Politics

Not everyone wants a day off

Published

1 month ago

July 11, 2026

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is already considering adding an extra bank holiday to the calendar if England wins a World Cup final. But shutting the country down for a day to celebrate a national high might not be the political winner he thinks it is.

While rank-and-file citizens may thrill at getting a break to celebrate, sober up or sleep in, key political interests — from business groups that fear a disruption to commercial activity to social services that have to trudge on regardless — can balk at an instant holiday.

Countries have a long history of celebrating major on-field victories with off days. Uruguay marked victory in football’s inaugural World Cup with a public holiday in 1930, and Panama gave workers the day off for qualifying to its first-ever World Cup in October 2017. Just beating Argentina in a group-stage game seems a particular reason to celebrate: Cameroon did so on a national holiday over 1990, and Saudi Arabia ordered a nationwide day off for public servants, private sector workers and students alike in 2022.

This year two countries have already redrawn their national calendar after World Cup wins. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a public holiday for June 26 after his side upset Germany to reach the knockout rounds, thanking players and coaches who had endured “criticism, insults and tough times” before bringing “immense joy” to the country. His post ended with two words: “Tomorrow, holiday!”

Days later, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña did the same after his country’s stunning penalty shootout victory on June 29 over Germany propelled the South American underdogs into the World Cup round of 16. Posting a picture of himself signing the decree, Peña acclaimed the expression of Paraguay’s “grit, faith and strength.” The accompanying decree argued the triumph had gone far beyond sport and that “the government cannot remain indifferent to this tremendous achievement,” making it necessary to allow Paraguayans to celebrate together.

Peña’s government had laid some necessary groundwork for the move. A law adopted in 2025 allows the president to declare up to three temporary public holidays each year by decree for special occasions, including sporting achievements. The measure had been drafted with the World Cup in mind, and was first used after Paraguay qualified for the tournament last September.

But some in Paraguay were not cheering at Peña’s declaration. Even as Paraguay celebrated one of the biggest victories in its football history, business groups — particularly representing micro, small and medium-sized enterprises — complained that the holiday had been announced with virtually no notice, disrupting commercial activity and work schedules. Peña later admitted the decision had been spontaneous.

“I’m very honest. I didn’t think about that before the game,” the president said, acknowledging criticism from the business community. “It was a spontaneous decision.”

Asked this week by reporters on Wednesday whether England winning its first World Cup in 60 years would merit a day off, Starmer replied: “I think I don’t want to jinx it, but ask me again if we get to the final.” The remark fueled speculation that Friday, July 24, could become a one-off holiday if England goes all the way. The decision, however, would likely fall to Starmer’s expected successor, Andy Burnham.

Not everyone is convinced. A Good Morning Britain poll on X found 60.4 percent supported a World Cup bank holiday. Among the minority opposed replies was a user identifying herself as a supermarket worker, who pointed out that essential workers including National Health Service employees would still be on shift while many others enjoyed a long weekend. “Don’t think it’s very fair,” she wrote.

Successive British governments have also generally resisted calls for additional bank holidays, repeatedly pointing to the economic cost. A 2022 Department for Culture, Media and Sport impact assessment estimated that an additional bank holiday would reduce U.K. gross domestic product by around£2.4 billion — a figure ministers continue to cite when responding to calls for extra holidays, including if England were to win this year’s World Cup.

If the Three Lions make history over the next week, Downing Street may discover that deciding whether the country deserves a day off proves almost as politically contentious as winning football’s biggest prize itself.

Politics

Bernie Sanders says he can’t get involved in every race. Some allies wish he would.

Published

1 day ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Bernie Sanders says he can’t be everywhere at once — even though some of his allies want him to be.

Democratic socialist Francesca Hong lost by less than 4,000 votes in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary, an outcome several high-profile progressives are blaming on Sanders and other top national progressive leaders for staying out of the race. Some said his endorsement alone could have helped bring in badly needed resources for Hong. Others said the Vermont senator has a responsibility to play widely across the battle map.

Sanders, in an interview, touted a series of progressive wins Tuesday night and brushed off the criticism.

“My response is that we have limited resources and capabilities, and there are a lot of really great candidates who have run for office who we have not endorsed,” Sanders told Blue Light News on Wednesday.

“We can’t endorse every single candidate,” he added. “So, you know, we have to pick and choose and I think that Hong ran a very, very great, and very strong, grassroots campaign, got a lot of people involved and I applaud her for that.”

