Its So Rare That Local Media Exposes Democrats Who Enable Trump, That When They Do, They Should Be Celebrated-- Florida

But they don't look like bigots-- Stephanie Murphy and Val Demings

For the better part of the last decade, we've spent a lot of time exposing the Republican wing of the Democratic Party for what it is-- primarily reactionaries, corporate shills and self-serving corrupt careerists. This would basically include just about all the Blue Dogs and New Dems in Congress-- and then some. To over-compensate for once-- a million years ago before anyone still alive was born-- having been an activist and committed progressive, Pelosi allowed the rest of House Democratic leadership to turn into the exact opposite. And now we're stuck with absolute garbage members as likely next generation heads of the party, particularly greasy, corrupt Wall Street whore and former New Dem chairman Joe Crowley, who is in position to take over after the he Ancien Régime of Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn dodders off to wherever they're going. But the problem isn't just at the top, but-- thanks to the conservatives at the top controlling DCCC recruitment-- throughout the party.

Rarely do local papers cover this. Lo-info voters from coast to coast imagine when someone has a "D" next to their name, even raging conservatives who vote with the Republicans and enable Ryan's agenda-- like Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Tom O'Halleran (AZ), Ami Bera (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), Collin Peterson (MN). Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Lou Correa (CA), Jim Costa (CA), Henry Cuellar (TX), and Jacky Rosen (NV)-- share their core progressive values. They don't.

After a couple dozen of the worst of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party voted with the actual Republicans on the xenophobic Kate's Law legislation Ryan had rammed through the House, we went over it here at DWT, even encouraging Dan Lipinksi's primary opponent, Marie Newman to use it in his campaign. (She was ahead of me and had already sent out a press release about Lipinski's vote with Ryan and the GOP against immigrants.)

But what I didn't expect was to find any coverage in local media anywhere and, as usual, media has lived up to its reputation, much happier covering Trump's rude tweets than reporting on how congressmembers actually vote. So wasn't I surprised-- pleasantly so-- when the Orlando Weekly called out two garbage members of the Florida Democratic delegation for voting with all the Florida Republicans for this toxic piece of the Trump-Ryan agenda. Their headline last Friday: Stephanie Murphy and Val Demings just voted for an incredibly terrible anti-immigration bill. Nice! How I'd love to see the Arizona Republic run a similar story exposing Sinema and O'Halleran or the Tampa Bay Times letting their readers know the despite claiming to have switched to the Democratic Party, Charlie Crist is and will always be nothing but a Republican. And isn't it time for The Tennessean--not to mention La Campana and the Nashville Pride-- to let Nashville Democrats-- who voted overwhelmingly for Obama and for Hillary-- know that Jim Cooper is a right-wing bigot and doesn't deserve to be elected as a Democrat?

"Yesterday," wrote Colin Wolf for the Orlando Weekly "Florida congresswomen Stephanie Murphy and Val Demings were among 24 Democrats who voted for an extremely controversial bill that only boosts Donald Trump's anti-immigration crackdown. On Thursday, June 29, HR 3004, also known as Kate's Law, passed the House with a margin of 257-167. The GOP-backed bill is named after Kathryn Steinle, who was murdered in 2015 by an undocumented immigrant in San Fransisco. 'The legislation before us today is one born of a preventable tragedy,' said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who co-sponsored the bill. 'Let this bill be her legacy. Let this bill result in Kate saving the lives of others.' It's a nice sentiment aimed at a pointless tragedy, but the only problem is there's absolutely zero evidence that undocumented immigrants commit more crimes. A study conducted by the University of California found that sanctuary cities are actually safer than non-sanctuary cities, and do not see a surge in crime."

Essentially, Kate's Law dramatically affects people who are attempting to flee unsafe conditions in their home countries, as well as those looking to reunite with their families.

But more importantly, Kate's Law bolsters penalties for undocumented immigrants who want to re-enter the United States even if they have no criminal history, which includes people who are seeking to apply for asylum and even those who have permission to re-enter the country.

The bill has been highly criticized by the ACLU and House Democrats, like Rep. Steny Hoyer, who said Kate's Law "appeals to the most right-wing, anti-immigrant base of the Republican party that supports exclusion and opposes one of the founding principles of our nation."

Rep. Lou Correa [an ultra-corrupt, right-wing fanatic on everything but immigration issues] also criticized the law, stating that the bill does not make the distinction between criminals and legal immigrants. "Do not brand millions of immigrants as criminals when their only crime is searching for the American dream," said Correa.

he ACLU has gone as far as stating that Kate's Law, as well as the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, which also passed yesterday, are unconstitutional... Kate's Law also unnecessarily imposes harsh penalties for petty misdemeanors like loitering or driving a car without a license, which can now lead up to a possible 10-year prison sentence for immigrants.

But arguably the worst part of this bill is that it blocks immigrants’ ability to challenge prior removal orders, which is a clear violation of the constitutional right to due process, says the ACLU.

During Thursday's vote, 233 Republicans and 24 Democrats voted for Kate's Law, while 166 Democrats and 1 Republican  voted against it... Since the vote, Francesca Menes, policy director of Florida Immigrant Coalition has publicly called out the Democrats who voted in favor of this bill, including Demings and Murphy:

"Enforcement-only legislation has time and again proven itself a failure in tackling the complexities of the immigration debate in this country. The Florida Immigrant Coalition is disappointed in the members of the Florida Congressional delegation, including Representatives Charlie Crist, Stephanie Murphy and Val Demings who voted for H.R. 3004. We have entrusted these representatives to stand and protect our communities, yet yesterday, they voted to criminalize immigrants, separate our families and dismantle the public trust with local law enforcement.

At a time where Congress attempts to legitimize Trump’s hateful rhetoric which seeks to demonize and target immigrant families, we need leaders, who will focus on enacting comprehensive immigration reform. Mass detention and deportation programs not only undermine our basic human rights but have only exacerbated problems regarding immigration in this country while providing no long-term solutions.

The Senate now has an opportunity to stop legislation which erodes public safety and undermines our constitution. We call on Senators from both political parties to reject these draconian bills, and we send a notice to all those who voted in favor that we are watching intently and will hold them accountable."

Murphy is a representative of Florida's District 7, which covers all of Seminole County and much of northern Orange County, including downtown Orlando, Maitland, Winter Park and the University of Central Florida.

Val Demings is a representative for Florida's District 10, which covers parts of Orlando, Apopka, Eatonville, Ocoee, Winter Garden and Windermere.

