The NRCC Is Dishonoring The Memory Of John McCain Already

MI-08 is an iffy seat for a Democrat to win without a wave. But this cycle there is a wave. The R+4 district includes Democratic Ingraham County (Lansing), Republican Livingston County and then red parts of Oakland County. in the suburbs north of Detroit. Although Obama won the district in 2008, Romney took it in 2012 and Trump beat Hillary 50.6% to 43.9%. The incumbent, Mike Bishop, was majority leader of the Michigan state Senate but has been a hapless, anonymous backbencher in Congress, a Trump rubber-stamp and enabler. His Trump affinity score is an eye-popping 97.8%, way out of synch with his district. The 538 website shows a pretty classic toss-up, forecasting Bishop will get 48.8% of the votes against 48.2% for Elissa Slotkin, a conservative New Dem.

As of the July 18 FEC reporting deadline in Michigan, Slotkin was doing far better than Bishop in the money race. She had raised $3,022,226, spent $644,848 and was sitting on $2,377,378. Bishop had only raised $2,187,217 ($1,444,121 from PACs), spent $581,498 and had just $1,706,307 left on hand. At that time, Paul Ryan's sleaze SuperPAC hadn't really begun to spend much on him; they're just getting started and will more than make up for her fundraising advantage. The ad up top, though, was paid for by the NRCC.

The DCCC recruited Slotkin because they had a theory that it would be advantageous to run hawkish, conservative women with military and intelligence backgrounds. She's a former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense. She worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations-- she just picked up endorsements from 3 big name GOP military industrial complex types (Chuck Hagel, John Negroponte and Stephen Hadley)-- in the CIA, primarily on Middle East matters. Judging by her website, she has nothing to offer MI-08 voters (except her interesting biography). On the issues that are motivating voters? Crickets... except her claim that she'll take "a common sense approach." She's as terrible a candidate as the DCCC routinely spits out and her only chance to win is if the anti-red wave sweeps Bishop away for her. It's a classic lesser of two evil race. She put out a strong TV today-- but it would be stronger if she supported Medicare-for-All.



Back to the anti-Slotkin ad up top, for a moment though, the one made and put on TV by the NRCC. John McCain's family isn't pleased that the NRCC used him in it. A family spokesperson told NBC News that "the McCain family believes it's unfortunate that the senator's image is being weaponized this election season. They hope that there would be more respect, especially so soon after his passing." Nor is it just the Michigan ad that they're pissed off about.

Here's another one the NRCC is running against another shitty DCCC candidate, New Dem Ann Kirkpatrick. The McCain part of the ad was from when he and she were locked in a U.S. Senate battle 2 years ago.



The NRCC is refusing to take either ad down, despitee the McCain family's requests. The chances of their weak candidate beating Kirkpatrick as the anti-red wave sweeps over Arizona is practically zero. Actually it's 1 in 15, not a very good bet for the NRCC-- and a stupid waste of money when they're already using triage to write off incumbents an other weak challengers in open seats like AZ-02.

Did you watch Samantha Bee talking about how the GOP uses gerrymandering and other techniques to win elections even when they get fewer votes? If you appreciate her style of comedy (I do), it's worth taking a look:

What Happened At The Polls Yesterday?

There seems like a great deal of joy out there online because of Andrew Gillum's come-from-behind win for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Florida. Andrew's an old friend who I've know for a couple of decades. I'm thrilled he won and Blue America was an early endorser. We were overjoyed that he beat two conservative Democrats, Gwen Ghaham and Philip Levine, sweeping all of the big cities: Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee and West Palm. The tough part comes next, when he goes up against Trump's nominee, far right extremist Ron DeSantis (who defeated the mainstream conservative Adam Putnam 56.5% to 36.6%).

Downside 1- 1,610,016 Republicans voted and just 1,495,194 Democrats did. We're going to have to do better in November, Please consider contributing to Andrew's campaign here. Remember when Trump was screaming about Sessions going after "the other side" last week? Take my word for it, the DOJ will soon be coming out with charges against Andrew. After all, Trump is the most repulsively racist "president" since Andrew Jackson. Just watch.

Downside 2- In all the congressional races, the most consiervative Democrat beat the more progressive one, most tragically in FL-09, where a wretched New Dem, Darren Soto, was helped by a gang of Republican billionaires-- who spent a million dollars in a concentrated smear campaign-- to defeat Alan Grayson. Other races were rotgut candidates from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party outspent progressives and beat them were in FL-07, where Blue Dog Stephanie Murphy beat Chardo Richardson; FL-15, where progressive Andrew Learned was beaten by worthless conservative Kristen Carlson; FL-16 where David Shapiro beat Jan Schneider; FL-18 where Pam Keither was beaten by Lauren Baer; FL-26, where Debbie Mucarsel-Powell beat Demetries Grimes; and FL-27 where the 5-person race leaves Democrats with Donna Shalala instead of eight of the 2 progressives, David Richardson or Matt Haggman.

In Oklahoma, the only race we were watching was the primary runoff in the 5th congressional district (OK City) between pointless conservative Kendra Horn and Berniecrat Tom Guild. The establishment got what it wanted and in November we'll watch Horn go do in flames to an even more conservative Republican, Steve Russell. A little good news in Oklahoma: Last night, The Republic reported that six more incumbent Republican state House members lost their seats. All six voted against a tax hike used to fund a teacher pay raise. "Of the 19 House Republicans who voted against the tax hike, eight have now been defeated. Seven others decided not to run. Only four have advanced to the general election."

Arizona was something like Florida inasmuch as the progressive gubernatorial candidate, David Garcia, won the Democratic nomination to go up against Republican incumbent Doug Ducey.

In the Arizona Democratic primary for Senate there were no surprises, Blue Dog Kyrsten Sinema, the worst Democrat in the House-- not second worst or third worst, the worst-- won the nomination against Deedra Abboud, who spent $66,920 to Sinema's $10,299,504. Sinema, who was handpicked for Arizona by Chuck Schumer and Wall Street, took 81% of the vote. No one expected a different outcome. The less sure vote was on the GOP side, where mainstream conservative Martha McSally was way ahead of the 2 neo-fascist candidates this morning-- only 60% of the precincts had been counted as of this writing. McSally was over 52% with Trumpist Kelli Ward at 28% and Trumpist Joe Arpaio at 19%. McConnell was able to keep Trump from mouthing off about the race.

