The Future of The Democratic Party-- Mike Honda vs Ro Khanna

I don't know which e-mails leaked by Wikileaks are real and which are Russian propaganda, which are doctored or which are actual evidence of something-- like John Podesta's refreshingly healthy interest in extraterrestrial life. The leaked e-mail about the race in CA-17 is very unlikely to be Russian propaganda or in any way tampered with and I left it was just too important to let slip away unremarked on.

A little background first, starting with the fact that Blue America has endorsed progressive workhorse Mike Honda and very much rejected slick, conservaDem Ro Khanna. As we've pointed out before, Republicans know they will never win the seat (northern San Jose, Berryessa, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, Fremont, Newark). It's way too educated, way too blue for them, D+20. So wealthy GOP plutocrats, like Marc Leder and Trump Supreme Court dream, crackpot Peter Thiel, have bankrolled sleazy, conservative fake Dem, Ro Khanna to run against beloved progressive icon Mike Honda.

The other piece of background is a bit about Steven Spinner, who wrote this e-mail below to John Podesta in May of 2015. Spinner was a major Obama bundler and the Campaign Chairman for Ro Khanna's failed congressional bid in 2014. He was also the crook behind the Solyndra loan controversy and has successfully used his political connections to avoid being criminally charged.

In 2014, Honda beat Khanna 69,561 (52%) to 64,847 (48%). In this year's primary, Khanna came out slightly ahead-- 33,785 (38.3%) to 33,608 (38.1%) and the two face off again next week in the general election. As of last week, Khanna had spent $3,303,700 and Honda had spent $2,388,677. A dark money SuperPAC had spent an additional $379,523 for Khanna, including $67,813 last week smearing Honda. (A quarter million dollar of the poisonous PAC money comes from 2 of the most despicable excuses for Democrats from Obama-finance-world, notorious anti-education billionaire vampires John and Laura Arnold of Houston.) Now, the e-mail in question, subject line thanks & next steps:

John,

Thanks for meeting with me today. Great chatting about a number of topics. I am excited about helping, in any way I can, to make sure the Clinton campaign gets the enthusiastic support of Silicon Valley tech community, past Obama donors, and the South Asian community.

I also appreciate that you understand the need to solve the Khanna-Honda issue. It's about the future of our Party and also about maximizing support for Hillary Clinton in a big way this cycle. I was inspired enough to share a few thoughts we discussed for your reference.

John, you are one of the few statesmen in our Party with the stature and vision to solve this. I know it's the right thing to do, a legacy issue for our party, and will pay dividends for the Clintons for many years.

Let me know your thoughts, John. See you late tomorrow afternoon.

Best,
Steve


*I. *
*Ro Khanna is the first true Silicon Valley candidate. *Ro, who is 38, has received the support of over 600 technology and financial leaders, more than six times what President Obama received in 2012. This includes both Democrats and Republicans such as Eric Schmidt, John Doerr, Paul Otellini, Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer, Ron Conway, Vinod Khosla, Sean Parker, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Marc Benioff, Steve Luczo, George Roberts, Marc Lasry, and Andy Spahn. Ro has raised nearly $5 million in two years without any help from party committees or elected members/officials. In this cycle, Ro’s tech and South Asian donors can be a source of at least $50 million for the Democratic Party in national races. Over 70% of Ro’s donors were first time donors, and many will be inspired to give big once Ro wins (or earlier if we can convince Honda to retire & pass the baton to Ro).

*II. *
*Mike Honda’s campaign attacked the tech community. *In a desperate effort to win, Mike Honda put out TV ads calling Ro’s tech supporters “right wing millionaires and billionaires.” He darkened Ro’s skin, put dots on his forehead, and accused him of shipping jobs overseas. Honda’s slash and burn campaign tactics are hurting the Democratic Party with the tech community at a time when Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senator Rand Paul, and Governor Jeb Bush are out in Silicon Valley every few months courting the community. Many of Ro’s tech supporters have been deeply offended by Honda’s tactics.

*III. **Ro Khanna represents the South Asian diaspora.*
Ro’s grandfather, Amarnath Vidhyalankar, spent four years in jail during the Indian Independence movement alongside Gandhi. Ro was born in Philadelphia in a middle class family, went to public school, and then to University of Chicago and Yale Law School. He wrote a book on the American economy published by McGraw-Hill, and now teaches at Stanford in the Economics Department as a Lecturer. His story has struck a nerve with the diaspora. He will be the first Indian American to keep his Hindu faith elected in the history of our nation. The district he is running in has the second largest Indian American population in the nation. *The South Asian community looks at what the party has done to promote the Castro brothers or Cory Booker and wonder why the party can't help Ro cross the finish line to get into Congress. They are frustrated that the Republicans have helped Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley.*

*IV. *
*Ro Khanna has a clear path to victory in November of 2016. *Starting from 3%, Ro got to 48.2 percent of the vote in a low turnout election in 2014. In a Presidential year, many more independents and young voters will turn out. Honda, 74, has since fallen asleep on the House floor on CNN during the Homeland Security debate. Ro has outraised Honda 3:1 in the first quarter (Ro raised $801,000 to Honda’s $258,000). Honda also has nearly $90,000 of debt and is struggling to compete financially. Ro is expected to raise $4 million+ again for the cycle –this is effort and money that could be far better spent on the Presidential race helping Secretary Clinton win.

*V. *
*Ro Khanna has been a loyal supporter of Hillary Clinton unlike Mike Honda. *Ro worked with Amy Rao and Jonathan Mantz to help Hillary Clinton in 2008 and before that supported HillPac. He did a number of fundraisers in the South Asian community for Hillary Clinton throughout 2008. He also traveled to Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas, and the Every Vote Counts rally for Hillary Clinton in 2008. In contrast, despite President Clinton’s support for Mike Honda in his first run for Congress, Honda stayed out of the 2008 primary and did not support Hillary Clinton.

*VI. *
*Request for Action Items: *

*A. *As HRC Campaign Chair, could call Honda and make it clear to him that his running is not good for the Party and the Clintons would look favorably upon it if he passed the baton to Ro and focused on getting Hillary elected President.

*B. *Have President Clinton come out for an event for Ro or endorse Ro’s candidacy (Senator Michael Bennet came out for an event in Q1). This would end the race and would be a tremendous legacy for the President given his passion for India and the Indian American community.

*C. *Speak to Leader Pelosi (she is very fond of Ro). Request her to encourage Anna Eshoo (Honda’s neighboring Congresswoman) to endorse Ro. Anna's very supportive of Ro and will be inclined to endorse if she has a green light from Pelosi. Encourage Pelosi also to dual endorse both Ro and Mike this time. That also could end the race if done early.

