Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear spoke with YahNe Ndgo of Revolt Against Plutocracy, about changes needed within the Democratic Party and the different forms Sanders’ “political revolution” has taken.
Tim Canova is a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who heeded Sanders’ call to get involved in electoral politics. With an endorsement from Sanders, Canova has been able to raise $3.5 million for is campaign, which is centered around removing corporate influence and corruption from politics.
Ndgo told Sputnik that the electoral arena is only one way to achieve change, but feels the ballot remains a valuable tactic. "I do think that there’s value in having an inside-outside strategy," she said, adding, "I don’t think there’s one path or one approach that people could take or that people should take, I think there needs to be a combination."
She added that displacing Wasserman-Schultz will be a significant first step in empowering voters who have lost faith in the American political process.
"Someone like Tim Canova moving into the Democratic Party… if he’s moving into the party with the interest of making sure that democracy is a place for everyone, then even as a Democrat, he will work to make the kinds of adjustments that are necessary to ensure that everyone has the ability to participate in this process, and that it is actually a democratic process."
Loud & Clear Host Brian Becker noted that 80 of the leaked emails that prompted Wasserman-Schultz to step down as DNC chairwoman referred to Canova. He asked Ndogo if she thought that Wasserman-Schultz would try to use the same tactics in her Congressional race as she did on Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Ndogo suggested that Wasserman-Schultz will, because,"If you have the ability and you have the power to use your influence, and choose to use your influence to support the candidacy of someone else in a way that is against the rules and willing to undermine democracy to that end just so that you can get the candidate that you believe in, regardless of what the people believe, then certainly you would do that for your own race. So it’s not surprising, it goes along with the actions that she has shown over the course of this process," she said.
Becker offered that the emails "show a pattern, an approach where progressive candidates are really being targeted by the establishment."
Ndogo agreed, adding, "This is why there are so many of us that continue to fight so hard against Hillary Clinton. Because it really was the Clintons that transformed the Democratic Party into a machine for the wealthy, and took away as much as they could, the power of the common citizen to influence the party and to ensure that everyone was represented."
"The American people have been getting the message that the law does not apply to everyone, and I think that’s a really damaging message to be sending to the citizenship. That if you’re wealthy, if you fall within certain power circles, then you are able to break the law and suffer no consequences."
