinformation about the virus while offering dangerous public safety advice .
The president cast doubt on the World Health Organization ’ s estimate that the global death rate from the virus is 3.4 percent , telling Sean Hannity on Wednesday that “ I think the 3.4 percent is really a false number—and this is just my hunch—but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it ’ s very mild .
They ’ ll get better very rapidly , they don ’ t even see a doctor , they don ’ t even call a doctor .
You never hear about those people.
” He continued by referring to the coronavirus as the “ coronaflu.
” Later in the phone appearance , Trump appeared to suggest it was fine for people sick with the coronavirus to go to work , once again undermining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ’ s urgings that the infected should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by sitting around and even going to work—some of them go to work—but they get better .
Then when you do have a death , like you ’ ve had in the state of Washington , like you had one in California , I believe you had one in New York , ” Trump said .
( New York has not yet reported any deaths from the coronavirus . )
It was the latest in a string of public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to attempt to minimize the virus ’ s threat even as documented cases in the US steadily rise .
Hours before phoning into Hannity ’ s Fox News program , Trump debuted a new strategy to combat mounting criticism of his administration ’ s actions , by falsely claiming that former President Barack Obama , who left office more than 1100 days ago , is to blame for the current delay in testing for the virus .
“ The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Trump claimed at a White House meeting on Wednesday .
“ We undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more rapid and accurate fashion .
”

As health experts sound the alarm over the Trump administration’s woefully inadequate response to United States’ unfolding coronavirus outbreak, President Trump continued to push misinformation about the virus while offering dangerous public safety advice.
The president cast doubt on the World Health Organization’s estimate that the global death rate from the virus is 3.4 percent, telling Sean Hannity on Wednesday that “I think the 3.4 percent is really a false number—and this is just my hunch—but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this because a lot of people will have this and it’s very mild. They’ll get better very rapidly, they don’t even see a doctor, they don’t even call a doctor. You never hear about those people.”
He continued by referring to the coronavirus as the “coronaflu.” Later in the phone appearance, Trump appeared to suggest it was fine for people sick with the coronavirus to go to work, once again undermining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s urgings that the infected should self-isolate and limit outside contact.
“If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by sitting around and even going to work—some of them go to work—but they get better. Then when you do have a death, like you’ve had in the state of Washington, like you had one in California, I believe you had one in New York,” Trump said. (New York has not yet reported any deaths from the coronavirus.)
In this clip, Trump:
1. Denies WHO’s coronavirus death rate based on “hunch”
2. Calls coronavirus “corona flu”
3. Suggests it’s fine for people w/ Covid-19 to go to work
4. Compares coronavirus to “the regular flu,” indicating he doesn’t get the difference pic.twitter.com/uC9c03zX31 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 5, 2020
It was the latest in a string of public appearances by the president where he seemed to attempt to minimize the virus’s threat even as documented cases in the US steadily rise. Hours before phoning into Hannity’s Fox News program, Trump debuted a new strategy to combat mounting criticism of his administration’s actions, by falsely claiming that former President Barack Obama, who left office more than 1100 days ago, is to blame for the current delay in testing for the virus.
“The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we’re doing,” Trump claimed at a White House meeting on Wednesday. “We undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more rapid and accurate fashion.”


motherjones--2020-03-06--The Oregon GOP’s Favorite Anti-Environment Group Is Awash in Racism and Violent Threats

On Thursday afternoon , the Democratic leadership that controls both houses of Oregon ’ s legislature conceded that their Republican colleagues who had staged a walkout were not going to return and decided to formally adjourn the current session .
It was only the latest such confrontation taking place over the last year that has repeatedly brought the state ’ s politics to a standstill .
Timber Unity , a right-wing group that was established last June and claims to represent a loose coalition of truckers and loggers , has received most of the credit for the walkouts by organizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , sometimes by the thousands , backing the recalcitrant legislators with logging trucks and tractors in tow .
A nine-day Republican standoff last summer over a climate bill only ended once Democratic Gov .
Kate Brown deployed state police to round up lawmakers who had left the capital .
Since then , Republican legislators who mostly represent rural areas have staged at least four other such boycotts—three with support from Timber Unity—taking advantage of a state constitutional provision that requires a two-thirds quorum in each house to conduct business .
The bulk of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s , were sparked by bills aimed at addressing climate change .
While the group has been hailed by state and national Republicans , and includes at least one Oregon GOP lawmaker in its leadership , its participants have had no qualms associating with violent extremists and far-right groups .
At least one senior member has been photographed alongside members of neofascist and militia groups , and when pressed , its leadership has failed to disavow such ties .
Its rallies have prominently featured messages backing QAnon , the sprawling internet conspiracy theory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are running a pedophile ring , and that has spurred real-world violence .
“ While Timber Unity has sought to downplay these links , an investigation of its social media channels has found extensive ties between its leaders and Far Right figures , as well as the use of racist , homophobic , Islamophobic , and violent rhetoric by its supporters , ” explained Spencer Sunshine , a sociologist who researches right-wing extremists , in a report he compiled for Oregon environmental groups .
