Campaigning For Congress-- In The Midst Of The Pandemic

Asshole without a mask campaigns among men all wearing masks

Right before the shutdown, an unsymptomatic campaign volunteer gave everyone on a congressional campaign COVID-19-- as well as the candidate's entire family. No one died. But it sure screwed up the campaign. Yesterday, the Attorney General of Michigan, Dana Nessel, said Señor Trumpanzee is no longer welcome in the state after he adamantly refused to wear a mask in public as part of a campaign stunt. "He is a petulant child who refuses to follow the rules. This is not a joke." Michigan has been a hard-hit state that is working very diligently to flatten the curve by encouraging-- not discouraging-- everyone to wear a mask. Michigan's 53,510 caseload increased by 501 cases while Trump was in the state yesterday and 69 more people died, bringing their total deaths to 5,129. (Yesterday there were 5,358 cases per million people, worse than every European country other than Spain.)

A political consultant friend of the blog, Eric Hogensen, wrote up some suggestions for campaigning during the pandemic for his clients and shared it with us. "The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting changes to our lives," he wrote earlier this week, "have altered politics. In addition to moving election dates, restrictions on the usual messaging tactics have changed campaigns, possibly for the rest of the year."

Digital

With canvassing is limited or unavailable, social media will become more important and valuable this year. Online videos, both planned and live, can be used by the candidate to get their message out. A candidate can also host question-and-answer sessions that connect a candidate to a voter. Organizing a virtual night based on any one of the main issues taking place in the district you are running in, is a great way to reach voters. Also, utilizing more apps with platforms such as Nextdoor to reach voters in your district directly will greatly benefit your campaign.

Branding

The typical political messages may seem less appropriate during these challenging times, so messages should be inspiring and hopeful. It’s important to remember not to change your brand as a candidate during these times. You can pivot with creative messaging and expanding your brand but don’t change who you are.

Field

Instead of canvassing door-to-door, phone banking will become more important. Use community mapping by starting with who you know and identifying who is influential (such as local leaders). Build a list of these individuals and then ask them to introduce you to their connections. Predictive dialer services should also be utilized even more during this cycle. Also, the targeting for different constituencies through phone calls should be looked at with a closer lens to evaluate your support as you begin your outreach. With volunteers making calls from home, it can actually be easier for calls to get made. Set up weekly goals and a leaderboard so volunteers can reach enough voters.

Although these are challenging times, candidates should recognize that there are still alternative ways to reach voters, and that it is important to spread the message of hope and unity during this crisis.

I asked some of the Blue America-endorsed candidates how they're coping with keeping a campaign moving forward during the pandemic. Indiana progressive Jim Harper was the first to respond: "Our campaign acted early to make sure that we were doing no harm. I haven't shaken a hand for months, and we quickly cancelled our in-person events even before stay-at-home orders were issued. We have switched our focus to phone calls and digital outreach, but also work to make sure that we as a campaign are giving back during a difficult time. Every week, we engage in multiple service activities. This is a good opportunity to remain connected with our community, while lending a helping hand."

If Jennifer Christie wins, she will have flipped an open red seat in the suburbs north of Indianapolis. There's a crowded field of Republican-lite Democrats and Jennifer is the only one running on a straight-up progressive platform. This morning she told us that "We started knocking doors right after the New Year. We were out several times per week long before any other campaigns had started canvassing. We knocked in thr sleet and snow. Then the pandemic hit. We stopped knocking with an abrupt halt to keep our team and constituents safe. We immediately switched over to phone-banking, text-banking, and zoom-events. We are on the phone daily and it’s going really well. Because people are home more, we talk to a lot of people. And we get overwhelmingly yes commitments with enthusiasm for our truly progressive campaign and the chance to send a scientist and a mom to Congress."

The Newark, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Hoboken, Weehawken, Jersey City district that Hector Oseguera is running in is very different from IN-05. For one thing, the district is as blue as it gets and the electorate is 65% Hispanic. The winner of the primary is the next member of Congress. Hector is campaigning hard against an entrenched, machine-backed incumbent, Albio Sires. Earlier today, Hector told us that "Incumbents normally hold a tremendous advantage over their challengers, having much better access to funding and to influential groups within their districts. This new reality has quickly leveled off this traditional power disparity, as both elected officials and their challengers adapt to life in lockdown. This campaign specifically, has shifted to online advertisements on platforms like Facebook, which can have as much impact and reach as traditional television and radio ads at a fraction of the cost. Letter writing campaigns offer remote outreach opportunities that give voters a personal, one-on-one experience, while maintaining social distancing. Even our activism need not grind to a halt. I've participated in a number of COVID-safe rallies at ICE detention centers, where activists drive around prisons, honking profusely, to let the inmates and staff know that we are aware of the unsafe conditions inside. All this chaos can provide creative, tech-savvy campaigns a much needed advantage on a traditionally skewed playing field. How campaigns adapt to this new world will vary depending on the contours of their districts; but the old Latin proverb, Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat, hold true today... fortune favors the bold!"

"In the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Rochester, NY candidate Robin Wilt, "our campaign first off transitioned to mutual aid efforts. We saw the communities that were most engaged in our campaign suffering, so we started making deliveries for a local food pantry, which turned out to be one of the few food pantries in the county that has continued to operate during the crisis. We also transitioned our phonebanks to include senior check-ins. In addition to mutual aid efforts, we knew that our original strategy would depend a lot on direct voter contact, so since we didn’t have that in our toolbox anymore, we transitioned our outreach to social media, and we began doing weekly COVID-19 community check-ins. These are updates where we highlight the issues facing our frontline and most vulnerable community members to raise awareness and build action around moving forward through this pandemic together, with no one left behind. We have now done these public forums and outreach to the arts and self care communities, for those that are housing insecure, the immigrant, migrant, and refugee community, the incarcerated community, the climate justice community, the mutual aid community, educators, voting rights advocacy, etc. Yesterday, we hosted a call with Medicare for All advocates. We promote them via Zoom on Facebook Live, and it’s a means to engage voters around the priorities that matter most to the electorate."

"So, basically," she concluded, "our team has shifted to a strong digital outreach effort through social media channels. The results have been terrific, reaching an average of 60,000 voters each week. We’ve also never strayed from our activist roots. What we’re finding during the pandemic is that raising awareness and taking action to support our frontline communities is the best mechanism to spread our message.

Mckayla Wilkes is taking on Pelosi's #2 (and K Street's #1)-- Steny Hoyer. "Prior to COVID-19," she told us today, "we were knocking on over 10,000 doors a weekend so when we had to suspend canvassing we were obviously a bit concerned as to how we would continue to get the word out about our campaign. But thankfully, we were able to transition fast due to our committed volunteers. Since we shut down canvassing, we’ve made hundreds of thousands of calls, seen an increase in volunteers by 1000%, raised over $300k and see no signs of slowing down. Just yesterday, we launched our first TV ad campaign throughout the district!"

