The Freshmen: What About Sharice Davids?

And, so far... a waste of a House seat. Better than Kevin Yoder, though

Kansas' 3rd district (Wyandotte and Johnson counties and some of more rural Miami County) flipped red to blue in 2018. Basically, the district is Kansas City and it's suburbs, a swing district that Obama lost narrowly twice but that Hillary won, also narrowly (one point), in 2016. The district is 72.8% white, 11.6% Latino, 8.6% African-American and 4.2% Asian. The area is prosperous-- and it has the 83rd highest medium income of the 435 congressional districts. The PVI is R+4. Blue Dog Democrat Dennis Moore had served as congressman from 1999 until 2011. Moore, suffering with Alzheimer's disease, retired in 2010 and the Democrats ran his wife. She lost to a Democrat-turned-Republican, Kevin Yoder in the 2010 Republican wave election. The DCCC then insisted on trying to replicate Moore by running Blue Dogs and losing each time.

Democrats sensed Yoder was weak in 2018 and there was a fierce 6-person winner-take-all primary. Davids ran as a moderate identity politics candidate and her closest rival was Brent Welder, a progressive Berniecrat. She eked out a narrow 23,379 (27.3%) to 21,190 (33.8%) win. Welder and the rest of the Democrats rallied around Davids for the general and she kicked Yoder's ass:

Sharice Davids is a native American, a lesbian, a mixed martial arts fighter and an attorney. When she got to Washington she joined the right-of-center, Wall Street owned-and-operated New Dems and quickly ran up a solid "F" voting record, tied with 5 other Democrats as the 212th "most progressive" in the House, according to ProgressivePunch. Not a promising start.

Over the weekend, the Kansas City Star ran a piece on her first 100 days by Bryan Lowry about how the establishment loves her for being a nice quiet backbencher who doesn't make any waves the way AOC, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib do. "[W]hile her personal biography is barrier-breaking," wrote Lowry, "Davids’ approach to her first 100 days in office has been exceedingly traditional, marked by deference to leadership and studious attention to the details of legislating. As other members of her freshman class, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have made big headlines with proposals like the Green New Deal, Davids has quietly been laying the groundwork for a longer game." And, predictably, all the worst assholes in Congress just love her.

“I would put her toward the top of the freshman class in terms of doing things the right way,” said Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL), the chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“She’s not a showoff,” Bustos said. “She’s an athlete and if you’ve known any high-level athletes, they’re disciplined, they’re methodical… nailing all the fundamentals.”

“You have to build relationships and learn what are the things that are of interest to other members of Congress, what are the things that folks have been taking a lead on for a really long time,” Davids said. “And what are things [where] there’s space for me to contribute to the conversation that’s been going on or to ask questions to spark a new conversation.”

This approach has helped her build clout with party leaders, who see her as rising star. Davids will be one of two freshman Democrats speaking at the Center for American Progress’ ideas conference in Washington next month, a sign of her growing status.

“I like people who are team players. Sharice is a team player. I like people who are first going to listen before they speak up at the microphone,” Bustos said.

Bustos has been engaged in a public dispute with Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives, about the DCCC’s efforts to protect incumbent Democrats against primary challenges.

[Emanuel] Cleaver noted that Ocasio-Cortez, who he referred to has “the congresswoman from New York,” came to Kansas last year to campaign on behalf of Davids’ primary opponent Brent Welder. Cleaver complained that Davids, a centrist from the Midwest, hasn’t gotten as much attention as some of her more progressive, coastal peers.

“Congresswoman Davids may be the most brilliant and thoughtful member of the freshman class who nobody has noticed. And a lot of that is if you’re from the East Coast or the West Coast… the media just automatically fawns over you,” Cleaver said.

“If you’re in flyover territory people tend to overlook, but I can guarantee you-- because I hear it at home-- the people at home aren’t overlooking her.”

...Cleaver said Davids takes the same meticulous approach when deciding how to vote on legislation, regardless of the bill’s importance.

“Sharice Davids may be the only person that reads every sentence of every bill, of every amendment… I mean, everything,” said Cleaver, who joked that he sometimes tells her that she doesn’t have to do that because Democrats are in the majority.