“ The organization already has a history of and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violent political threats or have supported violent actions.
” The walkouts have been effective , preventing Democrats from passing legislation or forcing them to make key concessions .
Ten days ago , when Democrats introduced a compromise version of the 2019 climate bill that would cut state emissions in half by 2035 and set a 2045 target for 100 percent renewable energy , 11 Senate Republicans staged their latest walkout , joined by all but two House Republicans .
The shutdown they triggered stretched into a second week , halting all legislative progress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involving health care , gun control , and education .
Timber Unity ’ s presence in a state dominated by Democrats has convinced Republicans lawmakers that the group “ has their back ; that there is this grassroots out there that ’ s going to support them in the next election , ” says Brad Reed of Renew Oregon , a organization that supports the climate bill .
To most Oregonians , Timber Unity ’ s success in thwarting climate legislation has been supported by its presentation as a grassroots , seemingly organic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , trucking , and farming—something like a Pacific Northwest version of France ’ s yellow-vest protests .
Its website plays to that image , boasting that “ we ’ re not just standing up for the men and women who work in our NW forests .
Every one of us who is connected to working the land has a voice in # TimberUnity.
” But the group has forged connections with corporate logging interests—state records show the largest donation to its PAC came from Andrew Miller , the CEO of Stimson Lumber—and even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its leaders were invited to attend a White House speech by the president on his environmental record , and this fall they participated in a listening session in Oregon with his campaign manager and daughter-in-law .
In January , they were presented an award by the state ’ s Republican party .
Mother Jones has reviewed screenshots of members ’ posts to Timber Unity ’ s private Facebook group that were assembled by Sunshine and local advocacy groups for his report .
They document a forum awash with violent threats , conspiracy theories @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violate the platform ’ s terms of service .
Members have repeatedly posted about physically harming or even killing people with whom they disagree .
“ When you thought you hit a dog , but realize it ’ s just climate change protestors ” read one meme shared in the group involving a picture of Robert Downey Jr. standing outside a stopped car expressing relief .
Threats about using guns or hanging to target political opponents are common .
We also reviewed posts making unambiguous threats to Gov .
Brown ’ s life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used the group to spread conspiracy theories .
In the last week , a post alleging “ china/Oregon collusion to take over…timber and rural Oregon communities ” accrued hundreds of likes and comments , including ones backing an “ insurgency ” in response or blaming coronavirus on Democrats and the Chinese .
Messages have included hoaxes about George Soros , the liberal megadonor who is a frequent target of anti-semitic conspiracies , and misinformation about vaccinations and baseless claims of their harmful effects .
Other posts have disparaged Native Americans and deployed racist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nicka ” ( a sanitized version of the n-word ) should be tased , while another joked that the NAACP stands for “ Negroes Are Actually Colored Polaks.
” Sunshine ’ s report documents Islamophobic messages including “ The Muslims who are getting stronger every day in silence [ are ] the real enemy , ” and “ Tennessee , unfortunately , is becoming liberal to the point of Muslims running for offices.
” The Facebook group ’ s moderators , who have the power to remove and censor such posts , include @ @ @ @ @ @ @ members , Tasha Webb , and other leaders in the organization like Todd Stoffel and Republican state Rep. Julie Parrish .
While some of the posts and threats appear to have been deleted , plenty remain .
Searching “ rope ” in the group will return many examples of violent threats .
Anti-China conspiracy theories were also still accessible .
Parrish said in a text message that she “ absolutely ” disavows these sorts of hateful comments , and elaborated in an email that it ’ s hard to moderate a large Facebook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that comes from political debate which devolves into personal attacks based on race , gender , etc.
” she wrote .
“ We work hard to keep our community on topic about economic issues and in a group of almost 60,000 very different opinions , we rely on the community to report violations of community rules so our moderators can remove content that violates our terms of service.
” She claimed her focus in the organization was elevating “ rural voices ” and “ working class ” members who in her view , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been photographed alongside at least one member of the neofascist Proud Boys and Angela Roman , a U.S. congressional candidate whose own attorney has identified her as a member of the Three Percenters .
That right-wing militia was founded in 2008 in response to Barack Obama ’ s election as president , and offered to provide “ security ” in 2019 to Oregon lawmakers who were in hiding after they had walked out and fled the state .
In the photo , Stoffel and Roman appear with a Proud Boy flashing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the context of right wing extremist groups , is an explicitly white supremacist symbol .
Roman didn ’ t directly respond to a request for comment , but provided a link to a nearly 15-minute video released on Thursday in which she denied being a racist but didn ’ t distance herself from the Three Percenters or the Proud Boys .
When asked about Timber Unity ’ s associations with QAnon followers and groups like the Proud Boys and Three Percenters , Parris noted that “ None of our board attends or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” but declined to disavow any association with such groups when pressed , saying “ We ’ re not the free speech police.
” Stoffel did not return an email requesting comment , but Parrish said on his behalf that it “ would be shameful if you choose to dishonor a man with a gay son and biracial grandchildren.
” Local green activists complain that Timber Unity ’ s associations have had a chilling effect on their own political activity .