The only contested House seat was down in Tucson (AZ-02, McSally's now open seat), where the conservative establishment candidate, Ann Kirkpatrick, beat progressive Matt Heinz, again-- like with Grayson-- the race being swung by hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy Republican donors who wanted a fake Democrat, not a progressive. You didn't hear a peep out of the DCCC about all this Republican sewer money flooding into the districts because it was going to the same corrupt, right-of-center candidates Ben Ray Lujan and the DCCC backed. This idea of wealthy Republicans picking candidates in Democratic primaries is going to come back and bite Democrats in the ass in a very bog way-- and it should. 

Have You Voted Today?

Hundreds of thousands of dollars-- certainly well over a million by this morning-- have gushed into the FL-09 Democratic primary from conservative billionaires-- primary from the Murdoch family and assorted Wall Street banksters. The money is laundered through a network of slimy SuperPACs controlled by Nancy Jacobson's No Labels and has gone entirely to smear progressive icon Alan Grayson. The goal is to keep conservative New Dem, Darren Soto, in Congress. Why? Watch the video up top? That's the big prize for No Labels and their financiers... phasing out Social Security and Medicare. The other primary today where No Labels is financing attacks against a progressive to bolster a right wing Democrat is in Tucson (AZ-02), where conservatives are trying to get another New Dem, Ann Kirkpatrick, back into Congress. So the smear machine-- operated by both No Labels and EMILY's List-- has been working overtime against progressive Democrat Matt Heinz.

With that much right-wing interest in Democratic primaries, you've got to think those are the two most important congressional races in the country today. And they are:

• FL-09- Alan Grayson
• AZ-02- Matt Heinz

Are there other races important for progressives today? Oh yes. Let's start in Florida and work our way west. The biggest news story in Florida is the gubernatorial race. On the Republican side 2 conservatives are battling it out-- establishment Howdy Doody character, Adam Putnam, who was the front-runner, and a neo-fascist, Trump-backed congressman: Ron DeSantis, the current front-runner after multiple Trump endorsements. DeSantis would probably be a gift for Democrats since he is so far right that independent voters will probably not vote for him in November-- and independents decide who wins in Florida statewide races.

On the Democratic side, we've endorsed Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, the progressive in the race. His two right-of-center opponents, an ex-governor's daughter and failed one-term Blue Dog congresswoman Gwen Graham and wealthy former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine, are favored by the Democratic establishment. Although insipid Republican-lite candidates like Graham and Levine keep losing in Florida, the hope of the establishment is that the wave would drag either of these worthless candidates to victory. With Jeff Greene all but withdrawn from the race, Gillum is the only candidate representing the Eleanor and Franklin wing of the party-- or what you could call, the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. Graham and Levine are the kind of careerist characters who define the Republican wing of the party.

Aside from the Grayson-Soto race, progressives should be looking at the open seat in FL-15, where Dennis Ross is retiring. The district includes Tampa suburbs and agricultural parts of Polk County. Trump beat Hillary there by 10 points (53-43%) and the PVI is R+6. There are two Democrats running today, a conservative EMILY's List attorney, Kristen Carlson, a real nothing-burger, and a progressive Navy Vet, Andrew Learned, who backs Medicare-For-All. Carlson is Republican-lite candidate who doesn't.

With Ileana Ros-Lehtinen retiring, FL-27 in Miami is another open seat and a near-certain Democratic pick-up. Hillary trounced Trump by 20 points-- 59-39% and the PVI is listed as D+5 by is effectively D+7 (Cook is slow). Of the 3 top candidates, the front-runner is elderly establishment status quo rich person, Donna Shalala, terrible candidate. There are two progressives, state Rep. David Richardson and former Miami Herald reporter Matt Haggman. Haggman would make the best member if Congress of the three. Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times reported that "fired-up Democrats flocked to early voting sites over the weekend to give the party an early voting advantage over Republicans and close the gap in turnout between the parties two days before election day." Today, polls in Florida are open from 7am 'til 7pm.

In Oklahoma there's a run-off in the 5th district (Oklahoma City) between a pointless establishment hack, Kendra Horn, and a dedicated progressive and Berniecrat, Tom Guild (endorsed by Blue America). The winner faces far right congressman Steve Russell in November. Electing Republican-lite Horn is the same as handing Russell reelection.

And now Arizona. Republican Doug Ducey is seeking reelection. There are 3 Democrats vying for a chance to defeat him-- former Department of Education official David Garcia, the progressive in the race, plus state Sen. Steve Farley and a YMCA employee named Kelly Fryer. Garcia is polling well and is the only chance the Democrats have to take out Ducey.

The race to replace Jeff Flake in the Senate will be between very right-wing Blue Dog Kyrsten Sinema, a corrupt, pretend Democrat who is ahead in the polls, and one of 3 Republicans, mainstream conservative congresswoman Martha McSally, the establishment pick and two extremist lunatics, Kelli Ward, and controversial ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio. McConnell has persuaded Trump not to endorse either of the two Trumpists and just keep his mouth shut so McSally can win the primary since she's seen as the only chance the GOP will have to defeat Sinema.

There are really no exciting House primaries in Arizona other than the one in Tucson pitting the very conservative carpetbagger Kirkpatrick against local progressive doctor, Matt Heinz. Aside from the GOP billionaires and EMILY's List pumping money into the race smearing Heinz, the DCCC is also backing Kirkpatrick. Polling shows Heinz ahead, in large part because of Kirkpatrick's record as a die-hard NRA supporter, an opponent of Wall Street reform-- she voted with the GOP against Dodd-Frank-- and because of her support, along with the Republicans, to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

There's A Big Primary In The Tucson Area Tomorrow-- And it Could Be Waterloo For Another DCCC Candidate

The DCCC didn't have the decency wait for local Democratic voters to pick a candidate to run for the AZ-02 nomination. They just barreled in and endorsed-- and spent tons of money on-- the most conservative of the 7 Democrats in the race, Ann Kirkpatrick. Kirpatrick isn't from southern Arizona but she "moved" down to Tucson-- if she even did (she seems to live in Phoenix and just goes down to Tucson to visit her grandchildren and to campaign)-- to get back into Congress.

The 2 most recent polls-- one done for Kirkpatrick's campaign and one done for Matt Heinz's campaign-- both show Heinz slightly ahead, although a source inside the DCCC told me their own poll shows Heinz beating their candidate by 5 points. She's outspent him two-to-one and money has poured into the district, not just from the DCCC, mostly to introduce her to the locals, but from the contemptible No Labels network of dirty money SuperPACs funded by conservative billionaires (particularly the Murdoch family.) Why would wealthy Republicans be spending so much money in a Democratic primary?

