A Few Careerist Democrats-- Fools-- Are Afraid To Back Impeachment

3 conservative Democrats; Slotkin on the right

Michigan New Dem Elissa Slotkin is one of the most worthless wastes of a House seat Democrats elected in 2018. A cowardly careerist she has spent the last year shaking in her seat that she might say or do something wrong and lose her reelection bid. ProgressivePunch rates her a big fat "F." That's why she should lose her seat in the Detroit suburbs. The anti-red wave that swept Michigan in 2018 gave her a 4 point win over Republican incumbent Mike Bishop. She outspent Bishop 2 to 1-- $7,401,141 to $3,374,608 and the DCCC and its allies nearly $10 million more, much more than the NRCC and it's allies spent defending Bishop. So far this cycle, she has no primary opponent-- although she should-- and a gaggle of pathetic Republicans who haven't raised any money at all, though she's already brought in over $2,000,000. Her lifetime crucial vote score-- more Republican than Democrat at 43.14%-- is nestled comfortably between two of Congress' worse most GOP-oriented Democrats, a little better than Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX) and fractionally better than Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA). The only Democratic freshmen members with worse voting records than Slotkin are Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA), Jared Golden (D-ME), Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT), Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA), Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK), Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC), Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY) and Jefferson Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ), 8 shitheads, like her who have either decided to vote against impeachment or who are still trying to figure out if a vote for impeachment would help or hurt their miserable careers. Most of them are in much, much redder districts than Slotkin.

MI-08 includes parts of 3 counties, deep blue Ingham and redder parts of Oakland and Livingston. In 2016, Democrats in Ingham County turned out big for Bernie. He beat Hillary 22,909 (54.7%) to 18,287 (43.7%). Bernie also crushed Trump that day, who only drew 8,056 votes to Kasich's 7,725 and Ted Cruz's 7,042. Slotkin should be more worried about being primaried by a progressive than by being beaten by a Republican. Bernie also crushed Hillary in Livingston County-- 59.4% to 38.1%. Oakland County gave Hillary a narrow win over Bernie, but Bernie still beat Trump in the county. MI-08 voters wanted real change; instead they were cursed with a nervous nellie congresswoman who's like a plate of jello. NBC News reported over the weekend that "Slotkin is being lobbied by Republican colleagues who argue that Trump's actions-- even if imperfect-- don't amount to impeachable offenses and that she should accept, given her background, that the president needs room to use leverage in foreign policy... One Slotkin donor who contributed to her 2018 campaign after they got to know each other in Washington's national security circles told NBC News that it makes sense for her not to commit her vote early publicly. 'She’s been careful and conscientious about the process,' said the donor. 'It’s no surprise that she’s continuing to do that now by keeping her powder dry and waiting to see the articles of impeachment before she decides how she’s going to vote on them.'"

Many of the 2020 congressional candidates are far more courageous and far more driven by justice than Slotkin and the other conservative freshmen careerists are, including many in far redder districts.

The whole idea of this post came from something Omaha progressive Kara Eastman had written last week after Pelosi's speech about proceeding with impeachment: "This is a solemn day. There should be no celebration for the need to impeach the President. I have always said that I respect the office of the President. The problem America faces now is that Donald Trump does not respect the office. His actions involving Ukraine were bribery and extortion, pure and simple. As the evidence demonstrates, and as several legal scholars stated in public hearings yesterday, if this is not impeachable conduct, what is? As a candidate who intends to serve in Congress, my oath will be to uphold the Constitution. It is not to allow my oath to be clouded by partisan politics. That’s why I call upon my opponent, Representative Don Bacon, to rise above his partisan games and support Impeachment as well. He should recognize that now is the time to put country above party and defend the U.S. Constitution, as he is sworn to do."