*D. * Have Secretary Clinton make a positive, casual statement at a fundraiser about Ro’s leadership with the tech and South Asian community. That would be an incredible signal short of endorsing. Make it clear to Honda that Ro would be allowed to use photos of Secretary Clinton in campaign material if Honda insists on running.

*E. *Honda is likely to vote against the TPP despite the White House's wishes. Ro has come out for it. The White House could make it clear to Honda that the President would dual endorse this time.

*F. *Honda is a Party guy who owes his seat in 2000 to Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. If he knows he has lost the Party support from Party leaders, he will not run and will be inclined to pass the baton to the next generation of Asian American leadership.

That hasn't happened and Honda is in a very tight race against Khanna, who represents, literally, everything that's wrong with the Democratic Party. Mike has, once again, been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, by both Senators-- the conservative Feinstein and liberal Boxer-- (as well as by Kamala Harris), by Pelosi, by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and by virtually the entire California congressional delegation. Ro Khanna has been endorsed by Gavin Newsom and the rest of the sleazy Republican wing of the Democratic Party. No Members of Congress have endorsed him, although there have been rumors that Darrell Issa, who also endorsed Loretta Sanchez and has been desperately trying to rally Republicans and other Trump supporters to back corrupt right-wing Democrats, would. Please give as generously as you can by tapping on the thermometer below-- and note the company Honda keeps, very different than the Debbie Wasserman Schultzes and Joe Crowleys you'd see Khanna with.

UPDATE FROM PAUL CLEMENTS

Today Bernie makes two stops in Michigan, first in Kalamazoo and then in Traverse City. The Blue America-endorsed candidate in MI-06, Paul Clements, will be introducing Bernie in a few hours. His new campaign ad is very aggressive, something his GOP opponent has earned:



Please consider contributing to Paul's campaign here. A few minutes ago he shared his feelings about today with us:

Today I get to introduce the hero of the 2016 election cycle, Bernie Sanders, at my university. I am deeply honored. In the summer of 2015 when I gave the first speech of my congressional campaign I talked about the three issues Bernie was running on: economic inequality, money in politics, and climate change. It was like, he was telling my story, and giving me the courage to focus on the big issues, the deep changes our country needs in the cause of social justice. This is not to belittle other issues, such as racial justice, that are certainly critical. But if we consider the really deep threats to our democracy, well, Bernie was right on target.

Now it is clear that to maintain the possibility of progress we must elect Hillary president. This is, well, just so obvious. And looking to the future, well, Bernie is getting on in years. In terms of policy, he made our party’s national platform the most progressive ever, and Bernie and Elizabeth (and I, if elected) will of course press forward here. But this is Bernie’s gift to us: he has restored and updated a vision of what our democracy can be. What government of, by and for the people looks like in our time.

Now it’s up to us to carry this vision forward.

Lou Reed: "Give me your hungry, your tired your poor; I'll piss on 'em"

Scaremongering xenphobia rarely hurts the scaremongers and xenophobes

There's been plenty of talk, including on this blog, about how the U.S. turned away Jewish refugees in the late 1930s-- sending many to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps-- but nothing was going to slow down conservative fear-mongering. Today the House passed this deranged, idiot anti-immigrant bill 289-137 with 47 of the House's worst Democrats crossing the aisle and joining the GOP. Mostly the aisle crossers were the right-wing fake Dems who are always the aisle crossers, like Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL), Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ), Ami Bera (New Dem-CA), Cheri Bustos (Blue Dog-IL), Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN), Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA), John Delaney (New Dem-MD), Gwen Graham (Blue Dog-FL), Jim Himes (New Dem-CT), Ann Kuster (New Dem-NH), Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY), Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)... all the congressional garbage. In fact, speaking of garbage, corrupt Long Island Islamophobe and all around bigot Steve Israel, in charge of DCCC messaging, voted with the GOP today too... of course. And so did Israel's doggie, Long Island New Dem Kathleen Rice.

Earlier today Chris Christie called for some kind of human wall to keep these refugees out of New Jersey, I wonder how much that's related to the political consequences of a lack of a human wall after World War II to keep Nazis out of New Jersey. Republicans actually recruited Nazis to come to New Jersey. In fact the Dulles brothers flooded New Jersey, Ohio and Michigan with Nazi war criminals and terrorists from, among other countries, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia.

The Dulles Brothers, at the nexus of Wall Street, the intelligence community, the Republican Party and dangerously inept Cold War jingoism, overrode President Truman's and Congress' ban on allowing Nazi war criminals into the country, let alone employing them-- purging their records and getting them U.S. citizenship. John Foster Dulles, who now shamefully has an airport named after him near our nation's capital, was complicit steeped in Wall Street backing for prewar Hitler and was at all times looking out for the interests of the wealthy Republican investors who invested in him, particularly the Rockefellers and the Bushes. They had decided to bring their Nazi cronies to the U.S. once Truman was defeated by Dewey.

When Truman didn't play his assigned role, they did it anyway, and then when the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket was elected, the floodgates opened, and New Jersey, among a few other states, became a sanctuary for Nazi collaborators and war criminals from Eastern Europe. Nixon saw them as a counterbalance to the hated Jews, who always voted for the Democrats, and Eisenhower gave him supervisory powers over the operations to bring them to America. Ironically, many of them had been infiltrated by the Russian Communists and the entire program was an absolute disaster, bringing the U.S. no Cold War benefits whatsoever and costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars, but, eventually, helping elect Republican rightists from Nixon to Christie.

When the 47 Democrats joined the Republicans to target Syrian refugees fleeing from the murderous ISIS monsters that atrocious conservative policies in the Middle East helped create, only oneNew Jersey Democrat went right along with the circus, the worst one, of course, South Jersey conservative Donald Norcross, brother of corrupt Jersey Democratic machine boss George Norcross. I asked Alex Law, the progressive Democrat running against Donald Norcross and the Norcross Machine how he felt about the refugee situation.