World Leader? Nope

Other than nations that have transactional relationships with Trump, the whole world generally detests him. Both friends of the U.S. like the EU countries and foes of our country, like North Korea, look at him like a buffoon. Even if you don't understand German, the video above gives you an idea of what kind of esteem Germans hold the president-- especially when you compare that to how admired Barack Obama was there.

Last week Trump mouthed off about how great his relationship is with murderous Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, boasting how the U.S. would have been at war with north Korea if not for him. "I received a nice note from him recently. It was a nice note. I think we’re doing fine," referring to stalled nuclear talks with North Korea. The following day, the North Korean Foreign Ministry put out a statement saying there was no letter from Kim Jong Un and that Trump had just made it up out of thin air. "The relations between the top leaders of [North Korea] and the U.S. are not an issue to be taken up just for diversion nor it should be misused for meeting selfish purposes."

National Security Action, a Democratic organization, hired Hart Research to do a poll of voters in battleground states. Most Americans say Trump has made the U.S. less respected on the world stage. Only 31% think he's made the U.S. more respected. "Among the 16% of voters who remain undecided ahead of November’s election," wrote Axios' Dave Lawler, "59% agree that Trump is making the U.S. less respected, compared to 16% who say the U.S. is now more respected." This chart shows the share of voters who approve or are concerned about Trump's handling of key issues:

Standing up to China ranked last, suggesting Trump’s recent campaign to brand Joe Biden as "soft" on China may not resonate strongly. Especially harmful for Trump's reelection prospects is that 22% of voters in these key states say that Trump has increased the likelihood of war.

Jim Harper is a civil rights attorney contesting a gaggle of conservative Democrats for a blue seat in northwest Indiana. He noted that morning that "allies and world leaders don't take Trump seriously, and Americans know this. Now more than ever, we need international cooperation to overcome this global pandemic. Unfortunately, Trump has shredded American diplomatic credibility and, with it, our ability to lead. This is just another example of how Trump's incompetence will cost lives at home and abroad."

Eva Putzova progressives with the only opportunity for adding an Arizona progressive to Congress. She's the opposite of insular and is very aware of the danger Trump's narcissistic personality put's America in.She told me he's "made the world less safe and harmed our reputation with other countries. He has abrogated nuclear arms treaties with Russia and is developing low-yield nuclear weapons which increases the chances of them actually being used. He has increased tensions with China over his racist 'China Virus' statements related to the coronavirus. And with the exception of brutal dictators like MBS, Bolsonaro, and Duterte he is despised and disrespected by world leaders. Like his domestic policy, his foreign policy is driven by self-interest, not national interest. It is no wonder that 22% of voters in battleground states say that Trump has increased the likelihood of war. We need a President who will seek peace between nations and bring us back from the brink of armed conflict. Whether that is Joe Biden remains to be seen. A progressive Congress and progressive movement will be necessary to insure that is the case."

Lauren Ashcraft is the progressive candidate running in a congressional district that spans parts of Manhattan's East Side, Queens and Brooklyn, a unique situation. Her opponent has ignored Queens and Brooklyn-- and most of the Manhattan parts of the district, just lavishing attention on Wall Street and the wealthy neighborhoods of the Upper East Side. This morning, Lauren told me that "Trump's foreign policy has been to compliment leaders who compliment him or help him or his friends to personally profit-- an approach that is otherwise completely maniacal and without any logic or foresight. It’s time we have a new generation of leaders who won’t budge on being anti-war and anti-imperialism."

Having won his primary, history professor Liam O'Mara is running for a Riverside County congressional seat held by corrupt conservative Ken Calvert. "Our standing in the world matters, and not just with tin-pot dictators and foreign influence peddlers," he told me earlier today. "That this needs to be said at all is sad, but it does. Republican voters are always talking about keeping Americans safe-- so why do they ignore the evidence and throw out strategies proven to work? At the end of the day, it's apparently not our safety that matters, it's how 'tough' we appear, how much we push others around, and this approach to foreign policy consistently increases dangers for Americans and is objectively harmful."

"Trump, he continued, "entered office determined to hamstring the State Department, slashing the aid budget that helps us to maintain good relations and solve problems before they affect us, and attacking the diplomatic corps because it was devoted to the country and not to his personal interests. He has also repeatedly slammed NATO and the EU, maligned our close neighbours Canada and Mexico, and undermined pro-democracy forces in dozens of countries, while at the same time cozying up to dictators like Kim, lawless killers like Duterte, and overt neofascists like Bolsonaro. He has also continued the longstanding American subservience to the Saudi monarchy and the Israeli far right, in both cases ignoring core American principles and commitments to human rights. And he has pursued military action in at least eight countries that escalates the blowback risk to Americans, since military action alone will not and cannot defeat terrorism. We know what works and has worked, repeatedly and over many decades, in cases all around the world. We can spread liberty and stability, decrease the threat of terrorism and insurgencies, and strengthen economic and political ties in ways that ensure major wars are a thing of the past. And the way we do that is... pretty much the opposite of everything the GOP does in Washington. I had friends present and offering expert analysis before the Iraq War... which was promptly dismissed, with predictable and disastrous consequences. It's time we paid attention to the evidence again, and stopped letting this country be run by an organized crime family."

Jim Harper: The Pandemic Is NOT The Time To Let Up On Gun Safety

18 term Democratic Jim Visclosky is retiring from his northwest Indiana congressional seat-- a deep blue (D+8) seat where whomever wins the primary is the next member of Congress. Districts like this shouldn't be sending GOP-lite candidates to Congress; they should be sending bold progressives. The bold progressive in contention is Jim Harper-- and his top opponent is Tom McDermott, an arch conservative and crooked ex-mayor of Hammond. In McDermott's first interview after announcing, he attacked the House Democrats for impeaching Trump, something that might be expected from a right-of-center corporatist who only became a Democrat after being blocked from ballot access by the local Republican Party. His "change of heart" did not include supporting the broader Democratic Party. And as anyone who's followed McDermott's sleazy career would guess, his first quarter campaign finance report was riddled with donations from corporate PACs and city contractors.

Jim Harper-- the candidate endorsed by Blue America-- has a sterling platform built on planks like the Green New Deal, Medicare-for-All, campaign finance reform and criminal justice reform.

