Israeli Strategy Sinking The DCCC Again?

At least Rahm didn't get in the way of winning candidates

The penultimate-- and quite logical-- conclusion to the DCCC's failed Steve Israel strategy would be for them to try to beat independent-minded North Carolina Republican Walter Jones from the right, with some kind of Blue Dog corporate whore, a southern version of Israel himself. (In the 2011-12 session Jones voted more frequently for progressive initiatives than 3 North Carolina Blue Dogs, Larry Kissell, Heath Shuler and Mike McIntyre-- and Shuler was forced to retire, Kissell was defeated 54-46% and McIntyre scraped by with a 655 vote margin out of over 330,000 cast! Jones beat his Democratic opponent 63-37%.) Actually, Jones' ProgressivePunch crucial vote score (40.61) is better than that of 16 Democrats, although many of them were defeated or forced to retire. (Bolded seats indicate they are now held by Republicans, Israel having failed to hold them.)

Walter Jones (R-NC)- 40.61
Larry Kissell (Blue Dog-NC)- 36.93-- defeated
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC)- 36.39-- forced to retire
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)- 35.44-- defeated in primary
Bill Owens (New Dem-NY)- 35.44
Mark Critz (PA)- 35.43-- defeated
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC)- 32.81
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)- 32.58-- defeated
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- 31.06
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)- 24.61
Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA)- 24.37-- defeated in primary
John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)- 24.12
Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)- 23.60-- in a Hail Mary Pass, ran for the Senate and won
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 22.17
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)- 21.16
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)- 17.99-- forced to retire
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)- 15.24-- forced to retire

Anyway, Israel had promised Pelosi that he would win a net of "at least 27 seats," two more than the Democrats needed to win back the majority. Because of his horrible targeting-- driven by Blue Dog/New Dem ideology and the desire to restock the caucus with conservatives-- Israel wasted tens of millions of dollars on conservative losers while completely ignoring-- and worse-- progressives in districts Obama won and who, themselves, would have won with even minimal help from the DCCC. Israel took senior GOP policymakers, party leaders and committee chairmen off the table, freeing them up from worrying about their own skins and allowing them to campaign for-- and donate huge amounts of money to-- his own targeted Republicans. It also removed some good targets from consideration, particularly Paul Ryan (R-WI), Buck McKeon (R-CA) and Fred Upton (R-MI). The man is an idiot. And Pelosi reappointed him to head the DCCC next time. The Republicans, no matter how the Grand Bargain goes, have something to be thankful for. If there's one person who's proven he absolutely cannot beat Republicans, it's Steve Israel. In fact, he was bragging how he would use the same failed strategy-- wasting money on Blue Dogs in unwinnable districts-- that resulted in a 234-201 Republican House majority on his watch. He doesn't even realize he lost. He has his minions running around Capitol Hill insisting he did as well as Patty Murray at the DSCC-- which is simply mindboggling. Someone with that kind of attitude and with that kind of inability to even understand there's a problem is... the best thing that the Republican Party could possibly hope for in a DCCC chairman.

Democrats plan to begin unveiling candidates by early spring, just as the new session of Congress gets under way. Party leaders say they are focusing on around 50 Republican seats in 2014 — particularly those in areas where Obama performed strongly in his two elections. Israel identified the four most vulnerable as Ohio Rep.-elect David Joyce, Illinois Rep.-elect Rodney Davis, Florida Rep. Bill Young and California Rep. Gary Miller.

But Israel acknowledged that Democrats would also need to contest districts in Southern states, where the party has been nearly wiped out over the past four years. Since 2008, the Blue Dog Coalition, which is made up of mostly Southern conservative Democrats, has declined from more than 50 members to 14.

Party officials say that, without Obama-- who’s struggled in the South-- on the ballot, their prospects will be improved in states like West Virginia, Arkansas and Louisiana. With GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia announcing her Senate bid this week, Israel has contacted two potential recruits: Carte Goodwin, who served briefly in the Senate in 2010 after Robert Byrd died, and former congressional candidate Anne Barth. Officials from both parties predict the race for Capito’s seat will be among the most fiercely contested of the election.

...Democrats held their first recruiting meeting at national party headquarters on Wednesday. Seated around the table were Israel and 10 House members, including Pennsylvania Rep. Allyson Schwartz, who headed recruiting efforts in the past election.

Also taking part were Georgia Rep. John Barrow, a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, and California Rep. Xavier Becerra, the highest-ranking Hispanic in the House. Democrats said their participation signaled that the party wants to make a strong play in the South and among Hispanics as they recruit.

Also attending were a handful of incoming freshmen, including Brad Schneider of Illinois and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both of whom have been tasked with helping to woo prospects.

Although Israel adamantly refused to spend money on progressives like Rob Zerban, Lee Rogers, Nate Shinagawa, Alan Lowenthal and Mark Takano-- the first three of whom lost and the second two who won-- he wasted vast sums on losing candidates like Jose Hernandez (CA-$3,139,987), Blue Dog Sal Pace (CO-$453,626), New Dem Val Demings (FL-$1,660,874), Blue Dog Brendan Mullen (IN-$470,872), Blue Dog David Crooks (IN-$516,483), New Dem Christie Vilsack (IA-$841,113), Blue Dog Gary McDowell (MI-$1,218,594), John Oceguera (NV-$2,587,945), New Dem Julian Schreibman (NY-$1,970,776), Blue Dog/New Dem Charlie Wilson (OH-$2,513,712), Eric Stewart (TN-$298,914), Blue Dog Nick Lampson (TX-$163,722), New Dem Paul Hirschbiel (VA-$273,926), Pat Kreitlow (WI-$2,205,515) and New Dem Jamie Wall (WI-$87,664). Just those races alone cost DCCC donors over $18 million. Would Lee Rogers have beaten Buck McKeon, would Rob Zerban have beaten Paul Ryan, would Aryanna Strader have beaten Joe Pitts, would Nate Shinagawa have beaten Tom Reed, would Syed Taj have beaten Kerry Bentivolio with some of that cash? Absolutely. But they're progressives; they're independent-minded and they're anti-corruption... three traits that are anathema to Steve Israel.

Keep in mind, that when you donate to the DCCC, your money goes directly to fund anti-Choice, antigay "Democrats" who are vetted for willingness to sell out to corporate interests and, at minimum, play ball with the kind of corruption on which Steve Israel and his ilk thrive and which has turned Washington DC into a sewer.