Murphy, a rabid, virulent Blue Dog, was already rated an "F" by ProgressivePunch, with the third worst voting record of any Democratic freshman (26.09), just barely ahead of "ex"-Republican Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ) and Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ), each tied with a 25.00 score. Demings is a worthless New Dem-- who was relentless pushed by Pelosi, the DCCC and, of course, EMILY's List-- also with an "F" rating, voting like a Republican in a strong Democratic district. Hillary beat Trump soundly in both their districts-- 51.4% to 44.1% in Murphy's district and 61.8% to 34.9% in Demings' district. Neither has any political excuse for voting with the GOP. This is just who they are. When Ryan, McCarthy and Trump call one of their ghastly bills "bipartisan," they're usually talking about garbage Democrats like Stephanie Murphy and Val Demings.

Endorsement Motivations

Every wonder how endorsers decide who to endorse? Let's look at a race in Florida, the one for the U.S. Senate seat. The most valuable endorsement you can get in a Democratic primary is Obama's. So how did he pick between Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson? Murphy consistently voted with the Republicans on almost everything Obama claimed was important to him-- even direct attacks. I mean there were a whole contingent of corrupt conservative Democrats like Murphy who voted with the GOP on Keystone Pipeline XL every time it came up. But almost none of them went along with the GOP when they proposed a bill to remove Obama from the decision-making process. But Murphy did. Grayson opposed Keystone XL, of course, and proposed a resolution challenging the constitutionality of the GOP bill Murphy backed. Of the 7 right-wing Democrats to vote for the Republican witch hunt against Hillary-- their so-called Benghazi Committee-- only 3 are still in Congress... and one of them is Murphy. So why did Obama endorse him and lie in ads to Democratic voters by claiming the reactionary Murphy is "a progressive" and a defender of Social Security (even though Murphy offered to support legislation to lower benefits as part of a compromise with his pals the Republicans?



It's not much of a mystery. Aside from being hounded by Chuck Schumer and his Wall Street allies to get Murphy into the Senate to "balance out" Elizabeth Warren, we were told by a high up staffer who works for Joe Biden that Obama did it to get contributions to his uber-expensive presidential library, ostensibly from Murphy's rich, crooked father, from the super-wealthy Saudi family that sponsors Murphy (the notorious Al-Rashids) and from Schumer's Wall Street patrons. Our Obama would do something like that? Something that disgusting? Yeah... he's from the Chicago Democratic Machine; it's what they do.

Yesterday there were a conflicting endorsement stories in central Florida. The Brady anti-gun campaign looked at FL-09 and feared that NRA poster child Darren Soto could get the Democratic nomination. But instead of endorsing Dena Grayson, an avid supporter of gun safety regulations, who is best positioned to beat Soto, they clumsily backed Susannah Randolph, a candidate who might take away enough support from Grayson to allow Soto to slip in. But the Randolph campaign's celebrations over the endorsement today might be dampened by the fact that DFA (Democracy for America) seems to have unendorsed her. They pulled their phone-banking out of the district and removed her from the list of candidates on their website. Why? [When I asked a DFA executive, she responded by e-mail, "Hi Howie- thanks for flagging - she's back on the website now." And, sure enough, she was back on the website, or at least on one list of candidates, albeit not the list on their site's front page. Odd.] A couple of weeks ago I saw a tweet from Lucy Flores, which alerted me to a problem for Susannah's campaign. It led to this statement which has been circulating in the progressive blogosphere ever since:

I know Susannah for years and she's a decent person and a committed activist. Blue America announced early on we wouldn't endorse in this race because both Susannah and Dena are both great candidates, while Soto is a typical nightmarish conservaDem (endorsed by the New Dems, Congress' Republican wing of the Democratic Party). But polling-- and now this whole flap over sexual harassment-- has made us worry that a vote for Susannah just weakens Dena's chance to defeat Soto. So we endorsed Dena. (Please consider contributing to her campaign here.)

In another Orlando area district, the DCCC got clueless anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg, to unload half a million dollars in ads for weak puppet candidate, Val Demings, even though the more independent-minded and progressive candidate in the race, Bob Poe, has been running all his TV spots about banning automatic weapons and taking an even stronger and more relatable anti-violence stand than Bloomberg's own anti-gun organization!



How about newspapers... how do they do their endorsements? Tangent: there was one in the Salt Lake Tribune last week by David Irvine explaining why he, a lifelong Republican, is voting for Hillary. Irvine was a member of the state House of Representatives and used to be the chairman of the Davis County Republican Party, in the very red suburbs between Salt Lake City and Ogden. It's notTrump country. Cruz won the primary with 68.4% and Kasich came in second with 20.3%. Trump brought up the rear with 11.3% (with just over half the votes Bernie Sanders got in Davis Co.) Irvine wasn't really so much as endorsing Hillary as he was denouncing Trumpanzee-- and the Republican leaders, like Paul Ryan, who back him. "It is unfortunate that so many of those who claim to be leaders of the congressional and presidential wings of the Republican Party have long since made their Faustian bargains and are actively endorsing a totally self-centered know-nothing who behaves like the caricature of a banana-republic dictator," he wrote... "There's a point where this failure to withdraw an endorsement becomes a self-indicting embrace of a demagogue's values. Trump is riding astride the Four Horsemen of Calumny he has resurrected from an earlier and equally dismal Republican playbook: Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear... It's entirely possible that this election could turn on Utah's electoral votes. Recognizing that reality, every Clinton vote is crucially important. A nonvote or a Johnson vote is a vote for Trump."

But endorsements or not, and with a new poll showing that half of the voters won't consider casting a voter from the Trumpanzee, thinks are looking more dire by the day for the GOP. Politico, though, thinks they've found a silver-lining in the Republican cloud. Although Latinos rushing the register to vote in time for the November election have swelled Democratic Party ranks in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, the opposite is happening in states where large numbers of voters have keep their Democratic Party registrations but have long ago stopped voting for Democrats. Red counties in Florida, North Carolina and backward areas of Pennsylvania (primarily in the southwestern part of the state) are seeing lot of voters re-registering as Republicans, in line with how they've actually been voting. Writing for Politico Monday, Ben Schreckinger reported that "registration numbers in Eastern and Midwestern battleground states offer a rare piece of welcome news to Republicans bracing for the possibility of a November massacre." Clearly this is part of a partisan realignment that is coming into focus this year as Trump courts white, alienated blue color workers abandoned by Wall Street Democrats and Hillary courts traditional suburban professional that have been the mainstay of the GOP. And these numbers are very real.

In Pennsylvania-- where Democrats’ registration advantage has fallen by a fifth since the 2012 election to 915,000 voters-- more than 85,000 former Democrats have become Republicans this year, almost three times the number of voters who made the opposite switch.

The party-switching has been especially lopsided in Pennsylvania counties in the southwest region, coal country, and the northeast, which includes Scranton. Megan Sweeney, the communications director for the state Republican Party, and Charlie Gerow, a Republican strategist based in Harrisburg, said the party-switching was a mix of push and pull factors. “Certainly part of it is Trump-motivated,” Gerow said. My view is that a lot more of it is motivated by the disgust that many Democrats have for the administration.”