Jim hasn't let the pandemic get in the way of gun violence safety either. Quite the contrary in fact. "At a time when public health experts and political leaders are pleading with Americans to stay home and save lives," he told us, "a growing number of states have allowed gun stores to stay open for business as usual. Even though 42 states have issued 'stay at home' orders, at least 30 states-- including my state, Indiana-- have allowed gun stores to remain open. Of course, these actions will undoubtedly result in the increased spread of the coronavirus and, therefore, the loss of life. But the decision to provide a special exception to gun stores also comes at a time when gun violence poses a particularly significant threat to American families and children."

Jim's point is that the pandemic is making gun safety even more urgent. "In February," he said, "gun background checks spiked by 36%, indicating a significant increase in the number of gun purchases. At the same time, an increasing number of children and families are staying at home. Before this crisis, an estimated 4.6 million young Americans lived in a home with an unsecured firearm. Moreover, American kids are 20 times more likely to be killed in accidental shootings than kids in other countries. Now is not the time to label gun stores as 'essential' or to exempt those stores from public health requirements. That’s why I call on Indiana’s governor to remove the exception for gun stores from the 'stay at home' order." Indiana's governor, an NRA shill, isn't listening. Jim:

It’s also why we need to talk about and advocate for other gun safety measures during this time. Of course, I have consistently supported common-sense measures like an assault weapons ban and high-capacity magazine restrictions. But other gun safety measures often fly under the radar. In February, I sat down with close friends who lost their young son when he was able to access an unsecured gun at a babysitter’s house. I met these friends-- Kandice and Ron Cole-- through our involvement with Mom’s Demand Action. After Kandice and Ron lost their son, they learned how hard it was to hold individuals responsible for unsecured firearms. I have joined Kandice and Ron to advocate for safe storage laws, which make it illegal for adults to store a firearm where a child can access it. As more kids are staying home from school, safe-storage measures take on added urgency.

As more adults also stay at home, we need additional measures to protect victims of domestic abuse. Universal background checks-- which Republicans and the NRA continue to senselessly oppose-- are a good start. But we also need to close exceptions in currently law like the “boyfriend loophole,” which allows abusive partners to retain their firearm as long as they are not married to the victim of abuse. Here, too, the NRA stands in the way. In Congress, I look forward to standing up to the NRA and closing this loophole.

In the middle of the coronavirus crisis, our focus has understandably shifted from other public health crises. However, Americans continue to suffer from gun violence, and the current crisis only exacerbates the risk faced by children and family members. It’s time to recognize that gun stores are not essential and to enact common-sense gun reforms in Washington, D.C., and state capitals. In Congress, look forward to leading these efforts.

As I mentioned above, Jim Harper was endorsed by Blue America and by clicking on the thermometer above is you can help his campaign compete effectively against the corporate-backed conservative he's competing with for a seat in a nice blue district that only gave Trump 41.5% of its vote in 2016.

U.S. Has No Competent Leadership In The Current Crisis-- We Are Flying Blind

When Obama was elected in 2008, Bush left him a major financial crisis that came to be known as the Great Recession. Obama appointed Rahm Emanuel chief of staff who was widely quoted as having said "You shouldn’t let a crisis go to waste," meaning it could be used to pass otherwise difficult legislation and enact policies that might get more scrutiny and opposition under other circumstances.

Needless to say, the Trump Regime is trying to do that right now and we've discussed their economic wish list for the catastrophe. particularly lowering taxes and jeopardizing Social Security and Medicare. Politico's Betsy Swan, though, looked in a different direction for something they'd like to do: suspending constitutional rights under cover of the crisis. Enter, stage right: William Barr, the Trumpst Attorney General. "The Justice Department," she reported, "has quietly asked Congress for the ability to ask chief judges to detain people indefinitely without trial during emergencies-- part of a push for new powers that comes as the novel coronavirus spreads throughout the United States." Barr is targeting the statute of limitations, asylum, the way court hearings are conducted and is "seeking the authority to extend deadlines on merger reviews and prosecutions."

The move has tapped into a broader fear among civil liberties advocates and Donald Trump’s critics-- that the president will use a moment of crisis to push for controversial policy changes. Already, he has cited the pandemic as a reason for heightening border restrictions and restricting asylum claims. He has also pushed for further tax cuts as the economy withers, arguing it would soften the financial blow to Americans. And even without policy changes, Trump has vast emergency powers that he could deploy right now to try to slow the coronavirus outbreak.

...In one of the documents, the department proposed that Congress grant the attorney general power to ask the chief judge of any district court to pause court proceedings “whenever the district court is fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation.”

The proposal would also grant those top judges broad authority to pause court proceedings during emergencies. It would apply to “any statutes or rules of procedure otherwise affecting pre-arrest, post-arrest, pre-trial, trial, and post-trial procedures in criminal and juvenile proceedings and all civil process and proceedings,” according to draft legislative language the department shared with Congress. In making the case for the change, the DOJ wrote that individual judges can currently pause proceedings during emergencies but that their proposal would make sure all judges in any particular district could handle emergencies “in a consistent manner.”

The request raised eyebrows because of its potential implications for habeas corpus-- the constitutional right to appear before a judge after arrest and seek release.

“Not only would it be a violation of that, but it says ‘affecting pre-arrest,’” said Norman L. Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “So that means you could be arrested and never brought before a judge until they decide that the emergency or the civil disobedience is over. I find it absolutely terrifying. Especially in a time of emergency, we should be very careful about granting new powers to the government.”

Reimer said the possibility of chief judges suspending all court rules during an emergency without a clear end in sight was deeply disturbing.

“That is something that should not happen in a democracy,” he said.

Matt Cartwright (D-PA) is self-quarantined and has had some time to think about this threat. "It is abhorrent to use 'emergency' as an excuse to curtail American civil rights," he told me today. "We in Pennsylvania are rightly proud of our own Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts.  A lifelong Republican, not only did he vote to uphold Social Security as constitutional. But, just as consequentially, he also was one of the dissenting votes in Korematsu v. United States, in which the Court upheld our shameful imprisonment of thousands of innocent, loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry during Workd War II. Roberts dissented because he understood the truth:  that when we surrender the civil rights of any American, we forfeit a part of why America is even a nation in the first place."

Jim Harper is an attorney who is running for the open blue congressional seat in northwestern Indiana. "The Justice Department's ploy is shocking," he told us this morning, "but not surprising. Donald Trump does not care about due process, and he does not care about fixing our broken criminal justice system. At a time when governments should be releasing non-violent and low risk offenders to reduce the risk to inmates and employees alike, Trump and Barr are using this emergency to hold inmates for longer than the law allows. Trump is once again trampling on the Constitution. We should all be concerned. Today, he is using this emergency to take rights away from inmates and asylum seekers. Who will be next?"





