This Senate Race Was Supposed To Be A "Sure Thing" But If Hickenlooper Wins The Primary It Won't Be

On Friday, Elizabeth Warren released a list of congressional candidates she had just endorsed. The list included progressive champions like Jamaal Bowman (NY), Mike Siegel (TX), Charles Booker (KY) and Julie Oliver (TX). I'm sure all of them are overjoyed at her backing-- even if it's a little late in the game for Bowman and Booker, whose primaries are tomorrow. But whatever goodwill and cred with the progressive netroots, the endorsements generated for Warren, it was squandered when she stepped all over herself by adding grotesque corporate whore John Hickenlooper to the list.

Widely hated by liberals and reformers for his virulent anti-progressive mania-- both as a dismally failed presidential candidate and in his current Schumeristic senatorial campaign-- Hick, AKA, Frackenlooper, has virtually nothing in common with any of Warren's other endorsed candidates and not much in common with Warren herself. I noticed that the #1 Warren-backing outside group in the country, the PCCC, quickly sent out an e-mail to their list emphasizing that they not only back Romanoff but that in their opinion Hickenlooper is "one of the worst corporate Dems" and reminded their supporters that he is "the guy who ran for president and consistently attacked Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders from the right. This is one of the most winnable Senate seats in the nation, and there's no excuse to elect a right-wing Democrat. Andrew Romanoff's running on Medicare For All and a Green New Deal. John Hickenlooper opposes those, supports police policies that encourage violence while proclaiming 'every life matters,' and is now embroiled in an ethics/corruption scandal that could hurt our chances of winning this easy-to-win race in November." BOOM!

In a spat with Warren on the debate stage, he hissed that maybe Medicare for All could be achieved in 15 years. They'll be dead in 15 years and the way to achieve Medicare for All sooner is by defeating candidates like Cory Gardner and John Hickenlooper and electing candidates like Andrew Romanoff. It isn't that complicated. Hickenlooper has finally stopped calling progressives "Stalinists," probably because he's running against a progressive who happens to be named Romanoff.

Yesterday, Politico's James Arkin pointed out that "Hickenlooper has stumbled in the closing weeks of Colorado’s Senate primary, creating openings for his opponent and Republicans that have unsettled a critical race for Democrats in their bid to recapture the Senate. Democrats acknowledge Hickenlooper has made serious mistakes on what was supposed to be a glide path to the Democratic nomination. After being cited for contempt this month for initially failing to appear before Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission, Hickenlooper was fined $2,750 for two violations dating back to his second term as governor. He’s also apologized for comments about race, including responding to a question about the Black Lives Matter protests in a recent forum by saying the phrase means 'every life matters,' echoing a common refrain among conservatives."

Republicans are all over Hickenlooper's stumbles, pummeling him as they anticipate gleefully that he will be the easy target for Gardner in November and now, the primary has tightened considerably with all the momentum shifting towards Romanoff.

Not really that "mysterious"-- Schumer's paw prints are all over it

A sewer money SuperPAC, led by Schumer and the DSCC, Let's Turn Colorado Blue, dropped several million dollars into a jihadist-like smear campaign against Romanoff. After defying a subpoena and dodging nearly two dozen debates, Frackenlooper is now hiding behind Schumer's sewer-money attacks, claiming, deceitfully, he doesn't know who's paying for ads.

Arken explained how "Romanoff appeals to primary voters eager for his message of more radical change, including the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. He argues a middle of the road approach doesn’t meet the moment and has said Hickenlooper’s ethics issue is a problem. 'If you break the law, defy a subpoena and get held in contempt, you jeopardize our chances to hold the seat,' Romanoff said in a interview."

Schumer is trying to replace a conservative Republican Senate with a conservative Democratic Senate. With the exception of Steve Bullock in Montana, Schumer's candidates all suck shit. Democratic primary voters are largely unaware that they're voting for a pack of Kyrsten Sinemas. (Sinema was handpicked by Schumer in 2018 and has been the most consistently anti progressive Democrat in the Senate ever since, the closest thing to a Trump-enabler among congressional Democrats.) It still isn't too late to turn the tide, by supporting Andrew Romanoff, which you can do by clicking on the Blue America 2020 Senate thermometer above and contributing what you can.

Better To Declare Victory After Victory Has Come

He's young, he's probably gay and probably a murderer and definitely a fascist... but he's young

Reid Wilson isn't exactly who I look to for good electoral news for progressives, but his post at The Hill yesterday, Wins by young progressives start reshaping establishment, was almost suspiciously, if not downright prematurely, optimistic. "The left wing of the Democratic Party may have lost the war over the party's presidential nomination," he wrote, "but its members are quietly winning battles in states and cities across the country. Progressive candidates have knocked off incumbent officeholders in places such as Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico in recent weeks in elections that are marking the end of an older generation of the political establishment. Those elections may be a preview of the rest of the primary season, when long-serving Democrats find themselves the targets of well-organized campaigns to oust them." Hmmmm... key words: "may be."

There were a few legitimate big wins of national import (Marie Newman in Chicagoland and Kara Eastman in Omaha)-- and, yes there were some nice local races too, where progressives won but he seems to be hung up on "young" as a end-all for, perhaps forgetting that the youngest members of Congress when they were elected included not just AOC, but far right extremists like Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), as well as shitbag ConservaDems Harold Ford, Jr. (Blue Dog-TN) and Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL). In this argument, I'm afraid, "age" is over-rated.

At least four Pennsylvania Democratic state legislators lost their seats in last week's primary. Two of the winning challengers in the Philadelphia area scored endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). In Pittsburgh, Emily Kinkead, a progressive making her first run for office, ousted state Rep. Adam Ravenstahl (D), the brother of the city's former mayor.

Two other Democratic incumbents trail their rivals by margins narrow enough that they could be reversed as more ballots are counted.

"I consider myself to be a proud progressive," said Amanda Cappelletti, who beat a sitting state senator to claim the Democratic nomination in a Philadelphia-area district. "I wanted to figure out the best way that I could serve and help people, and this would be a good opportunity to use my skills."

She beat Daylin Leach, the Pennsylvania legislature's "liberal lion" and I'll be happy to see if she's half as good a state senator as Leach has been. I hope so. Because his legislative record is pretty amazing.

In New Mexico, insurgent progressive challengers ousted five moderate and conservative Democrats, including state Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen and state Sen. John Arthur Smith, the chairman of the Finance Committee.