In North Carolina, Democrats’ voter registration advantage shrunk by 44,000 between last June and this May, more than twice the rate it fell at it during that period last cycle. As of August 13, the Democratic advantage had dwindled to 641,000.

The picture in North Carolina is complicated by the rise of unaffiliated voters. Even more striking than Democrats’ shrinking registration advantage over Republicans is the influx of new residents into the state who do not register with either party but tend to be less tied than longtime residents to the white Southern culture that has taken a shine to Trump. The number of independents has surged almost 40 percent since 2008, from roughly 1.4 million to more than 1.9 million. During that period, the Republican rolls have remained essentially static and Democrats have lost about 200,000 voters.

...More concerning for Democrats should be Florida, where the party’s registration advantage has shrunk to 259,000 voters-- less than half what it was during the 2012 election.

Florida, like North Carolina, has seen a surge in independent voter registrations in recent years, but in a crucial swing state with a large and growing minority population, the shrinking advantage is nonetheless disappointing.

So far this year, Florida Republicans have added close to 70,000 more voters to their rolls than Democrats have. “That [change], especially when you’re talking about a state that Obama carried by less than 100,000 votes last time, could be significant,” said Cauvillon, the Louisiana pollster.

The strength of Trump’s ground operation in the primaries varied wildly from state to state, but in Florida, under the direction of former Rick Scott aide Karen Giorno, his campaign has taken credit for registering 35,000 new Republicans and bringing 5,000 independents and Democrats into the party.

Police Problems

As we said yesterday at GOP Crackpot Candidate of the Week, Georgia state Senator Mike Crane had been favored to win the GA-03 congressional seat Lynn Westmoreland was retiring from... until he started advocating shooting policemen. Seems crazy, right? But state Senator Crane, a far right psychopath and loony ideologue who was heavily supported by the NRA, Gun Owners of America, the Tea Party, Freedom Works, Club for Growth, Ted Cruz and House Freedom Caucus chairman Jim Jordan, might not think people of color should defend themselves against police brutality but announced that even if a policeman comes onto his property with a warrant, he can be legitimately shot. The state's police organizations reacted badly and Crane lost 19,490 (46%) to 22,813 (54%).

Must have been embarrassing for Poor Ted Cruz who said "I’m proud to join thousands of Georgia conservatives in standing up for conservative principles supporting Mike Crane for Congress…I can think of no better way to send the Washington establishment a message than by supporting Mike Crane for Congress…I’m asking all Georgians-- especially voters in the Third Congressional District-- to stand with me in supporting Mike Crane."

Southeast of Georgia's third district, in central Florida's Orlando area, progressive Democrat Bob Poe is facing off against the handpicked establishment candidate, Val Demings, in a 4-way primary. The same corrupt Democratic establishment cheats who undermined and sabotaged Bernie's campaign are fully committed to the incompetent and undeserving Demings. The video up top was released as an ad by the Poe campaign last night. (Please help him get it up on television.)

This morning Poe told us that "Our district's residents deserve a really great relationship with our hardworking law enforcement officers. We have to work towards rebuilding trust, especially between police and communities of color, who unfortunately were arrested at disproportionately high rates under my opponent. It all starts with leadership and judgment. From there, we can work on additional training, body cameras, and community policing, all steps that I've called for. I believe we can have better understanding and more trust between police and our community, if we have the right leadership to get it done."

Pelosi dragged Deming up on the stage of the convention yesterday while a bunch of congresswomen who we're babbling the mantra "when women win, America wins." Whether you agree with that or not, it's worth noting that when Professor Mary Ellen Balchunis won her primary against a corrupt conservative Democrat the DCCC was pushing-- won 74-26%-- Pelosi turned her back on her and refused to acknowledge Mary Ellen as the legitimate Democratic candidate for a crucial-- even critical-- swing district in the Philly suburbs. It would have been easy for Pelosi to have had Mary Ellen up on the stage but she opted for the unqualified, easily corruptible Demings, the kind of nothing candidate the Democratic Party wants to fill party ranks with. Candidates like Bob Poe and Mary Ellen Balchunis are too independent-minded for hacks like what Pelosi has morphed into over the tragic last decade of her decline.

Economic Climate Change-- A Guest Post By Bob Poe

By now, everyone knows we need to focus on climate change. The threat is real, the science is clear, and the effects are happening now. Combating climate change will take action from Congress, and from people willing to hold them accountable.

But there’s another threat facing our nation that’s just as serious. One that could swallow a generation of American workers, like climate change threatens to swallow our coasts. And one that comes with a great opportunity for the future.

I call it “economic climate change.”

With a median wage of $29,781, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says my hometown of Orlando, Florida has the lowest wages in the top 50 metro areas. Sadly, it turns out, that might be the good news.

The bad news is that advances in technology-- automation, robotics, 3D printing and Artificial Intelligence-- that are specifically designed to eliminate whole categories of jobs may mean there won’t be enough of those already low-paying jobs to go around.

This isn’t theoretical. It’s already begun. Just as rising sea levels from global climate change will be disruptive to our safety and security, rising unemployment levels from economic climate change have the potential to be equally disruptive to every aspect of life as we know it.

Want proof? Visit your local home improvement or neighborhood grocery store--chances are, you’ll find fewer live cashiers, and more self-service checkout lanes. Head to the airport, and you’re directed to the self-service check-in kiosk. At the bank, ATMs began replacing tellers years ago.

Need more? Just this month, Wendy’s announced the introduction of automated, self-service ordering kiosks across 6,000 restaurants. Some distribution warehouses already have driverless forklifts. And Uber and Lyft are testing driverless cars that will soon send your friendly taxi driver the way of the blacksmith and his horseshoes.

The stakes are high. As Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan put it recently:

Let’s further assume that automation begins eliminating large numbers of jobs not just in the restaurant industry, but in all sorts of service industries. Millions of lost jobs. Millions of workers that no longer fit into our modern economy. Millions of families without a way to pay the bills. Automation may be an opportunity for corporations and shareholders, but it is a threat to the American middle and lower classes.

But, just as the horse and buggy made way for the automobile, new technologies that eliminate some jobs will also create a whole host of new jobs. Jobs that require an entirely new set of skills. Skills that many in today's workforce don’t currently have.



As we moved from an agrarian society to the Industrial Revolution, people could take their skills from the farm to the factory. Moving from the plow to the lever wasn’t a career-ending leap. But those same skills aren't as easily transferred from the factory to the Digital Age.

This is where the opportunity to write America’s next great chapter begins. But it won’t happen without political and policy leadership to get it done. So how do we do it?

As our economic climate changes, we need an all-of-the-above strategy to make sure everyone has a chance of getting in the economic lifeboat. Here are a few ideas:

Increase the minimum wage to $15

I’m a businessman. I’m fortunate to have built some wonderful businesses over the years. And I get what higher wages mean for a business. But I also get what those wages mean for working people. A decent living wage means more money in a family’s pockets-- and that means more buying power for businesses and their products. It’s also the right thing to do.