What truly makes us Americans, what makes us who we are, are two things: our Constitution and the fact that as a people we are committed to doing the right thing. Speaking to the latter, what separates us, the thing that gives us our sense of exceptionalism is that we do the right thing even when it is hard. America is the home of the brave, and I have never once seen my country shy away from a challenge because of fear. We always rally and rise to the occasion. Right now, we are faced with that question of whether to rally or whether to close our doors to the thousands of human beings who are fleeing a war that we had a hand in creating. This is a war that shows no mercy to women and children, a war that has seen the use of poison gas and untold civilian casualty. As the greatest country on Earth, it isn't good enough to say we should only worry about our own people and forget about the pain of others, especially others that we have plenty of capacity to help. Yes, I think we should take every precaution when allowing these refugees to come to America, but we absolutely must help these people. Our strength is in our ability as a nation to be inspired past fear and do the right thing. I hope our government remembers that when considering helping these refugees. My opponent, Donald Norcross elected to join the party of those controlled by fear in becoming the only Democrat from New Jersey to vote with Republicans against allowing refugees into the country. I am incredibly disappointed by this, as I have been disappointed when he voted with Republicans on nearly every controversial vote during this Congressional term. When I am elected, I look forward to standing with fellow progressives on votes like this.

Watch Jerry Nadler (D-NY) on the floor this morning explaining why he conservatives were making a terrible mistake (and why he said he's ashamed of his colleagues)



Seattle's progressive Democrat, Jim McDermott made a similar powerful statement. "I stand in strong support of Governor Inslee’s recent announcement that Washington State would welcome refugees escaping the violence and devastation in Iraq and Syria. The Governor’s courageous stand is not only morally the right thing to do as Americans, but it also follows a tradition of past Washington State governors who saw through the fear, racist rhetoric and political gamesmanship and opened Washington State’s doors to those escaping hardship and despair.

"In reflecting on the events of the past week in Paris and Beirut, I’m reminded of what Pope Francis said at the opening of a Joint Session of Congress: 'Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility.' There could be no more prescient or truer call to action as we work to resettle refugees from war-torn Syria. I will vote against H.R. 4038, which disingenuously pledges to keep Americans safe by effectively shuttering refugee resettlement programs. Over the years these programs have been the critical lifeline to millions of honest and hard-working refugee families seeking a better life on America’s shores. Syria’s refugees are fleeing arguably the worst atrocities we have seen in modern history. It is within our personal and social responsibility as Americans, and well within our means as a country, to welcome and protect them."

Mike Honda, who was actually shut up with his family in an American internment camp for Japanese-American citizens during World War II, was mortified when the mayor of Roanoke, Virginia, David Bowers-- a putative Democrat and member of Hillary Clinton's Leadership Team-- made his revolting and very Republican-sounding statement this morning about internment camps.

Mayor Bowers' comments about Japanese internment do not represent the values of the Democratic Party, and his rhetoric has no place in our party. The cruel and baseless Japanese internment policies enacted during World War II are an ugly stain on our democracy, and should not be used to justify future exclusionary policies. Mayor Bowers should reflect on dark moments like these in our history when the dual crises of war abroad and the perceived threat of terror at home have emboldened dangerous xenophobia in America.

We are a nation of immigrants born out of an enduring desire to be free, but it's essential that we avoid repeating the mistakes of our predecessors. As the war against terror continues worldwide, the Democratic Party is firmly committed to recognizing the humanity of refugees and honoring and protecting the liberty, security and diversity of our great nation.

Mark Takano (D-CA) is also of Japanese heritage. This morning he told me that "Many Japanese-Americans, including my parents and grandparents, were stripped of their possessions and their freedom simply because they looked like our enemy. There is indeed a lesson from that terrible time in our history: We cannot allow fear to triumph over our principles and our compassion.”

 

So while Texas neo-fascist Brian Babin, who masquerades as a right-wing Republican, was on the radio claiming that "Mary and Jesus didn’t have suicide bomb vests strapped on them, and these folks do" and vowing to keep refugees out, Ted Lieu (D-CA), a decorated military officer, had a very different perspective from the Republican chicken-hawks. (By the way, Ted will be on MSNBC this evening discussing the refugee crisis with Chris Hayes-- highly recommended.) "During these times of crisis, the best angels of the American character must not be overtaken by fear and xenophobia. In search of a politically expedient solution, some are calling on the government to stop admitting Syrian refugees. Others have suggested we block only Muslims-- a bigoted idea and a desecration of our nation’s foundational religious freedoms." He continued:

Saying we need to choose between our refugee program and protecting national security is a false choice. It is also intellectually dishonest.

There is not a single example of a refugee committing a terrorist act in the United States. In Paris, the attacks were actually perpetrated by French nationals and Belgians, not Syrian refugees. Should we ban travel from French citizens and Belgians to America because some of them committed terrorist acts in Paris? If that idea sounds ridiculous, then so should the idea of banning children, widows, and seniors fleeing Syria from seeking safety in the United States.

Of the approximate 2,200 Syrian refugees already admitted to the United States, half are children and a quarter are senior citizens. Refusing to help some of the most vulnerable human beings in the world is not just un-American, it is an irrational overreaction with zero policy justification.

As an Air Force officer stationed in Guam during the mid-1990s, I participated in Operation PACIFIC HAVEN where the United States extracted thousands of Kurds out of northern Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from slaughtering them. I saw first-hand the extensive screening process that the U.S. conducted of the Kurdish refugees before bringing many of them to the mainland. Our nation’s screening process has only improved since then.

As Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson recently testified before Congress, refugees are already “subject to the highest level of security checks” before being admitted into the United States. It is an arduous 18-to-24 month process that puts UN-registered refugees through repeated screenings and background checks involving multiple government agencies.

House Republicans have introduced hastily-written legislation that would effectively shutter our program for refugees from war-torn Syria and Iraq. This knee-jerk reaction demonizes the vulnerable human beings who are most threatened by the conflict and is strategically unwise.

No one is happier about xenophobic, anti-Muslim, reactions than the so-called Islamic State. Islamophobic hysteria is a prime recruiting tool for terrorist organizations. This is exactly the kind of overreaction that they hope to achieve: To use terrible acts of violence to horrify Western society into compromising our own humanity and way of life.

The American story has in large part been written by intrepid souls fleeing persecution in search of a better life in a nation forged in liberty's name and dedicated to the equality of all.

Anyone who would close our borders to orphans fleeing barrel bombs, when substantial security checks are in place, is simply admitting defeat. They are surrendering to the tragic idea that America cannot be both strong and value-driven, that our union cannot be made more perfect by confronting fear and hatred and violence with even greater measures of strength, compassion and virtue. We are better than that.