...Advances in technology have allowed progressive candidates to make inroads in big cities once dominated by party bosses, said Waleed Shahid, who directs communications for Justice Democrats, a progressive group that backs insurgent challengers.

"The internet is defeating these political machines. Where 20 years ago you would have to have the blessing of local party leaders just to get on the ballot, now you can have a good social media operation and leapfrog the party leadership and establishment networks," Shahid said.

This year, another progressive, marketing consultant Marie Newman ousted Rep. Dan Lipinski in Illinois's Democratic primary in March.

More surprises are likely ahead. After Ocasio-Cortez upset Rep. Joe Crowley (D) in 2018, progressives have made a point to go after Engel and Clarke.

He wrote that José Serrano (D-NY) and Nita Lowey (D-NY) "opted to retire rather than face what would have been almost certain primary challenges," without mentioning that Serrano is one of the most far left members of Congress and may well be followed by either a Republican pretending to be a Democrat or a garden variety middle-of-the-road Democratic hack. There's also a chance a real progressive like Serrano could win, say Tomas Ramos-- but that will be tough. Lowey's time was up and if Mondaire Jones wins a crowded primary, there will be a real improvement... but that will be no cakewalk either.

"In September, Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) will face off against Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse (D), who has proved an adept fundraiser," wrote. Fingers crossed. "The primary challenges are coming as a younger, more progressive millennial generation becomes a potent force in politics." I'm certain Wilson doesn't pay attention at all, but progressive stars who lost so far are almost too numerous to mention, from Jessica Cisneros (TX), Rachel Ventura (IL), Kim Williams (CA), Mark Gamba (OR), Jennifer Christie (IN) and Jim Harper (IN) to Mckayla Wilkes (MD), Nabilah Islam (GA), Michael Owens (GA), Robert Emmons (IL) and Tom Winter (MT), all of whom lost to much more conservative candidates. And that doesn't include the dozens of sad cases who thought copying Bernie's platform, finding a couple of like-minded idealists and then playing on social media all day meant you could win a congressional seat.

"Though Ocasio-Cortez has become the symbol of the rising generation of progressive officeholders," wrote Wilson, "the movement is increasingly looking to down-ballot races both as an avenue for making policy changes at the state level and as a way to build a bench for the future. 'You can feel a change in the focus that grassroots progressives have put on some of these local races, really since 2016. I think part of it came from a recognizing, waking up from the Obama years just how much Democrats had lost,' said Neil Sroka, who directs communications for Democracy for America and also won a city council seat himself. 'The Trump moment exposed the ways in which cities and local offices could be a real buttress against a government that was 100 percent in the control of right-wing Republicans. I think that there has been a real awakening.'"

I don't discount this-- and entirely encourage it all I can-- but Congress is where power to stand up to conservatives like Trump and Biden rests, not on the city council. Yesterday, the American Prospect published an essay by Alexander Sammon, Chuck Schumer’s Very Bad Week-- Corporate Democrats for Senate limp to the finish line. I doubt Schumer is crying; he won his races and we won't hear him whining unless his milquetoast establishment picks lose in Colorado and Kentucky. But so far, he's won them all with the worst slate of Democrats I can ever remember up for Senate. Sammon correctly stated that "Early on in this election cycle, things were going great for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In nearly every contested Democratic Senate primary, Schumer and his caucus’s campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), got the desired result, either clearing the field of competitors to his hand-picked preference before voting even began or winning comfortable victories. Bloodless centrist Cal Cunningham triumphed in North Carolina over progressive State Sen. Erica Smith to take on shaky Republican Sen. Thom Tillis; Smith had been leading in polls before Schumer made his endorsement. Real-estate developer Theresa Greenfield triumphed easily in Iowa; the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC spent $6.7 million on her behalf in the primary. Schumer selection M.J. Hegar also cruised over multiple progressives in the Senate primary to take on Republican John Cornyn, though she still must finish the job in a run-off in July. Other races in Arizona and New Mexico saw the Schumer-backed candidate chase out all competition. When Schumer stamps a candidate with DSCC approval, he also marshals big money in support of them. In other words, Schumer doesn’t just get what he wants because he’s good at picking moderates with broad appeal. He just picks people who are inoffensive to the DSCC donor base, and then uses their money to stack the deck in their favor. Bob Moser documented this highly dubious and clearly anti-democratic practice, in great detail, in a recent issue of The Prospect." And now for the speculation and hopefulness we share with Sammon:

[S]everal of Schumer’s high-profile picks are starting to falter, rapidly losing ground to underfunded progressive upstarts just ahead of election day.

The most prominent instance comes from Kentucky, where Schumer intervened in the primary early. Back in February 2019, Schumer was already actively stumping for former fighter pilot Amy McGrath to challenge Mitch McConnell, the case for her candidacy predicated almost entirely on a popular TV ad last cycle that propelled her within 3 points of winning a swing House seat in Lexington.

McGrath is exactly the sort of moderate that only a Schumer could love. Her sales pitch so far has been her willingness to work with Trump once in office, which, if you believe in the Joe Biden campaign, or the Democratic Party at all, is an extremely confounding message. Of course, thanks to Schumer’s minting, McGrath was the immediate beneficiary of an incomparable torrent of cash, which initially prevented any meaningful primary challenge. She’s raised over $41 million, and spent $21.8 million to date. But last November, Charles Booker, a first-term progressive state senator from Louisville, announced a late bid for the seat.

Booker, despite having spent barely $500,000, is now ascending, racking up endorsements from national politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as popular eastern Kentucky sports radio host Matt Jones (an important figure in the state who almost ran for the seat himself) and the Louisville Courier-Journal, Kentucky’s highest circulation newspaper. Despite McGrath outspending him an astonishing 40 to 1, the race is somehow closer than ever, with recent polling showing him within a handful of percentage points. That certainly doesn’t bode well for McGrath’s attractiveness as a candidate.

Booker has assumed newfound national prominence with his participation in Louisville’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations, repeatedly taking to the streets to protest the death of Breonna Taylor at the hands of Louisville PD, and Louisville restaurateur David McAtee by the Kentucky National Guard. McGrath, meanwhile, hasn’t turned out to a single protest. She’s instead training the DSCC’s funding firehose on television buys, hoping to extinguish the flames that are lapping up her campaign ahead of this month’s primary.