After her careful parsing of bills, Davids has still aligned closely with Democratic leadership in her votes, a fact that has been noticed by her supporters and critics alike.

“She for the first 100 days here has been incredibly loyal to Nancy Pelosi and her leadership, voting in lockstep. She’s not creating headaches. She’s shown no independence,” said Bob Salera, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which is targeting Davids’ district in 2020.

Davids also faces pressure from a vocal minority on the left that want to see her back progressive policy goals, such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.


During the campaign, Davids was open to supporting a single-payer health care system as a long-term objective, but emphasized more incremental legislation as realistic policy. At her recent town hall in Olathe, a few attendees booed when Davids said she wasn’t ready to commit to supporting Medicare for All, because she had not finished vetting it. This week, she told The Star that she will not support the Medicare for All bill in its current form because it would phase out employer-based insurance.

“That’s a pretty big sticking issue. I’ve talked to a lot of people who are not only satisfied with their employer plan, but are actually very pleased with it,” Davids said.




“And those folks aren’t saying I’m opposed to us figuring out a way to get universal access to affordable, quality health care for folks, but they are saying I don’t want to lose the insurance I have now. So that’s a sticking point on there.”


Matt Erickson, a 32-year-old Prairie Village resident, was among those who booed Davids’ answer in Olathe. Learning that Davids has officially come out against Medicare for all was even more disappointing, he said.

“Arguments like ‘people are tied to employee sponsored health insurance,’ I don’t find convincing,” said Erickson, who volunteered for Welder during the 2018 primary.

“People like their employer provided insurance because the alternative is they don’t have insurance at all,” he said. “In Medicare for all, the alternative is never having to change insurance plans again, no premiums, no deductibles, and no financial barriers to healthcare. You don’t lose your insurance if you leave your job or you get laid off.”

But Davids’ centrist approach may serve well in her suburban district, where Republicans outnumber Democrats. She’s instead focused on more incremental steps, such as advocating for her home state to expand Medicaid.

Davids is so weak and worthless-- and so determined to appeal to Republicans and be seen as willing to spit in the eye of progressives-- that she's one of only 30 House Democrats who hasn't co-sponsored Bobby Scott's livable minimum wage bill, H.R. 582, to which 205 Democrats have signed on. So far there is no primary challenger, nor is there a Republican challenger-- just an identity politics incumbent who is already proving herself to be about as bad as any Democrat can be... before switching parties. Perfect for Cheri Bustos.

The Republican Party-- Racist From Top To Bottom

When Trump buddy Omarosa, a kind of a jester in his court for a short time, decided to "write" a book-- and especially after the title, Unhinged, was revealed, no one expected it to be less than scathing towards Señor Trumpanzee. Yesterday, The Guardian reported that she finally admitted that Trump is a racist, as if there was anyone with two brain cells to rub together who didn't already know that. She wrote that he was always saying "nigger" during the filming of The Apprentice and she asserts that there are tapes to prove it. She also claims that she personally witnessed Trump use racial epithets about Kellyanne Conway’s husband George, who is half Filipino and who Trump referred to as "a fucking flip. Disloyal! Fucking Goo-goo." She wrote that eventually "It had finally sunk in that the person I’d thought I’d known so well for so long was actually a racist. Using the N-word was not just the way he talks but, more disturbing, it was how he thought of me and African Americans as a whole."

But he's not just a racist. That's just one part of the essence of Trump. He's also unqualified and a narcissist. Just as important is the fact that he's the most corrupt man to ever get his hands on the U.S. government. Nixon, Buchanan, Harding and Trump's favorite, Andrew Jackson, were all angels compared to Trump. Wish Dawsey reported for the Washington Post yesterday that he offered Omarosa $15,000 a month-- campaign hush-money-- to not spill the beans on him when she was fired. His daughter-in-law offered her a typical Trumpanzee nondisclosure agreement like the ones he makes prostitutes sign. She'll be on Meet The Press tomorrow.