Several of the Blue America House candidates-- even in red districts-- have stood up against the xenophobia of the Republican anti-immigrant incumbents they are challenging. Tom Guild (D-OK): "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The golden rule applies to desperate Syrian refugees seeking asylum in the United States. Our country plans to accept a limited number of refugees who are fleeing for their lives from the dysfunctional and dangerous country of Syria. They should be properly vetted by the U.S.  The current system of vetting often takes at least two years to certify refugees suitable for relocation to America. Turning our backs on those facing death and political persecution would betray traditional American values. As Lady Liberty says on her inscription, 'Give you tired, your poor, Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,  The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.'"

Similarly, state Senator Ruben Kihuen, who himself came to the U.S. as a child, and is now one of the progressive leaders in the Nevada legislature and a candidate for Congress, told Nevadans that his opponent, "Cresent Hardy and the Republicans in Congress want to block the U.S. from accepting any Syrian refugees out of fear and panic. Some Republican Presidential candidates even want to administer religious tests before accepting refugees.

We should be working together to strengthen our vetting process and accept refugees escaping terrorism-- not turning our backs on people in need. That's the American response, not to cower in fear to terrorists and thugs. America should continue to be a beacon of hope and freedom for the world, and that means opening our arms to those who have suffered horrific violence and been thrown out of their home country."

Minutes before the vote Nanette Barragan, running in a 70% Hispanic open district in Los Angeles told me that she is "appalled by the rhetoric coming from the right. I once represented a Guatemalan mother who fled the Maras gang that killed her son. She and her child sought safety within our borders because they knew that the values and compassion of our country would be their salvation. Yes, we should take common sense steps to keep terrorists from our borders, but it is inhumane and, frankly, un-American to close down our borders to innocent families fleeing violence."

Donna Edwards voted against the bill, of course. She told her constituents in Maryland why: "We must remember the enemy is ISIS, not the refugees who are fleeing the region. I believe strongly that as Americans we cannot deny people shelter and safety based on stereotyping and xenophobia; it runs counter to who we are as a nation. We have the ability and the resources to welcome refugees, while taking all necessary steps to ensure our own security at the same time. It is what we have done and what we will continue to do."

I brought Lou Reed to the White House for a state banquet when Clinton was president. Lou played this song. No one-- at least no one at my table-- seemed to notice the lyrics; they just liked the beat.

Give me your hungry, your tired your poor
I'll piss on 'em
that's what the Statue of Bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses,
let's club 'em to death
and get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard

Trump And The Republicans Are Far From The Only Candidates Taking Big Money With Plenty Of Strings Attached-- Let's Look At Raja Krishnamoorthi

Kim Davis and Ro Khanna-- kind of "Democrats"

Hopefully Steve Israel won't figure out that Kim Davis, the crackpot religionist fanatic clerk in Kentucky's Rowan County, is a Democrat. No doubt, if he did, he'd want to recruit her to run her against Hal Rogers. Something attracts Israel to Democrats from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. And there are lots of them, although fewer and fewer as unhinged as Davis, who is on her fourth marriage. Most of these Republican-lite Democrats are just economic Republicans, like the New Dems and Blue Dogs-- from Patrick Murphy (FL), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Sean Maloney (NY), Dan Lipinski (IL) and Jim Costa (CA) to Gwen Graham (FL), Henry Cuellar (TX), Cheri Bustos (IL) and Scott Peters (CA).

Last cycle, Democrats from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- with the help of outright Republicans-- tried defeating California progressive icon Mike Honda. Ro Khanna spent $4,427,101 smearing Honda, and his SuperPAC, Californians for Innovation, spent another $662,259 on the race. Honda beat the atrocious crooked corporate Dem Khanna 68,001 (51.8%) to 63,293 (48.2%). And this cycle Khanna is back for another try. (You can help defend Mike Honda here.)

Meanwhile, there's a very similar shady character, another corporate Dem with a Republican perspective, running for the open seat in IL-08, west of Chicago. Raja Krishnamoorthi is running against progressive state Senator Mike Noland, and many of the same people who spent lavishly to defeat Mike Honda are funding Krishnamoorthi. Over 20 of Khanna's biggest donors have already given tens of thousands of dollars to Krishnamoorthi's campaign, in just the first three months of fundraising. 

John Rogers, founder and CEO of Ariel Capital Management/Ariel Investments in Chicago maxed out ($5,400) to defeat Honda last year. His first contribution to Krishnamoorthi is $1,000. Another maxed-out Khanna donor, Navin Thukkaram, founder and CEO of NT Capital Partners (who reports to the FEC as a resident of Park City, Utah; Seattle; Northbrook, Illinois; and New York City) was a Romney donor as well as a Ro Khanna donor and has already given several contributions to Krishnamoorthi-- as well as to the Republican National Committee. Same pattern again and again. Mark Ferguson, an attorney with Barlit Beck Herman Palenchar and Scott, generally gives to conservative Democrats like Cheri Bustos, Bill Foster, Ann Callis, Brad Schneider, Evan Bayh, Jim Webb. He contributed $2,600 to Khanna and now $2,600 to Krishnamoorthi. Without exerting too much effort we found 15 other Khanna donors who together have given over $50,000 to Krishnamoorthi in the past three months. Like Ann and Kanwal Rekhi of Monte Sereno, a small, very wealthy bedroom community for Silicon Valley executives. Kanwal is a managing director and partner at Inventus Capital Partners, a venture capital firm. The Rekhis have given many thousands of dollars to conservatives in both parties and maxed out to  Khanna ($10,800), the same amount they just gave Krishnamoorthi.

Noland is a working-class union guy who doesn't have these kinds of strings-attached multimillionaire donors. He's always depended on working men and women who want to elect progressives to help him out in the fundraising department. If you'd like to help, you can find a slot for Mike Noland here. And look who else is backing Krishnamoorthi, predictably:

Inevitably, Steve and Raja found each other

Yesterday Social Security Turned 80-- What About Tomorrow?

Yesterday, on the 80th anniversary of the enactment of the Social Security Act-- which had been vilified as "socialism" by conservatives-- we took a look at the NY-24 congressional campaign of Social Security Works co-founder Eric Kingson. Kingston, of course, is only one of many progressive Democrats who are militant about preserving and expanding Social Security. Alan Grayson, for example, announced a new bill he is introducing after Congress returns from vacation, the Seniors Deserve a Raise Act. If it were to pass both Houses of Congress and be signed into law by the president it would increase Social Security payments by 2.9%-- on top of the annual cost of living adjustment-- starting next year. Grayson's bill mandates that the Social Security Administration use the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E)-- an index that gives additional weight to items seniors are more likely to purchase-- whenever that index is higher than the currently used CPI-W (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers), to determine the Cost of Living Adjustment starting next year.