Meanwhile, another Schumer pick, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, finds himself embroiled in a new corruption scandal. A local news investigation just uncovered millions of dollars in off-the-books donations from corporations and private foundations to Hickenlooper’s office, dating back almost two decades. The startling revelation shows that during his eight years as governor, Hickenlooper expanded the “public-private partnership” program, which took corporate donations and used them to fund departments and positions in his administration with no oversight.

The donations ran in the millions of dollars during his two terms as governor. Among the biggest donors was Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, one of Colorado’s biggest fracking operators. In one instance in 2017, the company donated $25,000 to the governor’s office, just days after a deadly explosion in the state, caused by a leaky underground pipeline owned by the company. Over the course of four years, Anadarko gave Hickenlooper’s office more than $330,000, money that was then used for government activities, but of which there is little accounting.

Hickenlooper, who already bears the handle “Frackenlooper” for his role in expanding fracking as governor, is taking on Andrew Romanoff for the chance to do battle with Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in November, in what is almost certainly the most flippable Senate seat in the country. Hickenlooper, briefly a presidential candidate, was considered a prized recruit when Schumer talked him into running for Senate. (He’d previously said, “I’m not cut out to be a senator.”) But his reputation on environmental issues, along with this new corruption scandal, has imperiled his chances. Romanoff, former speaker of the Colorado State House, won April’s Democratic Assembly vote in dominant fashion, securing top-line designation in the June 30 primary. Schumer and the DSCC knew that Hickenlooper was weak as far back as August, when they began pressuring consultants from at least five firms not to work with Romanoff, according to The Intercept. If Hickenlooper pulls it off, it will only be because of the fundraising advantage bestowed on him by the DSCC.

Want to help? The 2020 non-Schumer Senate candidates thermometer is just above. Click on it and if you see a name you like, chip in a few dollars. And the House candidates still in there, still fighting to make the House Democratic more-- not less-- progressive, which is clearly the intention of Blue Dog Cheri Bustos and the DCCC. On the right is the 2020 Blue America congressional thermometer. Here's where you'll find the candidates like Jamaal Bowman (NY), Keeda Haynes (TN), Shan Chowdhury (NY), Eva Putzova (AZ), Tom Guild (OK), Hector Oseguera (NJ), Robin Wilt (NY) still working to replace establishment hacks and conservatives in primaries-- as well as progressives like Marie Newman (IL), Jon Hoadley (MI), Audrey Denney (CA), Cathy Kunkel (WV), Kara Eastman (NE), Julie Oliver (TX), and Liam O'Mara (CA), who have already won their primaries and are up against right-wing Republican incumbents.

Only One Thing Can Keep The Colorado Senate Seat From Flipping Blue-- Frackenlooper's Sordid History Of Taking Bribes

Polling has told us a generic Democrat would beat Colorado's doomed Republican Trump enabler, Cory Gardner. Polling also tells us that Frackenlooper would beat Gardner-- or at least that he would have before he got busted and fined for taking bribes. What about the progressive in the race, Andrew Romanoff? No one knows because Chuck Schumer has leaned on all the polling firms to leave Romanoff out of the polls-- or at least not to report their findings. That's Schumer; it's how he hopes to fill the Senate with as many Kyrsten Sinemas as he can.

Watch how Inside-the-Beltway Washington Post reporter conflates the Democratic Party with Schumer and his corrupt machine: Former governor John Hickenlooper’s ethics woes have unsettled a Colorado Senate race that Democrats consider one of their best chances of flipping a Republican-held seat, with the quirky brewery owner’s reputation taking a hit with voters within days of the state’s primary. The two-term governor and former Denver mayor is on the defensive after the Independent Ethics Commission found he violated a state gift ban in 2018 when he accepted a ride in a Maserati limousine at a conference in Turin, Italy, and traveled on a private jet owned by a home builder to Connecticut for the commissioning of the USS Colorado submarine... After his short-lived run for president last year, Hickenlooper was considered an ideal Senate recruit for the Democratic Party-- a well-- known candidate who had won statewide twice and a former small-business owner who opened the first brewpub in Colorado. In his recent ads, Hickenlooper emphasizes how as governor he took the state from 40th in job creation to first."

He's not well-liked. Well, he is well-liked in DC, but not in Denver. And the ethics scandal is just making it worse.

Facing ethics complaints, Hickenlooper, 68, refused to testify at the video conference and only appeared last week after the commission, some of whom he appointed while governor, held him in contempt of a subpoena.

His taxpayer-funded attorney, Mark Grueskin, argued in a legal filing in May that the video conferencing format denied the candidate's due process rights to consult in person with counsel and asked for a delay.

On Friday, Grueskin asked the commission to purge the contempt charge. The panel refused.

With mail ballots arriving this week, the backlash from what one commissioner termed the former governor's "disrespect for the rule of law" is causing some voters to reconsider their preferred candidate.

"I thought he was a good governor, and he did good things for the state," said Anne Holton, 72, a retired assistant attorney general and registered Democrat who planned to vote for Hickenlooper.

"But if there were more to come out from the ethics commission, and if there were something I just thought 'I can't live with that,' I would vote for Romanoff," added the former state employee. "I always drop my ballot off at the last minute."





Hickenlooper's ethics issues burst onto the national stage on June 5 when President Donald Trump tweeted about the commission holding the former governor in contempt saying he, "Got caught big time with his hand in the cookie jar. Should be the end of his Colorado Senate bid. Makes no difference, we already have a GREAT SENATOR."

Gardner's unabashed embrace of Trump's policies on immigration and the environment is widely considered a liability in a state where Democrats swept the 2018 midterms, winning the governorship and both houses of the General Assembly. Polls over the past eight months consistently showed Hickenlooper beating the 45-year-old Yuma Republican by double digits in a state Hillary Clinton carried by five percentage points in 2016.

"Republicans are going to be tied to the president whether they like it or not," said Jessica Taylor, Senate and governors editor for the Cook Political Report, which rated the race a toss-up.

"I think Cory Gardner can run ahead of Trump, but can he run ahead of him enough to win?" she asked, saying Hickenlooper's ethics issues "have given Gardner an opening."

Another good reason to vote for Romanoff, the better candidate-- by far, in any case. "Like Sanders," wrote Oldham, "Romanoff supports Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal, making him a favorite among Colorado's growing number of millennials. Hickenlooper favors strengthening the Affordable Care Act and supports a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Young people are phone banking for Romanoff, calling thousands of voters each week, seeking to boost the momentum provided by the ethics controversy... Romanoff called on Hickenlooper to drop out of the race, saying that his questionable conduct endangered Democrat's chances of beating Gardner. 'He represents a threat we cannot afford,' said Romanoff, who lost two statewide races in 2010 and 2014 after he served eight years in the state House from 2000 to 2008. Even though he won the state caucuses and emerged from the state assembly with top billing on the primary ballot, Romanoff trails Hickenlooper in fundraising." You can contribute to Romanoff's campaign by clicking on the Blue America 2020 Senate thermometer on the right.

