Congressional Black Caucus PAC, LCV, J-Street & Emgage All Endorse Joe Biden For President

Some big news today for Joe Biden’s campaign. First, this is a big endorsement:

The Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorsed Joe Biden’s presidential bid on Monday, further cementing his support among the nation’s influential black political leadership.

The political action committee’s unanimous endorsement came on the heels of several key nods of support among caucus leadership and members, including civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and caucus Chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass of California. The PAC is the caucus’s separate campaign arm.

“There’s no question that Joe Biden is badly needed by this country,” CBC PAC Chairman Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said in an interview with The Associated Press. “His leadership, his experience, his understanding on how to get things done and his ability to work and pull people together is needed now more than ever. We need someone that is a healer and not a divider, and that’s Joe Biden.”

Biden, who is on the cusp of clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, had already scored key endorsements from 38 of the 54 members of the group, which is composed of most African American members of Congress.

Followed by this endorsement today:

Former vice president Joe Biden notched an endorsement from a major environmental group — and is signaling he will expand his climate plan in an effort to win over young voters who see rising global temperatures as a generational crisis.

The political arm of the League of Conservation Voters, a Washington-based green group that has spent tens of millions of dollars in recent election cycles to help elect Democrats to office, announced Monday that it is backing the presumptive Democratic nominee in what looks to be a tough fight against President Trump.

Drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions “is going to take leadership,” said Carol Browner, the chair of LCV’s board of directors. “And I have every confidence that the vice president will provide that.”

The endorsement from the LCV could encourage other green groups who supported Biden’s rivals in a crowded primary to fall in line. The group hopes to prevent Trump, who has repeatedly denied the scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet, from winning a second term.

“Scientists tell us we have 10 years” to get climate change under control, said Browner, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency for eight years under former president Bill Clinton. “We’re going to have to not just put back in place all the stuff that Trump undid from the Obama years, we’re going to have to do more.”

Biden said in a statement that he was “honored” to have the LCV’s endorsement. “For me, this is personal,” said Biden, a former senator from Delaware. “I live in a state that’s dealing first hand with the impacts of climate change and impacts of pollution on kids and families. I’m going to fight for my grandkids.”

Biden also scored this endorsement:

 Joe Biden welcomed the endorsement of J Street, the liberal pro-Israel lobby, on Friday. While it might seem like a small news item today, the moment represents something much larger: a consolidation of the group’s influence among mainstream Democrats.

“I’m honored to have earned J Street’s first-ever presidential endorsement,” the former vice president said Friday. “J Street has been a powerful voice to advance social justice here at home, and to advocate for a two-state solution that advances Middle East Peace.

“I share with J Street’s membership an unyielding dedication to the survival and security of Israel, and an equal commitment to creating a future of peace and opportunity for Israeli and Palestinian children alike,” he added. “That’s what we have to keep working toward — and what I’ll do as President with J Street’s support.”

J Street committed earlier this year to endorsing the Democratic nominee, whoever she or he was, and for the first time its political action committee launched a fund to elect a Democratic president.

Biden’s enthusiastic welcome, however, is significant because he has been a standard-bearer for the Democratic party’s pro-Israel mainstream — a wing that has not always seen eye to eye with J Street. At its outset in 2008, J Street scrambled to get Democrats to agree to accept its endorsement, and some rejected it outright, saying the group was too far to the left.

And also, this one:

A group allied to Bernie Sanders is endorsing Joe Biden after the Vermont senator threw his weight behind the presumptive Democratic nominee this week.

Emgage, which calls itself the largest Muslim political action committee in the country, told POLITICO it is backing the former vice president because he supports ending President Donald Trump’s travel ban on several majority-Muslim countries, raising the refugee admissions cap, and reforming the immigration system, among other issues.

“Our nation, and indeed the world, are at a crossroad. Beyond the immediate devastation caused by COVID-19, we are facing an all-out assault against democratic principles and values at home and abroad that we have not seen since the rise of fascism and Nazisim early in the 20th century,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage PAC. “Joe Biden is the type of leader who can restore America’s promise to its citizens, especially its most vulnerable, and to the world.”

In the primary, Sanders received the endorsements of numerous Muslim elected officials and groups, including Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. Muslim leaders praised Sanders for his record of supporting Palestinian rights.

Also, I’m loving this:

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign is planning a nationwide day of community service, with staff and supporters participating in local volunteer efforts Saturday.

Biden’s entire organizing staff and his endorsers across every state are set to lead a series of volunteer actions that the campaign said will range from organizing food drives to hanging signs in windows thanking first responders, health care and grocery store workers.

With Biden stuck at home and his campaign staff working remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic, the day of volunteer actions shows how his staff is looking for ways to continue its organizing efforts, which would usually involve traditional campaign activities such as house meetings, door-knocking and identifying volunteer leaders.

“We want to build community all across the country, and we are a campaign that’s very focused on service and empathy,” said Kurt Bagley, Biden’s national organizing director. “We can still build that community, we can still take action, it’s just that some of these things change a little bit.”

The push marks the one-year anniversary of Biden’s campaign launch. The presumptive Democratic nominee’s campaign is calling it “SOUL of the Nation Saturday” — using soul as an acronym for “service outreach unity leadership.” Biden’s website features a page where supporters can commit to a specific action, such as hosting or attending a virtual meeting, calling neighbors, writing letters and more — or volunteers can submit a different idea.

Let’s keep up the momentum and help Joe win. Click here to donate and get involved with his campaign.