"Since 1975, we have been cheating our seniors out of an amount that has now escalated to $25 billion each year," Grayson explained to Florida voters. "Right now, every monthly check seniors get is 3% lower than it ought to be. This adds up more than $300 billion that we have unfairly kept out of the hands of some of our most vulnerable citizens. And since the increases build upon themselves, it means the older you are, the more you’ve been cheated. Our seniors deserve a raise... It makes sense to base cost of living increases for seniors on what they actually spend their money on. This bill ensures that they are getting at least the increase their specific spending habits would require. We owe our seniors, and our retired military, so much. They fought wars for us, marched in the street for us, raised us, and worked to make our lives better."

Yesterday Elizabeth Warren warned that "Social Security is under attack. The Republicans are doing everything they can to privatize and cut benefits for millions of seniors who rely on Social Security to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads." Obviously, Grayson and Warren aren't the only progressive in Congress working to shore up Social Security. In fact, I asked the incumbents Blue America has endorsed where they were at on this. Mike Honda, for example, told his supporters yesterday that "I firmly believe that people who have worked their whole lives deserve to have peace of mind in retirement... We have a responsibility to take care of our older citizens, and even more importantly, to make sure that our future generations have the same security. I think about this every time I look at my children and grandchildren."

Mark Pocan (D-WI), who shares a birth date with Social Security, warned that "attacks on it are rampant, and calls to strengthen it are all too rare. We must fight to protect social security and move the debate to how we can expand it and continue its promise." The co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) issued a joint statement Friday on behalf of the Caucus:

Eight decades after these earned benefits began, the need for Social Security is greater than ever.  Stagnant wages, a shift from defined benefit pensions to less secure individual 401(k) and IRA accounts, and growing income inequality have made it difficult for working families to put aside the savings needed for a secure retirement.  With more Americans relying on Social Security as a primary source of retirement income, it’s not a surprise that 61 percent of Americans believe the current benefits are too low. By expanding benefits and requiring the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in payroll taxes, we can secure the program’s future and help American families adapt to this new economic reality.

But instead of working to protect and expand the promise of Social Security, Republicans continue their efforts to erode, privatize, and undermine the program despite its overwhelming success and popularity.  Despite the fact that Social Security has a $2.8 million surplus and can pay full benefits until 2033, Republicans are threatening to use a manufactured crisis to cut Social Security Disability Insurance benefits by 20 percent in 2016.  An attack on one component of Social Security is an attack on the program as a whole, and an attack on the millions of people who rely on it. The Progressive Caucus stands united with Congressional Democrats in our commitment to protect Social Security and to expand its promise to guarantee the future of every American.

Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-NJ) has brought her passion and her progressive vision from the New Jersey legislature to Washington, DC. She reminded us that Social Security "fundamentally changed the lives of retiring Americans. Prior to enactment, older Americans were one of our most vulnerable populations and faced tremendous risk of retiring in poverty. Today, Social Security keeps 22 million Americans above water, including a million children and 15 million seniors. Some critics question whether government is capable of offering solutions to problems in our society, but our nation can point to Social Security as a clear example-- and as proof that government can play a positive and active role in improving the lives of Americans. That’s why I remain committed to defending and expanding access not only to Social Security, but also Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and the many other programs that level the playing field and provide a stepping stone to the middle class."

Matt Cartwright, the progressive Democrat in northeast Pennsylvania who defeated a reactionary Blue Dog Establishment type to win his seat, told us that "Every time I think about Social Security, it makes me proud to be a Democrat. It was the Democrats who conceived of Social Security. It was the Democrats who enacted it. And it is the Democrats who for 80 years have successfully defended it from attacks by irresponsible, uncaring and downright mean-spirited Republicans who would take it away in a heartbeat if we Democrats ever for that long step away from our guns."

Many consider Barbara Lee, the progressive who represents Oakland in Congress, a national treasure because of her principled stand against Bush's wars. She has a career of principled stands, all of them serving the interests of working families who don't employ their own lobbyists. "The story of black America’s middle class," she told her supporters yesterday, "is also inextricably linked to the establishment and continuation of Social Security. Because lifetime earnings for African Americans tend to be far lower than lifetime earnings for whites, Social Security provides the only income for 40 percent of African American retirees. It's obvious that Social Security benefits touch the lives of every single American. So why is Social Security constantly under attack? Because there is a small-but-growing faction of hard-line Republicans who believe that Social Security is insolvent and contributes to our national debt. That’s flatly untrue: The Social Security Trust Fund is $2.8 trillion-strong. Without any adjustments, Social Security can continue to pay benefits for decades. And there is another reason. Many Republicans would simply prefer to prioritize millionaires and billionaires over our most vulnerable citizens. We must fight these attacks on Social Security. Our most vulnerable citizens are counting on us."

Donna Edwards (D-MD), who, like Grayson, is running for Senate this cycle, reminded us that "Social Security provides earned benefits to nearly sixty million Americans; lifting twenty-two million individuals, including one million children, out of poverty. In Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, Social Security is often a lifeline for many of the 97,000 beneficiaries, of which over 71,000 are 65 or older. Social Security plays a critical role for seniors, children, the disabled, and veterans in our communities and throughout the country. Social Security is value not a bargaining chip. As we celebrate the historic achievement of Social Security, we must also commit ourselves to strengthening and protecting Social Security for generations to come. We must fight any proposals to reduce benefits or increase the retirement age or otherwise chip away at this earned benefit. I am a proud original cosponsor of the Social Security 2100 Act, which would ensure that Social Security remains financially stable for decades to come. That is the kind of reliability the American people deserve. I look forward to continue working with my Congressional colleagues to strengthen and expand Social Security benefits for millions of Americans."

When Jeb Bush and other Republicans talk about "reforming" Social Security they mean wrecking it and when they talk about a "broad bipartisan consensus," they're talking about all the Republicans and a handful of reactionary DINOs like Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL), Kirsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ) and Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY), dangerous fake Democrats who vote with Republicans and should be treated like Republican at the ballot box. Watch:

Mike Honda Has A Transgender Granddaughter; She's Lucky She Wasn't Born Into A Republican Family

Frank Townsend Bow was born the same day as me-- February 20-- but half a century earlier. He served as a conservative Republican congressman from northeast Ohio's 16th District from 1951 until he died in 1972. When he died, Richard Nixon wrote that he was--

deeply saddened to learn of the death of Representative Frank Bow of Ohio. In over 20 years of outstanding service in the Congress, Frank Bow earned respect as a man of energy, principle, and dedication. As ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Committee, he was a strong voice for fiscal responsibility, repeatedly taking his stand against excessive Government spending.