Easy: whichever Democrat wins the primary is going to be the next AZ-02 member of Congress. The day Martha McSally announced she was running for the seat, Paul Ryan's SuperPAC folded up it's tent, shut down the Tucson campaign office and snuck out of town in the dead of night. They know very well that Republican Lea Marquez Peterson isn't going to win. She's not just like Trump policy-wise; she's brags incessantly about what a great businesswoman she is-- the way he did-- and then ignores questions about her gigantic bankruptcy-- like he did. Knowing that a Democrat has a 90% chance, Republican donors looked at Kirkpatrick's record and Heinz's record; it was no contest. Kirkpatrick is the best Republican running in the AZ-02 Democratic primary.

Matt Heinz is a progressive. Kirkpatrick, a New Dem, was an NRA star-- who publicly boasted she would protect them from Obama and who got an "A" rating from them. (As part of her campaign of lies and deception, she and her unscrupulous allies have been sending out mailers calling Heinz the NRA candidate to confuse voters. But that isn't the real reason why she's getting so much money from rich Republican contributors. What the Murdochs and their pals are most excited about is that Kirkpatrick voted with the GOP against Wall Street reform (Dodd-Frank), with the GOP on extending the Bush tax cuts, with the GOP on turning Medicare into a voucher program and, in general, voting with the GOP far more frequently than most Democrats. If you can't get a real Republican, you go for someone from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. And that's Ann Kirkpatrick... always has been; always will be.

Her GOP allies are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars smearing Heinz. She has been moaning that Heinz's policy-oriented compare-and-contrast ads are "negative" but her negative mailers-- 3 on Friday alone-- are part of a tidal wave of slime and negativity. One of Politico's worst fools, Elena Schneider, wrote a lazy, misleading piece yesterday that doesn't even mention that Kirkpatrick is getting help from billionaire Republicans, like the Murdochs (which you'd think her editor and readers might be confused about). She also seems to have not bothered to explain where the negativity started in this race. Schneider also kept hammering home that Kirkpatrick, an arch conservative, is "a moderate." The word "moderate" is the most admired political description in U.S. politics. The opposite of "moderate" is what... radical? extremist? fanatical? What? Matt Heinz's policy agenda is in tune with what Americans want-- nice and moderate. Ann Kirkpatrick is way to the right of what Americans want-- positions so so conservative that the Murdochs and their Wall Street allies are bankrolling her (ironically, along with the DCCC-- yes, strange bed-fellows indeed). Elena needs to go back for some emergency journalism courses... stat.

How much like a Republican does she sound, especially at the end of this video where she brags about her "A" from the NRA? In fact this is how she greeted the NRA when they held their convention in Phoenix. "I am not going to allow Washington to ignore the values of Arizonans' and the traditions of four generations of my family in District One, and I am proud to be pushing back against the federal government to stop our Constitutional rights from being infringed. Every time the anti-gun rights groups propose legislation that restricts our freedoms, I am going to make sure they know millions of Americans will fight them every inch of the way." (And she lies right to the voters and says Heinz is the NRA candidate!) Don't forget to vote tomorrow. Washington is already too full of politicians just like Ann Kirkpatrick.

Conservative Billionaires Think They Can Buy Democratic Primaries-- Can They?

The day after the New York congressional primaries, geniuses in the mass media, including in New York City, were running around asking how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spells her name. They missed the boat on that one-- missed it entirely. Now they're missing the boat on another big story-- that Republican billionaires are spending heavily in Democratic primaries. They want to pick the Democratic nominees, just the way they pick the Republican nominees. I sent one of the smartest mainstream media guys a tip-off about it. His response was "hey man, will def take a look and give it some thought! maybe not today, buried. but this week. will be in touch." Let's see, that was on August 8 so it's no longer "this week," nor even the week after.

The money is being funneled into Democratic primaries by one of the shadiest conservative operatives in American politics, Nancy Jacobson who controls a network of SuperPACs through her No Labels/Problem Solvers outfits. I first noticed when she was up to when she dumped a ton of last minute sewer money into the IL-03 race pitting progressive Marie Newman against right-wing Blue Dog Dan Lipinski. Marie was winning the race when a tidal wave of Jacobson slime flooded the district, one smear after another. In the end all the No Labels garbage ads saved Lipinski's neck. He beat Newman 48,675 (51.1%) to 46,530 (48.9%). Who put up the millions of dollars for a Democratic primary? Republicans and conservative Democrats. One name I noticed today was in a letter from progressive candidate for Rhode Island Lt. Governor, Aaron Regunberg, running against a conservative Republican with a "D" next to his name, Dan McKee (who took $150,000 from the Walton family and from Jonathan Sackler, the big Bobby Jindal and Joe Lieberman financial backer and the pharmaceutical billionaire behind the nation’s OxyContin crisis. The name I recognized from the Wall Sreet billionaire campaign to save Lipinski was Tony Davis, a Rahm Emanuel ally who founded and is president of Linden Capital Partners. He just dumped $50,000 into the relatively low-profile Rhode Island race.

"We think," wrote Regunberg, "this is just the beginning of the corporate dark money coming into our state to support Dan McKee... I’m proud to run a campaign that doesn’t take money from Wall Street, corporate PACs, fossil fuel interests, drug manufacturers or the gun lobby. We don’t have out-of-state millionaires and billionaires, because we have something more powerful-- the people. And in a fight with Big Money, the people can win."

I hope he's right because billionaire Republicans are spending big to defeat progressive Democrats in every part of the country. And that trend is accelerating right now. James Rupert Murdoch-- yeah, the Fox guy-- gave Jacobson SuperPACs to support conservative Democrat Darren Soto against Alan Grayson in their primary. Jacobson is also spending dark money in favor of Arizona conservative Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick in her primary against Matt Heinz. Sad Horrifying that the DCCC and EMILY's List and the Republican billionaires-- including James Murdoch-- behind the Progress Tomorrow right-wing PAC, are all spending money against the progressive in the Tucson primary, Matt Heinz, and trying to bolster Kirkpatrick. So far they've spent half a million dollars to make sure the Democratic nominee is a conservative. Ironically, the ugliest and most vicious and untruthful of all the ads are from EMILY's List, a group that never used to but now absolutely hates progressive men even more than the DCCC or the GOP does.