And this is not the first time Frackenlooper has been caught taking bribes. He's a total Schumer kind of candidate-- as corrupt as the day is long. Over the weekend, John Frank and Shaun Boyd reported in the Colorado Sun that "Hickenlooper accepted millions of dollars from corporations and nonprofits to fund initiatives and positions in his office-- an arrangement that came with limited oversight and public disclosure despite the potential conflicts of interest. The most significant corporate donations came from the oil and gas industry, where Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy gave at least $325,000 to Hickenlooper’s office in his second term alone, according to a months-long analysis of state records conducted by the Colorado Sun and CBS4 Denver. At least one donation from Anadarko came in May 2017, weeks after the deadly Firestone explosion that investigators traced back to a well owned by the company... His ties to corporate interests are facing renewed scrutiny as he seeks the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the June 30 primary. His campaign rival, Andrew Romanoff, the former state House speaker, is highlighting Hickenlooper’s close relationship with the oil and gas industry and past campaign contributions from energy executives. Most of the entities that made the gifts, grants or donations worked on issues in front of state regulators or legislators, but the governor’s office did not have a written policy to prevent conflicts of interest. The analysis found no evidence that the donations were connected to official action taken by Hickenlooper’s administration."

Marianne Williamson Has A Weeklong Summit Starting Tonight With Congressional Candidates

Starting tonight at 9 PM (ET)-- so 6 PM on the West Coast-- Marianne Williamson will be hosting a week-long summit for progressive Congressional candidates on her Facebook page-- one candidate each night. Her first guest, someone she has already shared a stage with in Iowa, is J.D. Scholten, the progressive Democrat who nearly beat neo-fascist and racist Iowa Republican Steve King, in 2018. That was a race sabotaged by the DCCC but so much momentum was built up by Scholten's grassroots campaign that this year not even progressive-hating DCCC chair Cheri Bustos will be able to stop J.D.

Monroe County, NY progressive Robin Wilt will be on with Marianne on Saturday. Today she told me that "At the heart of Marianne Williamson’s run for the Presidency was a commitment to humanitarianism that was lacking from many of the corporate, establishment-based candidates in the race. I am proud to be among the down-ballot candidates that Marianne Williamson has endorsed, because we share the fundamental belief that we can only make progress if we center the needs of those most directly impacted by the deleterious policies that have created the inequities that we witness. As Marianne will be the first to tell you, the ideas at the center of her platform are not novel. They are supported by a majority of everyday Americans who recognize that the vast wealth and income inequality that plagues our nation is not sustainable, and that we need representatives at all level of government who are willing to prioritize the needs of the people over those of corporate elites that have been disproportionately and unfairly benefiting from government largesse at our expense."

We need expanded and improved Medicare for All, not only because it is inhumane for 45,000 Americans to die each year from a lack of access to health care, but also because our for-profit, atomized health care landscape fails to address the many social determinants of health that are the root causes of preventable diseases.

We need a Green New Deal, not only because it is inhumane for communities like Flint, MI and Newark, NJ to have poisoned air and water, but also because we need a solution to the current crisis that recognizes the scale of the threat to civilization and transitions to a green economy that ensures that those communities that have been disproportionately impacted by polluters receive the support they need to equitably share in the economic opportunities of a green economy.

We need publicly-funded, freely available pre-K through 16 education because it is inhumane for one’s educational opportunity to be determined by one’s zip code.

Most importantly, we need bold, new representatives in Congress that will unabashedly support these policy positions on behalf of the people that they represent, because our current leadership has not been up to the task.

"Slavery is a crime against humanity," said Shan Chowdhury, who is running for a seat in Queens held by corrupt New Dem Greg Meeks and Marianne's Sunday guest. "The path to restorative justice begins with the United States acknowledging our past crimes against Americans of African descent, whose ancestors were transported here against their will and enslaved. Meaningful and transformative reparations begins with implementing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). I believe prioritizing access for African Americans to services, fully-funding Black institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Community Banks, and Black Owned Businesses, central to racial, social, and economic justice."





Shahid Buttar, the attorney and community organizer who is taking on Nancy Pelosi, will be joining Marianne on Friday. This morning he told me that "One of the overarching themes that unite our campaigns is our shared recognition of social justice as an extension of mutual concern and compassion. That, in turn, drives our shared commitment to universal healthcare, as well as ending police violence and ensuring that black lives matter-- not just to We to the People, but also the government that answers to us. We’re excited to get into the issues and explore why change is so desperately needed!"

This is the whole schedule-- at least for week 1:

• J.D. Scholten- Tuesday, June 2
• Andrew Romanoff- Wednesday, June 3
• Hector Oseguera- Thursday, June 4
• Shahid Buttar- Friday, June 5
• Robin Wilt- Saturday, June 6
• Shan Chowdhury- Sunday, June 7
• Jen Perelman- Monday, June 8

You can contribute to any of the Marianne-endorsed candidates by clicking on the ActBlue thermometer. Whether Trump is re-elected (or gets away with stealing the election) or Biden is elected, one thing we are going to need in Congress is more progressives to work with the handful of members-- like AOC (D-NY), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Andy Levin (D-MI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)...-- trying to move a progressive agenda forward and trying to move the Democratic Party in a progressive agenda and away from corporatism, careerism and corruption.

How Congressional Offices Are Handling COVID-19

While Louie Gohmert takes people on tours of the Capitol and spreads coronavirus far and wide-- note to people in Lufkin, Longview, Nacogdoches and Tyler: keep at least 6 feet away from this crazy version of Typhoid Mary-- other members of Congress have wisely decided to run their offices based on good practices suggested by the CDC. That notice above is on Ted Lieu's door. I believe Mark Takano is also taking the same precautions.

As you probably know, one of the staffers in Senator Maria Cantwell's office, has tested positive for coronavirus. Cantwell's DC office is closed. I asked several offices what they're doing about the pandemic. The best response, predictably, came from Ted Lieu's chief of staff, Marc Cevasco. "Congress," he said, "is obviously a large organization, with thousands of direct and indirect employees, but office policies and staffing are left up to each individual Member of Congress. House offices are relatively small. I manage an office of 10 people in Washington and an office of 8 in L.A. From the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, Congressman Lieu has taken the threat seriously and our office has instituted policies to mitigate risk as the situation has evolved."

