Has Steve Israel Found A Spanish Language Tutor For Pete Aguilar Yet? Or Is He Too Busy Telling The Media Aguilar Lost In 2012 Because His Father Died On Election Night-- His Father Who Is Very Much Alive And Well

Republicans won 51.8% of the vote in a jungle primary because Steve Israel backed a candidate Democratic voters can't relate to. And he's doing it again this year.

The Beltway committees like the DCCC and NRCC get their information about America from the Cook Report and the Cook Report gets its information from the Beltway committees like the DCCC and NRCC. It's a closed loop of cluelessness. But I have to admit, Cook always gets their predictions right on the first Wednesday following the first Tuesday of every election year. If you want something on the first Monday… you'd better look elsewhere. Recently the Cookers handicapped the single most vulnerable Republican-held seat in America, CA-31, California's Inland Empire. A D+5 district with a 29.7% white population, only a replay of show Steve Israel lost the race in 2012 by endorsing a fake Democrat, Pete Aguilar, unacceptable to Democratic voters, could cause the reelection of right-wing lunatic Gary Miller. (By the way, Steve Israel has forced the DCCC to endorse Aguilar again and has been lying to Members of Congress about who and what Aguilar is. Quite a few Members resent it.

Back to Cook. They rate the race "Leans Democratic," although probably because they're factoring in DCCC incompetence. It's just those incontrovertible demographics that even Cook understands, although not enough to rate it "Likely Democratic" or "Solidly Democratic If Nancy Fires Steve Israel." Cook's explanation of how Aguilar lost in 2012 doesn't mention Israel (who signs the checks that keep them afloat). Instead:

In hindsight, Aguilar should have taken the June primary more seriously and the DCCC and House Majority PAC would have been wise to boost him much earlier. But Aguilar backers also note his ill father passed away the day of the primary, so his focus was understandably elsewhere.

So that's a verifiable lie. Some people in the Aguilar camp say the DCCC made it up and some people say Aguilar didn't mean his father; he meant his campaign manager's father (who he never met). People at the DCCC still claim it's true. But Aguilar's father, Herman, a wealthy Sempra Energy executive, is very much alive-- and always has been. He wasn't ill and he didn't die. But Aguilar never bothered to correct the "mistake" or the DCCC lie about his dad and Cook… well, no one with a bit of sense goes there for facts anyway.

Cook also proffers the DCCC version of who Aguilar is as though it were the gospel, even though it's as idiotic as the dead father story. "Aguilar," they write, "is a young, Latino suburbanite who worked in the county courthouse cafeteria before winning election as the youngest councilman ever in the city of Redlands." Reality, Aguilar was a corrupt bank lobbyist who's shenanigans on behalf of fellow conservatives helped force Arrowhead Credit Union into receivership. And had Cook done even a modicum of research in-- God forbid-- the district, they would know that Pete Aguilar was not elected to the City Council but was appointed by a gaggle of Republicans who were eager too find a conservative patsy registered as a Democrat too help them push their anti-working family agenda. He was later appointed mayor and has never been elected mayor, not something Cook found relevant enough to mention apparently.

Blue America has endorsed Eloise Reyes, the progressive Steve Israel fears could win and bring a working family agenda to DC. Aguilar, for example, backs Chained CPI and other reactionary economic policies. That puts him at odds with Eloise and the vast majority of voters in CA-31, especially Democrats. If you'd like to chip into her campaign, you can do it here on our Blue America ActBlue page. Don't let Steve Israel screw this up again.