Jacobson's web of sleazoid SuperPACs include innocuous-sounding outfits like United for Progress, United Together, Forward Not Back, Progress Tomorrow, Patriotic Americans PAC, Citizens for a Strong America, etc, but they are entirely funded by contributions from 5 and 6-figure right wing donors, such as Rupert Murdoch and his son, Chicago White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, former Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan Selig and Wheels Inc. executive Jim Frank. As of Friday they had poured almost $600,000 into the smear campaign against Grayson. Jacobson has already lost in primary races for right-wing Democrats John Morganelli (PA) against Susan Wild (PA) and against Debra Haaland for No Labels DINO, Damon Martinez in Albuquerque.

Darren Soto is exactly the kind of fake Democrat Jacobson, the Murdochs and other GOP billionaires want to see beat progressives like Grayson. Soto voted to prosecute all abortions as murder and voted to force women who want an abortion to undergo a humiliating procedure called "transvaginal ultrasound." Since being primaried by Grayson he's been apologizing for those votes, saying he "made a mistake." He hasn't apologized for the votes that earned him "A" ratings from the NRA-- twice. And because of those hair-raising votes, the NRA endorsed him. He voted for Trump-sponsored laws 58 times in Congress and both times impeaching Trump came up in Congress, Soto voted NO. The reason No Labels is so enthusiastic about him is because he has said that he is "open-minded" about phasing out Social Security benefits or eliminating them altogether, No Labels' top issue.

Meanwhile, Soto is one of Congress' most corrupt Democrats, well known for partying with lobbyists, spending taxpayer money and campaign money illegally on personal items for himself and his wife. He has even accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign support from Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her charter school allies. Generally speaking he's been a big waste of a solidly blue seat in Congress, accomplishing nothing for anyone... but himself. That compares badly with Grayson's record:

During a debate with Grayson two weeks ago, Soto claimed "to be a great champion of women’s rights," a lie Grayson directly challenged, bringing up the specifics of Soto's shameful voting record-- like voting twice to criminalize abortion so that doctors could be charged with murder for performing one. Soto had no answer... except to say he regrets those votes. He doesn't regret them enough to turn down the help he's getting now from the anti-Choice extremists who are flooding central Florida with lies against Grayson and nonsensical assertions of Soto's grandeur.

Blue America members have been helping Grayson with his election campaigns since 2006. And he's never let us down-- always one of the 2 or 3 best members of Congress and living up to his promises. He needs us again now. The primary is August 28 and he really needs to get on the air and respond to the lies Jacobson and Murdock are flooding TV and radio with. Please consider contributing what you can by clicking on the Blue America 2018 congressional elections thermometer on the right. As of yesterday another dark money PAC had bought ads on one of the big Spanish language radio stations-- one ad every hour until election day! That's called brain-washing. It's what fascists do; it's what Republicans do. Republican billionaires know their party is going to lose control of Congress in November. So they are working to defeat progressives and make certain friendly conservative DINOs become the nominees of the Democratic Party. We can't let this happen. It's our party, not theirs.

The Sludge Known As Conventional Wisdom-- From Bulgaria To The Cook Report

After college, I spent a couple years on the "Hippie Trail," the overland route from London to New Delhi and Kathmandu. There were places, primarily in western Turkey and eastern Iran where the idea of "road" was theoretical. But overall, a few hundred of us made it through every year from the late '50s into the mid '70s. Someone's coming over either this weekend or next weekend or soon-- I forgot to write it in my calendar-- to film me for a documentary biopic. I think this Hippie Trail stuff is mostly what the producer is interested in. So I've been thinking about it lately. The 2 years were fundamental to everything that has happened to me in the ensuing 5 decades. One lesson I learned early on-- first in Bulgaria and quickly confirmed in Turkey-- was about conventional wisdom. Forget it. It's not ever where you want to start.

One of my traveling companions was a hitchhiker, Joël, I picked up outside of Niš, then the biggest town in eastern Yugoslavia on the road to Sofia, now the third largest city in Serbia. Joël was following his older brother-- who had been back and forth a couple of times and was now in Kathmandu. So Joël had a lot of useful info about what was before us. But he also had, as it turned out a lot of useless conventional wisdom. Just because it was hippie convention wisdom, it wasn't any more accurate. "Let's just skip Bulgaria," was his advise. "Take the A1 straight to Svilengrad on to Edirne and into Istanbul... There's nothing in Bulgaria."

I thought that was strange. But it was absolutely conventional wisdom for the Hippie Trail: there's nothing in Bulgaria. I didn't come all the way from New York to not see places. It was my VW van and anyone was free to offer their advice, but I was the captain of the ship. A few miles outside of Plovdiv, the A1 offers you a choice, the southeast A1 goes to Turkey and the northeast A1 goes Burgas on the Black Sea. A lot of grumbling from the peanut gallery when I headed off to the Black Sea. I spent a couple fantastic weeks between Burgas and Varna with some kids my age I met in Burgas. We were a novelty and everyone wanted to meet us. There were no tourists back then. Everyone was on their way to Istanbul. But this was a beautiful, friendly area and we stayed at communal farms and in small towns and it was a great trip. The fruits and vegetables we were given by farmers lasted us through Turley, Iran and into Afghanistan. Conventional wisdom was wrong, wrong, wrong. But I didn't know it yet.

A couple of days ago I was having an endless kerfuffle with Google's advertising department. You know how hard Google makes it to speak to an actual human being on the phone? And when you finally break through it's invariably someone in India who can't help unless they can put you in a predetermined box. However... eventually I wound up with someone in Boulder. He solved the problem and it only took 3 days. He was 25 and his grandmother had once taken the family on a Mediterranean cruise that had included Istanbul, which he loved. Something we had in common. Istanbul in 1969, my first time there, and 2012, when he went is pretty different, But we were both attracted to the same part of town, Sultanahmet-- which includes the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sohia and Topkapi Palace. I told him to watch Midnight Express, a film made in 1978 about what happened in 1969. I was there-- in the Pudding Shop-- when it happened.



Part of conventional wisdom was that the Sultanahmet area of Turkey was fabulous and cool but that the rest of Turkey was horrible and should be gotten through as fast as Bulgaria. As usual-- ass-backwards. Imagine you're from Europe and you go to America... but never get beyond, say Times Square. And then say "America sucks." Like Times Square at the time, Sultanahmet-- and the Pudding Shop in particular-- was a place where hippies came to buy hash, where crooks came to rip off hippies and where the cops came to extort or arrest everyone.