First and foremost, we have reinforced public health best practices for our staff (this is important all the time, but especially important during a pandemic). Basic best practices include things like washing hands regularly, avoiding touching your face, covering mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and disinfecting workspaces frequently. We also have a generous sick leave policy, which encourages people to stay home from work when they are not feeling well.

Social distancing is the buzzword of the hour-- it basically means you try to limit human contact as much as possible to prevent (or at least slow) the spread of the virus. Last week we limited in-person meetings for the Congressman and staff and had a "no contact" policy for the office (no handshakes etc). We also allowed for flexible arrival and departure times for staff so that we didn’t necessarily have to commute with everyone else on mass transit.

As the situation grew in severity this week, we have moved to 100% teleconference or video conference meetings for our Washington DC office and I have half of our staff working remotely from home. Interns are rotating so we only have one in the office at any one time.

During the upcoming district work period when the House is in recess (and Members are back home working from their districts) the entire Washington office will work remotely. In the district we will have two people manning the phones and everyone else will work remotely. We also will not have district staff attending large community events and meetings (for those few that haven’t already prudently been postponed) for the time being.

I am reminding my staff that this isn’t about them necessarily (most congressional staffers are in their 20s) it is about taking every precaution to prevent the spread of the virus to our older or sicker neighbors. Even delaying the spread of the virus can save lives as it prevents a spike in cases from overwhelming our medical system.

And then this was issued by the House Sergeant at Arms yesterday-- no more tours, Congressman Gohmert. And stop spreading disease, you asshole. Go quarantine yourself.

I asked some of the candidates for Congress how they've changed how they're interacting with staffers and voters and others. Yesterday Omaha progressive Kara Eastman told me that her campaign "has several workers who are paid hourly. I have told them today that if they are sick that they should not come in but they will still get paid for the time they would have worked. We are taking the novel Coronavirus seriously and want to make sure that people are safe and don't have to choose between their health and paying their bills." That's good practice that every campaign should adopt. Later Kara released a public statement that went further: "A comprehensive assessment of currently available data and public health warnings suggest we should avoid events and gatherings. We believe in putting the health and safety of our team, our supporters, and our community first. Therefore, until further notice, the Eastman Campaign will no longer schedule, attend, or engage in any public events."

Furthermore, we’ve taken the step of ensuring that our staff do not feel the need of choosing to work when sick by paying all hourly workers for their shifts if they need to stay home for themselves or a loved one. It is absolutely essential that we put the financial and health needs of our staff and community over other concerns.

We believe and support the excellent work done by local public health officials. It is a true testament to their work that the current number of cases of the novel Coronavirus in Nebraska is relatively limited.

We have decided therefore to continue our door-to-door canvassing. We should note that we have come close to making our first full pass in the district so we are in a position to pivot to phone calls only if need be and we will still be on track with our field goals. We prefer to be guided by science and data, and not fear. It is our policy, however, to wait until schools and other institutions close/convert to online services, to reconsider our canvassing method.

We join with other Democrats in pushing for free and accessible testing for this and all other pandemic conditions.

In conclusion, we will employ all available technological tools to continue to engage with NE-02 voters. Any voters who wish to converse with me should call me at (402) 200-3020.

This morning, Kara added that she's employing "a wide range of innovative technological tools to continue to reach voters and to be a part of the public health conversation." Her 6-point plan for the Corona Virus for NE-02:

• Free testing for all
• Stimulus package for temporary, part-time and full-time employees
• Move to all-mail primary voting
• No-cost loans to small businesses
• Paid sick leave for all workers
• Payment deferment of student loans and student loan interest

Also yesterday, Riverside County, CA progressive congressional candidate Liam O'Mara told us that "Both my campaign and my professional life have been affected. My campuses are closed so that students are not in close contact. Several party events have been cancelled, including the state's eBoard meeting, all the local Dem club meetings, and both a campaign fundraiser and a volunteer appreciation event. Unlike the incumbent, who called this a Democratic hoax in January and okayed the routing of people back from China through a local airport, we take the science seriously, and will follow all precautions from experts." He ws referring to Ken Calvert, who has put his own constituents in jeopardy with his shameful and, as always, fully partisan approach to the pandemic.

Eva Putzova is the progressive candidate running for the Arizona congressional seat occupied by "ex"-Republican Blue Dog Tom O'Halleran. Yesterday she updated her supporters on how her campaign is coping with the pandemic: "Because of the COVID-19 virus outbreak, we have paused all door-to-door canvassing and in-person events until the CDC advises otherwise. Up until now, our strength as a campaign has been in energizing people and engaging with voters one-on-one. We have a small army of volunteers across this vast district, but this will mean nothing if the coronavirus crisis lasts for a sustained period. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our volunteers and every person in our district. So instead of meeting people at their front doors, we are going to execute a broader digital strategy to get onto people’s computers screens and in their mailboxes."

Jennifer Christie, campaigning for an open seat in the suburbs north of Indianapolis told us that her campaign has "changed the way we canvass. We no longer shake hands at the door; instead we have a conversation and engage with voters with a Star Trek/Spock greeting, a 'Namaste,' or a wave. Voters have been receptive, and I think appreciate the conscientiousness."

Robin Wilt explained how her campaign is making the best of a bad situation-- and making it work for herself. "In NY-25, our Monroe County health officials have stressed the importance of 'flattening the curve' of the spread of the virus through social distancing. While the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in our campaign no longer participating in parades, rallies, or other events that bring more than 50 persons together, it has allowed us to reinforce our core strategy-- which is to meet individual voters where they are. We have pivoted to investing more effort in our ground game: knocking on doors and attending smaller community gatherings where we can intimately connect to voters. In essence, we have returned to our roots-- our grassroots, that is."

This morning the progressive running for the Colorado Senate seat, Andrew Romanoff, informed his supporters that he's changing the way he campaigns. "The coronavirus is forcing all of us to change our habits. Our campaign is no exception. Over the last 13 months, we’ve been crisscrossing the state, meeting tens of thousands of Coloradans in backyards and living rooms, coffee shops and brewpubs. That strategy yielded an enormous victory in last weekend’s precinct caucuses; we earned more votes than all the other Democratic candidates combined. But now we’re shifting course. In order to minimize health risks, we’ve decided to virtualize our operations. That means engaging supporters electronically, not in large events.