Reinvest in infrastructure

It’s not hard to see-- America’s infrastructure is crumbling. Our roads, bridges and other infrastructure is falling apart. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives our nation’s current infrastructure a D+ grade, citing a “significant backlog of overdue maintenance across our infrastructure systems, a pressing need for modernization, and an immense opportunity to create reliable, long-term funding.”

Quoting Gawker’s Nolan again:

This is an unusually good time for the government to spend a great deal of money rebuilding our national infrastructure. This could create millions of jobs for people automated out of work, at least for a while. And the money would be well spent. We should do this no matter what.

Provide tuition-free career training

Guaranteed public education ending at the 12th grade isn’t enough anymore, if we want to stay globally competitive and stave off economic climate change. The effort is already underway to provide tuition-free community college through state and federal partnerships. We should make sure that includes tuition-free training for the careers of the future.

Expand Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

What’s one of the best ways to ensure a basic standard of living, as we cope with the coming upheaval from economic climate change? Expand three of the most successful American ideas ever-- Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. These programs have kept millions of Americans from suffering the indignity of crushing poverty and lack of access to healthcare. They need investment and expansion to keep working for the most vulnerable of our society-- seniors on fixed incomes, and low-income individuals and families.

Of course, conservatives will howl and say we can’t afford it. I don’t believe that.

The greatness of America is that we've always been able to do what we put our minds to. And the truth of the matter is, as we face the specter of economic climate change, we simply can’t afford not to.

Bob Poe is a progressive Democrat, businessman, husband and proud father running for Congress in Florida’s 10th Congressional district. Join his fight for fair wages, equality and economic opportunity for all at BobPoeForCongress.com. You can contribute to his campaign by tapping on the thermometer below:

Campaign Volunteers? Bob Poe Is Paying His $15/Hour-- An Actual Living Wage

Florida's newly, court-ordered redistricted 10th district in the Orlando area is so much bluer than it was under the state legislator's gerrymandered boundaries that the Republican incumbent, Daniel Webster, packed his bags and moved to another, redder district. There are 4 Democrats appealing to Democratic primary voters for the nomination but, as they do, the DCCC has intervened on behalf of the least suitable and most conservative of the candidates. Instead, we'd like you to consider the most competent and progressive of the candidates, Bob Poe.

Today, though, we want to tell you about a field program that Bob is running unlike any filed operation you've never seen before. Because he spends his time the way candidates should-- knocking on doors and talking to voters-- Bob learned early that one of the biggest problems in his district was a lack of opportunity for people with criminal records. They've paid their debt to society, but couldn't get jobs, housing, or car loans, which means they were utterly stuck, with no chance to build any kind of economic security or provide for their families.

Bob likes to say that "in order to make a difference, you have to be a difference." Well, Bob decided not to wait until he gets to Congress to start making a difference. That's why he started the Second Chance hiring program for his field staff. Instead of relying on volunteers or unpaid interns for his campaign, Bob hosted 3 job fairs in the district and ended up giving 30 field positions to people with records of conviction or incarceration. Most importantly, because Bob believes in walking the talk about progressive values, their campaign is paying those field staffers $15 an hour. That's the kind of person we need in Congress living our values and standing up for progressive issues.

As you can see, Bob isn't running a typical campaign, doing whatever Democratic insiders tell him to-- unlike his reactionary New Dem, corporatist opponent, Val "I lost my gun" Demings.

Despite years working to elect Democrats and promote economic populist issues, Bob is running is own campaign, fueled by community members he's worked with for decades and the kind of grassroots support that shows he's a man who represents the people. Bob's campaign is supporting a $15 minimum wage, expanding Social Security, equal pay for equal work, comprehensive immigration reform, and reducing gun violence.

At a time when there's so little trust and faith in our leaders in Washington, Bob stands out as his own man, running his own campaign and promoting the progressive values and issues that we all share, no matter whether the establishment Democrats are on board or not. One thing's already been made clear: a Congressman Bob Poe will be the same as candidate Bob Poe-- speaking up for the people and working to advance real progressive change in our communities.

Please consider helping Bob Poe's campaign-- especially his field operation-- by contributing here at the thermometer:

Val Demings Isn't Even In Congress Yet And She's Already Violating Campaign Finance Laws

The race for the redistricted FL-10 Orlando-area congressional district is good news for Democrats. The district is now so blue that incumbent Republican Daniel Webster has fled south and east to a rural, open red seat nearby. The GOP is virtually abandoning FL-10. The DCCC saw it as an opportunity to shove another of their worthless and corrupt no-account order-takers and went to war against the two legitimate candidates, state Senator Geraldine Thompson and former Florida Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe, two progressives whose independence and incorruptibility are anathema to the DCCC bosses.  So the Beltway bosses dug up one of their loser retreads, Val Demings.

People in Orange County know her-- and, despite a huge push from the Democratic Establishment in DC and some corrupt Florida hacks, she isn't being welcomed into the race. Jacob Engels of the East Orlando Post helped shed some light on why not. She had been appointed chief of police of Orange County and then ran for County mayor, but it all went downhill after that. The campaign finance rules she's been flouting are also laws she's been breaking-- and she's not even in Congress yet.

After she bailed on her mayor's race, leaving Orange County Democrats high and dry-- and fuming-- she reimbursed her slimy lobbyist and consultant allies selectively instead of returning the unspent campaign funds on a pro-rata basis across the board as is required by law.

$6,750.00 of those reimbursements went to individuals listed as consultants or lobbyists, with notable names including Southern Strategy's Kelly Cohen and special interest insider Brian May... whose firm Floridian Partners also received a large reimbursement.

A campaign finance and elections law expert told us that it looks like Demings could be "knee deep" in potential violations.

"It would appear that Val might of not followed the proper guidelines and statutes. It is curious that virtually all of her reimbursements went to lobbyists and consultants. Why were these people chosen over donors of smaller amounts?"

Worse then potentially violating campaign finance rules, a source close to the Demings 2014 mayoral bid tell us that the current congressional candidate was advised on the rules in "explicit nature."

Mrs. Demings proximity to political power brokers and special pleaders is not news by any means. She has been the beneficiary of a coordinated effort from congressional insiders and lobbyists checkbooks and endorsements.

Exactly what crooked insiders like Steve Israel and Ben Ray Lujan look for when they recruit candidates-- except they don't like it when they get caught. Nevertheless when you contribute to the DCCC or to Pelosi's PAC, the money goes to fight progressives on behalf of corrupt conservatives like Demings, not necessarily to fight Republicans as they claim when they come sniffing around for cash.

