Next Batch Of Key Primaries-- A Week From Today

L.A.'s dirtiest politician, Wendy Greuel, learned her political skills while she was still openly admitting she was a Republican. Vicious, negative campaigning is all she's ever known

A week from today there are important primaries in Iowa-- where progressive champion Pat Murphy is leading comfortably in his crowded House race-- in New Jersey and in California (as well as in some other states without significant Democratic contests). Here is California-- the land of the idiotic jungle primary-- there are 3 crucial races.

Will enough Democrats turn out in CA-25 so that Democrat Lee Rogers winds up in the final two rather than both Republicans, corrupt Establishment hack Tony Strickland and crazed teabagger Steve Knight? The most recent polling shows Rogers narrowly ahead of both Strickland and Knight but turnout next Tuesday is all that matters, not how people respond to theoretical questions from a pollster. Presumably, Strickland's gun mania on top of the mass murders in his old district, has mainstream and independent voters thinking long and hard if that's the kind of candidate they want representing them in Congress.

And due south, on the other side of L.A., CA-31 has a classic example of the two wings of the Democratic Party facing off against each other. Backed by the DCCC, the corrupt New Dems, Wall Street shysters and the local transpartisan Chamber of Commerce types, we have last cycle's pathetic loser, Pete Aguilar, from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. He's working day and night to smear Eloise Gomez Reyes, a labor lawyer from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, who has been endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and by progressive leaders like Xavier Becerra, Hilda Solis, Alan Grayson, Raul Grijalva, Janice Hahn, Lucille Roybal-Allard, as well as by the SEIU and the National Organization of Women (NOW) and the San Bernardino Sun. The most predatory Wall Street interests are spending hand over fist to cover the district with ugly, negative messages about Eloise, a selfless and inspirational figure, on behalf of Aguilar, who has served them well as a frontman in the past and who they want to see in Washington.

Although this is a D+5 district-- the bluest district in America (by far) with a Republican incumbent-- the Aguilar/Israel brain trust lost it in 2012 and are on the road to seeing if they can lose it again in 2014. The latest polling shows a Republican in the top position, another Republican with a humongous war chest hovering for the second spot, and Aguilar, Reyes and the pathetic Joe Baca all bunched up together. If Eloise wins the primary a week from today, she'll be the next congresswoman from CA-31. If Aguilar wins the primary, Wall Street gets another sure vote-- either his or a Republican's. It doesn't matter to them.

The third California district with an important primary is CA-33, where Henry Waxman is retiring. Blue America has done a first-ever dual endorsement for the official Democratic Party candidate, progressive state Senator Ted Lieu, and the inspiration independent in the race-- think Bernie Sanders-- Marianne Williamson. There are 18 candidates, although some have withdrawn (Brent Roske, endorsing Marianne on the way out), and Ted and Marianne are far from the only good ones. I've been tremendously impressed by Barbara Mulvaney, for example, who, like Ted and Marianne, would single-handedly raise the calibre of Congress if elected. The 3 open Republicans in the race are dreadful, but just as bad is the "former" Republican who switched her party registration after the Reagan elections and after she realized Los Angeles political expediency demanded it. That, of course, is Valley carpetbagger Wendy Greuel, the worst candidate of all. Nearly as bad, is the other suspect Democrat in the race, proud-- and foolish-- centrist Matt Miller, eager to cut granny's Social Security and Medicare benefits. He's the candidate of the DC/Wall Street bureaucracy. Lawrence Summers endorsed him. Maybe he plans to role one out from Harold Ford, Jr. this week.

Even though Ted Lieu is the official Democratic Party candidate, Greuel is the Dark Money candidate and she's got the big army of sleazy consultants and dirty players. Daily Breeze airport and airlines reporter Brian Sumers referred to her as "the closest thing to a favorite in the crowded field," although that isn't borne out by polling, which shows her with nearly insurmountable negatives, due primarily to the vicious, hateful race she ran against Eric Garcetti last year.

Please consider GOTV contributions today for Dave Cole and Bonnie Watson Coleman in New Jersey, Pat Murphy in Iowa, and Lee Rogers, Eloise Reyes and Ted Lieu in California.

Pay 2 Play is a stark and revealing new John Ennis film about American politics. Please watch the trailer below. You may recognize American culture heroes in the movie, like Robert Reich, Thom Hartmann, Noam Chomsky, John Nichols, Van Jones and Marianne Williamson. It's the kind of movie you'd expect to find a thought-leader like Marianne Williamson. Wendy Greuel? Ahh… no. Even though she was a bean counter at a film studio, there's never been a spark of creative energy coming from her direction. How about Tony Strickland or Pete Aguilar? Well, maybe… if the filmmakers wanted to give a counterpoint to their powerful critique that politicians reward their donors with even larger sums from the public treasury-- through contracts, jobs, tax cuts, and deregulation. Or a couple of examples.