Over The Weekend, Colorado Democrats Told Schumer To Keep His Nose Out Of Their Senate Race

Colorado Democrats will pick their Senate candidate in a primary on June 30. But the party had caucuses on Saturday, caucuses that were swept by the progressive in the race, Andrew Romanoff. I'll get into Andrew's big win in a moment but first let's take a look at an explanation of what the caucuses were all about aside from a popularity contest free of DSCC interference. Jay Bouchard wrote it up a few days ago for a local newspaper. He explained that at the over 3,000 precinct caucuses, registered Democrats elect committee members who will go to the county, district, and state assemblies to decide which candidates make the ballot. Candidates decide if they want to participate in the caucuses or not. If they don't, they can still get on the ballot by collecting at least 10,500 signatures statewide, including 1,500 from each of the state’s seven congressional districts. If a candidate gets 15% they move on to the county and state assemblies and if they get at least 30% of the vote at the state assembly, they make the June ballot. Candidates can gather signatures and go through the caucus process. However, there is some risk to doing that. If a candidate gathers enough valid signatures but fails to get at least 10 percent of the vote at the state assembly, he or she will not make the ballot. Aside from Romanoff-- Saturday's big winner, the other candidates who opted to participate in the caucuses was Schumer's candidate Frackenlooper, plus Stephany Rose Spaulding, Erik Underwood, and Trish Zornio. Diana Bray, Lorena Garcia, David Goldfisher, and Michelle Ferrigno Warren are only gathering signatures. Both Frackenlooper and Underwood decided to gather signatures and caucus.

No one but Romanoff and Frackenlooper hit the needed 15% to move forward. These were the results, with Alamosa, Hinsdale, Costilla, Yuma, Adams, Larimer and Custer counties still counting. No one showed up for the Cheyenne County caucuses.

• Andrew Romanoff- 7,450 (54.70%)
• Frackenlooper- 4,166 (30.59%)
• Trish Zorino- 894 (6.56%)
• Stephany Rose Spaulding- 723 (5.30%)
• Erik Underwood- 31 (0.22%)

Frackenlooper lost decisively in all the big blue counties that elect Democrats statewide-- and was especially embarrassed by the walloping he took in Denver, where he served as mayor for two terms:

• Arapahoe- Romanoff 56.42%, Frackenlooper 27.54%
• Boulder- Romanoff 64.11%, Frackenlooper 20.54%
• Denver- Romanoff 60.50%, Frackenlooper 22.30%
• Jefferson- Romanoff 61.88%, Frackenlooper 24.64%

As of the December 31 FEC reporting deadline, Frackenlooper had raised $4,882,372 and Romanoff had raised $1,744,993. None of the other 8 Democrats still running had raised any significant money. The two who managed to win delegates, Trish Zornio and Stephany Rose Spaulding are both credible progressives who now should realize that neither has any kind of a path to victory and should team up with Romanoff now to stop the DSCC and Frackenlooper.

Frackenlooper, the decidedly anti-progressive candidate told reporters that it didn't matter that he did so badly. "It’s mostly the very progressive part of the party, but you get to hear what their concerns are… I’ll join a long line of successful Democratic primary (winners) who didn’t do well in the caucuses." He was at the Denver caucuses begging voters to back him. They didn't.

Please consider contributing to Romanoff's campaign by clicking on the Blue America 2020 Senate thermometer above. He'll never raise the kind of money the DSCC is directing towards Frackenlooper, but he doesn't have to-- just as long as he has enough to get his progressive message out to Democratic voters.

This morning, Romanoff sent out a message to his supporters, reminding them that "The party bosses and powerbrokers in Washington who are bankrolling Hick’s campaign bragged about 'kicking some serious butt' a few days ago. Now that they ended up on the receiving end, the DC crowd is dismissing their defeat and doubling down on a losing hand. Can they buy the Democratic nomination for a candidate who ducks the press and dodges debates? That’s a risky bet-- especially when the Republicans have all the footage they need to undermine his candidacy. Telling voters you’d hate the job and aren’t cut out for it, as Hick did, is bad enough. Doing so on camera for months on end makes the opposition’s task too easy."

Romanoff is best-equipped to beat Gardner. Frackenlooper is a very risky bet-- and one with no real reason to take.

Colorado Was A Political Bright Spot On Tuesday-- Will It Be On Saturday As Well?

Tuesday night was pretty good for progressives in Colorado. Bernie won a lion's share of delegates and had the most votes. He and Elizabeth together had a majority from Coloradans:

• Bernie- 273,677 (36.3%)
• Status Quo Joe- 175,820 (23.2%)
• Bloomberg- 157,755 (20.8%)
• Elizabeth- 130,380 (17.2%)
• Tulsi- 8,586 (1.1%)

Voters wanted Health care for all, an economy that works for everyone and the Green New Deal. Wednesday morning the progressive in the Senate race, Andrew Romanoff, noted that "Exit polls found Democratic voters favored single-payer health care and major economic reform. In a poll released last week, a huge majority-- 93%-- also backed the Green New Deal. " That's especially important for Romanoff since Chuck Schumer is running Frackenlooper-- who is a status quo/anti-change candidate and way to the right of where Colorado voters are-- against him.

Andrew, who has been endorsed by Blue America sent an e-mail out to Colorado voters pointing out that all that progressive policy adhesion in his state is " good news not just for our campaign but for every American who wants to see real change in Washington" and pointing out that his bold progressive platform was "crafted not in the Senate cloakroom but here in Colorado. Last night’s results show our message is resonating."

Colorado's Senate primary is June 30 but this coming Saturday, March 7, Colorado Democrats will caucus to determine which of the 10 candidates will be on the ballot. Voters elect delegates to go to an April 18 assembly, determining who makes the primary ballot. Candidates need the backing of 30% of the delegates to get on the ballot.




What kind of a senator would Frackenlooper be? A really bad one-- like one of the worst, on a par with Trump-friendly right-wingers Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Watch the video of him backing down on backing-- and signing-- a bill to ban high-capacity magazines. He told the sheriffs he never expected the bill to pass-- and suggested he might not have signed it if he’d known it would cause so much "commotion." He blamed members of his own his staff for making him do it! Is that what Frackenlooper means by leadership? No wonder he's so scared to debate Andrew Romanoff!