Lev Menand and Ganesh Sitaraman went through seven lessons we should have learned from the Great Recession. McConnell failed to move any of his reactionary pandemic legislation yesterday-- in part due to all the Republican senators quarantined. Even before that, Menand and Sitaraman were urging that we look back at policy choices made in 2008 to help us navigate the current emergency. "Policymakers," they wrote, "pursued a variety of crisis-fighting strategies, from investing in banks and automobile companies, to cutting taxes and green-lighting infrastructure investments, to re-regulating financial institutions and setting up new agencies to protect Americans from some of the harmful practices that helped precipitate and worsen the crash. Looking back at what worked and what didn’t can help us reprise successful strategies while avoiding pitfalls."

1 Fiscal Stimulus Should be Big, Salient, and Recurring. The 2009 stimulus was big, but not big enough. Famously, Christina Romer, President Obama’s chief economic advisor, proposed a stimulus of greater than $1 trillion, but was rebuffed by political advisors who thought that amount would appear too large. The stimulus that passed was not only too small, but it was largely composed of withholding tax reductions. This tax cut went unnoticed by most people, compared to getting a check from the federal government. (Incredibly, that was by design.) For a stimulus to work well, people should know and feel that they are getting money in their pockets. Ideas like cancelling student loan debt, expanding Social Security payments, and direct transfers are therefore far better than payroll tax cuts. And as economic crises generally do not resolve themselves immediately, a stimulus should not be a one-time-only action. Indeed, after the last stimulus, the federal government adopted sequestration, a disastrous austerity policy that ran directly counter to continuing to spark growth and recovery. A stimulus should be sustained with recurring elements to restore confidence and ensure that recovery does not depend on the legislature reauthorizing expansionary policy every six months.

2 Target Main Street. During the 2008 crisis, policymakers targeted the bulk of the bailout money at Wall Street financial institutions, rather than homeowners. The result was twofold. Wall Street recovered relatively swiftly, while homeowners did not; and the economy was rebuilt on a shaky foundation as homeowners struggled for years to get above water on their mortgages. Some at the time argued for rescuing homeowners, rather than big financial institutions, but their arguments went unheeded. This time, instead of homeowners, it’s small businesses and workers who are in trouble. Restaurants, bars, mom-and-pop retail, and other local enterprises are suffering from physical distancing. Workers are losing their jobs. Policymakers’ focus needs to be on proposals that will keep these businesses and individuals afloat. Stabilizing household balance sheets will address one of the roots of the crisis and lay the foundation for economic recovery.

3 Reforms Should Make Structural Improvements. Both bailouts and a stimulus can be designed as one-time policies or can be designed to have structural implications to get the economy on a safer, stronger, more secure footing in case of a future crisis. Reducing withholdings-- as the 2009 stimulus did-- or the payroll tax cut that the White House proposed recently do not serve that purpose; in fact, they could weaken important safety net programs. Instead, policymakers should push for proposals like paid leave, and condition bailouts on higher wages and governance reforms. These kinds of changes strengthen the economy after the crisis subsides-- and make it more resilient for when the next crisis hits.

4 Bailouts Without Stringent Conditions are a Bad Idea. When the government bailed out financial institutions in 2008, it did so with few conditions. This created two sets of problems. First, rescued firms were free to use taxpayer funds to pay bonuses, rather than for shoring up the economy at the household level. And second, it re-established that these institutions were too big to fail, and gave them license after the fact to return to irresponsible, risky behavior. Thus, many of the biggest banks have grown since 2008 and pushed for deregulation, increasing the likelihood of future bank bailouts. Executives and investors did well during the boom years, knowing that the government would likely rescue their firms if things went bad. While some say that we should simply let irresponsible private companies fail, certain businesses are effectively public utilities for which continuity of service is of critical importance. Banks are essential to economic functioning, and in a crisis the government is typically the only source of new capital to keep them operational. Airlines, which face serious distress today, also provide basic infrastructure. Policymakers need to keep these businesses running but they do not need to bail them out unconditionally.

5 Debt Restructuring Should Focus on Forgiveness. In a shrinking economy, facing growing deflationary pressures, some debts cannot be repaid. But default and foreclosure are hugely disruptive and damaging, and in the current environment, actively dangerous. During the Great Recession, policymakers adopted technical, complicated policies like the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to get at the ongoing mortgage crisis. But HAMP was difficult to navigate, slow to act, helped too few people, and disproportionately benefited big companies. HAMP was also inadequately sized. Mortgage debt overhang continued, holding back consumer spending and impeding the recovery. A better, simpler, and more effective response would alleviate suffering by simply forgiving debt and eliminating debt overhang.

6 Technocratic Regulation Is Fragile and Often Ineffective. After the financial crash, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, a law that reformed the financial system largely by requiring technocratic governance by administrative agencies, rather than through structural improvements to the design of financial institutions. For example, instead of breaking up the banks through a simple, clear Glass-Steagall regime, the Volcker Rule prohibited proprietary trading, but with some carve-outs. Companies heavily lobbied regulators on the specifics, ultimately stretching the rule to hundreds of pages of obscure language. A few years later, banks succeeded in rolling back several aspects of the Volcker Rule. Looking forward, policy reforms shouldn’t focus on either deregulation or technocratic regulation—they should focus on structural reforms that create the conditions for enduring economic stability.

7 If it Functions as Money, it Should be Regulated as Money. The Federal Reserve recently announced it would back commercial paper markets, repo markets, and money market mutual funds, serving as a lender of last resort for issuers of these deposit-substitutes. This gives these firms the benefits of a public subsidy without imposing any of the prophylactic safeguards designed for bank deposits. Ordinarily, banks get the benefit of federal insurance through the FDIC, in return for being regulated and paying fees to the government. This prevents a “run” on the banks, and it was a critical part of the New Deal. In 2008, a run in the money markets helped deepen the financial panic and amplify the recession, and yet this market was never fully reformed. We shouldn’t make the same mistake twice. If the Fed is going to backstop these money-substitutes, they should be brought into the bank regulatory regime.

Transpartisan Failure

Our political leadership-- and not just Trump-- has failed us... dismally so. Even blue state governors like Andrew Cuomo (New York), Phil Murphy (New Jersey) and Gavin Newsom (California) have been taking ineffective baby steps that have already been proven to only make the pandemic worse. Like Trump, they are more afraid to be blamed for an economic turn-down than to watch thousands and perhaps millions of Americans die. Despite bad examples of behavior with resultant calamity in Italy, Spain and Holland and good examples with quicker resolution in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, they have all been masters of "too little too late," thereby putting us all at risk-- and showing how utterly worthless they are as political "leaders." The American people are savvier about the pandemic then our political leaders are. A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll by Hart Research.