You'll Never Work In This State Again

A few days ago I got a phone call from Jacob Engels, editor of the East Orlando Post about an e-mail he had gotten from DCCC Communications Director Matt Thornton. The DCCC, which recently fired their southern regional director, Andrew Piatt, is still in freakout mode over the inadvertent admission that they blackballed a top Democratic donor and former Florida Democratic Party chairman, Bob Poe, because he's white. DWT helped break the scandal here in February. Short version:

A DCCC staffer, Jermaine House, insisted that Bob Poe, who is white and gay, "does not have the right racial makeup for the district" so they're stepping on a progressive African-American state senator, Florida civil rights icon Geraldine Thompson, and a respected Latina attorney, Fatima Rita Fahmy, so they can support a conservative religious nut who also happens to be African-American, the controversial Val Demings. The district is 27.1% voting age African-American, 22.8% voting Hispanic, 44.3% voting age white and I was unaware Pelosi countenanced this kind of racial game-playing. The DCCC press secretary for the Southeast, Jermaine House, actually said, "We will never support Poe because he's white." I'd like to hear Pelosi defend that little DCCC statement. On top of that, the DCCC is complaining Poe "can't buy this election" when the hallmark of the DCCC in the last decade has been to always favor wealthy candidates over middle class candidates. The hypocrisy is overwhelming.

Since several members of Congress have mentioned to me that DCCC staffers have told them that I made up the story, I suppose Lujan told Thornton to go right to the horse's mouth-- Jacob Engels, the guy to who House made the remarks. Engels confirmed to Thornton in writing that every word of my story was true and that House had told him everything I reported that he said.

I wasn't even going to write about this on the blog but changed my mind when a friendly political operative was threatened by Debbie Wasserman Schultz's hatchet-man, Steve Paikowsky. People call he her "hatchet-man" since a) that describes his function and b) no one seems to know what his actual title is. Wassermann Schultz seems to feel he is key to her sleazy operations because he works on her campaign and at the DNC and as an extremely well-paid "part-time employee" for her congressional office, and employees Paikowsky's daughter as a $30,000/year "legislative correspondent."

Thursday, when Wasserman Schultz could no longer take the pressure for illegally withholding Democratic Party voter information access (VAN) from Tim Canova, the progressive reformer seeking to oust her in the August primary, and raised the white flag and surrendered the data, I laughing sent out a couple of tweets that offended Paikowsky enough to threaten the poor young operative with unemployment.

Your tax dollars at work. This is what the Democratic Party has devolved to-- the party that transformed the working poor into the great American middle class that built the greatest country in history, is now the party of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Steve Paikowsky, Jermaine House and Ben Ray Lujan! This week, the History News Network asked Georgia State University History Professor Mike O'Connor to review Thomas Frank's brilliant new book, Listen Liberal-- What Happened To The Party Of The People? which deals with this transformation of the Democratic Party from a party espousing the interests of the 99% to a party espousing the interests of the top 10%, what Frank refers to as the "professional class" basking in the glories of meritocracy.

Frank locates in inequality “the reason why some people find such significance in the ceiling height of the entrance foyer and the hop content of a beer while others will never believe in anything again.” Over the last thirty or forty years, he avers, the lives of working people have become “wretched” and “precarious.” Yet in the face of such a catastrophe, argues Frank, Democrats “cannot find the conviction or imagination to do what is necessary to reverse” the tide of inequality. Instead, they emphasize the role of impartial, uncontrollable factors like technology and globalization, arguing that these problems can best be faced by obtaining the training and skills necessary to compete in the modern workplace.

While Democrats may believe that these positions represent the new face of liberalism, Frank argues that they abandon and even reject traditional liberal priorities. Higher levels of education will not create jobs or increase the strength of labor unions. And by emphasizing the “inevitability” of technology and globalization, liberal politicians minimize the extent to which those developments are shaped by public policy. Such an analysis absolves them of the responsibility to harness the power of government to shape the way that economic and technological factors influence the working class. Another longstanding liberal value has been that of collective action. Yet the Democratic emphasis on education and training heaps the entire burden of economic upheaval upon the individual displaced or soon-to-be-displaced worker.

Frank argues that the source of the Democratic Party’s change in priorities has been a shift in its self-understanding. The party of Franklin Roosevelt once defined itself in class-oriented terms, as the representatives of workers in their battle against the “economic royalists.” Today, however, the party owes allegiance to a different group. “The deeds and positions of the modern Democratic Party,” Frank argues, “can best be understood as a phase in the history of the professionals.” The interests of the working class once defined the Democratic Party, but that time has passed. Today, it is the concerns of the professional class that set the Democratic agenda.

Professionals sit atop a hierarchy, but it is not one of wealth, but of knowledge. “Teachers know what we must learn; architects know what our buildings must look like; economists know what the Federal Reserve’s discount rate should be; art critics know what is in good taste and what is in bad.” Today’s Democratic Party is a coalition of many interest groups, but “professionals are the ones whose technocratic outlook tends to prevail,” according to Frank. Indeed, “it is not going too far to say that the views of the modern-day Democratic Party reflect, in virtually every detail, the ideological idiosyncrasies of the professional-managerial class.”

The political values of professionals only occasionally align with those of workers and the poor. Thus, instead of challenging the idea of meritocracy that underlies this stratification, Democratic policies tend to celebrate it. Since movements such as civil rights, feminism and gay liberation all exist to knock down barriers to meritocracy, they can be incorporated into the contemporary party’s priorities. But Frank points out that inequality will never be a concern of the professional class because meritocracy makes no sense without it. “Professional-class leaders … feel precious little sympathy for the less fortunate members of their own discipline-- for the adjuncts frozen out of the market for tenure, for colleagues who get fired, or even for the kids who don’t get in to the ‘good’ colleges.” In particular, there is no real sympathy in this class for organized labor. “The idea that someone should command good pay for doing a job that doesn’t require specialized training seems to professionals to be an obvious fallacy.” ... For Frank, the decline of Democratic interest in cultivating organized labor served as the source of many of the party’s problems. “Closing the door on working people’s organizations also meant closing the door on working people’s issues.”

The central figure in this narrative is, of course, [the odious] Bill Clinton. The nation’s 42nd president found his positions by “triangulating” between liberal and conservative views, articulating a new “third way” of American politics... To Frank, though, Clinton was responsible for the death of an essential part of liberalism. “Erasing the memories and the accomplishments of Depression-era Democrats was what Bill Clinton and his clique of liberals were put on earth to achieve.” One of the president's favorite sayings was that “the world we face today is the world where what you earn depends on what you can learn.” This reflects, in Frank’s interpretation, the core New Democratic principle that “you get what you deserve, and what you deserve is defined by how you did in school.” Given such a premise, which is “less a strategy for mitigating inequality than it is a way of rationalizing it,” it is hardly surprising that Democrats have little interest in championing the cause of workers.