“ Environmental groups have watched this trend and worry about retribution , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , one of the organizations that funded Sunshine ’ s report .
“ We learned lessons from Bundy opposition .
We paid a price for that , ” he added , referring to harassment that took place after the organization opposed Ammon Bundy ’ s 2016 armed occupation of the federal Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon .
Pedery explained that local environmental groups have been intimidated from speaking with the press , even anonymously , and that allied organizations outside of Oregon ’ s cities feel particularly vulnerable .
“ Rural @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in exposing these far-right ties , ” he said .
“ Those rural activists are more vulnerable than we are , and they have legitimate reasons to be concerned.
” Timber Unity has associated with unpalatable and dangerous right-wingers from its inception in 2019 .
A week after their first rally in Salem , early member Loren Hutnick was photographed with Joey Nations , a prominent Oregon nationalist who has teamed up with the violent far-right group , Patriot Prayer , to attack anti-fascist counter-protesters on the streets of Portland .
( Nations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Facebook group , in which he ’ s posted on several occasions . )
Other extremists with notable profiles in the state have participated in the movement , including Jason Patrick , Kenneth Medenbach , and Maureen Peltier , all three of whom took part in the occupation of the Malheur refuge .
According to Sunshine ’ s report , they have each attended Timber Unity rallies or posted in its Facebook group .
Patrick and Medenbach were respectively imprisoned and jailed over their Malheur involvement .
Thursday ’ s adjournment demonstrated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an effective tactic for Republicans , and for groups like Timber Unity that support them as a tool to subvert democratic norms and win legislative battles opposing climate change legislation , gun safety reforms , and other progressive policy goals despite being in the minority .
While walkouts have been used by legislators of both parties in several states , they are usually reserved for extenuating circumstances , and rarely deployed with the frequency that Oregon Republicans have recently undertaken .
The Republicans ’ use of the tactic has not been popular in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ January by public sector unions and reported on by Willamette Week .
Sixty-three percent of respondents who said they were likely to vote in November indicated they were disinclined to support incumbents who took part in the boycotts , with 42 percent saying they were much less likely to do so .
In his report , Sunshine recommends that elected officials and Oregon news media not turn a “ blind eye to Timber Unity ’ s connections to Far Right organizations and conspiracy theories , nor should they ignore the group ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and advocating actions that the overwhelming majority of Oregonians would find abhorrent.
” “ They ’ re both profiting off of an extremist space and refusing to distance from it while posing as mainstream organization , ” says Sunshine .

On Thursday afternoon, the Democratic leadership that controls both houses of Oregon’s legislature conceded that their Republican colleagues who had staged a walkout were not going to return and decided to formally adjourn the current session. It was only the latest such confrontation taking place over the last year that has repeatedly brought the state’s politics to a standstill. Timber Unity, a right-wing group that was established last June and claims to represent a loose coalition of truckers and loggers, has received most of the credit for the walkouts by organizing its members to swarm the state capital, sometimes by the thousands, backing the recalcitrant legislators with logging trucks and tractors in tow.
A nine-day Republican standoff last summer over a climate bill only ended once Democratic Gov. Kate Brown deployed state police to round up lawmakers who had left the capital. Since then, Republican legislators who mostly represent rural areas have staged at least four other such boycotts—three with support from Timber Unity—taking advantage of a state constitutional provision that requires a two-thirds quorum in each house to conduct business. The bulk of the walkouts, including this week’s, were sparked by bills aimed at addressing climate change.
While the group has been hailed by state and national Republicans, and includes at least one former Oregon GOP lawmaker among its leaders, its participants have had no qualms associating with violent extremists and far-right groups. Several senior members have been photographed alongside members of neofascist or militia groups, and when pressed, its leadership has failed to disavow such ties. Its rallies have prominently featured messages backing QAnon, the sprawling internet conspiracy theory that posits a cabal of liberal elites are running a pedophile ring, and that has spurred real-world violence.
“While Timber Unity has sought to downplay these links, an investigation of its social media channels has found extensive ties between its leaders and Far Right figures, as well as the use of racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, and violent rhetoric by its supporters,” explained Spencer Sunshine, a sociologist who researches right-wing extremists, in a report he compiled for Oregon environmental groups. “The organization already has a history of and association with groups who have either made violent political threats or have supported violent actions.”
The walkouts have been effective, preventing Democrats from passing legislation or forcing them to make key concessions. Ten days ago, when Democrats introduced a compromise version of the 2019 climate bill that would cut state emissions in half by 2035 and set a 2045 target for 100 percent renewable energy, 11 Senate Republicans staged their latest walkout, joined by all but one House and one Senate Republican. The shutdown they triggered stretched into a second week, halting all legislative progress on the bill and dozens of others involving health care, gun control, and education.
Timber Unity’s presence in a state dominated by Democrats has convinced Republicans lawmakers that the group “has their back; that there is this grassroots out there that’s going to support them in the next election,” says Brad Reed of Renew Oregon, a organization that supports the climate bill.
Timber Unity has forged connections with corporate logging interests—and even President Trump.