Tuesday night, Chuck Schumer got his pick for the North Carolina Senate pick, repeat loser, Cal Cunningham, who is likely to lose again in November. North Carolina voters also decided to vote against Medicare-for-All, the Green New Deal and free state colleges by picking Status Quo Joe over Bernie. Coloradans are a savvier bunch and are less likely to let Chuck Schumer saddle them with a loser. Please consider contributing to Andrew Romanoff's campaign by clicking on the Blue America 2020 Senate thermometer on the right and giving what you can.

Friends of mine in Montana tell me that Governor Steve Bullock may be overly cautious sometimes but that he's way more progressive than he came across as on his disastrous and short-lived presidential run-- kind of the opposite of Frackenlooper, who's even worse than he appeared when he was on the national stage. So... despite Schumer popping a boner when he heard that Bullock's going to run after all, the country may well have just gotten a potential boon. One old friend in Bozeman told me not to worry about him being terrible in DC. "There's no way he'll ever be anything like Sinema or Machin or even Chris Coons... Did you know he was formerly a labor lawyer?

Obama seems to have persuaded him to do it-- and none too soon. The filing deadline is Monday. The state isn't as red as its prohibitive R+11 PVI would suggest. Last cycle Democrat Jon Testa beat multimillionaire Matt Rosendale 253,876 (50.3%) to 235,963 (48.8%) and even an unimaginably horrible, unelectable Democrat for the state's one congressional seat, Kathleen Williams managed to take 233,284 votes (46.2%) against Republican Greg Gianforte. In 2016, though Montanans sensibly wanted nothing to do with Hillary Clinton-- Trump beat her 274,120 (56.5%) to 174,521 (36.0%)-- Bullock himself was reelected governor 250,846 (50.2%) to 232,080 (46.4%). So, like in so many states, Hillary was a drag on the ticket but Bullock managed to win around 80,000 voters who refused to vote for her against Greg Gianforte.

Trump's approval rating has plummeted 18 points since he was inaugurated, so the Republicans' unremarkable incumbent, Steve Daines, isn't likely to be rescued by Trump. Daines, in fact, has been a real rubber stamp Trump-enabler.

Foolishly, McConnell Ramps Up The Republican Party's War On Women Again

Why would McConnell get the GOP war against women rolling again, juts as the election season is moving into high gear? Who gained and who lost yesterday when he forced the Senate into a no-win situation with two abortion votes. McConnell's no fool and he knew there was no possibility the already-rejected bills would pass. So why move away from his strategy of no votes on policy, just on Trumpist confirmations of judges and other characters sent over by the Regime?

Do the culture war bills to sharply restrict access to late-term abortions and threaten doctors who perform them with criminal penalties signal a decision by the GOP to make Freedom of Choice a campaign issue this year? Apparently so. They'll certainly energize the anti-Choice warriors in the Republican coalition.

Most polling shows just over a third of voters think abortions should be illegal-- in a recent ABC-Washington Post poll 22% said illegal in most cases and 14% said illegal in all cases. As always, a majority of Americans agree that abortions should be legal on all or most cases and that the decision should be up to the pregnant woman.

A few years ago, Pew took a look at how opinions on abortions differed by state. The backward, reactionary states that always vote Republican and where people lose their teeth early in life because they don't understand dental care, are totally anti-choice of course. These are the states where the fewest people back a woman's right to choice:

• West Virginia- 35%
• Kentucky- 36%
• Mississippi- 36%
• Alabama- 37%
• Arkansas- 38%
• Louisiana- 39%
• Tennessee- 40%
• South Carolina- 42%

And these are the states-- almost all blue-- they overwhelmingly favor leave the decision up to the woman and those she chooses to consult:

• Massachusetts- 74%
• Vermont- 70%
• Connecticut- 67%
• Hawaii- 66%
• New Hampshire- 66%
• New York- 64%
• Maine- 64%
• Maryland- 64%
• Oregon- 63%
• Rhode Island- 63%
• Alaska- 63%
• Nevada- 62%
• New Jersey- 61%
• Washington- 60%
• Colorado- 59%
• California- 57%
• Illinois- 56%
• Florida- 56%
• Montana- 56%
• Delaware- 55%

Neither bill got through the Democratic technical filibuster. The first got 53 votes out of the 60 needed, with Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Bob Casey (D-PA) voting with all the Republicans except Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The second vote got 56 votes, coming closer to being able to shut downtime filibuster. Collins and Murkowski both voted with the Republicans on that one, as did Alabama Democrat Doug Jones.

Will their votes against Choice today hurt Susan Collins (with hardcore Republicans in Maine), Dan Sullivan (AK), Cory Gardner (CO), Steve Daines (MT)? And what about in states with Senate races that are more closely divided? North Carolina, for example has 49% favoring Choice and 45% opposed. How is that going to impact Thom Tillis in November? Did Joni Ernst make a mistake today by voting against Choice? Iowa has a 52% pro-Choice majority and just 46% against it. Arizona senator Martha McSally voted for the restrictions but a plurality of her constituents-- 49-46%-- favor choice... and that plurality has been growing since the poll was taken half a dozen years ago.

People think of Alaska as a red state. Obama lost both times he ran and Trump beat Hillary 52.8% tp 37.6%. But look at those numbers on Choice. Alaskans are strongly on the pro-Choice side. Yesterday, savvy Republican Lisa Murkowski voted against the Republican position on the first bill, while Dan Sullivan, a bit of a bunk-head  and who's up for reelection, voted against Choice. His opponent, a political independent and a medical doctor, pounced. Al Gross told me that "Dan is nothing but a zealot for the far right wing's harmful partisan agenda, and this vote epitomizes that. For all his talk about small government, he and his DC pals believe it's the government's job to interfere with a woman's right to choose. Well I believe differently. As a Doctor, an Alaskan, and a father, I call this behavior out. Dan Sullivan-- maybe you haven't learned yet, but this is not representative of Alaskan values. Study quick, November is right around the corner and we're going to beat you."

As for the presidential campaign, this is an issue Republicans also lose on in key swing states in the Midwest (besides Florida and New Hampshire):

• Wisconsin- 53-45%
• Pennsylvania- 51-44%
• Ohio- 48-47%
• Michigan- 54-42%

The votes today may have been helpful to McConnell himself, but it looks like most vulnerable Republican senators will be hurt by it. Cory Gardner, another example, has always been an anti-Choice fanatic-- something he proved again yesterday. I asked his progressive opponent, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff how that vote will play in Gardner's struggling reelection campaign. "For Mitch McConnell, Cory Gardner, and their right-wing allies," said Romanoff, "criminalizing abortion is more important than feeding the 11 million children who will go hungry tonight in the richest nation on earth. Shameful."

