What Democratic hopefuls — and voters — need to focus on as we approach a critical election
By Jordan Jenkins
The Progressive Teen Contributor
AT THE ROOT OF A RECENT CONTROVERSY in the center-left corner of the Twitterverse lay a series of tweets by progressive columnist David Sirota that highlighted donations from corporate executives within the Texas fossil fuel industry to potential 2020 hopeful: Beto O’Rourke. This donation resulted in O’Rourke being removed as a signer of the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge by its founders. Sirota later did an analysis for The Guardian that found that O’Rourke had voted with Republicans on legislation bolstering fossil fuels and rolling back consumer protections.
This sequence of events came after months of swelling excitement — within segments of both the grassroots and the donor class — about a potential run for president in 2020. Despite the fact his attempt to unseat Senator Ted Cruz in 2018 was ultimately unsuccessful, he managed to invigorate voters in and outside of the state with a hopeful message and youthful appeal that led major Democratic donors to boldly declare him “Barack Obama, but white” to Politico. …
A breakdown of the Democratic quest to prove the potential for electoral success in resistance
By Jordan Jenkins
The Progressive Teen Staff Writer
WITHIN TEN MINUTES OF ARRIVING IN THE GEORGIA SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, I had witnessed my first political ad. It was a short television spot in favor of Jon Ossoff, the Democratic candidate in the upcoming special election in the district. It broadcasted in unison on all of the televisions in my hotel lobby. Within it, Ossoff appeared all around Metro Atlanta, using some of its well-known landmarks to highlight the economic activity of the area and state how he would invest in it all as a Congressman.
The election nerd within me found the ad’s use of drone footage and basic special effects to be extremely cool when I had viewed the ad online days earlier. However, viewing it on television in the district made it stick with me even more, casually reminding me that I was currently in the midst of one of the most exciting — and expensive — congressional races in United States history. …
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