That's when it finally added up to me. I realized how Sultanahmet was the worst place in Turkey to be-- it's gentrified and fine now-- and how every other place in Turkey was way better. I loved Turkey. I've been back a dozen times-- sans conventional wisdom.

I could write about Turkey for hours but I've done that for my travel blog and when I started writing today it was supposed to be about political conventional wisdom. So... let me get into that. Political conventional wisdom is created by the party committees-- like the NRCC and the DCCC-- feeding their versions of reality to David Wasserman at Cook. It gets worse from there, especially when the mainstream media starts regurgitating it as wisdom handed down from on high. The DCCC and David Wasserman are why Alexandria Ocasio's race came as such a surprise to everyone-- even to lunkheads like Joe Crowley, Ben Ray Lujan, Ann Kuster and Nancy Pelosi. Those 4 were charged with keeping Crowley in his seat but now of them knew this young woman who wasn't born when he first started "winning" elections had already eviscerated him. And if they didn't know-- believe me, David Wasserman didn't know. Didn't know, as in "never heard of." Is the Bronx north of Queens or is Queens on Long Island. NY-14, why I we never heard of that before?

Yesterday, Wasserman defined the big anti-red wave that's headed to DC by prognosticating that "Democrats remain substantial favorites for House control." You think? "A"-- at least he was smart enough not to say "the"-- big reason: Republicans are defending 42 open or vacant seats, a record since at least 1930. The retirements of Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-01), as well as powerful committee chairs like Reps. Ed Royce (CA-39) and Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) and popular moderates like Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27) and Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02), have given Democrats stellar pickup opportunities." No mention of why these gents and Ileans are retiring. Just a coincidence. Ryan's seat was already lost before he "decided." So was Royce's, LoBiondo's Ros Lehtinen's and, probably, Frelinghuysen's.

Wasserman would rather talk about hocus pocus-- like historical trends and fundraising. "Of Republicans' 42 incumbent-less seats, eight are in districts that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and an additional 13 are in districts where President Trump received less than 55 percent. History is working against the GOP in many of those seats: we found that since 1992, in situations when a president's party was stuck defending an open seat two years after the president failed to carry it, that party has batted zero for 23 keeping it in their column."

He's caught on to the Blue Wave-- just when smarter people have realized what's happening is more an anti-red wave than an actual blue wave. He'll get there... by January.

To some extent, the focus on a "blue wave" has overshadowed an equally important 2018 trend: the steady purge of Trump skeptics from the congressional GOP. Retirements are the single biggest factor, but so are GOP primaries. Not only did Rep. Mark Sanford (SC-01) lose his, but loyalty to the president has emerged as the dominant theme in primaries for dozens of safely GOP open seats. November losses promise to further thin the moderate herd.

Fundraising deficits are a growing GOP problem: in 20 of the 42 seats, the leading Democrat raised more than the leading Republican between April and June, including in seven of eight Clinton-carried districts (Rep. Dave Reichert's open WA-08 was the only exception) and 13 of 34 Trump-carried seats. That's especially problematic because the NRCC and Congressional Leadership Fund are already stuck defending dozens of vulnerable incumbents.

The most immediate open seat test is the August 7 special election in Ohio's 12th CD, north of Columbus. It's in the Toss Up column, and if Democrat Danny O'Connor defeats Republican Troy Balderson in a seat Trump carried by 11 points in 2016 (R+7 PVI), it would be another piece of evidence that Democrats are pushing the House battleground deeper into Trump territory.

Funniest lines in Wasserman's reports:

Unabashed

Talking about AZ-02 and carpetbagger Ann Kirkpatrick, one of the most far right Democrats running anywhere: "Kirkpatrick is an unabashed liberal, who proudly voted for Nancy Pelosi and Obamacare, and she's running with the support of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly." Only in DC would anyone define "unabashed liberal" as someone who "proudly voted for Nancy Pelosi." Certainly in 2002. But in 2018? Uh... no. Obamacare? Kirkpatrick broke ranks with the Democrats and voted with the GOP to kill it, which is why she lost her seat and then lost a Senate race. And support from Gabby Giffords? I'm sorry Gabby got shot but she was a right-of-center Blue Dog before that tragic incident and to this day always bends over backwards to support right-of-center Democrats from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, not progressives. Do "unabashed liberals" have A+ ratings from the NRA? How about being the only AZ-02 candidate to support ICE? Is that what Wasserman meant? Dave... today we use Medicare-For-All, Job Guarantee, free state universities, green energy transition, living wage... to define "unabashed liberals." It's 2018; you should give it a try. It won't hurt you.

His column is filled with DCCC/NRCC junk. Kansas-- Bernie and Alexandria were just in Wichita and Kansas City campaigning for James Thompson and Brent Welder, progressives who have caught fire. Wasserman instead sticks to the DCCC script, promoting the race with the DCCC's vomitous GOP-lite Blue Dog, Blue Dog instead. Wisconsin-01... maybe he was taking a crap and someone from the NRCC logged onto his computer and wrote that section of his post. Sure sounds like that. Anyway... warning about Wasserman: conventional wisdom is junk, whether if it's about Bulgaria or congressional politics.

Ann Kirkpatrick Sucks-- And She Has Always Sucked... Which Is Why Fox News Loves Her

We've been writing about Arizona New Dem Ann Kirkpatrick for years-- here are some of the most recent. She's awful and always has been. So while everyone has been talking about how Fox and Friends accidentally put a real Democrat on the air, Barbara L'Italien by accident, I want to make sure people know why Fox and Friends recognized Kirkpatrick as a friend and how eager they were to get her on the air to bash Democratic values.

First as couple off words about Massachusetts state Senator Barbara L'Italien, a candidate for Congress in the open-- and very crowded-- Niki Tsongas seat, which stretches along the northern border of the state from Haverhill, Lawrence, Andover and Lowell through Groten Acton and Concord out to Fitchburg and Winchendon. The PVI is D+9 andTrump only took 35% of the vote there. Of the 14 Democrats vying to replace Tsongas, 3 have significantly outraised L'Italien ($701,881)-- Dan Koh ($2,989,826), Rufus Gifford ($1,343,897) and Lori Trahan ($1,133,585). Whichever Democrat wins the September 4 primary might as well start packing for Congress September 5.