To most Oregonians, Timber Unity’s success in thwarting climate legislation has been supported by its presentation as a grassroots, seemingly organic backlash by rural residents connected to logging, trucking, and farming—something like a Pacific Northwest version of France’s yellow-vest protests. Its website plays to that image, boasting that “we’re not just standing up for the men and women who work in our NW forests. Every one of us who is connected to working the land has a voice in #TimberUnity.” But the group has forged connections with corporate logging interests—state records show the largest early donation to its PAC came from Andrew Miller, the CEO of Stimson Lumber—and even President Donald Trump. In July, its leaders were invited to attend a White House speech by the president on his environmental record, and this fall they participated in a listening session in Oregon with his campaign manager and daughter-in-law. In January, they were presented an award by the state’s Republican party.
Mother Jones has reviewed screenshots of members’ posts to Timber Unity’s private Facebook group that were assembled by Sunshine and local advocacy groups for his report. They document a forum awash with violent threats, conspiracy theories, and sometimes racist messages that likely violate the platform’s terms of service.
Members have repeatedly posted about physically harming or even killing people with whom they disagree. “When you thought you hit a dog, but realize it’s just climate change protestors” read one meme shared in the group involving a picture of Robert Downey Jr. standing outside a stopped car expressing relief. Threats about using guns or hanging to target political opponents are common. We also reviewed posts making unambiguous threats to Gov. Brown’s life.
Timber Unity’s supporters have used the group to spread conspiracy theories. In the last week, a post alleging “china/Oregon collusion to take over…timber and rural Oregon communities” accrued hundreds of likes and comments, including ones backing an “insurgency” in response or blaming coronavirus on Democrats and the Chinese. Messages have included hoaxes about George Soros, the liberal megadonor who is a frequent target of anti-semitic conspiracies, and misinformation about vaccinations and baseless claims of their harmful effects.
Other posts have disparaged Native Americans and deployed racist slurs. One suggested that a “nicka” (a sanitized version of the n-word) should be tased, while another joked that the NAACP stands for “Negroes Are Actually Colored Polaks.” Sunshine’s report documents Islamophobic messages including “The Muslims who are getting stronger every day in silence [are] the real enemy,” and “Tennessee, unfortunately, is becoming liberal to the point of Muslims running for offices.”
The Facebook group’s moderators, who have the power to remove and censor such posts, include one of Timber Unity’s board members, Tasha Webb, and other leaders in the organization like Todd Stoffel and former Republican state Rep. Julie Parrish. While some of the posts and threats appear to have been deleted, plenty remain. Searching “rope” in the group will return many examples of violent threats. Anti-China conspiracy theories were also still accessible.
Parrish said in a text message that she “absolutely” disavows these sorts of hateful comments, and elaborated in an email that it’s hard to moderate a large Facebook group.
“There is nothing productive that comes from political debate which devolves into personal attacks based on race, gender, etc.” she wrote. “We work hard to keep our community on topic about economic issues and in a group of almost 60,000 very different opinions, we rely on the community to report violations of community rules so our moderators can remove content that violates our terms of service.” She claimed her focus in the organization was elevating “rural voices” and “working class” members who in her view, are not extremists.
Offline, Stoffel has been photographed alongside at least one member of the neofascist Proud Boys and Angela Roman, a U.S. congressional candidate whose own attorney has identified her as a member of the Three Percenters. That right-wing militia was founded in 2008 in response to Barack Obama’s election as president, and offered to provide “security” in 2019 to Oregon lawmakers who were in hiding after they had walked out and fled the state. In the photo, Stoffel and Roman appear with a Proud Boy flashing the “okay” hand-sign, which, in the context of right wing extremist groups, is an explicitly white supremacist symbol.
Other members of Timber Unity’s leadership have been photographed with Roman, including board member Angelita Sanchez and spokespersons Adam Lardy and Mike Pihl.
Roman didn’t directly respond to a request for comment, but provided a link to a nearly 15-minute video released on Thursday in which she denied being a racist but didn’t distance herself from the Three Percenters or the Proud Boys. When asked about Timber Unity’s associations with QAnon followers and groups like the Proud Boys and Three Percenters, Parrish noted that “None of our board attends or belongs to either of those groups,” but declined to disavow any association with such groups when pressed, saying “We’re not the free speech police.” Stoffel did not return an email requesting comment, but Parrish said on his behalf that it “would be shameful if you choose to dishonor a man,” she wrote, “with biracial grandchildren.”
Local green activists complain that Timber Unity’s associations have had a chilling effect on their own political activity. “Environmental groups have watched this trend and worry about retribution,” says Steve Pedery of Oregon Wild, one of the organizations that funded Sunshine’s report. “We learned lessons from Bundy opposition. We paid a price for that,” he added, referring to harassment that took place after the organization opposed Ammon Bundy’s 2016 armed occupation of the federal Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.
Pedery explained that local environmental groups have been intimidated from speaking with the press, even anonymously, and that allied organizations outside of Oregon’s cities feel particularly vulnerable. “Rural groups came to us asking for help in exposing these far-right ties,” he said. “Those rural activists are more vulnerable than we are, and they have legitimate reasons to be concerned.”
