Ambitious Democrats Decide How To Vote On The Republican FISA Bill

Thanks to Schumer, Arizona won't have a good choice in November

On Thursday, after the FISA vote, we saw how the whole Republican wing of the Democratic Party abandoned the Democrats and voted with Trump and Paul Ryan to expand spying. There had been enough principled Republicans who refused to vote for the bill to have killed it had the Blue Dogs and New Dems not saved it.

Today lets look at it from teh perspective of Democrats itrying to move into other jobs and how they voted. First off wretched New Dem John Delaney (D-MD), a declared-- if ridiculous-- candidate for president. Delaney voted for more FISA spying. And he wants the Democratic nomination for president (of the United States). By the way, his overall Progressive Punch score is "F." Seth Moulton (D-MA) harbors some crazy idea that he's going to be drafted to run on the national ticket. His voting record scored an "F" from Progressive Punch.

Michelle Lujan Grisham was been a mediocre New Mexico congresswoman from a safe Albuquerque seat. (Her Progressive Punch score is also "F.") She's running for governor of New Mexico and she's the frontrunner for the nomination and the likely winner in November. She also wants more spying. The are two House members running for governor of Colorado, Ed Perlmutter (who sports an "F" Progressive Punch rating) and he voted for more spying and Jared Polis (who sports a Progressive Punch "D") and who voted against the Republican FISA bill.

There are 3 House incumbents giving up their seats to run for the U.S. Senate-- Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Jacky Rosen (NV), and Beto O'Rourke (TX). Sinema , who heads the Blue Dogs,is the single worst Democrat in the House and was recruited by Chuck Schumer to run for the open Senate seat. (She and Martha McSally, her likely Republican opponent voted identically.) The DSCC is likely to pour over $10 million into her race. Ditto for Rosen. Both have "F" scores from Progressive Punch and neither is remotely qualified to be in Congress in any capacity and in either house. It should surprise no one that both voted for the GOP FISA bill. O'Rourke voted against it. Schumer and the DSCC are not supporting him, at least not yet. Blue America has endorsed O'Rourke and you can contribute to his campaign for the seat held by the odious Ted Cruz by tapping the 2018 Senate thermometer on the right. There is also talk of Blue Dog/New Dem Adam Schiff running for DiFi's Senate seat if she decides to drop out. He may be another superficial Rachel Maddow hero but he's an awful conservative Democrat in a very deep blue California district. Progressive Punch rates him a "D"-- in a district that deserves an "A"-- and he was an influential pro-FISA vote on Thursday.

Two Hawaiians are looking for political advancement. New Dem Colleen Hanabusa is running for governor and she skipped the vote. Tulsi Gabbard has been a conservative and who sees the future in a different direction and has been reforming herself into a Berniecrat. She voted against the FISA bill. Joe Kennedy III sees himself as running for the Senate if, as is likely, Elizabeth Warren is part of the national ticket with Bernie in 2020. He was savvy enough to vote against the Republican bill. Tim Walz (MN) is very conservative and has accrued an "F" score from Progressive Punch. He's running for governor of Minnesota and voted against this bill. If Bernie is elected president, Peter Welch will be favored to win his Senate seat. Welch is generally pretty progressive but not nearly as progressive as Bernie. Bernie rates an "A" from Progressive Punch and Welch rates a "B/" Welch voted against the bill.

One last observation. Although Jim Himes (New Dem-CT) is the head of the New Dems and Queens Machine boss Joe Crowley has officially left the organization to assume a party leadership role, Crowley is still widely assumed to call the shots there. Lately he has been trying to woo progressives by voting with them on some key bills. That doesn't wipe away his corruption and his Wall Street ties but his Progressive Punch lifetime score-- now a "C"-- is a mediocre 85.66. This year though it is a much bluer 94.87, actually slightly higher than progressive icon Mark Pocan (93.85)! Why? Crowley is making a case to progressives that they shouldn't oppose him when he runs for Democratic Leader. The most corrupt Democrat in Congress wants top be Speaker and he parted ways with Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn on FISA. They voted for it and he voted against it. Blecchhh.