I never met Bow. But I knew his grandson, Michael Bow, very well. Just before the Congressman died, I returned to Amsterdam after a couple years in India, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka... I found a job in the meditation center de Kosmos. And I met Michael. De Kosmos' world and Michael Bow's world couldn't have been more different. Back to that is a second.

Today I heard Rep. Mike Honda on Chris Matthews' MSNBC show talking about respecting transgender children-- like his own granddaughter. Honda is 73 and has virtually nothing in common with Frank Bow. Where Bow was obsessed with lower taxes on the wealthy, Honda is a steadfast progressive who has been working to make the lives of ordinary working families better. Honda was on TV celebrating his transgender granddaughter. Frank Bow and his family paid Michael Bow an annual stipend to stay out of Ohio and out of the U.S. so that the congressman wouldn't be embarrassed. 

Michael was gay-- really gay. He presided over a trashy gay salon, a kind of polar opposite of my meditation center. Michael and a bunch of Americans and Brits, some of whom took women's names (Michael was Michelle Le Bow, for example), behaved outrageously. They wore clothes that were at least as much women's clothing as men's clothing. It was a fascinating subculture and a shock for someone wrapped up in the relatively strait-laced world of meditation as a lifestyle. Michael's dad was a senior executive at Chrysler. He didn't want Michael around Ohio either. The checks that came from home supported not just Michael but 4 or 5 friends. There were candles everywhere and red and black fabrics hanging from everything. Shabby chic is probably how best to describe the setting.

Once or twice a week I took a break from my life in the meditation center and hung out with Bow and his crew. Sometimes I went with them on free trips around the Mediterranean, where a London-based sugar daddy owned tourist villa developments (and a plane). I don't know what the Republican grandfather and father thought of Michael-- although I can imagine-- but they were willing to pay him a very substantial amount of money to stay away. He was anything but closeted-- the only state of being Republicans find acceptable for gays-- but as long as he was thousands of miles away from Canton, Ohio, no one had to worry about it. Very different from Mike Honda's family situation.

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) made headlines in February for the seemingly simple act of tweeting a message of love for his grandchild, an 8-year-old girl who happens to be transgender. Now Honda's daughter and son-in-law, Travis Phillips and Michelle Honda-Phillips, are telling others about the experience of raising a transgender child.

"Her name wasn't always Malisa," Honda-Phillips told NBC Nightly News. "She chose her name when she was very young. It just felt right to her."

Honda-Phillips said she and her husband noticed something unique about their child at just 18 months old. "She always wanted to role-play as the girl," Honda-Phillips recalled to NBC. "All her toys and all her presents were always from the girls' section, you know, everything was pink. Her self-portraits have always been with long hair and as a princess. She's always wearing a dress in her self-portraits."

The parents always accepted their child for who she is, even though doing so wasn't always easy. "It's a hard thing to go through, because... you want to be supportive of your child, let them do what they want, explore, express themselves," Phillips admitted. "But at the same time, you think, 'Okay, what are other people going to think, right? How are they going to react?'"

"It was a challenge to get there, to not care about what people thought," Honda-Phillips affirmed. Rather than act defensively or combat their daughter's wishes, the parents chose to educate themselves instead. Eventually, Honda-Phillips said, "it all clicked."

  The couple likely learned that being transgender was not a "phase" for their daughter, but rather-- as studies confirm-- a consistent gender identity. And allowing their daughter to express her gender identity made a world of difference for the whole family.

"They didn't understand at first, then they started to understand and let me be who I was," 8-year-old Malisa told NBC.

"It was almost like night and day," Phillips recalled of his daughter's transition. "She became who she is on the outside and everybody is now recognizing that. She felt so much better because now that weight is lifted, that stress, that frustration."

Their only regret, Honda-Phillips admitted, was the thought that their daughter "lived so long as someone she didn't feel she was inside. We never wanted our children to be anything other than who they believe they are."

Today, they are living proof that when every member can be the most authentic version of themselves, the entire family benefits. As Phillips put it to NBC, "She's a happy kid and that's the biggest thing I know I want, is for her to be happy."

Malisa's situation is unfortunately not the norm: As many as 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT, for example, largely due to the rejection of their family. Malisa and her family are showing what it looks like to accept transgender children for who they are, and setting an incredible example for what will hopefully one day be the norm.

After I left Amsterdam and moved back to the U.S., I never did see Michael Bow again, although I've been back to Amsterdam several times and have run into several of his old crew and other acquaintances. And I can't find anything online about him. I hope he's as well-adjusted as Malisa appears to be, but that probably isn't too likely. Conservatives, and who people immersed in conservative values, never are. Take conservative Republican transgender person Bruce Jenner.

The more shocking revelation for many, however, was Jenner's admission that in addition to identifying as a woman, he also identified as a conservative Republican.

"Are you a Republican?" a stunned Sawyer asked the former patriarch of the Jenner-Kardashian household. "Yeah," Jenner reticently responded. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Neither political party has a monopoly on understanding," Jenner told Sawyer, who advised him to ask Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner for help championing the cause of transgender people.

"I would do that, in a heartbeat," Jenner retorted. "Yeah, why not?"

Who Is Financing The Right Wing Jihad Against Mike Honda-- And Why?

Two weeks from today will likely be the last time anyone ever hears about Ro Khanna, unless he gets arrested for criminal activities up the road. His campaign is one ultra-expensive failure financed by conservatives-- both Republican conservatives and Democratic conservatives, all eager to replace progressive icon Mike Honda with a sleazy conservative disguised as a Democrat. Alexander Kaufman wrote up a report of the interview Politico did with Warren Buffet, the second richest man in America (after Bill Gates), worth $67.3 billion. Buffet says he thinks wealthy people like himself, you the multibillionaires particularly, shouldn't be paying taxes at lower rates than their servants. Some of the richest people in America pay as little as 10% on their income taxes, far less than when the middle class was being built and people paid 90% on income over a million dollars.

Buffett said his own tax rate was “certainly not too high.” He has frequently pointed out that his tax rate is lower than that of his secretary. Debbie Bosanek, his secretary since 1993, has been a symbol for tax inequality since Buffett began touting the disparity in their tax rates as far back as 2007. During a 2012 interview with ABC News, Bosanek said she paid a tax rate of 35.8 percent, while Buffett paid 17.4 percent.

...Buffett urged the federal government to charge higher tax rates on income earned from some stock dividends and capital gains. Currently, such income is taxed at rates far lower than ordinary income. This helps widen income inequality and is an example of one way that wealth gained from assets such as stocks and property grows much faster than wages or the actual economy, as French economist Thomas Piketty argued in his bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century.