Timber Unity has associated with unpalatable and dangerous right-wingers from its inception in 2019. A week after their first rally in Salem, early member Loren Hutnick was photographed with Joey Nations, a prominent Oregon nationalist who has teamed up with the violent far-right group, Patriot Prayer, to attack anti-fascist counter-protesters on the streets of Portland. (Nations is a member of Timber Unity’s Facebook group, in which he’s posted on several occasions.) Other extremists with notable profiles in the state have participated in the movement, including Jason Patrick, Kenneth Medenbach, and Maureen Peltier, all three of whom took part in the occupation of the Malheur refuge. According to Sunshine’s report, they have each attended Timber Unity rallies or posted in its Facebook group. Patrick and Medenbach were respectively imprisoned and jailed over their Malheur involvement.
The group has associated with unpalatable and dangerous right-wingers from its inception.
Thursday’s adjournment demonstrated once again that the walkouts have been an effective tactic for Republicans, and for groups like Timber Unity that support them as a tool to subvert democratic norms and win legislative battles opposing climate change legislation, gun safety reforms, and other progressive policy goals despite being in the minority. While walkouts have been used by legislators of both parties in several states, they are usually reserved for extenuating circumstances, and rarely deployed with the frequency that Oregon Republicans have recently undertaken.
The Republicans’ use of the tactic has not been popular in Oregon, according to polling commissioned in January by public sector unions and reported on by Willamette Week. Sixty-three percent of respondents who said they were likely to vote in November indicated they were disinclined to support incumbents who took part in the boycotts, with 42 percent saying they were much less likely to do so.
In his report, Sunshine recommends that elected officials and Oregon news media not turn a “blind eye to Timber Unity’s connections to Far Right organizations and conspiracy theories, nor should they ignore the group’s tolerance for its supporters using bigoted language and advocating actions that the overwhelming majority of Oregonians would find abhorrent.”
“They’re both profiting off of an extremist space and refusing to distance from it while posing as mainstream organization,” says Sunshine.
This post has been revised to correct Parrish’s title and the composition of the legislators who remained in Salem. It has also been updated with more information on Timber Unity members’ associations.


motherjones--2020-03-06--A Right-Wing Billionaire Was Just Convicted of Bribery, and He’s Dragging Republicans Down With Him

On Thursday , Greg Lindberg , one of the largest Republican political donors in North Carolina and a self-described billionaire insurance baron , was convicted of trying to bribe a state official who oversaw his businesses .
It ’ s a case that has torn the Republican firmament in the state apart—right before a pivotal election year with new maps that are expected to help Democrats pick up seats .
The April 2019 indictments against Lindberg were a bombshell .
Lindberg had been secretly recorded by North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey , who was working with the FBI , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with $ 2 million .
The charges linked state GOP Chairperson Robin Hayes to the scheme , who promptly stepped down from his role .
He pled guilty and is now awaiting sentencing .
( Dallas Woodhouse—dubbed the “ Roger Stone ” of North Carolina politics and Hayes ’ second hand—stepped down too . )
The indictments also revealed that Republican Congressman Mark Walker ’ s political action committee received $ 150,000 from Lindberg at the same time Lindberg was asking Walker to exert pressure on Causey .
( Walker is not accused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though he wasn ’ t directly tied to the scheme , it was a big problem for a rising star in the party : Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest .
Lindberg was one of Forest ’ s biggest donors .
Amid the trial earlier this week , Forest won the Republican nomination to take on Governor Roy Cooper in November .
Forest ’ s connection to Lindberg is already plaguing the candidate .
Shortly after his conviction , Gov .
Cooper ’ s campaign released an ad called , “ What Else is Dan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continues to try and hide his involvement in the scandal , but reality hits hard today , ” a Cooper spokesperson said in a statement released on Thursday .
“ His biggest donor was just found guilty on all counts for bribing a government official.
” On Wednesday , Cooper ’ s campaign bought the website WhatsDanHiding.com .
Before the subpoena , Lindberg had mainly popped up in the North Carolina press as a mysterious , “ little-known investor ” who had suddenly become the top Republican benefactor .
In 2017 , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contributor to the state GOP ; he forked over a total of $ 3.4 million that year to state campaigns and independent expenditure committees .
His intentions weren ’ t clear at the time .
“ I don ’ t think he wants anything , to be honest , ” a Democratic state Senator told the press .
His background was mysterious too .
“ Who is Greg Lindberg ?
” asked one headline , trying to explain the “ new big-money donor.
” The tall red-haired Lindberg described himself as a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eli Global—and a 2017 personal statement put his net worth at over $ 1 billion—however , the company website ’ s description of the organization doesn ’ t help explain much : “ A Highly Respected Long Term Focused Entrepreneurial Partner Investing Our Own Capital.
” One thing did stand out though : Lindberg was a big fan of Dan Forest .
In the three years before Forest formally announced his campaign for governor , Lindberg had already given over $ 2 million to two PACs supporting Forest ’ s candidacy .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ birthday party , reported the News & Observer , listed Linberg as “ co-chair.