The proposed nondisclosure agreement allegedly said Manigault Newman could not make any comments about President Trump or his family; Vice President Pence or his family; or any comments that could damage the president. It said she would do “diversity outreach,” among other things, for the campaign, according to her account.

...She questions Trump’s mental state, describes him as unstable and portrays him as unable to control his impulses while describing the extensive lengths that staff members have gone to in attempts to keep him in line.

“All we need to remember is that Trump loves the hate,” she writes in the book. “He thrives on criticism and insults. He delights in chaos and confusion. Taking to Twitter to call him names only fuels him and riles his base. To disarm him, starve his ego; don’t feed into it.”

Better yet, Omarosa is telling people she's afraid the Trump Mob will murder her-- so she wears a baseball cap as a disguise. I'm sure we all hope it says MAGA. She's given her family copies of taped conversations with Trumpanzee that includes instructions to release them if Trump kills her. (Come to think of it, Roger Stone was threatening to harm his own godson, the young son of the Manhattan Madam, Kristin Davis, if she spills the beans on him to Mueller and the grand jury.)

Perfect for the Party of Trump, which is, if you want to admit it, a racist, xenophobic organization. It shocks me that normal people are still willing to vote for Republicans. On Thursday, the Kansas City Star published a piece by Ed McKinley, 'Hitler Was Right': KC Area Winner Of Missouri House Primary Leaves Trail Of Bigotry. Steve West is a hate-talk radio host, so it's not like Republicans didn't know what he was all about before they voted for him in Tuesday's 4-way GOP primary. District 15 is a pretty blue Kansas City (Gladstone) district and the incumbent is Jon Carpenter. He was renominated-- without opposition-- with 3,757 votes. The Trump Party primary drew 3,003 votes between the 4 candidates. West came in first with 1,485 votes (49.5%). His closest competition was Timothy Harris with 24.4%. People who listen to the show would be the Q-Anon types. West babbles nonsensically about how "Jewish cabals" are "harvesting baby parts" through Planned Parenthood, which tortures and molests children and which runs run Republican Party. But instead of committing him to an insane asylum, Trump votes decided he belongs in Jefferson City representing them in the state legislature.

“Looking back in history, unfortunately, Hitler was right about what was taking place in Germany. And who was behind it,” West said on a show on KCXL radio on Jan. 23, 2017.

...Besides his radio show, he also has a YouTube channel and a website. Donning a wig and fake beard and calling himself Jack Justice, he has unleashed an array of bigotry including homophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and outright racism.


...The Missouri Republican Party late Thursday afternoon issued a statement about West’s “disgusting comments”:

“Steve West’s shocking and vile comments do not reflect the position of the Missouri Republican Party or indeed of any decent individual. West’s abhorrent rhetoric has absolutely no place in the Missouri Republican Party or anywhere. We wholeheartedly condemn his comments.”

State Republican parties around the country-- from North Carolina and Virginia to Chicago and Wisconsin even to California-- have been apologizing after the party's voters nominated Nazis and racists again and again. Many of these candidates, emboldened by Trump and his dog whistle racism, have won the nominations with open records of racism and fascism, just like West in Missouri. Why?


KCXL did not reply to a request for comment.

...Pressed to clarify his Hitler comment, he questioned its validity until a reporter cited the date and time of the recording. West then said that he’d been taken out of context. He said that he believes all men are created equal, but not all ideologies are equal. Specifically, he said, he finds fault with Islam and Judaism.

He said Islam is a political movement masquerading as a religion and that it’s trying to create an autocratic theocracy in the U.S., and that it should be stripped of all benefits religions receive.

“Jewish people can be beautiful people, but there’s ideologies associated with that that I don’t agree with,” he went on. “Jews today are a remnant of the tribe of Judah that rejected Christ.”

West again asked to speak about issues related to the job of a state representative. When asked about Jewish people in Missouri, he said, “Well, maybe they shouldn’t vote for me.”

At no point did West apologize for or retract his comments. He asked that The Star link to his website within the story and expressed hope that readers would listen to his remarks in full to make up their own minds.