Frank is critical of Clinton-era developments such as the president’s emphasis on balancing the budget in the face of a recession, the appointment of Goldman Sachs alum Robert Rubin and Ayn Rand acolyte Alan Greenspan to prominent positions, the North American Free Trade Agreement (1994), the draconian crime bill that both Bill and Hillary Clinton now disavow (1994), welfare reform (1996) and the termination of Glass-Steagall (1999).

These are the politics that make a petty tyrant like Steve Paikowsky or Matt Thornton possible or that put as loathsome a figure as Wall Street-owned hack Chuck Schumer at the head of the Senate Democrats.

How To Replace Taliban Dan In Central Florida-- Why Not Leave It To Floridians?

2 excellent candidates for FL-10-- so the DCCC anointed a conservative

With Daniel "Taliban Dan" Webster decamping from his Orlando area base in Florida's 10th CD for whiter climes further north and west, it looks increasingly like whichever Democrat wins the primary will be the next congressmember. The DCCC has decreed that the much-disliked Val Demings is their candidate, despite the fact that their are two other very credible choices, much-loved state Sen. Geraldine Thompson, a civil rights icon, and also highly respected former Florida Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe. One of the DCCC's southern region staffers, Communications Director Jermaine House, told Jacob Engels at the East Orlando Post that Thompson "should wait her turn" and that Poe, who is white and gay, "does not have the right racial makeup for the district." The district is 27.1% voting age African-American, 22.8% voting age Hispanic and 44.3% voting age white; I was unaware Pelosi countenanced this kind of racial profiling and bigoted game-playing. Mr. House, actually said, "We will never support Poe because he's white." I'm sure he's noticed that Sen. Thompson is African-American as well. Maybe it's just that the DCCC has their heart set on a conservative religious nut who will never have an independent thought in her head.

So that leaves Blue America in an awkward situation. We rate both Poe and Thompson "A" level candidates and we rate Demings a solid "F." It's crucial that the DCCC not slip her into office but we think too highly of Geraldine Thompson to endorse Bob Poe and too highly of Bob Poe to endorse Geraldine Thompson. Fortunately this primary isn't 'til August so we have some time to think about it and figure out how best to stop Demings. I'd love to hear from some Florida progressives about how they're thinking about this too.

One interesting side bar. I mentioned that the DCCC was stirring up racial animosities through Jermaine House-- they've also offended the LGBT community by their interference in the race-- well, as far as we know, House is still in the house but his direct superior, Andrew Piatt, who led the DCCC down the disastrous Demings road, was just fired. The DCCC should fire more people-- like everyone... and start fresh with people who want to win and have the capacity to do so. This crew has proven they do not possess that capacity. I asked a DCCC contact if Piatt was fired because of the FL-10 situation and was told, "the was a big part of it." So why is House still there? Crickets.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to help progressive reformers take the Democratic Party back from the corrupt DC establishment and win Congress back for Team Blue... tapping on this thermometer below will give you a list of carefully-vetted progressive candidates who the DCCC is ignoring or even actively sabotaging. Even $10 and $20 contributions are significant for these grassroots campaigns.

Why Pelosi's DCCC Has Lost Several Dozen House Seats In Recent Cycles

Schneider (New Dem) & Dold (R)-- same gray flannel suit garbage

It shouldn't surprise anyone that DCCC Chair Ben Ray Luján endorsed Hillary Clinton yesterday. Corrupt conservatives stick together-- and who cares who Luján endorses anyway? His silly statement claimed that "Hillary embodies New Mexico values. She puts people first and will roll up her sleeves to change their lives for the better." Yeah... More impactful is how Luján continues to put his fat finger on the scale to advantage Republican-lite candidates over progressives. The DCCC used to keep out of tightly contested primary races, or at least they claimed they did, so that local Democrats could make their own choices. Now they don't even pretend to be neutral. In Illinois' 10th district, for example, where conservative and much-disliked New Dem Brad Schneider-- defeated in 2014 when Democratic base voters stayed home in droves to protest his backing for the Boehner agenda-- the DCCC kicked the more progressive candidate, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, to the curb to line up behind Schneider. If the idiot Luján has his way, Schneider will once again face Republican Robert Dold, the guy who beat him in 2014, and either lose to him again or win on Bernie's or Hillary's coattails and then lose the seat in 2016.

"Brad Schneider," mouthed Luján insipidly, "is a proven leader on progressive issues that matter to Illinois voters: fighting for common sense gun violence reform, standing up for a woman's right to choose and protecting seniors' health care. As a former member of Congress, Brad has the track record, relationships and resources to proudly take back Illinois' 10th district in 2016." As a former member with a track record, voters can clearly see that Luján is flat-out lying about Schneider who is the opposite of progressive. Progressive and the opposite of progressive are not the same (as we discussed the other day)-- but, then again, no one ever accused Luján of having a functioning IQ.

Both Chicago dailies endorsed Rotering this week, the Sun-Times editors announcing that it is time to move on from the see-saw battle between the two conservatives, Dold and Schneider. "Our endorsement goes to Nancy Rotering, the mayor of Highland Park, who took a terrific stand against gun violence by pushing through a municipal ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. A federal appellate court upheld the ban-- an important symbolic step toward sanity in our nation’s gun laws-- and the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to the law. Now Rotering is pushing a similar statewide ban in Illinois. This is leadership. Schneider, for his part, disappointed many supporters-- now former supporters-- when he unwisely opposed President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Whatever enthusiasm we had for Schneider’s candidacy waned as well."

The more conservative, and historically pro-Schneider paper, the very corporate Chicago Tribune, decided to abandon him this time around. "Rotering," they wrote, "who says her No. 1 legislative priority would be combating gun violence, impressed us with the passion she would bring to that perennial lost cause. As mayor of the North Shore suburb, she passed an assault weapons ban meant to invite a lawsuit from the firearms lobby. The measure survived legal challenges all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and has become a model for other municipalities, she says. She's spoiling for a fight at the federal level... Both say changes are needed to preserve the Affordable Care Act, but Rotering-- who has a master's degree in health services management, worked in benefits analysis for General Motors and has practiced health care law-- would likely bring more to those discussions. Our endorsement goes to Rotering."

The DCCC isn't just getting it wrong--and jeopardizing Democratic wins-- in Chicagoland. Their Rahm Emanuel/Chris Van Hollen/Steve Israel-inspired policy of butting into local primaries on behalf of conservative candidates has been devastating to the Democrats, who have lost dozens and dozens on House seats since the DCCC started undermining progressives. And this cycle, under a vapid moron as chairman, it's worst than ever. A few weeks ago we told you about Luján's primitive racism in central Florida. In fact... let's go over it again... it's that stunning:

This week the East Orlando Post reported that FL-10 voters are furious that the DCCC is interfering in their congressional primary on behalf of the incompetent conservative candidate, Val Demings to the detriment of beloved civil rights heroine Geraldine Thompson and highly-respected former Florida Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe. Demings may be seen as an easily-controlled shill by DC powermingers but she is not well-liked by many central Florida Democrats. Jacob Engels reported that Demings "suffered a tough loss to Republican Dan Webster in 2012 [and] angered many local Democratic voters and activists when she dropped out of the Orange County mayoral race at the last minute in 2014, leaving the party with no one to challenge long-term incumbent Republican Mayor Teresa Jacobs."