” In 2017 , when Lindberg opened a new business in Durham called Global Bankers LLC ( now defunct ) , the press release noted that Forest would be a “ special guest.
” Lindberg and Forest cut the ribbon together .
Forest ’ s ambitions for the governor ’ s mansion became clear during his 2016 lieutenant governor re-election campaign .
From his 1984 Blue Bird Wanderlodge RV—an un-airconditioned , $ 170,000 political symbol christened “ Bubba II @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s campaign bus tours—Forest said he was “ absolutely ” thinking about a run for governor .
“ The foundation we ’ re laying , a grassroots foundation across the state , would be beneficial to [ a 2020 run ] , ” he mused .
A few months later , his re-election win cemented his status as the GOP favorite for governor .
He garnered more votes in North Carolina than both Gov .
Roy Cooper and President Donald Trump .
Hints , if not outright declarations , soon followed .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the powerful head of the House Freedom Caucus , told a local paper he endorsed Forest for governor .
In August 2018 , Forest criticized Gov .
Cooper ’ s position on interstate tolls by saying an issue “ would be fixed by a Forest administration.
” Perhaps most importantly : Forest was lieutenant governor .
“ The only purpose of that job is to give aspiring governors a perch from which to run for higher office , ” explained Taylor Batten in the Charlotte Observer .
Over the last 50 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go up a rung .
But the plan fell apart .
In early October 2018 , the Department of Justice issued a subpoena for Lindberg .
It bore fruit .
In April 2019 , Robin Hayes was arrested and indicted for lying to the FBI about the funneling of $ 2 million from Lindberg to try to bribe the new Republican insurance commissioner to get rid of regulators hassling his companies .
At a meeting at an airport in Statesville , North Carolina , Mike Causey discussed hiring an employee of Lindberg ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commission .
“ What ’ s in it for me ?
” Causey asked .
Lindberg , according to the indictment , promised , “ he would create an independent expenditure committee…and fund it himself with $ 1 million to $ 2 million.
” On a call after the meeting , Hayes promised Causey that Lindberg ’ s people “ always do what they say they ’ re going to do.
” And Forest managed to involve himself in the scandal : it was his chief of staff that connected Lindberg and Causey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stretched beyond the political realm too .
In February 2019 , the Wall Street Journal reported on a mass scheme by Lindberg to “ divert ” $ 2 billion from his insurance company ’ s acquisitions into entities he controlled .
Lindberg took the profits to lavish heights , purchasing a “ French-inspired estate ” in Raleigh for millions .
( Lindberg has denied any wrongdoing ) In July , Cooper signed “ The Lindberg Bill ” to eliminate a loophole that allowed for the investment strategy .
The final straw occurred in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Agency took control of multiple Lindberg businesses , according to the Wall Street Journal—including Global Bankers , the business Forest had cut the opening ribbon for .
( Lindberg ’ s attorney described it as a “ consensual rehabilitation process…to reduce the percentage of these insurance companies ’ investments where Mr. Lindberg maintains an economic interest.
” ) “ What he ’ s doing is one of the best examples we ’ ve seen , ” wrote a local paper ’ s editorial page of Lindberg , “ of the kind of power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ create a government by highest bid.
” Lindberg , now convicted , could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison .
Forest has other baggage .
He was a strong supporter of HB2 , the state ’ s 2016 bathroom bill , and isn ’ t backing away from it .
“ I was one of the biggest proponents of HB2 , ” he said recently .
Plus , in a church address , he said that “ no other nation , my friends , has ever survived the diversity and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a lack of assimilation , because of this division , and because of this identity politics.
” ( Jamey Falkenbury , Forest ’ s communication director , said the speech was taken out of context and “ fed to [ the paper ] by a far-left George Soros-run organization.
” ) But Lindberg might be the biggest .

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On Thursday, Greg Lindberg, one of the largest Republican political donors in North Carolina and a self-described billionaire insurance baron, was convicted of trying to bribe a state official who oversaw his businesses.
It’s a case that has torn the Republican firmament in the state apart—right before a pivotal election year with new maps that are expected to help Democrats pick up seats.
The April 2019 indictments against Lindberg were a bombshell. Lindberg had been secretly recorded by North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who was working with the FBI, as the businessman tried to bribe Causey with $2 million. The charges linked state GOP Chairperson Robin Hayes to the scheme, who promptly stepped down from his role. He pled guilty and is now awaiting sentencing. (Dallas Woodhouse—dubbed the “Roger Stone” of North Carolina politics and Hayes’ second hand—stepped down too.) The indictments also revealed that Republican Congressman Mark Walker’s political action committee received $150,000 from Lindberg at the same time Lindberg was asking Walker to exert pressure on Causey. (Walker is not accused in the case.)
And even though he wasn’t directly tied to the scheme, it was a big problem for a rising star in the party: Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest. Lindberg was one of Forest’s biggest donors. Amid the trial earlier this week, Forest won the Republican nomination to take on Governor Roy Cooper in November.