Moscow Mitch Completes A Cover-Up That Doesn't Really Cover Up Much At All

Though the House impeachment managers proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Trump was guilty on both counts he was charged, the Senate voted 52-48 to cover up those crimes, let alone the others he wasn't even charged with. Mitt Romney was the only Republican with the guts to vote his conscience and for the best interests of the country. The Washington Post noted that he said his decision to vote to convict Trumpy-the-Clown was "the hardest decision" he has ever faced. Listening to his speech the Senate floor, above, doesn't sound like it was really that hard of a decision. The decision was only hard for faithless politicians worried about Trump's penchant for revenge. I want to add that very real courage was demonstrated yesterday by Doug Jones, who is up for reelection in November... in Alabama. He has told friends that he had no choice but to follow his conscience without taking partisan politics into account. David Perdue (R-GA) did exactly the opposite, as former Columbus mayor Teresa Tomlinson explained right after the vote: "The evidence was clear-- overwhelming, in fact, as Lamar Alexander admitted. When David Perdue voted today to acquit the president he made an impermissible political decision in a constitutional matter."

Every progressive Democrat running for Senate should do a similar meme

So why did Romney vote to convict, while Moscow Mitch lead the rest of the traitorous Republicans to pretend Trump wasn't guilty or that his crimes weren't serious enough? "My faith," said Romney, "is at the heart of whom I am. I am profoundly religious," subtly contrasting himself with the irreligious and satanic Trump. It looks like he had to prevent himself from crying at that point. He reminded his colleagues that "the verdictis ours to render under our Constitution. The people will judge us for how well and faithfully we do our duty." Imagine Trump enablers up for reelection in November-- Cory Gardner, Joni Ernst, Susan Collins, Martha McSally, Thom Tillis, David Perdue, John Cornyn, Dan Sullivan for example-- squirming in their seats, figuratively if not literally. I asked Andrew Romanoff, the progressive Democrat taking on Cory Gardner-- and having to fight off the status quo instincts of Schumer at the same time-- and he told me that "6 years ago, Cory Gardner promised to be a 'new kind' of politicians. Today, he proved again: that line was as old-- and as hollow-- as they come. Gardner ignored his constitutional duty, blocked evidence and acquitted a President who boasted about breaking the law. It’s time for both to go." Susan Collins' progressive opponent, Betsy Sweet was just as critical of Collins: "Senator Collins 'disappointed' but voting to acquit. She said on national tv that she thought he had learned some lessons from this. But Trump, when asked, said he didn’t learn anything because he had done nothing wrong. The real question is, have we learned our lesson-- which is that Collins will always vote with McConnell when he wants her to. She will always put party above democracy. Something I will never do as Maine’s next Senator."

Romney made it clear it was anything but a "perfect call"-- for anyone but Trump and Putin-- and immediately after he was done speaking, the White House announced that reporters were no longer invited into the Oval Office for a scheduled 2:15 pm opportunity to hear Trump boasting. Reporters were already lined up on the South Lawn ready to go in when Trump demanded the whole thing be cancelled. Romney said Trump "is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. What he did was not perfect; no, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one's oath of office that I can imagine."

Coverup by Nancy Ohanian

How many of the 60,933,504 votes that Romney got were from Republicans who don't give a damn about anything he said yesterday? Romney won 24 states and, with the possible exception of Arizona and Utah, I'd bet that at least 80% of Republicans in them are wishing Romney ill. Why does Trump give a damn? He had planned to say the impeachment was a partisan hoax with no Republican support. Couldn't do that. He also feels betrayed by Romney, who he endorsed when he ran for the Senate, not that Romney sought or needed his endorsement. And now the news was as much about Romney's courageous vote as about Trump's "exoneration."

Kentucky state Rep, Charles Booker, one of the Democrats competing to take on Moscow Mitch in November, said that he had been clear from the beginning of this impeachment trial, "that Donald Trump should be convicted and removed. In contrast, Mitch McConnell began this process by touting his partiality. All of the aspects of this trial that brought shame upon our country, including blocking witnesses and evidence, can all be traced back to one person: Mitch McConnell. He sold out Kentuckians on a false hope that it will help him stay in power. Whether you believe Donald Trump should be removed or acquitted, we can all agree that Mitch McConnell did a disservice to all Americans by making a mockery of our democracy for the whole world to watch."

Pelosi's official statement:

Today, the President and Senate Republicans have normalized lawlessness and rejected the system of checks and balances of our Constitution. Our Founders put safeguards in the Constitution to protect against a rogue president. They never imagined that they would at the same time have a rogue leader in the Senate who would cowardly abandon his duty to uphold the Constitution.

President Trump was impeached with the support of a majority of the American people-- a first in our nation’s history. And now he is the first President in history to face a bipartisan vote to convict him in the Senate. A full 75 percent of Americans and many members of the GOP Senate believe the President’s behavior is wrong. But the Senate chose instead to ignore the facts, the will of the American people and their duty to the Constitution.

The President will boast that he has been acquitted. There can be no acquittal without a trial, and there is no trial without witnesses, documents and evidence. By suppressing the evidence and rejecting the most basic elements of a fair judicial process, the Republican Senate made themselves willing accomplices to the President’s cover-up.

Even without additional witnesses and documents in the Senate trial, our House Managers laid out an overwhelming, compelling and incriminating case about President Trump’s scheme to corrupt the 2020 elections and proved his guilt. The President’s legal team could not and did not refute the facts of the case. Instead, they argued that the American people have no right to stop the President from using the power of his office to cheat in our elections. They argued that if the President thinks that his re-election is good for the country, he can use any means necessary to win, with no accountability or consequences.

In December, the House defended democracy by passing two articles of impeachment to hold the President accountable for abusing his office for his own personal, political gain at the expense of our national security and the integrity of our elections. The President has been impeached forever.

Sadly, because of the Republican Senate’s betrayal of the Constitution, the President remains an ongoing threat to American democracy, with his insistence that he is above the law and that he can corrupt the elections if he wants to.  The House will continue to protect and defend the checks and balances in the Constitution that safeguard our Republic, both in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion. Democrats will continue to defend our democracy For The People.

State of the Union-- Nancy Pelosi by Nancy Ohanian