Regardless, an insider close to the DCCC told us that Demings earned the respect from running a campaign in a tough race against Republican statesman Daniel Webster. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan recently held an event for Demings in Central Florida, signalling DC insiders determination to hand the crown to the former police chief.

"We are not handpicking a candidate, but Chief Demings has earned the respect of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others on capitol hill. She seems to have the support locally."

Former Florida Democratic Party Chairman and serial entrepreneur Bob Poe, who is one of the candidates challenging Demings for the nomination, grew up in Florida's 10th district as a teen working at a gas station.

"This race is ultimately going to be decided by the voters in the 10th Congressional District and not a small group of power brokers in Washington," said Poe.

He continued by pointing to the fact that the party has far too many other "too close to call" races on their hands that have no contested primaries, and should be focusing their efforts there instead of in Florida 10.

"The DCCC should be spending their limited resources to defeat Republicans, not fellow Democrats."

Mr. Poe has spent the past three decades as an entrepreneur in the marketing and communications industry-- a sought after show-runner and ideas man. He has raised nearly $300k in the three weeks since he announced his bid.

A Democratic aide, who once worked in the office of Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi told the East Orlando Post that Poe does not have the right racial makeup for the district.

"Simply put, Poe can't buy this race. The hill has decided that we want Chief Demings, come hell or high-water. Thompson and Fahmy are not options either. They should wait their turn."

State Senator Geraldine Thompson, an African American civil rights icon, is also a candidate seeking the Democratic nomination. Thompson has served in elected office for 10 years in the area, and like Poe, she is determined to not let Washington dysfunction determine who the candidate ultimately is.

"This type of behavior signals a total disregard for the people in our district. To not allow a level playing field by openly supporting one candidate over the other three is flat out wrong. The Democratic party is supposed to be a big tent. I have been breaking down barriers and obstacles my whole life.

"While the open bias with which they are treating me and the other candidates is disappointing, I am not deterred. In this race is an openly gay man, a proud Latina woman and a veteran African American female elected leader. We are insistent that the people in the District will decide... not the Washington elite." Thompson told us on break from committee meetings in the Florida Capitol.

A donor familiar with the endorsement process and patterns of the DCCC told us that there is not really any rules against the committee supporting one candidate over another, but admitted that most of the time it is preferable to let the people decide.

"It is a little perplexing to see how they are handling this. Endorsements and support from Washington are in large part meaningless to the majority of voters. We have races that have no primaries and are extremely tough roads to victory against Republicans in the general election... why not focus on those?," the top bundler for Democrat candidates confided via text message, echoing Bob Poe's sentiment about smart allocation of precious party resources.

Fatima Rita Fahmy, a lawyer and former stockbroker who moved to Central Florida from Brazil when she was just five years old, is another Democrat making a run for congress in Florida's 10th district. Fahmy calls the DCCC's behavior "next level arrogance."

"They want to impose their will and I will push back hard against those movements. I am in total agreement with Mr. Poe and Senator Thompson, it shows a horrible disconnect between the power-brokers and everyday people."

Fahmy crashed a Demings event Monday morning where DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján was in attendance and publicly called attention to the committees unusual financial and structural support for a candidate who is facing a primary from other credible choices.

So, the DCCC claims that Poe, who is white and gay, "does not have the right racial makeup for the district" so they're stepping on a progressive African-American state senator and a Latina so they can support a conservative religious nut who also happens to be African-American. The district is 27.1% voting age African-American, 22.8% voting Hispanic, 44.3% voting age white and I was unaware Pelosi countenanced this kind of racial game-playing. The DCCC press secretary for the Southeast, Jermaine House, actually said, "We will never support Poe because he's white." I'd like to hear Pelosi defend that like DCCC statement. On top of that, the DCCC is complaining Poe "can't buy this election" when the hallmark of the DCCC in the last decade has been to always favor wealthy candidates over middle class candidates. The hypocrisy is overwhelming.

And Luján's disgraceful perfidy doesn't stop there. Right now the DCCC is working to guarantee another term for Tea Party Republican Steve Knight, but steamrolling the local Democrats in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and the Antelope Valley and working to install some random self-funding candidate from Orange County in place of local progressive Lou Vince, an Agua Dulce councilman and a policeman. The biggest local newspaper in the district, The Signal ran this OpEd last week from David Barlavi, a local Democrat, disgusted with the DCCC's shenanigans.

Lou Vince has been fighting for progressive values here in the 25th Congressional District for years. Lou ran for L.A. County Sheriff in 2014 on a progressive platform. Over the last year, Lou has been fighting as our strong, local, progressive candidate for Congress. Lou has been phone-banking and door-knocking for a year.

Lou has attended countless Democratic meetings and been pounding the pavement for a year. He has earned the endorsements and support of every Democratic Club in the 25th District-- some unanimously.

He’s earned the endorsement of our state’s California Democratic Party with the vote of more than 80 percent of our Democratic delegates. Lou has the endorsements of many prominent Democrats, both locally and state wide.

But most importantly, Lou has earned the support and confidence of local residents in the 25th. Lou is a Marine, an LAPD lieutenant with 21 years of service, a local town council member and a wonderful family man and father of four great kids.

Lou has lived in the 25th for over a decade, knows our issues, and cares deeply about our/his community.

Why, then, would the Washington elites parachute in a Johnny Come Lately, unknown carpetbagger into our district to jeopardize the Lou Vince campaign?

Here’s why:

Remember when the DCCC political elite in Washington did not support Lee Rogers for Congress? The DCCC didn’t support Lee in 2012 when he raised good money, and they didn’t support Lee in 2014 when he raised nearly $400,000.

Therefore, it’s logical to conclude that the DCCC supports issues, not as they contend, “fundraising ability.”

So why did the DCCC abandon the 25th in those last two elections and not support Lee Rogers? It is clear to me that it’s because the DCCC opposes progressive politics.

So let’s be honest witch each other here in the 25th. When the DCCC comes out of nowhere and parachutes in a wealthy, unknown, inexperienced lawyer from outside of our district, the message is clear.

The DCCC is not concerned about Lou Vince’s fundraising ability; they are opposed to Lou’s progressive politics.

The second important question is whether the DCCC is concerned about Lou Vince losing the general elections in November. Absolutely not. We all know 2016 is the year Democrats can defeat the Republicans and turn the 25th blue.

Democrats will have record turn-outs in June and November. The DCCC has not parachuted in a carpetbagger because they fear Republicans; they have forced a carpetbagger on us because they fear Lou Vince’s progressive politics.

