Well, here’s something that’s extremely surprising and a small victory for progressives in Pennsylvania. Laura Clawson, Daily Kos labor writer, reports that Allyson Schwartz has resigned her positions with the Third Way and New Democratic Coalition. The gubernatorial candidate faced a lot of pressure from progressives after Third Way officials attacked Elizabeth Warren’s social security campaign in an oped. After the oped was published, Schwartz criticized the group, but did not resign from those organizations. The fact that Schwartz resigned from the Third Way and New Dem Coalition shows that there is an organizing opportunity to push Schwartz to the left on some of her economic centrist record.
[h/t Laura Clawson]
Third Way has lost Democratic Rep. Allyson Schwartz as its honorary co-chair, a senior source close to Schwartz’s campaign for Pennsylvania governor told Daily Kos. And not just Third Way. The senior source said that “She has resigned her positions with Third Way and the New Democratic Coalition effective immediately, as well as her seat on the House Budget Committee.”Schwartz’s connection to Third Way drew attention in early December, when the Wall Street front group published a Wall Street Journal op-ed attacking Sen. Elizabeth Warren, liberal populism, and Social Security. At the time, a spokesman said Schwartz “thought Third Way’s Op/Ed on Social Security was outrageous and strongly disagrees with it” and reiterated her support for Social Security and Medicare; Schwartz quickly signed on as a cosponsor of a bill to expand Social Security. Now, as Schwartz leaves Third Way, Daily Kos’ source says that “The Third Way op-ed made this a much easier decision to make.”
If you want a sign of how unpopular Third Way’s agenda is, look no further than the fact that Schwartz is leaving just as she’s running statewide in Pennsylvania, a state that has a Republican governor, Republican-dominated state legislature, and one Republican senator despite having voted Democratic in recent presidential elections. Clearly she doesn’t think that there’s some population of “centrist” purple-state voters out there yearning for a Democrat who’ll cut Social Security.
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