Monday morning Fox and Friends called the L'Italien campaign by accident, looking for the cruddy conservative Democrat who always agrees with the Fox perspective. A L'Italien staffer, Joe Katz, saw his opportunity to get his candidate on the air and grabbed it resulting in the awesome video at the top of the page. Knowing that Fox and Friends is Trumpanzee's favorite early morning viewing, L'Italian ignored the hosts' inane question (for Kirkpatrick) and looked into the camera and said "I'm actually here to speak directly to Donald Trump. I feel that what's happening at the border is wrong. I believe that separating kids from their parents is illegal and inhumane." She said who she is and continued: "We have to stop abducting children and ripping them from their parents’ arms, stop putting kids in cages, and stop making 3-year-olds defend themselves in court," very much not the messaging Fox hosts Jillian Mele and Rob Schmitt wanted on the air, nor the message Ann Kirkpatrick is interested in being put out either. She admits she would have voted with the handful of right-wing and racist Democrats who went along with the GOP last week in backing ICE. That's always been Kirkpatrick-- and always will be... a Republican with a "D" next to her name. The DCCC backs her all the way and has been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to make sure she-- and not progressives Matt Heinz or Mary Matiella-- wins the August 28 primary.



AZ-02 is the Tucson-based southern Arizona district Ann Kirkpatrick is trying to win. She's from northern Arizona and represented a district up there. She doesn't live in southern Arizona but visits her grandchildren in Tucson from time to time. She was the poster child for the NRA, who has always graded her an "A" and it doesn't surprise anyone that she backs ICE. She's always been at the very heart of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.



This morning, I spoke with Heinz just as he was getting off his night shift at the hospital he works at. "I was flabbergasted," he told me, "to see Ann raise her hand to support ICE with no additional reform or changes in oversight. But I was in no way surprised to see her once again change her answer the second it wasn't convenient for her. This has become a pattern of hers; she'll say one thing and then immediately try to say the opposite just to further her political agenda. I strongly believe in the need for a massive overhaul of ICE and a change of leadership that starts at the very top with electing a new president. To allow the status-quo to continue is simply unacceptable to me and to the voters of Southern Arizona. The people don't have faith in our political system because politicians flip-flop between answers to whichever is most convenient in the moment. This is exactly why national entities, and the DCCC in particular, need to let the voters decide who can best represent their community before coming in to back a particular candidate. DC insiders just don't understand Southern Arizona and it's becoming increasing clear to anyone paying attention that neither does Ann."

When It Comes To Sane Gun Policies, Who You Going To Trust? The DCCC? Gabby Giffords? Watch Out

I'm not so sure about former Education Secretary Arne Duncan idea about parents pulling their children out of school until elected officials pass stricter gun control laws. That would be alike a dream come true for conservatives who don't want kids from poor homes going to school anyway and who believe only kids from wealthy families need to be educated. I prefer a different approach. As the NY Times reported over the weekend, "The pace of new voter registrations among young people in crucial states is accelerating, a signal that school shootings this year-- and the anger and political organizing in their wake-- may prove to be more than ephemeral displays of activism."

Precisely a month ago, the Washington Post's Katie Zezima took this up as well, noting that the next battle over guns is at the ballot box. "The massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February," she wrote, sparked a renewed interest in gun control, with students who survived the attack leading rallies, marches, walkouts and pushes for gun legislation. People across the country, and the world, participated in hundreds of events demanding action on gun violence. Now, leaders are hoping the momentum from the March for Our Lives movement will lead to a more enduring next phase: getting young people to the voting booth in November, an effort to change not just policy in Washington, but the people who set it. Groups from around the country are hosting voter drives at high schools and colleges, including during widespread school walkouts on Friday, the anniversary of the 1999 massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School. They are setting up voter-registration tables at gun-control marches and are working to galvanize the nation's youngest voters around a single issue."

"By voting in the midterms, I will choose to vote for senators and representatives who do not support the NRA," said Kira Pomeranz, a senior at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, who registered to vote in February and will turn 18 in August.

The push started shortly after the Parkland shooting and was evident at last month's March for Our Lives rallies, where volunteers at numerous events, including one in New York, roamed around with clipboards asking people to register to vote. Organizations including Rock the Vote and Mi Familia Vota trained more than 400 volunteers at Georgetown Law School and then fanned them out to the rally in Washington, where they distributed federal voter-registration forms and then dropped off those that were completed. Survivors of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas also have joined voting drives across the country.

According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, 53 percent of respondents say students across the country holding rallies to call for stricter gun laws represent a lasting movement.

"Who here is going to vote in the 2018 election?" David Hogg, a Parkland survivor, asked at last month's rally in the District of Columbia. "We are going to make this a voting issue. We're going to take this to every election, to every state, to every city."

NextGen America, a liberal advocacy group founded by hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, and gun-control advocacy groups Giffords and Everytown for Gun Safety have announced an initiative aimed at getting 50,000 teenagers registered to vote ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Giffords, huh? Giffords is a pawn of the Democratic Party-- 100%. It's VERY politically incorrect to bring it up, but before she was shot, she was a reactionary Blue Dog. Is there a reason to think she has changed? She endorses right-wing Democrats... including right-wing Democrats who are sketchy on guns and even allied with the NRA. She will always pick a conservative over a progressive. In her old district, for example, she has fulsomely endorsed Ann Kirkpatrick, long Arizona's poster girl for... the NRA. Kirkpatrick, a northern Arizona conservative, is a carpetbagger running in Tucson, and she is clearly the most conservative of serveral Democratic candidates-- and the only one who has been in bed with the NRA. Kirkpatrick suddenly claims she favors sane gun control but her record tells a different story. She welcomed the NRA convention to Phoenix by telling the delegates that "as a gun owner myself, I firmly believe in the right of all Americans to keep and bear arms, and I am proud that my state is hosting the group that has protected that right for 138 years. This is a chance for Arizonans to show our nation’s leaders we will not let them take away our freedoms... People in Washington need to stop undermining the Second Amendment. That’s why I took on the Attorney General for his proposal to ban so-called 'assault weapons.' I will continue to work vigilantly to maintain and protect our Second Amendment rights against every challenge they face." 

Giffords endorsed her this cycle instead of any of the strong NRA opponents. Giffords herself-- before the assassination attempt-- was decidedly pro-gun and actively opposed efforts that the NRA opposed. I hope these kids registering to vote don't get fooled.



And it isn't just Gabby Giffords talking out of both sides of her mouth. The DCCC is far worse. They love beating up on Republicans for being NRA shills but... The DCCC has been recruiting-- not just supporting, recruiting-- NRA allies all cycle. Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ), Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY), New Dem Ann Kirkpatrick of course, Lauren Baer (New Dem-FL), Elaine Luria (VA) and Paul Davis (Blue Dog-KS) are all NRA/DCCC candidates. There are others in Congress already who have had long records backing the NRA and, of course, the DCCC backs them too-- from Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA), Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX) and Colin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN) to Darren Soto (New Dem-FL) and Tim Ryan (would be Speaker-OH).