Forest’s connection to Lindberg is already plaguing the candidate. Shortly after his conviction, Gov. Cooper’s campaign released an ad called, “What Else is Dan Forest Hiding?” “Dan Forest continues to try and hide his involvement in the scandal, but reality hits hard today,” a Cooper spokesperson said in a statement released on Thursday. “His biggest donor was just found guilty on all counts for bribing a government official.” On Wednesday, Cooper’s campaign bought the website WhatsDanHiding.com.
Before the subpoena, Lindberg had mainly popped up in the North Carolina press as a mysterious, “little-known investor” who had suddenly become the top Republican benefactor. In 2017, he gave ten times more than any other contributor to the state GOP; he forked over a total of $3.4 million that year to state campaigns and independent expenditure committees.
His intentions weren’t clear at the time. “I don’t think he wants anything, to be honest,” a Democratic state Senator told the press. His background was mysterious too. “Who is Greg Lindberg?” asked one headline, trying to explain the “new big-money donor.” The tall red-haired Lindberg described himself as a “bootstrap entrepreneur” helming the investment company Eli Global—and a 2017 personal statement put his net worth at over $1 billion—however, the company website’s description of the organization doesn’t help explain much: “A Highly Respected Long Term Focused Entrepreneurial Partner Investing Our Own Capital.”
One thing did stand out though: Lindberg was a big fan of Dan Forest. In the three years before Forest formally announced his campaign for governor, Lindberg had already given over $2 million to two PACs supporting Forest’s candidacy. A fundraiser invitation for Forest’s 50th birthday party, reported the News & Observer, listed Linberg as “co-chair.” In 2017, when Lindberg opened a new business in Durham called Global Bankers LLC (now defunct), the press release noted that Forest would be a “special guest.” Lindberg and Forest cut the ribbon together.
Forest’s ambitions for the governor’s mansion became clear during his 2016 lieutenant governor re-election campaign. From his 1984 Blue Bird Wanderlodge RV—an un-airconditioned, $170,000 political symbol christened “Bubba II” and evocative of Jesse Helm’s campaign bus tours—Forest said he was “absolutely” thinking about a run for governor. “The foundation we’re laying, a grassroots foundation across the state, would be beneficial to [a 2020 run],” he mused. A few months later, his re-election win cemented his status as the GOP favorite for governor. He garnered more votes in North Carolina than both Gov. Roy Cooper and President Donald Trump.
Hints, if not outright declarations, soon followed. In 2017, North Caroline Rep. Mark Meadows, the powerful head of the House Freedom Caucus, told a local paper he endorsed Forest for governor. In August 2018, Forest criticized Gov. Cooper’s position on interstate tolls by saying an issue “would be fixed by a Forest administration.” Perhaps most importantly: Forest was lieutenant governor. “The only purpose of that job is to give aspiring governors a perch from which to run for higher office,” explained Taylor Batten in the Charlotte Observer. Over the last 50 years, every lieutenant governor has tried to go up a rung.
But the plan fell apart. In early October 2018, the Department of Justice issued a subpoena for Lindberg. It bore fruit. In April 2019, Robin Hayes was arrested and indicted for lying to the FBI about the funneling of $2 million from Lindberg to try to bribe the new Republican insurance commissioner to get rid of regulators hassling his companies. At a meeting at an airport in Statesville, North Carolina, Mike Causey discussed hiring an employee of Lindberg’s, John Palermo, onto the commission. “What’s in it for me?” Causey asked. Lindberg, according to the indictment, promised, “he would create an independent expenditure committee…and fund it himself with $1 million to $2 million.” On a call after the meeting, Hayes promised Causey that Lindberg’s people “always do what they say they’re going to do.” And Forest managed to involve himself in the scandal: it was his chief of staff that connected Lindberg and Causey in 2017.
Lindberg’s problems stretched beyond the political realm too. In February 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported on a mass scheme by Lindberg to “divert” $2 billion from his insurance company’s acquisitions into entities he controlled. Lindberg took the profits to lavish heights, purchasing a “French-inspired estate” in Raleigh for millions. (Lindberg has denied any wrongdoing) In July, Cooper signed “The Lindberg Bill” to eliminate a loophole that allowed for the investment strategy.
The final straw occurred in late June 2019. The state Insurance Agency took control of multiple Lindberg businesses, according to the Wall Street Journal—including Global Bankers, the business Forest had cut the opening ribbon for. (Lindberg’s attorney described it as a “consensual rehabilitation process…to reduce the percentage of these insurance companies’ investments where Mr. Lindberg maintains an economic interest.”)
“What he’s doing is one of the best examples we’ve seen,” wrote a local paper’s editorial page of Lindberg, “of the kind of power that could distort the political process and create a government by highest bid.”
Lindberg, now convicted, could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Forest has other baggage. He was a strong supporter of HB2, the state’s 2016 bathroom bill, and isn’t backing away from it. “I was one of the biggest proponents of HB2,” he said recently. Plus, in a church address, he said that “no other nation, my friends, has ever survived the diversity and multiculturalism that America faces today, because of a lack of assimilation, because of this division, and because of this identity politics.” (Jamey Falkenbury, Forest’s communication director, said the speech was taken out of context and “fed to [the paper] by a far-left George Soros-run organization.”) But Lindberg might be the biggest.