Finally, why this particular out-of-towner? Well, to put it bluntly, he’s rich, with rich friends outside of our district. Now, there is nothing wrong with being rich, but those rich out-of-district friends have funded this out-of-town campaign.

Yes, he has raised a lot of out-of-town money all at once, but his well in the district is dry. He has little support from local Dems.

Lou Vince has raised campaign funds from more than 600 local contributors. That is a strong grass-roots campaign.

The carpetbagger has come in with bags of outside money, rented a place in Valencia, and proceeded to try to make us think he cares about our local issues and concerns. Absurd!

We need to nip this issue in the bud. It goes against our Democratic values in the 25th to parachute an unknown, out-of-town candidate into our district to undermine the already-existing, strong, year-long grass-roots Democratic campaign of Lou Vince for Congress.

A carpetbagging campaign itself is an affront to Democrats in the 25th. Add to that the big money bags thrown on us from outside the district, and the urgency becomes clear.

Make no mistake about it; this is a slap in the face of Democrats in the 25th.

Let’s not find out the dark truth in July when it’s too late. Let’s not unnecessarily sacrifice a real and local progressive. An honest-to-goodness, home-grown, 25th district Democrat, Lou Vince.

Please write to the DCCC and ask them to withdraw their candidate from our district and put their support behind Lou Vince for Congress. Their address is:

430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
Phone: (202) 863-1500

If Pelosi had any interest in winning back the House, all it would take is a competent, uncorrupted staff. Too much to ask for? Nope. Banish people like Steve Israel, Chris Van Hollen and Ben Ray Luján from the building and appoint someone who knows how to win and wants to win-- a Keith Ellison or a Mark Pocan or Ted Lieu or Matt Cartwright, not another loser crony from her own circle. Enough of this loser bullshit!

Is The DCCC As Hated Among Florida Democrats As It Is Among California Democrats?

Every bit as horrible as the last DCCC chairman-- and the one before that

A few days ago we looked at why California Democratic Party activists have been rejecting the DCCC and telling them to go shove their corrupt conservative candidates up Ben Ray Luján's and Steve Israel's asses. But a growing hatred for the DCCC among Democrats isn't confined to California. Florida Democratic Party activists have been waking up to the Beltway shenanigans that have proven catastrophic for Florida Democrats for over a decade when then-DCCC chairman Rahm Emanuel started recruiting Republicans to run as Democratic in the state.

This week the East Orlando Post reported that FL-10 voters are furious that the DCCC is interfering in their congressional primary on behalf of the incompetent conservative candidate, Val Demings to the detriment of beloved civil rights heroine Geraldine Thompson and highly-respected former Florida Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe. Demings may be seen as an easily-controlled shill by DC powermingers but she is not well-liked by many central Florida Democrats. Jacob Engels reported that Demings "suffered a tough loss to Republican Dan Webster in 2012 [and] angered many local Democratic voters and activists when she dropped out of the Orange County mayoral race at the last minute in 2014, leaving the party with no one to challenge long-term incumbent Republican Mayor Teresa Jacobs."

Regardless, an insider close to the DCCC told us that Demings earned the respect from running a campaign in a tough race against Republican statesman Daniel Webster. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan recently held an event for Demings in Central Florida, signalling DC insiders determination to hand the crown to the former police chief.

"We are not handpicking a candidate, but Chief Demings has earned the respect of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others on capitol hill. She seems to have the support locally."

Former Florida Democratic Party Chairman and serial entrepreneur Bob Poe, who is one of the candidates challenging Demings for the nomination, grew up in Florida's 10th district as a teen working at a gas station.

"This race is ultimately going to be decided by the voters in the 10th Congressional District and not a small group of power brokers in Washington," said Poe.

He continued by pointing to the fact that the party has far too many other "too close to call" races on their hands that have no contested primaries, and should be focusing their efforts there instead of in Florida 10.

"The DCCC should be spending their limited resources to defeat Republicans, not fellow Democrats."

Mr. Poe has spent the past three decades as an entrepreneur in the marketing and communications industry-- a sought after show-runner and ideas man. He has raised nearly $300k in the three weeks since he announced his bid.

A Democratic aide, who once worked in the office of Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi told the East Orlando Post that Poe does not have the right racial makeup for the district.

"Simply put, Poe can't buy this race. The hill has decided that we want Chief Demings, come hell or high-water. Thompson and Fahmy are not options either. They should wait their turn."

State Senator Geraldine Thompson, an African American civil rights icon, is also a candidate seeking the Democratic nomination. Thompson has served in elected office for 10 years in the area, and like Poe, she is determined to not let Washington dysfunction determine who the candidate ultimately is.

"This type of behavior signals a total disregard for the people in our district. To not allow a level playing field by openly supporting one candidate over the other three is flat out wrong. The Democratic party is supposed to be a big tent. I have been breaking down barriers and obstacles my whole life.

"While the open bias with which they are treating me and the other candidates is disappointing, I am not deterred. In this race is an openly gay man, a proud Latina woman and a veteran African American female elected leader. We are insistent that the people in the District will decide... not the Washington elite." Thompson told us on break from committee meetings in the Florida Capitol.

A donor familiar with the endorsement process and patterns of the DCCC told us that there is not really any rules against the committee supporting one candidate over another, but admitted that most of the time it is preferable to let the people decide.

"It is a little perplexing to see how they are handling this. Endorsements and support from Washington are in large part meaningless to the majority of voters. We have races that have no primaries and are extremely tough roads to victory against Republicans in the general election... why not focus on those?," the top bundler for Democrat candidates confided via text message, echoing Bob Poe's sentiment about smart allocation of precious party resources.

Fatima Rita Fahmy, a lawyer and former stockbroker who moved to Central Florida from Brazil when she was just five years old, is another Democrat making a run for congress in Florida's 10th district. Fahmy calls the DCCC's behavior "next level arrogance."

"They want to impose their will and I will push back hard against those movements. I am in total agreement with Mr. Poe and Senator Thompson, it shows a horrible disconnect between the power-brokers and everyday people."

Fahmy crashed a Demings event Monday morning where DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján was in attendance and publicly called attention to the committees unusual financial and structural support for a candidate who is facing a primary from other credible choices.

So, the DCCC claims that Poe, who is white and gay, "does not have the right racial makeup for the district" so they're stepping on a progressive African-American state senator and a Latina so they can support a conservative religious nut who also happens to be African-American. The district is 27.1% voting age African-American, 22.8% voting Hispanic, 44.3% voting age white and I was unaware Pelosi countenanced this kind of racial game-playing. The DCCC press secretary for the Southeast, Jermaine House, actually said, "We will never support Poe because he's white." I'd like to hear Pelosi defend that like DCCC statement. On top of that, the DCCC is complaining Poe "can't buy this election" when the hallmark of the DCCC in the last decade has been to always favor wealthy candidates over middle class candidates. The hypocrisy is overwhelming.