MADISON—Today, the national activist group RootsAction launched a grassroots campaign in Wisconsin to persuade supporters of Bernie Sanders and “swing voters on the left” to #VoteTrumpOut – and then challenge former Vice President Joe Biden on progressive issues during his presidency. The national campaign is placing a special focus on Wisconsin, and has picked up over twenty five endorsements from progressive leaders (current list below) across the battleground state. They are also rolling out a five figure Facebook ad buy targeted specifically to Wisconsin progressives.
“Four more years of Trump will be disastrous for the many communities he harms. A Biden Presidency gives progressives four years to fight for a better world on better terms. A Trump Presidency forces us to react to his hateful agenda instead of pursuing our own,” said Marcelia Nicholson: Wisconsin Co-Chair, Bernie Sanders for President and Vice-Chairwoman of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
In 2016, Trump became the first Republican to win the state since 1984 — by only 22,748 votes, a margin of 0.77%.
“This election is about our choice of the landscape and climate for movements, struggle, and organization. Instead of playing existential defense in a proto-fascist Trump regime emboldened by re-election, we will defeat him in order to make progress building the political revolution Bernie started and strengthening the forces in struggle for the program on which Bernie ran. The political force Bernie Sanders galvanized will join the popular front to elect Joe Biden in November as the candidate to defeat Donald Trump, and then continue our struggle to build a just, equitable, and democratic society,” said Peter Rickman; Wisconsin Co-Chair, Bernie Sanders for President, DNC Delegate for Bernie Sanders (2016, 2020), DNC Platform Committee member for Bernie Sanders (2020); President, Milwaukee Area Service & Hospitality Workers Organization.
The campaign has assembled a coalition of national endorsers who can speak to progressives that are on the fence about voting for Biden, including prominent figures like Ady Barkan, Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and Linda Sarsour. #VoteTrumpOut has also recruited local Bernie Sanders volunteers and delegates to help in their effort to defeat Donald Trump in Wisconsin, organizing a COVID-friendly “digital canvass” program that is already engaging thousands of “swing voters on the left” each week.
“We cannot allow Trump a second term. Not because his opponent deserves to win, but because we need to move forward without the threat of fascism and with our focus on justice and dignity for all. No one will fight for us like we can and must fight for us, so let’s vote Trump out and continue to fight together for a better future,” said Laura Cristina Valderrama, 2020 Bernie Sanders Delegate and Wisconsin for Bernie Organizer.
Click here for full Wisconsin for Bernie #VoteTrumpOut endorsement statement
“Our organization fought fiercely in the primaries for Bernie and against Biden,” said RootsAction cofounders Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon. “But the general election is far less about Biden than it is about Trump – the most dangerous president in modern U.S. history, who opposes virtually every policy and principles that progressives are fighting for.”
Founded in 2011 as an independent progressive force, RootsAction.org now has 1.2 million active supporters online in the United States.