Although West’s most overtly bigoted and offensive statements were sent anonymously to a reporter on Thursday, he had enough “dog whistles” before the election that voters should have known better than to support him, [Anti-Defamation League regional director Karen] Aroesty said... "There is a level of political rhetoric and anger out in the world today that is providing people with more extremist views a comfort to come forward and share those extremist views,” she said. “I’d like to say he is unusual this year… but there are a whole variety of folks.”

The internet gives so many people a voice, she said, that it’s easy to think that people with extreme, hateful beliefs are everywhere. They’re not, she said-- the ones who are out there are just making a lot of noise.

“The fact that Mr. West won the primary should highlight to people-- did they really know what they were voting for?” Aroesty said. “One thing I’ve said for years about extremists is that they’re out on the fringe and we should keep them there.”

State Rep. Jon Carpenter, the Democratic incumbent for the district, responded to the news of West’s statements in an email.

“It is my hope that folks who voted for Steve West in the Republican primary weren’t aware of any of this stuff. I sincerely hope that’s true… I can’t think of a single American political candidate in the 21st century who has engaged in this level of hate speech and unhinged conspiracy-mongering who actually won a primary election,” he wrote.

“I just want everyone who lives in this community to know that they’re welcome here. Muslims, Jews, Catholics, the LGBTQ community, people of all races and national origins, and everyone else Steve West has targeted with hate. His views do not reflect our values. We’ll stand together and love will conquer hate, as it always does.”


Yesterday, writing for the Washington Post, Michael Gerson opined that the Republican Party needs to be euthanized-- for its own good: The Only Way To Save The GOP Is To Defeat It. Fine, I'll take it. Gerson, you may recall, was George W. Bush's chief speech-writer from 2001-2006 and is probably best known as a hawk on Iraq. "In November," he wrote, "many Republican leaners and independents will face a difficult decision. The national Democratic Party under Nancy Pelosi and Charles E. Schumer doesn’t share their views or values. But President Trump is a rolling disaster of mendacity, corruption and prejudice. What should they do? They should vote Democratic in their House race, no matter who the Democrats put forward. And they should vote Republican in Senate races with mainstream candidates (unlike, say, Corey Stewart in Virginia)."

Why? He wants to see the Democrats "be a check on the president without becoming a threat to his best policies" like, in his conservative mind, the tax cut and Trump's ghastly judicial nominees. "But," he writes, "the House will conduct real oversight hearings and expose both Russian influence and administration corruption. Under Republican control, important committees-- such as Chairman Devin Nunes’s House Intelligence Committee-- have become scraping, sniveling, panting and pathetic tools of the executive branch. Only Democratic control can drain this particular swamp.

Alternatively: If Republicans retain control of the House in November, Trump will (correctly) claim victory and vindication. He will have beaten the political performances of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in their first midterms. He will have proved the electoral value of racial and ethnic stereotyping. He will have demonstrated the effectiveness of circuslike distraction. He will have shown the political power of bold, constant, uncorrected lies. And he will gain many more enablers and imitators.

Perhaps worst of all, a victorious Trump will complete his takeover of the Republican Party (which is already far along). Even murmured dissent will be silenced. The GOP will be fully committed to a 2020 presidential campaign conducted in the spirit of George C. Wallace-- a campaign of racial division, of rural/urban division, of religious division, of party division that metastasizes into mutual contempt.

This would leave many Americans entirely abandoned in U.S. politics: Catholics who are both pro-life and pro-immigrant. Evangelicals who are conservative but think that character matters, that compassion counts, that racial healing is a Christian calling. Traditional Republicans who miss a time-- not so long ago-- when leaders such as Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush modeled grace and led the West in defending freedom.

In a democracy, a vote is usually not a matter of good and evil. It is a matter of weighing competing goods and choosing lesser evils. The possible outcomes this November come down to this: Trump contained, or Trump triumphant.

Democrats, I suspect, will make a victory harder than it should be. A significant number seem to view Trump’s vulnerability as an opportunity to ideologically purify their party. They are actively undermining the job of containing the president by alienating centrist voters they need to turn the House.

But this does not change the political and ethical reality. The only way to save the GOP is to defeat it in the House. In this case, a Republican vote for a Democratic representative will be an act of conscience.