Although most Americans report that they have not changed their behavior in ways that could slow down the pandemic, most still recognize that Trump has failed in protecting the country:

47% of respondents say they have either stopping attending large public gatherings like movies, concerts or sporting events or plan to, while 49% have neither stopped nor intend to stop. It gets worse when asked about canceling travel plans and eating in restaurants. Just 36% have canceled or rescheduled travel plans-- as opposed to 58% who have not or don't plan to-- and just 26% have stopped eating in restaurants, as opposed to 69% who have not stopped eating in restaurants. Americans are worried-- but not worried enough to act on those worries. One of my sisters-- the Trumpier one-- refused to cancel plans for a cruise. The cruise company canceled it. She also planned to see a Michael Bublé concert in Atlantic City last week and much to her chagrin-- she insists this is all "media hype"-- the concert was canceled. Last week I stopped wearing my hospital masks and started wearing a heavy duty N-99 Base Camp mask with exhalation valves whenever I go out. I noticed that when I wore it to the grocery store over tiger weekend, I was the only one in the entire (huge) store with any kind of a mask and that everyone looked at me as though I had the plague and moved quickly away from my vicinity-- a bonus as far as I was concerned.

Excursion to the grocery store for more daikon root

At every step of the way, conservative politicians have prioritized the economy over health. Kara Eastman, the Omaha progressive running against one of those conservative politicians, Donald Bacon (R), told me yesterday that "Our fractured and inefficient collection of private and public health programs leaves millions of Americans out in the cold during a crisis like COVD-19. A well-designed national health program would cover every U.S. resident and would ensure timely care for those who need it most. The fact is that millions of American citizens in our growing gig-economy are at risk and single payer can greatly mitigate that risk." Jim Harper, the progressive candidate for the open blue seat in northwest Indiana. He had a similar perspective. "Every day," he told me, "I meet Hoosiers who are terrified about their ability to access healthcare during this public health crisis. They know that our healthcare system is broken and that the inability of some to access care puts everyone at risk during this public health crisis. Medicare for All would ensure universal healthcare was important before this pandemic. But the current public health crisis shows how serious the issue is and how Medicare for All would protect all Americans."

Trumpist Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was on This Week yesterday when Jonathan Karl asked him if the pandemic would cause a recession, which every credible economist is predicting. Being part of the Trump Regime requires lying... so he did. "I don't think so. The real issue is not the economic situation today… This is a unique situation. We are going to have a slowdown. Later in the year economic activity will pick up as we confront this virus." Except the U.S. isn't even close to adequately confronting the pandemic so it will only get worse and the chances of escaping a humongous recession will diminish. Larry Elliott reported for The Guardian that travel bans, prohibitions on mass gatherings like sporting events and concerts, stock markets in freefall, deserted shopping malls (and the coming closures of restaurants, bars, schools, most service jobs and pretty much anything other than grocery stores and pharmacies), we need to prepare for a global recession.

If history is any guide, the global economy will eventually recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, but the idea that this is going to be a V-shaped recession in the first half of 2020 followed by a recovery in the second half of the year looks absurd after the tumultuous events of the past week.

What’s more, policymakers know as much. The Federal Reserve-- the US central bank-- does not need to be told by Donald Trump that it needs to cut interest rates and resume large-scale asset purchases known as quantitative easing. Wall Street is looking to the Fed to pull out all the stops when it meets on Wednesday and the world’s most powerful central bank cannot afford to disappoint.

In the UK the coordinated response by the Bank of England and the Treasury last week was seen as a textbook example of how policymakers ought to respond to the crisis. It was, though, only the start. Airline companies will quickly go bust unless they receive financial assistance. The same goes for retailers, many of them hanging on by their fingertips even before Covid-19. Britain has a new chancellor of the exchequer in Rishi Sunak and, from Monday, a new governor of the Bank of England in Andrew Bailey, and they will both be aware that the risks of doing too little too late are far greater than those of doing too much too soon.

So, in the coming weeks the Bank can be expected to cut interest rates to 0.1%-- the lowest they have ever been-- and to resume its QE programme. Sunak will have to add to the £12bn he has set aside to deal with Covid-19.

As in 2008-09, the authorities in the eurozone have been slowest to act but there have been welcome signs in recent days-- from Germany, most significantly-- of the need for governments to spend, and spend big.

The perfect time to implement Medicare-for-All.

Mark Levine is a City Councilman and chair of the City Council Health Committee in hard-hit NYC. On Sunday he came clean with his constituents: "Our city is facing a mounting threat in the coronavirus epidemic. We must move aggressively-- now-- to slow the outbreak in New York City. This is going to require extreme measures to ensure that the public avoids crowded places to the maximum extent possible. That is why I support the closure of all non-essential services, including schools, bars, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, and courthouses."

Moments later it was announced that all NYC schools would close "until April 20," a silly aspirational random date.

New Yorkers shouldn’t wait for such an order to take responsibility for their own actions. I urge everyone to avoid any and all social gatherings if at all possible. We all need to adhere to aggressive social distancing, slow the spread, of the virus to protect the vulnerable, and prevent our health system from becoming overwhelmed.

Those who can work from home should. Families who are able to keep their children home from school should. If you must travel to work and are able to walk or bike you should.

And if you are feeling ill, it is imperative that you stay home. You should not go to work, you should not be in public.

And here’s the hardest part: if you are only mildly ill with COVID-19 symptoms (fever, dry cough) and do not have other health complications, you should not go to the hospital. You should rest at home and have a phone by your side to call for a doctor if your condition worsens. These extraordinary recommendations are necessary because we must preserve every element of our healthcare system for the seriously ill, as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise.

These coming weeks and months will be a time of unprecedented challenges for our city.

Our world; and, possibly, our species.

It has been clear from the start that Covid-19 affects both sides of the economy: supply and demand. The supply of goods and services is impaired because factories and offices are shut and output falls as a result. But demand also falls because consumers stay at home and stop spending, and businesses mothball investment.

Conventional policy measures-- such as cutting the cost of borrowing or reducing taxes-- tend to work better when there is a demand shock. There is a limit to what they can do in the event of a combined supply and demand shock.

...[T]he economic disruption caused by Covid-19 is enormous. Entire countries-- Italy and Spain-- are in lockdown. The problems facing airline companies are symptomatic of a crisis facing the global travel industry, from cruise companies to hotels that cater for tourists. Discretionary spending by consumers appears to have collapsed in recent days.

Despite globalisation, much economic activity remains local but here, too, there will be an impact as people cancel appointments at the dentist, put off having their hair cut and wait to put their house on the market.

Paul Dales, the chief UK economist at Capital Economics, has estimated that output in Britain will shrink by 2.5% in the second quarter but says a 5% fall is possible. The more pessimistic estimate looks quite plausible.

What’s more, in a service-sector dominated economy much of the lost output is never going to be recovered. If people do not go out to their weekly meal at their favourite local restaurant for the next two months they are not going to eat out four times a week when the fear of infection has been lifted.