"This could be a turning point for us," said Mark Kelly, who founded [Americans for Responsible Solutions] with his wife, former U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) a survivor of a mass shooting. "If we're able to get 100,000 young people registered to vote and get them to show up in key places, in the right place, that could have a serious impact."

The drive will focus on young voters in 10 swing states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Each state has candidates who are supported by the National Rifle Association on the ballot.

The groups plan to mail voter-registration forms to 18- and 19-year-olds on their birthdays, target them with online voter-registration ads and, where legal, preregister 16- and 17-year-olds to vote. The focus will be on students who will reach legal voting age by Election Day 2018.

Kelly said that after Parkland, young people are suddenly realizing that they have inherited a "pretty lousy set of circumstances" from their parents and grandparents and those who have previously been elected to office.

"And they don't like it. Who can blame them?" Kelly said.

A spokesman for NextGen said that the registration efforts are nonpartisan, but just appearing on the voter rolls would allow the groups to focus dissemination of gun-control information to the new voters and would allow candidates to reach them directly with text messages or on Facebook. The groups also are trying to do peer-to-peer recruitment, believing that the word of a friend or classmate will hold more sway than a targeted ad.

In many ways, the gun-control advocacy groups are trying to catch up with the NRA, which puts tremendous effort into elections. The group and its Institute for Legislative Action spend millions of dollars on campaign contributions, lobbying, political spending and getting its membership to vote. The group's political victory fund ranks candidates and politicians with a letter grade, and the website of the Institute for Legislative Action-- known as NRA-ILA-- allows people to check their voting status.

"Over the past few years, NRA-ILA members and the NRA have decidedly changed politics in America," the NRA-ILA's website says.

Now gun-control groups and the students who work with and support them believe they can counter that power at the voting booth.

Another District The DCCC Is Stumbling Around In And Screwing Up The Works

Since we write so much about how terrible the DCCC interference in Democratic primaries is, people often ask me which one of the races are they screwing up the most. They've certainly done immense damage in Houston (TX-07), in Austin (TX-21), Dallas (TX-32), Omaha (NE-02), Orange County (CA-39), South Jersey (NJ-02), the Denver suburbs (CO-06), Syracuse (NY-24), and South Texas (TX-23), but the race in Tucson (AZ-02) may well be the most disgusting. Ann Kirkpatrick was already in Congress and accrued really horrible, conservative voting record and a consistent record of fighting tooth and nail for her benefactors at the NRA. Kirkpatrick was a rotgut New Dem and a disgrace to the Democratic Party. There are two viable Democrats in the primary this time and the DCCC has strongly backed Kirkpatrick even though she's not the strongest candidate.

How can I make that assertion? New polling of likely Democratic primary voters from FM3 Research released last week shows that Matt Heinz has a narrow lead despite the fact that Kirkpatrick has huge name recognition from her failed 2016 Senate race and has already spent $458,729 to Heinz's $220,032. (The DCCC has helped her corral $234,667 in PAC contributes-- compared to just $7,500 that Heinz has brought in from PACs.)

While Democratic primary voters are familiar with both candidates, they are more likely to hold a favorable opinion of Heinz, and after hearing equal positive nformation about these two candidates, support for Heinz increases. Furthermore, the survey shows that many aspects of Kirkpatrick’s voting record in Congress pose a serious problem for her among Democratic primary voters, particularly her support of Republican tax cuts, cuts to Medicare, and her former “A” rating from the NRA.

...In an initial Democratic primary ballot test, Matt Heinz currently leads the field with 27%, giving him a four-point edge over Ann Kirkpatrick (23%). These results show the highly competitive nature of the Democratic primary, and despite her high-profile and well-financed statewide candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2016, 2nd District Democrats have not embraced Kirkpatrick. The contest is very much a two-person race, as the other candidates generate only mid-single digit support.

Heinz doubles his initial lead over Kirkpatrick after voters hear positive profile statements about both candidates. After learning more positive information about the candidates’ backgrounds, including their professional experience, Heinz increases his vote by 13 points and moves to an eight-point advantage (40%-32%) over Kirkpatrick.

The survey data also show significant primary voter concern about many aspects of Kirkpatrick’s record. Survey respondents were read a series of descriptive phrases, and were asked if they would be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who matched such a description. As Figure 3 shows, votes for Congressional Republicans’ legislation to cut Medicare and the support for Bush-era tax cuts elicited severe negative reactions-- more than eight in ten Democratic primary voters would be less likely to vote for a candidate-- like Kirkpatrick-- who took those positions. Voters also responded negatively to the idea that a candidate failed to vote on the DREAM Act, as six in ten (62%) said they would be less likely to vote for that person for Congress. Voters in the survey also reacted negatively to Kirkpatrick’s having received an “A” rating from the NRA.

Meanwhile, Kirkpatrick made such an ass out of herself at the last forum that she's started skipping subsequent ones... just like Martha McSally, the Republican incumbent does. What a clown. She's probably hoping the New Dems, the DCCC and EMILY's List will get her through. Meanwhile Heinz has pledged to voters that if he's elected he will join the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

"...Supporting The Same Kind Of Candidates Long Favored By The Political Establishment And Financial Elite"

Kirkpatrick and Ashford-- the worst of the DCCC recruits

This quote from Bernie is taking on a life of its own online "We cannot defeat Trump and the Republican Party with the same playbook, or by supporting the same kind of candidates long favored by the political establishment and financial elite. That is how we got to where we are today." I'd bet that even DCCC staffers have seen it by now, even if they can't make heads nor tales of it. One thing the DCCC has no interest in-- negative interest in-- is helping elect a House-ful of game changers. There are very few independent thinkers in the House-- men and women with ideas and basic competence. That's why it's feasible to talk about electing a jovial nothing like Joe Crowley as leader and even Speaker. Game changers are dangerous; maintaining the status quo is what the Democratic Party establishment is all about. Or the status quo ante. Moving forward? No way, José.