I thought her framing was brilliant. I also liked the way Dana Balter in the Syracuse area district in upstate New York handled it. She sent her followers excerpts from an editorial from the Auburn Citizen demanding that the slippery Republican incumbent, John Katko "stop ignoring the facts" of impeachment. She noted that "As the process has unfolded in recent weeks, Rep. Katko has tied himself into knots feigning ignorance to the president’s abuses of power" and that Katko "has been a loyal footsoldier in the effort by Washington Republicans to divert attention from President Trump’s actions. Despite mountains of evidence, the Congressman has resisted the pleas of his constituents to do the right thing, instead deciding to make protecting Donald Trump his top priority. Rep. Katko is complicit in Trump’s corruption and it’s time that we replace both of them." Key excepts from the December 5 editorial:

• As the House Judiciary Committee considers articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, Rep. John Katko owes it to his constituents to come to an informed and vocal position on the issue.
• Two weeks ago, Katko said that he hadn't watched a lot of the impeachment testimony but was being briefed by his staff. He said that he hadn't yet seen evidence of an impeachable offense, he also said that he hadn't reached a conclusion. The time has come for him to start paying careful attention.
• Katko has said that the entire inquiry into Trump concerns a single phone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine. But it can't be dismissed that easily, and if Katko had been paying closer attention he would know that witnesses have testified about things beyond a single phone call that raise serious questions about whether Trump violated his oath of office.
• Impeachment is not a minor thing. It can't be written off as a distraction to the issues facing Congress, and it's a cop-out to say that multiple things can't be done at the same time.

A few days later, Balter was on the attack again after another devastating report in another local paper, the Post Standard: "Every day, Congressman Katko twists himself into another knot so that he can protect Donald Trump. The evidence is clear and irrefutable: the president has abused his power. Congressman Katko must understand this and when he says otherwise, he is lying to his constituents. No one is above the law and the Congressman’s refusal to hold the president accountable is a betrayal of the law, his oath of office, and our democracy."

West of Balter's district, Nate McMurray is running for an open seat in a really red district in western New York, NY-27 (PVI is R+11, New York's reddest district). He also made good use of a piece from a local newspaper, the Buffalo News that was published in July. Their story began with a huge photo:

The news piece by reporter Stephen Watson was relatively light-hearted and more human interest than hard-core political. McMurray has built on the concept to make a case in a difficult district where Trump beat Hillary 59.7% to 35.2%. He comes across as a very forthright, courageous person, very much the opposite of people like Slotkin.

Sunday's dueling pro- and anti-Trump rallies in the Elmwood Village left us with several striking images.

Two men, one who lost his shirt, coming to blows over their opposing views of the president. A man dressed as Captain America being pulled over by Buffalo police for driving without a seat belt.

But perhaps the most vivid was the view former Congressional candidate Nate McMurray offered of his arms.

McMurray, the Grand Island supervisor and an organizer of the anti-Trump event, wore a sleeveless shirt to the protest. This didn't go unnoticed by people who saw photos and videos from the event.

"Yesterday I wore a-- God forbid-- SLEEVELESS T-shirt!" McMurray tweeted Monday. "I have received more comments on that shirt ..."

He said he wore it for practical purposes-- because he had to carry water bottles, tables and other items to and from the rally in Sunday's heat-- and not for vanity's sake.

"But maybe I’ll go sleeveless more often," McMurray wrote, using the hashtag "sunsoutgunsout."

His sartorial choice proved as divisive as the current political climate.

One Twitter user wrote, simply, "Dork."

But most people replying to McMurray offered compliments.

"I thought you looked great-- young and vibrant," one woman observed.

And a couple of wags made similar quips: "I believe in your right to bare arms."

Progressive Democrat Ian Todd is running in an even redder district (R+12), Michelle Bachman's old redoubt in Minnesota, currently occupied by the chair of the NRCC, Tom Emmer, who the DCCC has a non-aggression pact with. Ian told us that he thinks "the debate among Democrats whether or not to 'throw the book' at Trump and put every crime we know of in the articles of impeachment is a microcosm of our two tiered justice system. Penniless folks with no power often have ridiculously overblown charges against them as leverage for a plea deal, but many Democrats aren't sure if we should add the clear cases of obstruction of justice or not. The privilege of the powerful is not easy to watch when you know how the rest of us get treated."