It also seems likely that the economic pain will go on for longer than originally estimated. Having imposed bans and restrictions, governments and private-sector bodies will be cautious about removing them. Countries such as Italy will be wary of opening their borders while there is a fear of reinfection. The idea that Premier League football will be back by early April is fanciful.

There is also a question of how long it will take consumer and business confidence to recover. Policy action by central banks and finance ministries can help in this respect but only so much. The chances are that the imminent recession will be U-shaped: a steep decline followed by a period of bumping along the bottom. There will be recovery but it will take time and only after much damage has been caused.

People who tell you schools will reopen later in the month or next month or that "postponed" events will be rescheduled soon are either stupid or deceitful. Our politicians need to do two things immediately:

• remote voting for Congress and state legislatures
• removing voting for primaries and the 2020 general election

Immediately means now. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf did the right thing by ordering a total lockdown for Bucks and Chester counties but the Speaker of the state House, Michael Turzai (R), is refusing to postpone the election, knowing it is the only chance the GOP has to hold onto the seat.

Jay Ponti wrote over the weekend that words like "reckless," "criminal," and "villainous" only begin to describe the Democratic Party’s "willingness to threaten the lives of voters by not postponing voting at the polls" due to the pandemic.

The NHL, NBA and MLS have shut down.

Italy’s government imposed the closure of restaurants, bars and almost all shops except food stores and pharmacies. Three weeks ago Italian citizens were going about their day, business as usual, and today the country is in chaos.

Given the alarming rate of contagion, our country may be on the verge of the worst health catastrophe in modern U.S. history.

World leaders. A-list Hollywood actors. Members of Congress have tested positive for Covid-19. Not even POTUS was able to avoid being exposed to the virus that is ten times deadlier than the flu.

The difference between them and millions of poor people is that they have access to the best health care and will be at low risk to die from exposure.

Major museums, schools, and Universities. All closed.

Fucking Disney World.

Why? Because lives are at stake.

AEG has canceled Coachella and all North American concerted tours, but the democratic party is determined to put thousands of lives at risk just so it can push through their establishment candidate, Joe Biden.

The extent to which the virus is contained depends entirely on how the country responds to the crisis. Singapore and Taiwan are the gold standards in Coronavirus containment.

“While other countries waffled on acknowledging the danger of the outbreak, Taiwan took action immediately under the guidance of its National Health Command Center, which the country established after the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003 that killed 73 people there.”

Anywhere there are crowds of people in public is an unacceptable risk.

It is not overstating to say that holding primaries in the middle of a global pandemic is state-sanctioned genocide. To continue down this path following the fiascos in California and Texas that witnessed voters in line for up to 2–4 hours. Who were these people who stood in line for hours, refusing to be denied their sacred franchise?

Poor and working black and Latino voters.

These will be the ones to suffer the worst impact.

The effects won’t stop there. We need to understand that it is not just those who are infected in public spaces. It will affect the loved ones at home and everyone else that each infected person comes into contact with. Elders are the highest risk. Approximately 70–80% of senior citizens in other countries contracted the virus from a family member.

The only way to “flatten the curve” of Coronavirus is through quarantine. Global supply chains have been disrupted due to Trump’s trade war. Critical supplies for citizens and health workers like n95 respirator masks are all running out. The administration has forced the CDC to cut spending.

We are at a watershed moment.

The shelves of supermarkets are already being stripped bare, but we have not begun to see the worst.

We are in the moment when the shoreline is receding before the tipping point when the tsunami hits. The administration has been aware of this virus since December and has done nothing about it. Are we to believe that no one in the democratic leadership has been aware of this or the decimation of the CDC? Did anyone raise the alarm? Where was our media?

Failed leadership. Our institutions continue to fail us.

Liam O'Mara is the progressive Democrat and history professor running for the Riverside County congressional seat held by corrupt and incompetent Trump stooge Ken Calvert. O'Mara, however, knows that the incompetence isn't partisan and that there are Democrats every bit as bad as Republicans. This morning je told me that "Recently John Delaney tweeted that during a pandemic was a bad time to be discussing Medicare for all. With all due respect, it is the best time to be discussing it, since if we had done it decades ago we would be in far better shape to face a pandemic. Better late than never, though, and we need to be looking at how to prepare America for health care emergencies. Outbreaks like this are as inevitable as the sunrise-- they have recurred throughout history, and the best we can do is to be ready for them. Medicare helps to accomplish that, so here are a few points to consider:

Recently John Delaney tweeted that during a pandemic was a bad time to be discussing Medicare for all. With all due respect, it's a great time, since if we'd done it decades ago we would be in far better shape to face a pandemic. Better late than never-- we need to prepare America for health care emergencies. Outbreaks are as inevitable as the sunrise; they've recurred throughout history, and the best we can do is to be ready. Medicare helps to accomplish that, so here are a few points to consider:

1. 28 million Americans are uninsured, and tens of millions more are under-insured, with large co-pays and deductibles. People cannot afford to seek treatment and have been conditioned by experience not to try. It doesn't matter if the gov. says, "come on and get tested, it's free"-- lots of people won't hear it and a lot more won't believe it. (In fact, they should not, since our leaders have already lied about what they are providing in the way of emergency relief. Consider the sick-pay issue and the exemptions offered to so many businesses.) People who seek treatment for COVID-19 can get stuck with huge bills they cannot afford, raising again the spectre of ruined lives. We are the only rich country in the world where people declare bankruptcy over illnesses.

2. Without actual coverage, many Americans will be forced into emergency rooms when their symptoms get too bad to ignore. This can swiftly overwhelm capacity, since the need for profit slows investment in hospital capacity. We do not have existing capacity to treat a major pandemic regardless-- look back to the Spanish Flu of 1918, and at what China did in Wuhan, for an example of what is needed to manage a large-scale outbreak. But emergency rooms are especially costly and easily overrun by high demand, and the lack of regular coverage makes them the only option for many. This is a problem unique in the rich world, and makes no logical sense.

3. Cost considerations have compromised our readiness in other ways-- health care centres nationwide are short of equipment needed to treat a pandemic, from masks and sterilizing agents on down to beds and staff. As it is, rural America is chronically short of health care providers. The need to make a profit from health care leads to very different calculations than a simple emphasis on the public good.

4. Regular check-ups and preventive care also increase the resilience of a population. We are the 35th healthiest population in the world, despite extraordinary spending on health care, so we are getting poor value for our money. With universal health care, Americans would be healthier overall, and we would not have a large pool of citizens & residents who never see a provider and may be at higher risk due to untreated chronic heart & lung illnesses.