Up top is a new campaign ad from Mike Honda, one of the staunchest supporters of ordinary working families in the entire Congress. The ad contrasts Honda to Khanna, who is the quintessential handmaiden for the wealthy greed-hogs who don't want government services because they want lower taxes for themselves. Right wing billionaires, like extremist sociopaths John & Laura Arnold and Peter Thiel, as well as Romney's 47% dirt-bag Marc Leder, all of whom normally only give to Republicans, are maxing out to Khanna and giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to slimy SuperPACs running smear campaigns against Honda on Khanna's behalf.

Why do these greed-obsessed billionaires love Khanna so much? Simple: Khanna insists that the current corporate tax rate is too high, adamantly opposes increasing taxes on the one percent and wants to tax capital gains income as ordinary income as well as lowering repatriation of profits taxes from companies that have hidden their assets overseas to avoid taxes. Oh, yeah-- and he wants to cut Social Security benefits. He has vociferously attacked Honda for proposing to increase Social Security benefits-- a position Honda has led on and shares with every progressive in Congress-- and insisted it was "just a campaign tactic." Khanna:

"We need to have an honest conversation about Social Security and Medicare. Mike Honda has been campaigning on increasing, increasing Social Security benefits beyond what the current cost of living adjustments will allow. He knows that's impossible, he knows he's never going to get the votes for it. He knows the budget doesn't work, but it's just a campaign tactic. And the reality is, we need to start having an honest conversation."

Does that sound like a Democrat to you? Khanna has been running for office ever since he was caught stealing an election for student body president at the University of Chicago in 1966. He also once lied to California voters, claiming that Bill Clinton had endorsed him. Clinton, who had been neutral in the primary, immediately endorsed his opponent, Congressman Tom Lantos, who proceeded to wipe the floor with Khanna. Khanna tried insinuating that President Obama was backing him too-- but Obama endorsed Honda in no uncertain terms:

"Congressman Mike Honda is the right leader for the 17th district. Together, we’ve worked hard these last four years to bring meaningful, positive change to our nation, but there is much more to do. As we continue rebuilding our economy from the middle out, we know expanding educational opportunities is critical. Congressman Honda's lifelong commitment to education and fierce advocacy for innovation and technology is exactly what this nation needs as we continue to move America forward. We need Congressman Mike Honda in the United States Congress, and I urge you to vote to keep him there."

Khanna's a liar and a creep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA), the president of the congressional freshman class typifies the high regard in which his colleagues hold him:

Mike Honda is a great American, and one of our living icons in the Democratic ranks of the United States House of Representatives. In much the same way that Rep. John Lewis of Georgia is a living, breathing reminder of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, Rep. Honda of California takes us back even further, to the 1940s of the Japanese-American internment camps. I often mention with pride that a Pennsylvanian, Justice Owen Roberts, dissented, in Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the Executive Order creating those internment camps. Mike Honda, born in 1941, spent his early childhood years in an internment camp in California.

…Nelson Mandela once said that “resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” Mike Honda could easily have turned to resentment or bitterness over the mind-boggling unfairness of his family’s wartime internment. Instead, he has devoted his life to the positive and uplifting work of making America a more just, more peaceful, and more progressive nation. I am deeply honored to be a fellow member of the House Democratic Caucus with Mike Honda, and even prouder to serve alongside him in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. I urge my fellow Democrats to support Representative Honda’s reelection in whatever way you can.

Has Ro Khanna’s Disgraceful Campaign Against Mike Honda Finally Flamed Out?

Khanna, a corporate Democrat eager to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits to lower the tax rates for his wealthy supporters, sounds like a Republican. And Republicans and conservative pseudo-Democrats have financed his jihad against progressive icon Mike Honda in the Silicon Valley. Plenty of rich Silicon Valley tycoons with far too much money are behind Khanna’s relentless bid for office. Many of the companies, like Google and Facebook, who have helped the NSA and CIA with unconstitutional domestic spying against their customers, are Khanna’s biggest contributors. Google, in fact, is his biggest single donor. Big money has flowed into his campaign from the Wall Street banksters as well, particularly from Morgan Stanley, venture capitalists Kleiner, Perkins, Goldman Sachs, Pershing Square Capital Management, US Venture Partners, Artiman Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. As of the last FEC filing deadline, banksters had shoveled $529,800 into Khanna’s campaign against Honda. Further Dark Money has poured into a slimy attack PAC formed specifically to smear Honda, the so-called “Californians for Innovation,” which spent $109,724 sending out misleading mailers just last week— bringing their total expenditure in CA-17 to $211,034 so far. The contributions to this group that are not secret come from wealthy Republicans eager to get Khanna into Congress and, especially, inside the Democratic House caucus. Enron crook and hedge fund billionaire John Arnold alone, who drools at the prospect of cutting pensions, gave $250,000. Another shady venture capitalist, Chamath Palihapitiya, one of Ted Cruz's biggest financial backers, is also pouring sacks of cash into smearing Honda.

Polls, however, don’t indicate that’s going to happen. The most recent polling was done last week by Lake Research and it not only shows a gigantic lead for Honda, it shows Khanna unable to even get to 30%— after spending millions of dollars. Worse yet, the new FEC report issued today shows that Khanna has basically burned through all those millions of dollars he’s collected and doesn’t even have enough funds to meet his payroll and rent for the remainder of the campaign— an indication that his vendors are about to be left holding the bag.

Khanna has spent around $4 million and has been unable to gain traction outside of the salons of the one percent. He spent three times more money than Honda in the primary and still lost by 20 points.

Yesterday, Howard Dean was horrified at Khanna’s latest right-wing-inspired attack on Honda as a liberal and sent a note warning DFA members about Khanna’s perfidy. Remember CA-17 is a solidly progressive district— other than in the rarified precincts where his rich donors live… who love the idea of Khanna, cutting and then privatizing Social Security. “Why would someone running as a Democrat,” asked Dean, “attack a fellow Democrat for wanting to repeal the reckless Bush tax cuts?” The mailer up top is what brought Dean— who has never attacked a fellow Democrat in a primary before— down this path.

George W. Bush's tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible. At a time when the nation was at war-- and when we had important investments to make here at home-- President Bush pushed Congress to pass a huge and unprecedented tax cut that favored the rich and caused our national debt to soar.



