Way to Win Launches 2020 Presidential Playbook to Hold Candidates Accountable to Progressive Policies & Values
HOUSTON, April 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Way to Win, the all women-led home base for people, money, and ideas upending politics as usual, which moved $22 million last cycle to support key Democratic victories up and down the ticket, today announced the release of their first-of-its kind 2020 Presidential Playbook. The Playbook is a list of principles and questions for 2020 candidates to follow and respond to, which will help Way to Win's national network of donors and organizers make key decisions about their support in 2020. Way to Win's President and Co-Founder, Tory Gavito, will announce the release of the Playbook during her opening remarks at the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas for the first time.
"Our Presidential Playbook was built by organizers on the ground and will shift the 2020 conversation to what really matters - a candidate's actions, values, and policies," said Tory Gavito, President and Co-Founder of Way to Win. "Rather than getting lost in endless conversations around 'electability' and 'likeability,' which is coded for race and gender, our Playbook is anchored by winning strategies that our growing and powerful network will use to see if a candidate truly knows the way to win."
The 2020 Presidential election has been dominated by discussions of which candidate is the most "likeable," or "electable," who can win the "moderate working-class voter," and focusing on traditional battleground states in the Midwest. This is a misguided strategy that lost in 2016 and was upended by Way to Win in the 2018 midterms. Way to Win's strategy instead focuses on expanding the electorate by inspiring the true Democratic Party base - young people, women, and people of color - and heavily resourcing the South and Southwestern states, including Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia.
With a record number of Democrats running for President, the Playbook helps donors, organizers, and strategists keep their eyes on the prize: winning progressive power up and down the ballot. The Playbook will ensure that the presidential primary is not a popularity contest, but a discussion about which candidate's values and policies are best to move the country forward.
"Our experience over several election cycles has shown that the way to win is by building a progressive electorate centered on Black and Latino voters who have historically been excluded from the process and ignored by candidates. Although barriers are continuously put in the way to dissuade these voters from participating, we have found that they will vote and remain engaged in the process if candidates address the issues that impact their lives," said Michelle Tremillo, executive director of the Texas Organizing Project. "The Playbook helps ensure that the 2020 candidates will be accountable to the people who can deliver a progressive win - women, young people, and people of color."
The Playbook was developed in coordination with some of the best movement leaders and political strategists in the country, and is grounded by a set of winning signals that have proven to be successful over the last several campaign cycles. It creates new mechanisms for campaign accountability, so that presidential campaigns are forced to focus on issues important to local communities like ensuring that community leaders have the support necessary to actually register the 1.4 million Floridians who just had their voting rights restored. And it forces candidates to take bold stands on issues like gerrymandering reform, Medicare for All, and the Green New Deal, so that donors and organizers can be confident their top priorities to improve people's lives are put front and center in a Democratic administration's policy agenda.
"Movement-based political strategy is crucial to elevating the voice and power of those most impacted by injustice and the way to win," said Susan Pritzker. "The Playbook helps to focus the 2020 conversation on a candidates' values and policies while ensuring they will be accountable to our party's true base."
Notably, for Way to Win's network of donors, they now have a powerful set of questions to ask candidates on the spot when they call for money. Instead of donors using their gut about who to support, their support will be anchored by a winning strategy that they invested $22 million in last cycle. Way to Win's goal is to strategically move tens of millions of dollars over 2019 and 2020 to keep the House, win the Senate and Presidency, and support key state and local candidates and policies, while continuing to build a representative and reflective democracy in cities and states throughout the country. Through their key investments in 2019, they are laying the groundwork to win in 2020 by expanding the base through developing winning narratives delivered on doors and devices and engaging in critical voter protection fights.
Way To Win focuses on near-term goals to build long-term power and engaging in geographies like the South and Southwest where demographic realities are opening up new possibilities. Way to Win aims to break out of the "political-industrial complex" and instead use the electoral process to bring in new voters, lift up the voices of those who have been excluded, and create real democracy. The early success of Way to Win, in addition to the release of the Presidential Playbook, positions the organization to lead the country with a new donor and political strategy poised to create the progressive change that truly reflects America's diversity and values in 2020 and beyond.
About Way To Win:
Way To Win is a progressive strategy hub co-founded by Tory Gavito, Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, Leah Hunt-Hendrix, in 2017, comprised of donors and community organizers partnering with candidates and local grassroots organizations creating a new approach to politics as we know it. Way To Win supports representation reflective of the values and diversity of the United States. They seek to facilitate lasting progressive change that will transform our government for the better, and bring equanimity to all facets of US government. For more information on Way To Win, visit: waytowin.us
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SOURCE Way To Win
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