5. And again, lack of coverage means that by the time many seek treatment, their condition will be quite bad, and they'll have exposed more people, both at the medical facility and in their daily lives and workplaces. 44% of Americans report they do not seek treatment when sick due to cost. The outrageous cost of health care in the US puts us all at far greater risk. This is inexcusable. It's time for Medicare for all.

Nabilah Islam doesn't agree with John Delaney's position any more than Liam is. She's running for an open suburban seat north of Atlanta and a few hours ago she told us that "There is nothing I have more confidence in than the American people and our ability to persevere. I know that like we have in the past so many times, we will too overcome the coronavirus. What we CANNOT do is wait for the next pandemic to fight and pass Medicare for All. While the costs of testing are being waived, what about the cost of treatment? Without a centralized system, we will have a hard time streamlining supply orders. By states and hospitals estimating bed counts by the insured instead of populations, we will not have the capacity needed. If the coronavirus has shown us anything, we need Medicare for All Now."

Montana state Rep and congressional candidate Tom Winter reminded us that "It shouldn't have taken a global pandemic for us to finally realize our government and healthcare system does not work for America's working families. I've been working as a state legislator throughout this crisis to connect public health and healthcare professionals with our state and local government to help with triage plans and general preparedness. What immediately jumped out to me was how little capacity our hospitals and healthcare providers have to deal with an influx of patients. If the other wealthy countries of the world that have single payer healthcare systems-- and much greater capacity than us-- are bending to their breaking points as this pandemic reaches new levels, then I worry our system is woefully unprepared for the approaching storm. In the meantime, our politics is finally catching up on certain baseline policies like guaranteeing paid sick leave, waiving out-of-pocket expenses for life-saving testing and care, lowering drug costs, and countless other commonsense things that already exist in single payer systems. When we get through this crisis I think Americans will have a much greater appreciation for the security a single payer healthcare system could provide for their family's health. Not to mention the blowback that will happen when we all realize the ridiculousness that all of these life-saving policies were only temporary. Healthcare is a right for all, whether we are in a pandemic or not."

Andy Levin And AOC Are Working To Tear Down A Barrier For Consumers Interested In Buying An Electric Vehicle

When Trump first got to the White House, he saw infrastructure spending as a perfect way to transfer taxpayer dollars into his own pocket and the pockets of his campaign donors-- until Pelosi and Schumer told him that isn't the way it works. So he colored on his campaign promises of rebuilding American infrastructure. He now sees infrastructure as building his useless wall on the southern border.

Last week, two of Congress' best members, freshmen Andy Levin (D-MI) and AOC (D-NY) introduced the Electric Vehicles (EV) Freedom Act, H.R. 5770. The purpose is to create a comprehensive nationwide network of high-speed electric vehicle chargers along America’s highways within five years. Yesterday, Levin told his constituents that "When it comes to purchasing an electric vehicle, many consumers are worried about the lack of public charging stations, especially along the highway. But the EV Freedom Act will ensure that drivers along the National Highway System will have ready access to charging stations that can power up their EV in the shortest time technology allows. It’s time to bring our highway system into the 21st century."

He wrote that the bill offers the opportunity to eliminate barriers to consumers who ate interesting these cars and paving the way for rapid mass adoption of electric vehicles. "This transformational legislation will not only help reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change, but it will also create thousands of good-paying automotive and infrastructure jobs. Jobs that are created through the EV Freedom Act will adhere to Buy American and prevailing wage requirements to protect the hardworking people behind America’s new EV future. And, it will make sure our poor communities and communities of color are included in both the new green infrastructure and job opportunities."

On introducing the bill, AOC said that "Cars, above all else, have historically represented America's problem with dirty oil. Establishing a nation-wide network of electric vehicles charging stations helps us reduce emissions, creates good paying jobs, and will help transition the U.S. economy to a cleaner future."

Specifically, the EV Freedom Act:

• Establishes a comprehensive, nationwide network of high-speed EV chargers within 5 years;
• Helps secure the automotive and infrastructure jobs of the future and create thousands of good-paying jobs with robust Buy America and prevailing wage requirements to protect the hardworking Americans who will build an EV future;
• Ensures the chargers built along the National Highway System keep up with new technology to achieve a simple goal-- fully power up EVs in the time it takes to fill up gas and diesel tanks;
• Promotes interoperability so drivers don’t have to fear that chargers won’t be compatible with their cars; and
• Prioritizes accessibility by guaranteeing that payment methods are secure, convenient, and equal access, and that all charging stations are ADA compliant.

The EV Freedom Act directs the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Energy to devise a plan to create the network of EV chargers, submit the plan to Congress and create the network of EV chargers within five years.

The EV Freedom Act has the support of a diverse group of labor, environment and climate groups, including:

Blue Green Alliance, League of Conservation Voters, Union of Concerned Scientists, Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Ecology Center, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), United Steelworkers (USW), United Automobile Workers (UAW) and the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE).

The immediate co-sponsors were Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). Yesterday I spoke with several members who I know are big boosters of electric vehicles, like Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who had written a similar bill when he was in the Maryland state legislature, Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), who all told me they are either going to sign on or are studying it and are likely to sign on. In fact, Tom Suozzi, many of whose Long Island constituents, are commuters, was the first to co-sponsor the bill yesterday... followed by Ro Khanna just moments later.

I also asked some of the top progressive candidates who are likely to be in Congress next year and will be the ones to get this passed, since McConnell is likely to block it from being debated in the Senate in 2020. I recall telephoning Mike Siegel once when he was on a picket line at a car factory supporting local strikers. So I asked him. "This is what the fight against climate change looks like: we must rebuild the American economy, piece by piece, to allow for a sustainable future. Representatives Levin and Ocasio-Cortez speak for all of us, by fighting for the infrastructure we need for electric vehicles. We know America can do this. 100 years ago we provided electricity to rural America. Under FDR we rebuilt our electric grid through the New Deal. Eisenhower built the interstate highway system. And now, as we face climate change and massive wealth inequality, we need a new generation of federal programs that will create good new jobs and protect our planet. I look forward to pushing these types of efforts forward when I join the House in 2021."

Jon Hoadley represents Kalamazoo in the Michigan state legislature and he's likely to be the next member of Congress from the southwest corner of the state. He's very enthusiastic about Levin's and AOC's bill. "The Electric Vehicles Freedom Act is a common sense step in the right direction toward transitioning the U.S. away from fossil fuels and toward a cleaner future. Frankly, it should have been done years ago. By establishing a nation-wide network of electric vehicles charging stations, the EV Freedom Act will help us reduce emissions, create good paying jobs, and provide the much needed infrastructure to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels."