But let's go back to Bernie's quote, the party about failing by "supporting the same kind of candidates long favored by the political establishment and financial elite." And, for the sake of argument, let me acknowledge that even the very worst of the DCCC's crap candidates-- sacks of garbage pretending to be leaders like Jeff Van Drew (NJ), Gretchen Driskell (MI), Jason Crow (CO), Paul Davis (KS), Gil Cisneros (CA), Dan McCready (NC), Brendan Kelly (IL), Elissa Slotkin (MI)-- can argue, albeit implausibly, that "same kind of candidates" does not apply to them. The DCCC goes even further. They just leave out the whole "same kind of" and go right to "the same."

Two of the worst candidates they're backing this cycle were recently members of Congressman are no longer members of Congress because the voters rejected them after seeing them in action. The voters rejected them because the voters were smart enough to sense they were absolutely terrible. Yes, I'm talking about Arizona New Dem and NRA ally Ann Kirkpatrick and Nebraska Blue Dog and "ex"-Republican Brad Ashford. Both have long and dreadful records predictive of exactly what they'll do if a blue wave sweeps them back into Congress in November. There are literally no candidates who are worse. They've already shown how bad they are and the voters have already judged them. But the DCCC re-recruited them and the DCCC is working with great vigor-- and great vigor is not something one normally associates with the DCCC-- to undermine the campaigns of inspiring primary opponents for each, Kara Eastman in Omaha and Mary Matiella in Tucson.

When Bernie said that "We cannot defeat Trump and the Republican Party with the same playbook, or by supporting the same kind of candidates long favored by the political establishment and financial elite," I'm going to bet he was talking about political detritus like people who have shown how bad they are in other positions-- like Jeff Van Drew, the worst member of the New Jersey state legislature; Paul Davis a failed minority leader in the Kansas state House; or a pack of robots from the national security state who the DCCC has recruited and is desperately trying to pass of as "leaders" instead of the drones they are; or Gil Cisneros, a compulsive serial liar who worked for the McCain campaign and has proven himself utterly incompetent on the campaign trail; or "socialite" and candidate of the "casino owners" (a respectable way of saying she's backed by the Mob), Susie Lee, in Nevada who already spent $674,805 of her own in a 2016 congressional bid and came in a distant third in the primary.

Pelosi and he DCCC do not want game changers, do not want thinkers, do not want leaders. They want more drones who suck up to rich special interests and build up campaign war chests. Candidates with original ideas? GOD FORBID! That explains why the DCCC primarily supports New Dems and fights against progressives. These are the New Dems running for Congress this cycle, by the way. Institutionally they are the very personification of what Bernie was talking about:

• Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ)
• Greg Stanton (AZ)
• Dave Min (CA)
• Joshua Harder (CA)
• Katie Hill (CA)
• Hans Keirstead (CA)
• Harley Rouda (CA)
• Josh Butner (CA)
• Jason Crow (CO)
• Lauren Baer (FL)
• Nancy Soderberg (FL)
• Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL)
• Mel Hall (IN)
• Sean Casten (IL)
• Brendan Kelly (IL)
• Paul Davis (KS)
• Elissa Slotkin (MI)
• Angie Craig (MN)
• Dean Phillips (MN)
• Dan McCready (NC)
• Kathy Manning (NC)
• Brad Ashford (NE)
• Mikie Sherrill (NJ)
• Jeff Van Drew (NJ)
• Tom Malinowski (NJ)
• Max Rose (NY)
• Anthony Brindisi (NY)
• Susie Lee (NV)
• Chrissy Houlahan (PA)
• Archie Parnell (SC)
• Jana Lynne Sanchez (TX)
• Lizzie Fletcher (TX)
• Ben McAdams (UT)
• Elaine Luria (VA)
• Abigail Spanberger (VA)
• Dan Kohl (WI)

Lesser of two evils? Maybe. You'll have to decide that for yourself. During the primaries? In November? Never? Put me in the "Never" camp and let me quote a chunk of Gideon Resnick's essay from yesterday's Daily Beast about a New Dem stalwart Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

The frustrations Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2016 presidential campaign had with the tenure of former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) are well documented.

But in a new book written by the man who ran the insurgent Senator’s 2016 run, it is revealed that Hillary Clinton’s team shared many of those frustrations, especially as the 2016 primary was drawing to a close.

In his book, How Bernie Won: Inside the Revolution That's Taking Back Our Country-and Where We Go from Here, Jeff Weaver details a meeting the Sanders and Clinton teams held prior to the Democratic convention, in which aides to the former Secretary of State detailed how “exasperated” they were with Wasserman Schultz.

“I knew that there was no love between the Clinton campaign and the chairwoman. Nor was there any in the White House. Or among large numbers of the DNC’s top leaders. When Bernie was on his way to meet President Obama on June 9, Senator Reid had made a point of calling Bernie during the car ride to remind him to ask the president to dump Wasserman Schultz,” Weaver writes, referencing a meeting Sanders had at the White House in the summer of 2016.

“Every time I had raised the issue of Wasserman Schultz with the Clinton campaign, they had blamed her continued tenure on the White House,” Weaver continues. “Whenever I raised the issue with the president’s people, they blamed the Clinton campaign. From my calls with them, I knew that the Clinton people were exasperated with Wasserman Schultz. But I could never tell whether it was because she had put her fingers on the scale in such an incompetent way.

Regardless, it just always seemed the case that no one wanted to expend the political capital necessary to push her out, especially as her term would be ending soon anyway.”

Weaver’s recollections stand in contrast to the conventional wisdom of many Sanders’ supporters: that Wasserman Schultz’s presence at the DNC thrilled the Clinton campaign because she was, during the course of the primary, putting her thumb on the scales for Clinton. Weaver recounts that during a meeting between the two camps, Clinton ultimately elected not to force Wasserman Schultz’s exit but not out of a feeling of gratitude or patronage.

“At our meeting at the Hilton, Hillary Clinton balked at forcing her out,” Weaver writes. “My suspicion was that the Clinton campaign did not want to do anything that would impugn the legitimacy of her victory. Forcing out Debbie Wasserman Schultz would be an acknowledgment that the DNC chairwoman had stacked the deck in Clinton’s favor. That was not our point, however. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as chair of the Democratic Party during a vigorously contested primary, was supposed to be neutral. She clearly was not. This action item would resolve itself at the Democratic National Convention, when the chairwoman was pushed out after DNC emails were released proving how the organization had worked against our campaign.”

So much for your lesser of two evils. In fact... Wasserman Schultz has long been the greater of any number of evils. In closing, a few words from Alan Grayson today: "Both parties have been captured by the Dark Money Side... and gorge on corporate PAC money and bribes from Wall Street bankers. Check out the 'Finance Committees' of Team Red and Team Blue. You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."