Hong ultimately lost to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a major victory for establishment Democrats who worried she wouldn’t be able to win a general election in a top battleground. It was a notable blow for the far left that overshadowed progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s win in the Minnesota Senate race the same night.

Sanders and other progressive leaders “have a responsibility, whether they like it or they don’t,” to help steer candidates in the movement, said Cenk Uygur, a progressive activist who co-founded the Young Turks and Justice Democrats. “If they endorse people, it makes a difference. If they don’t endorse people these days, sometimes it makes a bigger difference. Because there’s a certain expectation, and when they don’t deliver on that expectation, it gives people pause. So it feels like, to some degree, they’re shirking their responsibility.”

Uygur also criticized Sanders for saying on a podcast ahead of the primary that he was “not that familiar” with the Wisconsin race.

“I love Bernie, but that’s not true. Sorry, brother, but you have a giant team. Of course somebody on your team knows who’s running for governor in Wisconsin.” Uygur told Blue Light News on Thursday.

One Democratic operative working on progressive campaigns, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the electoral dynamics, also rejected Sanders’ argument, noting the senator won Wisconsin’s presidential primary in 2016.

“He knows Wisconsin very well,” the operative said, adding: “What resources? You’re not cutting checks. [Sanders] endorsing somebody raises the money.”

Sanders in the interview noted primary wins from Flanagan, Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin’s 3rd District and Matt Little in the crowded race for Rep. Angie Craig’s Minnesota seat — all Democrats he endorsed.

“Needless to say, I’m feeling really very good,” Sanders said. “The American people are catching on that we have an economy that is rigged, the very rich are getting richer while working families are struggling.”

But the Wisconsin governor primary result Tuesday exposed a critical vulnerability for a movement that has largely relied on Sanders and a handful of other headline-grabbing stars, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), to help seal the deal in contentious races as progressives look to prove they can play in competitive seats. The underdog wing of the party, some progressives argue, can’t be selective about where it’s playing if they want to take on a vast and well-funded establishment.

The bulk of the blame is being laid at Sanders’ feet in part because the movement he turbocharged in 2016 has struggled to land on a clear successor. Some progressives argue there’s an overreliance on Sanders and leaders such as Ocasio-Cortez.

Our Revolution, a group born from Sanders’ 2016 campaign but that the senator no longer associates with, blasted the broader progressive ecosystem for not doing more for Hong in a post early Wednesday morning, as the returns in Wisconsin showed Crowley was poised to defeat Hong. Several groups that have backed insurgent progressives in other races declined to join Our Revolution in getting involved in the governor’s race.“We cannot build progressive power while gatekeeping our own movement through the eyes of the establishment,” the group posted.

Sanders pushed back: “Our Revolution is an organization I’ve not had any interaction with, any participation with … for I think nine years,” he said in response. “They do what they want and they say what they want. They have nothing to do with me.”

Our Revolution declined comment on Sanders’ remarks and on its post.

Nina Turner, a former Our Revolution leader and Sanders 2020 co-chair who had backed Hong, said support from “more well-known, more popular, actively elected progressive types … probably would have” made a difference in Hong’s race. She declined to call anyone out specifically for not getting involved.

“The progressive movement is going to have to reckon with how we continue to win around certain personalities,” Turner said. “I don’t think the movement should put all our hopes and dreams on certain personalities to come out or to not come out, because it is their choice and they have a right to their choice, even if I don’t agree with it.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) was one of the few national progressive figures who had endorsed Hong. He has employed a far more aggressive endorsement strategy than Sanders this primary season and said he sees an advantage to backing candidates early, despite the potential headwinds facing long-shot contenders, as long as they align with him on policy.

But he wasn’t willing to play the blame game in the aftermath of Wisconsin’s primary, saying in a text message that: “We have so many candidates running and I believe progressive leaders have been doing an extraordinary job lifting them up.”

A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez, who has also faced criticism for not backing for Hong, declined to comment.

Not everyone on the left believes Sanders and other progressive stars could have swung a race in which several other factors were working against Hong. The candidate did very little traditional advertising. She faced a barrage of negative press over controversial past social media comments that put her on defense over everything from public safety to Thanksgiving. Several candidates likely siphoned away votes from both Hong and Crowley — including two who dropped out after voting began: Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.

Dillon Sheehan, the chapter secretary for the Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America, which endorsed Hong, said “it’s entirely possible” big-name progressives like Sanders could have “put her over the edge.”

But “we need candidates who can win without Bernie’s endorsement, he’s not going to be able to endorse forever,” Sheehan said. “I think what this shows is that even without his endorsement, without Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement, [Hong] did fantastic.”

