Editor’s note: Below are excerpts from remarks made by Katey Lauer, co-chair of West Virginia Can’t Wait, during the Oct. 10 Unite Our Fight online rally for West Virginia US Senate candidate Paula Jean Swearengin.
West Virginia Can’t Wait [is] a young and growing movement out to win a people’s government. Two years ago, a group of West Virginians got together to answer this question: What would it look like to use the vehicle of elections to build a political machine in West Virginia strong enough to take on the wealthy, good old boys club and win? This isn’t just a question for West Virginians this year. This is the question of our times. . . .Every West Virginian is working two or three jobs to get by, or knows someone who is, while stockholders make record profits.
. . .[First,] in every action we take, we must remember that our fight is with the wealthy, good old boys club and not with each other. Other working people are not our enemies. . . When we fight each other, we lose. When we fight for each other, we win. . . . [Second,] we must put our might into building alternative democratic institutions that can contend for power and win. And those two things are exactly what we’re doing in West Virginia. Two years in, 101 candidates, including Paula Jean, have signed on to a pledge to reject corporate PAC money, to never cross a picket line and to never hide from a debate. Half of those same candidates also signed on to a people’s platform that we call the New Deal for West Virginia. It contains an education plan that was written by West Virginia educators, a farming plan that was written by West Virginia farmers, a plan for people in recovery written by people in recovery. It’s the most ambitious, most bottom-up, most bold platform in West Virginia history. . . . This November, we’ll get our first slate of West Virginia Can’t Wait candidates into office. . .