I was interested in how Dary Rezvani was using impeachment, since he's the progressive taking on one of the impeachment investigations' arch-villains, Devin Nunes. But impeachment isn't foremost on his mind-- nor, he said, on the minds of CA-22 residents. "We have not really addressed impeachment. We have been trying to focus on local issues that the federal government can impact. Aside from the people entrenched in our local Democratic Party, it is not really an issue. We have so many things happening here that impeachment is really a luxury. I believe Trump should be held accountable and obviously Nunes is directly involved with the entire situation but most of the people I have spoken to believe we should work on making sure we vote him out in 2020."

Jennifer Christie is running for an open seat in a pretty red district in the suburbs and exurbs other of Indianapolis. She's taking the kind of strong, principled stand for impeachment that frightens the DCCC and conservative Democrats, "Congress has had a Constitutional obligation to impeach Trump since 2017," she told us. "He committed obstruction of justice by firing James Comey as well as the other 10 counts of obstruction detailed in the Mueller report. Trump has also been in violation of the Constitution each day that he receives and accepts money from foreign governments who stay at his resorts and hotels. He has promoted his personal businesses through his office and certainly has profited from it. Trump's campaign accepted a meeting with a foreign agent to receive 'dirt' on  his opponent and then lied to the American People about it. He said, if given the chance, he would do it again. And he did. This time, it was Trump who bribed the Ukrainian President to announce an investigation into his political opponent. Trump did not do this for our country; he did it for himself just like he has used the Presidential office for his personal gain since he took office. The current hearings document and attest to the blatant abuse of power exhibited by President Trump. The founders of our Constitution gave the mechanism of impeachment exactly for the purpose of removing a president who is willing to put his own interests above the country's and to abuse the office for his own profit and gain. This is a nonpartisan issue; this is a moral and Constitutional issue. It doesn't matter which party you belong to. Congress takes an oath to the Constitution alone. Every member of the House and Senate-- Democrat, Republican, and Independent-- should vote yes to impeachment because, if they don't, they are saying it is ok to bribe and accept a foreign government's help in an election. And if that is ok, then our Democracy is lost."

We need more members of Congress like Jennifer Christie and fewer like Elissa Slotkin. Same goes for Nabilah Islam, the progressive running for the open red seat in the suburbs northeast of Atlanta. She tells the constituents there that "Trump’s only priority is himself. I was the first person to call for impeachment proceedings in Georgia. It’s unfortunate it’s taken so long for Congress to act. He’s committed multiple impeachable offenses including but not limited to obstruction of justice. I’m glad proceedings have begun but sad it’s taken so long to finally begin. It’s clear Donald Trump asked a foreign government to investigate one of his opponents in the Presidential election and threatened to withhold funding in order for them do so. This is a clear case of quid pro quo. The only way we can return dignity to the Office of the President is through his removal. He needs to be impeached now."

Heidi Sloan is a Democratic Socialist running in a gerrymandered Texas district that goes from Austin right up to the southern tip of Tarrant County and the Fort With exurbs. Her opponent, a rich used car salesman named Roger Williams, is a Trump fanatic. This is from an e-mail Sloan sent to her supporters last month:

The betrayal of Donald Trump and his corrupt administration was laid bare yesterday during testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. Donald Trump is hateful, criminal, and incompetent. He, and everyone in his administration, deserve to be removed from office immediately.

But career politicians see this as an opportunity to get off the hook. Even Democrats would rather talk about impeachment than have to take a position on the issues that matter most to working class Americans. We need national rent control. We need Medicare For All - the real deal, right now, not in three years and not a public option. We need a Green New Deal and to prosecute fossil fuel executives. We need an immediate moratorium on deportations and to abolish ICE. And we need candidates who are committed to fighting for that vision.

