With just weeks left until Congress returns to Washington, D.C. for a historic vote on the Iran nuclear deal, more and more Democrats are stepping up to publicly support it.
Among the Democrats who aren’t on record yet, however, are Sens. Cory Booker and Mark Warner who may emerge as top contenders to be picked to run for vice president on the Democratic ticket in 2016.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders support the Iran deal, and Martin O’Malley has offered cautious praise. Now it’s time for them to go further. That’s why CREDO just launched a campaign today urging the Democrats running for president to pledge not to pick a running mate who opposes it.
Choosing to solve foreign policy problems with diplomacy instead of yet another war of choice should be a core value shared by all leaders of the Democratic Party.
Sadly, some top Democrats like Sens. Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez are dangerously joining Republicans in pushing for war, even as their colleagues speak out for diplomacy.
The top contenders to lead the Democratic party in 2016 as its presidential candidate – Clinton, Sanders and O’Malley – have a unique power to create a real political cost for ambitious Democrats who are considering supporting war over diplomacy.
They can put pressure on powerful Democrats with White House ambitions – both inside and outside of Congress – who remain on the fence about the Iran deal by publicly declaring that any Democrat who opposes diplomacy will be disqualified from being their running mate.
This isn’t just about who ultimately ends up on the Democratic ticket. If Clinton, Sanders and O’Malley declare that their running-mate must support the Iran deal, it will also give pause to Democrats who are angling for other top jobs in the next Democratic administration.
The last time Republicans led the country to war, enormous numbers of Democrats lined up to help them authorize the invasion of Iraq. If we want to make sure that never happens again, we must make it clear that Democrats who vote for war will be unlikely to rise to the party’s top leadership positions.
Thanks to the tenacious activism of CREDO members, our friends in the DailyKos community, and progressives around the country, we have the momentum. But we can’t let up. Please consider signing and sharing our petition. Thank you.