motherjones--2020-03-06--Nurses Are Raising Red Flags About Hospitals’ Coronavirus Response

Shortfalls in safety equipment , planning , and communication have left US hospitals unprepared to isolate coronavirus patients and protect healthcare staff during the the viral outbreak , according to a new survey of more than 6,500 nurses .
The survey , conducted by the National Nurses United , the nation ’ s largest professional nursing union , found that fewer than half of responding nurses had received information from their employers about how to recognize and respond to possible cases of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the new coronavirus .
Less than a third reported that their employers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protect staff in the event of a surge of infections .
And just 29 percent said their employers had a plan to isolate possible coronavirus patients .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently says health care workers are at high or medium risk of developing the infection if they interacted with COVID-19 patients for more than a few minutes without protective gear on their nose and mouth , depending on whether the patient was wearing a face mask .
Workers who fall into either category are advised to stay home from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 80 members of the nursing union had been in coronavirus quarantine , Bonnie Castillo , a registered nurse and National Nurses United ’ s executive director , announced at a press conference .
“ One patient can sideline so many workers at once , ” she said .
“ When we are quarantined , we are not only prevented from caring for our COVID-19 patients , but also taken away from caring for our cancer patients , our cardiac patients , our premature babies .
Nurses need to be protected so we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need us.
” Some of the problems with accessing coronavirus testing have begun to affect nurses as well .
In a statement distributed by NNU on Thursday , a nurse from a Kaiser Permanente facility in northern California said she was in quarantine and sick after treating a patient who had tested positive for the virus .
Both her doctor and a county health officer ordered her to be tested for the coronavirus , she said , but the CDC initially declined to test her “ because if I were wearing the recommended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t have the coronavirus.
” Later , she was told that testing samples would be prioritized by illness severity , and that she would have to wait in line for the results .
“ This is not the ticket dispenser at the deli counter ; it ’ s a public health emergency !
” she wrote .
“ I need to know if I am positive before going back to caring for patients.
” The Washington State Nurses Association has reported that some nurses at the hospital in Washington state where at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have not received instructions on what to do after learning they had been exposed to COVID-19 patients .
One nurse at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland , speaking to a Washington radio station , said she was “ 100 percent certain ” she came into contact with the virus yet had been told to report to work as long as she wasn ’ t experiencing fever , cough , or other symptoms .
( In a statement to the station , the hospital said it was communicating its protocols to employees “ regularly ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possibly been exposed . )
“ I don ’ t understand why Evergreen isn ’ t protecting their own staff , ” the nurse told KUOW .
As of Tuesday , she was still working .

Shortfalls in safety equipment, planning, and communication have left US hospitals unprepared to isolate coronavirus patients and protect healthcare staff during the the viral outbreak, according to a new survey of more than 6,500 nurses.
The survey, conducted by the National Nurses United, the nation’s largest professional nursing union, found that fewer than half of responding nurses had received information from their employers about how to recognize and respond to possible cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Less than a third reported that their employers had enough protective equipment on hand to protect staff in the event of a surge of infections. And just 29 percent said their employers had a plan to isolate possible coronavirus patients.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently says health care workers are at high or medium risk of developing the infection if they interacted with COVID-19 patients for more than a few minutes without protective gear on their nose and mouth, depending on whether the patient was wearing a face mask. Workers who fall into either category are advised to stay home from work for 14 days.
More than 80 members of the nursing union had been in coronavirus quarantine, Bonnie Castillo, a registered nurse and National Nurses United’s executive director, announced at a press conference. “One patient can sideline so many workers at once,” she said. “When we are quarantined, we are not only prevented from caring for our COVID-19 patients, but also taken away from caring for our cancer patients, our cardiac patients, our premature babies. Nurses need to be protected so we can care for all our patients when they need us.”
Some of the problems with accessing coronavirus testing have begun to affect nurses as well. In a statement distributed by NNU on Thursday, a nurse from a Kaiser Permanente facility in northern California said she was in quarantine and sick after treating a patient who had tested positive for the virus. Both her doctor and a county health officer ordered her to be tested for the coronavirus, she said, but the CDC initially declined to test her “because if I were wearing the recommended protective equipment, then I wouldn’t have the coronavirus.” Later, she was told that testing samples would be prioritized by illness severity, and that she would have to wait in line for the results.
“This is not the ticket dispenser at the deli counter; it’s a public health emergency!” she wrote. “I need to know if I am positive before going back to caring for patients.”
The Washington State Nurses Association has reported that some nurses at the hospital in Washington state where at least seven people have died from the virus have not received instructions on what to do after learning they had been exposed to COVID-19 patients. One nurse at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, speaking to a Washington radio station, said she was “100 percent certain” she came into contact with the virus yet had been told to report to work as long as she wasn’t experiencing fever, cough, or other symptoms. (In a statement to the station, the hospital said it was communicating its protocols to employees “regularly” and establishing systems for notifying employees who had possibly been exposed.)
“I don’t understand why Evergreen isn’t protecting their own staff,” the nurse told KUOW. As of Tuesday, she was still working.