That's how we're going to beat Trump and his allies in Washington. Impeachment grandstanding will not deliver these gains to us, only a fighting organized working class will. When our people are struggling living paycheck to paycheck and unable to even pay attention to impeachment proceedings, there is a problem with our democracy, and I’m the only candidate in this race that understands that problem. The problem is power, and until regular folks have power, our electeds simply won’t be able to win the fight against corruption and injustice.

Stand with us to win the demands of the working class. That’s what I’ve been doing since before I was asking for votes, and that’s what we’ll do-- together-- when I'm in office.

Former Columbus mayor, Teresa Tomlinson, is running for the Georgia Senate seat occupied by lockstep Trump ally David Perdue. This is what she's saying out on the stump about Trump's impending impeachment: "The Senate vote on President Trump's articles of impeachment will determine the outcome of the Senate majority and leadership in 2020. Our Founding Fathers tell us so. Indeed, Alexander Hamilton explained precisely on point with the debate of today that senators must be called to account as to the standard for our presidency. If the Senate refuses to vote to impeach upon evidence of abuse of power, then they will allow the president to become the 'author of their mismanagement and disgrace,' and the people will hold the senators to account at the ballot box." (That's from Federalist Paper, No. 66.)

The DCCC Would Never Target NRCC Chair Tom Emmer, But That Isn't Stopping Ian Todd

Minnesota's 6th district hasn't been friendly territory for congressional Democratic candidates in a very long time. Originally white flight suburbs and exurbs north and west of the Twin Cities, the district is the reddest in the state, with an R+12 PVI. It's Michele Bachmann's old stomping grounds and after she was forced to resign from Congress, it's been represented by Tom Emmer, best known for 2 things-- the Financial Services Committee member who took immense bribes from the banksters to lead the charge against Dodd-Frank and as the current head of the NRCC. The district voted against Obama both times he ran and then voted even more strongly against Hillary. In 2016 Trump won the district 58.9% to 33.2%.

Asians and Somalis from Minneapolis have been settling in and around St. Cloud and the district is beginning to change... slowly. Last year progressive Democrat Ian Todd did better than any Democratic candidate since the scandal-burdened Bachmann was nearly defeated in the 50.5% to 49.3% 2012 election that helped persuade her to retire. Last year-- in the midst of the Anoka Catholic dioceses going bankrupt after a series of child molestation scandals, Todd drew 122,332 votes campaigning on a solid working class, Bernie-like platform. That wasn't enough votes to win but I want to point something out about it. The DCCC ignored Todd's race entirely and refused to give him a dime and warned institution Democratic donors they would be wasting their money if they contributed to the progressive. Meanwhile the DCCC poured millions of dollars into conservative corporate Democrats. I want to compare Todd's 122,332 votes to what the DCCC bought for their winning conservative candidates in California:

• Josh Harder- 115,945 ($8,358,405 + $5,351,775 from the DCCC)
• TJ Cox- 57,239 ($2,872,974 + $361,883 from the DCCC)
• Katie Hill- 133,209 ($8,342,521 + $3,541,202 from the DCCC)
• Gil Cisneros- 126,002 ($12,030,393-- $9,252,762 self-funded-- + $5,330,201 from the DCCC)
• Harley Rouda- 157,837 ($7,636,294 + $7,070,891 from the DCCC)

Remember, Todd spent $81,577 and had no outside help and still took 122,332 votes. He made significant headway in 2 of the 3 top counties, Anoka and Stearns. And now he's running again. The Democrats in the district know the difference between a Republican-lite corporate Dem and a real Democrat. In 2016 Bernie slaughtered Hillary 62.4% to 37.6% in MN-06. Todd is an Air Force veteran who worked as an intelligence analyst as part of the drone program before moving to Sauk Rapids. I asked him to introduce himself and explain why the second run-- and as a no-nonsense progressive in this red district is going to move the ball down the field. If you like what you hear, please consider contributing to his campaign here.





