Real Democrats... And The Other Kind

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I was speaking to a friend in Montana today who was aghast that two of the top Democratic contenders for the Democratic congressional nomination, Kim Gillan and Diane Smith, are battling it out with each other about which one is more of a stooge for Big Business (although neither uses the word "stooge" and might not even understand why I would). Can you imagine a Republican primary where two of the contenders argue about which one is friendlier to the labor movement? No, neither could I. Gillan and Smith aren't "real Democrats," not in terms of Democratic values. They're both careerists looking for a step on a ladder. Fortunately, Montana Democrats do have a real Democrat-- state Rep. Franke Wilmer-- in that race, and she makes no bones about it; her interests are the interests of ordinary working families, not Big Business.

And the day before that, I was on the phone with a trustworthy DC consultant who was talking with me about another of the Blue America races-- the one in the suburbs just north of Chicago, IL-10, where GOP nebbish Bob Dold is likely to lose his seat to a Democrat. The good news in this race is that a movement progressive leader from the district, Ilya Sheyman, jumped in early and established a lead that has continued to grow. Recent polling shows him ahead of either of the two business candidates, Brad Schneider or John Tree. Unlike the two business Dems in Montana, though. Schneider and Tree have come to understand that IL-10 voters are looking for a real Democrat and each has, publicly at least, toned down the pro-Big Business rhetoric and tried parroting what they hear Ilya saying. It's not coming off very authentic in either case.

The DCCC-- or at least the Israel part of the operation (there are genuinely good people there too)-- has been panic-stricken at the thought of genuine independent-minded progressive leaders getting into Congress. "Ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel would rather see a Republican win than a real Democrat. And the problem with that is that Steve Israel is the head of the DCCC, which is, after all, the organization charged with electing Democrats. He isn't being helpful to non-Blue Dogs. Last week word got out that he was personally calling big Democratic donors and telling them to not give money to progressive leader (and polling front-runner) Darcy Burner in WA-1. The DCCC has a "moderate" non-leader and, more important, multimillionaire self-funder, Suzan DelBene, who they'd rather see win the nomination. Darcy has a mind of her own-- the last thing machine hacks like Israel want around.

There has been talk in Illinois politics that Israel encouraged Schneider, also a self-funder, to get into the IL-10 race for similar reasons, and then when Schneider turned out to be a complete dud Israel encouraged Tree, for the same reasons. Let's take a look at who John Tree, who describes himself as a "successful business leader," really is-- and what qualifies him to be the apple of Steve Israel's eye.

While Ilya has been working on a grassroots level to preserve Social Security and work for policies that will bring good jobs back into the economy, Tree has spent the last five years reaping the profits from a pyramid scheme that he created and ran as the "CEO," registered from the very same office that his campaign is using as a headquarters right now. The scheme is Quattro Corporation, an unaccredited for-profit "university," widely considered to be a scam. It charges tens of thousands of dollars to unsuspecting "students" seeking to learn entrepreneurship skills. Quattro's co-founder was even sued in 2009 by Nouveau Riche University, another so-called "multi-level marketing" scheme, for stealing their business model.


In 2010, Quattro was involuntarily dissolved by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White's office, although it continues, under the leadership of Tree's sister, to operate and take advantage of vulnerable consumers in other states. Does this guy sound like a perfect little Republican? Where does Steve Israel find these characters? And why does he bother? Here are the salient parts of the latest polling from IL-10. Isn't Steve Israel paying any attention? Or is he just that consumed with destroying progressives and independent-minded real Democrats?

A new survey of likely Democratic voters in Illinois' 10th Congressional District reveals Ilya Sheyman strongly positioned for victory in the primary, the only Democrat who can emerge with his party's nomination and win in November. Not only is Sheyman's profile and message of progressive leadership uniquely compelling-- he dramatically expands his initial lead in an informed trial heat-- but his main opponents have serious vulnerabilities, which complement each other and raise grave concerns for voters. In contrast, opponents attacks on Sheyman fall flat.

The other candidates lack appeal in part because they are ill-suited to the values and principles of this primary electorate. In a year and in a district where a solid majority of Democratic primary voters (53%) would prefer a progressive candidate over a moderate (28%), Schneider and Tree find themselves competing for an extremely narrow slice of the pie.

We already discussed Tree's severe ethics problems above. 79% of Democrats polled find that to raise doubts, 52% "serious doubts." And Schneider upsets primary voters because he's been contributing substantial amounts of money to far right extremist Republicans since 2002. Steve Israel is seriously out of touch if he thinks this is what today's voters are looking for in political leaders. In case you're wondering... you can find real Democrats, like Ilya, Darcy and Franke, here at the Blue America ActBlue page. For the other kind... just follow the DCCC.