Politics

Crowley zeroes in on ‘MAGA extremism’ to rebuild a fractured Wisconsin coalition

Published

1 day ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

David Crowley has a strategy to win over the voters who backed democratic socialist Francesca Hong on Tuesday: make the governor’s race an existential fight against “MAGA extremism.”

Wisconsin Democrats have spent the past day scrambling to unite the far left and centrist factions of the party after a bitter primary battle defined by questions of electability and how far left of an ideology to pursue. The same is happening in Michigan, where the party has just three months to mend broken fences and get progressive Abdul El-Sayed elected in another competitive state this November.

Crowley told Blue Light News he plans to use GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany and President Donald Trump as the foils that bring everyone together.

“We’re not all going to agree on everything. But I think we agree that the ultimate goal is making sure that we don’t have a MAGA extremist and congressman Tom Tiffany sitting in the governor’s office,” Crowley said in an interview Thursday, adding that the state “has a grand opportunity in putting some level of check on Trump’s agenda” amid the “affordability crisis.”

Democrats view holding onto the governor’s mansion in Wisconsin — a top battleground state that Trump won by just shy of 30,000 votes in 2024 — as critical for acting as a bulwark against Trump. They’re hoping to secure a governing trifecta in the state for the first time since 2010.

Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive who was hand-picked by current Gov. Tony Evers, said he plans to not only fold in the left flank, but also reach out to independents and previous GOP voters who “feel rejected by this current Republican party.” Evers himself ousted GOP then-Gov. Scott Walker in 2018 thanks to a coalition that cut across Democratic strongholds, independents and some Republican-leaning voters.

Crowley also said he’s already talked to “some Republicans who are more interested in defeating Tom Tiffany.”

Trump’s approval rating has been continually slipping, and Crowley’s advisers believe focusing on the cost of living under the Trump administration amid an unpopular Iran war is a sweet spot to hit a broad cross-section of voters.

But even as he committed to reaching out to voters who had backed Hong, Crowley told Blue Light News he would not campaign with some of her top surrogates on the trail — and demurred when asked whether he’d bring on any Hong allies to staff his general election campaign, saying everyone is “welcome” at the table.

When asked whether he would campaign with controversial, leftist social media influencer Hasan Piker, Crowley responded: “No.”

“I don’t know Hasan, but I always want to be focused on Wisconsin voters,” he added.

Hong has committed to hitting the trail with Crowley ahead of November, but many of his allies see her as too much of a political liability to be directly involved. They’re worried her brand of democratic socialism — and past controversial social media posts about defunding the police and canceling Thanksgiving — could affect Crowley’s wider appeal.Crowley also isn’t budging on a key campaign policy issue that divided the primary: He will not embrace the moratorium on data center development that Hong ran on.

“No moratorium,” Crowley said in the interview, adding he and Hong do agree on adding “guardrails” on data center development and operation via a package of legislation.

“I let folks know exactly where I stood on data centers,” he said. “That’s why we were able to not only consolidate many of those undecided voters, but get many rural communities to support us as well, because we have a common-sense approach to make sure that we’re protecting our environment, protecting our water, and protecting ourselves … when it comes down to these data centers.”

Politics

Platner announced as speaker for activist-led event in Maine

Published

1 day ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race last month amid sexual assault allegations, was announced as a speaker for a Labor Day event in Ellsworth, Maine, next month.

The event was organized by the groups Hancock County Activists and Acadia Action Peacemakers, according to information shared with the Hancock County Democratic Party. Both have been behind “No Kings” protests and other organized events in the area since the start of last year. Neither responded immediately to inquiries about the event on Thursday.

Platner, who is from nearby Sullivan, Maine, dropped out of the Senate race following a July Blue Light News report that a woman he dated accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021. Platner denied the allegation.

Marcia Myers, the chair of the Hancock County Democratic Party, said the event set to feature Platner was not a sanctioned party event but that the party often shares information about activist-led events in the area. The county party’s Facebook and Instagram posts mentioning Platner’s event were deleted, though the event was still listed on the party’s website.

Platner did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the event on Thursday.

Platner was replaced in the Senate race by former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, as Democrats are seeking to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins in an election of high importance to both parties nationally.

Outside groups supporting Collins have sought to tie Jackson to Platner, noting Jackson, who previously ran for governor, endorsed Platner’s campaign and appeared at rallies for him. Jackson called for Platner to drop out of the race after the sexual assault allegation.

Jalen Beckford contributed to this story.