It Will Take A Progressive To Win In  Minnesota's 6th District
by Ian Todd

In 2012, our district came within one point of DFL victory; to call this area highly conservative or a lost cause for Democrats is highly misleading, but that doesn’t stop the claim from being repeated ad nauseum. The reality is that this district, like most of Minnesota, could swing either way, and is home to a variety of independent voters that are proud to have no party loyalty. [In 2018 Amy Klobuchar won both Anoka and Stearns counties.]

Perhaps the largest part of that group are the progressives that often see the Democratic Party and the DFL as too centrist and will not vote for DFL candidates running with conservative policies. It’s my belief that rural Minnesotans that are willing to cast their ballot for the DFL aren’t looking for Republican-lite candidates. If they were, they’d probably just vote Republican and never give any Democrat the time of day. In 2012, this district almost flipped blue, and the DFL candidate was a strong supporter for LGBTQ+ rights, specifically the right to marriage. In 2014, the DFL candidate was an outspoken pro-life Democrat, and the gap between GOP and DFL widened by 18 points. That gap has stayed ever since.

I’m not here to cast judgement on those that ran before me, and the fate of an election certainly isn’t contingent on just one point, but I do believe that my district, especially the progressive voters and the youth that have never gone to the polls before, is looking for a candidate that can be a champion for the issues that plague their lives and have caused them to lose faith in politicians and our entire system of government. I’ve traveled all over my district to knock on people’s doors, and everywhere I go I meet country raised folk like me that hold progressive populist ideas. They always seem to think they’re alone, too, so it’s my pleasure to tell them that they have neighbors just as left leaning as them.

I’m running on the same progressive policies I ran on in 2018, and I will continue to fight for these policies until we solve the underlying issues that make them necessary. I fight to end the corruption of money in politics because legalized bribery cannot be part of free and fair elections. I fight for Medicare for All because health is a fundamental human right and any system that lets people fall through the cracks or be locked into crippling debt for the crime of illness or injury is unjust. I fight to solve climate change because the security of our planet is at risk and the desire of a few for more profits cannot justify the damage being done to our world. These issues mean just as much to people that grew up in rural America, small towns, and the suburbs as they do to people that lived their whole lives in a city, and they need a representative that can make sure that when reforms come to pass, the positive change is brought to their neck of the woods, too.

However, as a candidate in a district of many political ideologies, I can’t win without being a unifying voice for more than just folks as progressive as I am. I’m under no illusion, I will have to fight for my beliefs and values in the political arena, but that doesn’t mean I have to use underhanded tactics that have come to dominate political discourse or disparage those that hold other beliefs. This is the way we bring civility back into our politics without sacrificing convictions, and communicating this way is something I’ve had a lifetime to practice.

Throughout my life I’ve dealt with people that don’t agree with my politics. There’s a painful source of strength in standing up for your beliefs when they are consistently questioned, belittled, disrespected, and ultimately discarded by your peers. I often joke that if I never learned to get along with those I don’t agree with, I wouldn’t have had many friends. I suppose it’s good I can laugh about it now; I certainly couldn’t then. However, I learned a fine art of sticking up for myself and others without alienating those whose beliefs I could not square with. It’s perhaps the most important skill I have as I run for office today.

From growing up in northwest Arkansas where there’s a unique blend of poverty and gratuitous wealth thanks to the presence and dominance of Wal-Mart and its home office, to enlisting in the Air Force where dropping bombs on people was celebrated with the ringing of a bell and roaring applause, I have always found myself in positions where I felt compelled to speak up and often alone when I chose to do so. The most amazing this about running for office here in Minnesota is that while I still have to fight for what I believe in every bit as hard as I ever have, I don’t feel alone in doing so anymore.

People still say the 6th congressional district is too conservative. I’ve been called the DFL’s sacrificial lamb. But I know that rural America doesn’t mean Republican America. I know that even the districts like mine can be won and are worth fighting for.