This legislation, if passed and signed, will be amazing news for Indiana's economy. We have two candidates running there, Jim Harper, the newest candidate endorsed by Blue America, is very excited about it. His district in northwest Indiana would benefit immensely. "The EV Freedom Act," he told me yesterday, "would be a boon to the working families of Northwest Indiana. The proposal will not only help us kick our addiction to dirty petroleum, but it will also help create good-paying, union jobs. Green infrastructure and technology are the future for our region, particularly in light of a history of industrial pollution that has fallen disproportionately hard on communities of color."

And Jennifer Christie, who is running in a more swingy district north of Indianapolis, is just as excited as Jim. "I love it!," she said when she read about the bill.  "In October, our campaign released a Climate Agenda calling exactly for this and other measures to decarbonize to zero emissions. Comprehensive Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure is essential to solving the transportation component of the climate crisis. What’s more, this will create jobs while we upgrade our highway infrastructure. We also have the opportunity to invest in rural communities and Tribal Nations as we install EV charging networks; There are opportunities to invest in solar projects around charging stations as well as local commerce that will surely develop along the EV grid. In addition to the boost EV infrastructure will give to electric car usage, it will also protect water quality. Gasoline is typically stored in underground storage tanks (USTs). Leaks, spills, and overfills from gasoline service stations are one of the most common sources of ground water pollution according to the EPA. Approximately half of the American population relies on ground water as their drinking source. With an eventual goal of replacing gasoline stations with EV charging stations, imagine the good that we can do for the environment and the economy. I am glad to see this bill introduced. We need more legislative action on climate that directly helps to reduce carbon pollution. Let’s support this bill by calling our current representatives. If I have the opportunity to vote on it, count me as a YES!"

Morgan Harper, the progressive running for the Columbus, Ohio congressional seat, realizes how important this bill will be for central Ohio. She told me this morning that she strongly supports the legislation. "Not only is it critical in our fight against climate change to invest in Electric Vehicle infrastructure, but it provides auto manufacturers, many of whom have a strong presence in Ohio, the clear incentive to invest more, sooner, in their Electric Vehicle programs."

Not Any Goo Will Do, Part Two

Oligarch now has a "D" next to his name. Is that enough of a reason to vote for him?

And by "Part Two," I'm just talking about the past 24 hours! Part Three, for those who plan ahead, comes this evening at 9pm (PT). Some would say that's practically the theme of the whole DWT blog; period. OK, fair enough; it is a frequent topic. And when I saw this Akela Lacy tweet yesterday (just below)... well, you can probably imagine! That was the end of the post I was planning to write about the Georgia and Alabama Republican Senate primaries. Part One, as you can see by clicking on the first link above, was in the intro to the guest post our newest candidate, Jim Harper, wrote:

Indiana’s 1st congressional district is a rare deep-blue territory in Mike Pence’s home state. Incumbent Democratic Congressman Pete Visclosky-- retiring after 18 terms-- won the district by 31 points in 2018. The primary on May 5 will decide whether the next representative from this district is a conservative, a lobbyist, an anti-impeachment former Republican, or a truly bold progressive.

Any blue will do? Not really. Not in the presidential race, not in the Senate race (see Kyrsten Sinema) and certainly not in House races either.

I asked a bunch of California Congress members what Bustos was up to. One wrote back to say that she could be worried that if no Democrat comes in in the top two in the jungle primary, the Democrats would lose the purple-district seat. I responded with another question: "So is Bustos going to ask everyone to pressure that Republican-lite candidate who looks like Katie Hill to get out of the race so Cenk can sail to victory? If she does, I'll publicly apologize for all the unkind things I've ever said about her." No response. But after the meeting one of the freshmen called me to told me what actually happened at the meeting. The freshmen are worried that the DCCC is dumping too much money to prop up Christy who they say is too lazy and entitled to raise enough money to fund an aggressive campaign. The freshmen have a vested interest in the DCCC spending money to protect their seats and not waste it on someone who is unwilling or unable to stand on her own two feet. This was completely shocking for me to hear. And then there was some off-the-record stuff that I hope to be able to share eventually, but the idea of the DCCC even considering backing off from Christy Smith is nothing short of astounding.

I wonder if Bustos is also calling meetings of all the Texas and Illinois Democrats too, since it certainly looks like Blue Dogs Henry Cuellar and Dan Lipinski are finally about to be flushed down the toilet. Tuesday, in fact the Chicago Sun-Times endorsed progressive Democrat Marie Newman for IL-03, noting that Lipinski is "a closet Republican", just like Bustos' candidate Jeff Van Drew Christy Smith in California is. Lipinski, wrote the Sun-Times editorial board "is a reluctant Democrat. He voted against the Affordable Care Act in 2010 before coming around and doing so later on. Lipinski, we should add, also has voted against key legislation on immigration-- measures widely favored by his own party-- before coming around. And he’s been slow to support full rights and equality for LGBTQ folks, though of late he’s been coming around. And why does Lipinski, who has never distinguished himself in Washington, finally keep coming around? ... Our endorsement goes to Newman. Nobody will have to give her a push to champion the values and policies of her own party."

Like Lipinski and Cuellar, Van Drew Christy Smith is the kind of candidate who, if she wins, will have be constantly pushed to do the right thing. (Unlik Cenk, who would be leading the charge, something that may be a bit scary for many "more establishment Democrats." It's meant to be. The L.A. Times, when endorsing Smith yesterday, explained why they passed on Cenk, the very clearly much better candidate: "While we agree with him about the corrupting influence of money in politics and some other subjects, we find his pugnacious style off-putting and not conducive to a more civil Congress." Yep... no, doubt he'll fight way too hard for anyone to feel comfortable, especially if they oppose fundamental change. No possibility of anyone fearing Van Drew Christy Smith on that count. Besides, what would you rather have, a civil Congress or an honest Congress?

As for Bustos' special friend Henry in south Texas, he is so spooked by the gigantic grassroots Jessica Cisneros campaign that he released a TV ad smearing her, with the same kinds of lies Republicans use.

Cuellar, for example, claimed she just moved into the district to run against him. She was born and raised there and was recruited to run by her Laredo high school teacher. Here's the fact check on the ad's content; maybe someone should show it to Cheri Bustos and Pelosi, who are both backing Cuellar and have threatened anyone who works for Cisneros:

No wonder Cuellar became Trump's favorite Democrat after Cheri Bustos' favorite Democrat, Jeff Van Drew, migrated, officially, to the GOP, where he and Cuellar and Lipinski and Christy Smith and Bustos all belong! I spoke with Cisneros last night and she told me that Cuellar's "brand of 'bipartisanship' means sticking the Democratic stamp of approval on Republican legislation and Republican talking points." It's taken some members of Congress years to learn that lesson. It's uplifting that Jessica Cisneros understands it before she even gets into Congress. Speaking off which, please consider contributing to her campaign by tapping on that thermometer up above.