Yet Ro Khanna is now attacking Mike Honda for opposing Bush's disastrous tax cut. His congressional campaign is sending mailers to voters in California's 17th District calling Honda an "old-school liberal" and criticizing him for wanting to do the right thing in repealing Bush’s tax cuts.



Let's show Ro Khanna that we won't tolerate his attacks from the right against a progressive Democrat who has been a hero for working families.

Being a "liberal" isn't an insult, it's a badge of honor -- one shared by Senators like Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown. But there's nothing good about supporting reckless tax cuts that benefited the super rich and exploded our nation's deficit. Mike Honda showed true leadership and fiscal responsibility in pushing to repeal Bush's tax cuts. It's just one big reason why I endorsed Mike Honda.



As the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee, it's obvious to me that Ro Khanna is campaigning like a Republican. Real Democrats don't use "liberal" as an epithet or attack fellow Democrats for standing up for progressive values like making sure the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.



This race is a battle for the future of the Democratic Party. Don't let Ro Khanna get away with moving our party to the right by attacking Democrats for standing up for our values.

Do You Back Candidates Because They're The Same Color Or Religion As You Are?

If you read DWT much, you know how much we distrust identity politics around here. Voting for someone because they are the same religion or ethnicity of gender, etc seems kind of primitive and politically immature. I always thought it should be about character and policy. I was very happy last week when People for the American Way endorsed Stanley Chang for the Honolulu-based congressional seat that Hanabusa gave up and I had been very happy a couple months before that to see the Congressional Progressive Caucus endorse him. Stanley is, hands down, the most progressive of the 7 Democratic candidates in the race. Stanley is a Chinese-American. I don't recall anyone being of Chinese ancestry on the PFAW Board and I'm willing to bet that he wasn't endorsed by the CPC because of his ethnicity either. In both cases, it was all about his progressive policy positions and the progressive work he's done on the Honolulu City Council. So I was gob-smacked this week when I was told that two Japanese-American progressives I think highly of, Mark Takano and Mike Honda, bucked the CPC and endorsed one of Chang's conservative opponents, Mark Takai.

I bet Takano, who is very serious about his gay identity as well as his Japanese-American identity would be mortified if he knew Takai's anti-gay voting record that conveniently changed just when he announced he would be running for Congress. Takai voted no on civil unions in 2010 and 2011.

And I wonder if Mike Honda, one of Congress' preeminent supporters of the down-and-out, knows that Takai was the lead sponsor of a bill to drug-test recipients of public assistance benefits last year. And he's been a cheerleader for Donna Kim's endless tirades against public employees and institutions.

I suspect neither Takano nor Honda bothered to read the 2012 Hawaii Family Forum survey, in which Takai is clear he backed a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman and backs the conservative position that gives religious organizations the right to refuse outside groups from using their facilities for activities related even to civil unions.

On one issue he's even more conservative than the religious-right candidate in the primary, Donna Mercado Kim. She was undecided on voting to include a conscience exemption in laws requiring all Hawaii hospitals to provide abortifacient medication to sex assault victims, but Takai said yes. It's hard to imagine either Takano or Honda backing someone with this kind of a record-- and not from ancient history wither, from the last election cycle!

Takai also happens to be a big nuclear power booster and introduced bills in both 2009 and 2011 that would “direct the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to develop a permitting process for nuclear energy generation facilities in Hawaii.” Just five days after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan that caused level 7 nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, he commented, “I still think it’s prudent for us to take a look at whether nuclear energy is a viable option.”

Takai is far more hawkish than either Takano or Honda and openly advocates spending more money on the military. And he is every bit as friendly with the right wing as Donna Kim is. Hawaii has a fringe Koch-affiliated think tank called the Grassroot Institute. It espouses libertarian economics, but is mostly known for its open hostility to Hawaiian sovereignty. When the Grassroot Institute named a new CEO last year, Takai was the only elected official quoted in the press release. Just a few months ago, he sat down for a nearly hour-long videotaped lovefest (and snoozefest) with the CEO, in which they talked about their shared commitment to Christian faith and beliefs that the public-school system should be "run like a business" and "school choice should be de-politicized." On gridlock in Congress, Takai offered this: "You have people on the left who are really dug in..."

So much for being the "progressive" alternative to Kim (which is an idea he and his backers are pushing hard to people who don't know much about history). Blue America endorsed Stanley Chang-- and as far as I know neither John Amato, Digby, Jacquie or myself is Chinese-American, just progressive-American-- and we're helping him raise money for his get out the vote operation for the August 9th primary. Below is a new ad that shows Stanley talking about... well the same issues Takano and Honda talk about all the time.

What Happened In California Last Night?

Israel, Aguilar-- a victory for the Republican wing of the Democratic Party

There were, at least in theory, 53 congressional seats up for grabs in California last night. Almost all of them, however, were't really up for grabs, at least not last night. Four, however, were: 3 open seats-- retirements of Republican Buck McKeon (CA-25), Republican Gary Miller (CA-31) and Democrat Henry Waxman (CA-33)-- and a heavily financed insurgency by a ConservaDem, Ro Khanna, against progressive icon Mike Honda (CA-17).

Two of the districts are natural Red-to-Blue targets: CA-25 and CA-31. CA-31 is a D+5 district and Democrats should have captured it in 2012-- and would have had DCCC chairman Steve Israel not interfered on behalf of corrupt conservative Pete Aguilar. Israel did the same thing again this cycle, even though a far more electable candidate, Eloise Reyes, was in the race. He helped Aguilar with fundraising, helped poison the well for Reyes and spent $172,269 attacking Republican Lesli Gooch and hated Democrat Joe Baca. The results were nearly a replay of last cycle's catastrophe:

• Paul Chabot ®- 11,329 (27%)
• Pete Aguilar (D)- 7,368 (17%)
• Lesli Gooch ®- 6,978 (17%)
• Eloise Reyes (D)- 6,746 (16%)
• Joe Baca (D)- 4,799 (11%)
• Danny Tillman (D)- 3,648 (9%)
• Ryan Downing ®- 1,421 (3%)

Aguilar managed to slip into second place by a mere 390 votes, avoiding Republican vs Republican general election like the one Israel presided over in 2012. But that is exactly what did happen in CA-25, where Israel's heinous posture was even worse. Cook reports that the district has a PVI of R+2. That's old news. SantaClarita.com; shows the way the district has changed and clearly predicts that by November, CA-25 will have an even PVI.

While all eyes have been fixed on the very loud and expensive primary campaign that's pitted Republican hopefuls Tony Strickland and Steve Knight against one another in hopes of facing Democrat Lee Rogers in November, a strange thing has been happening within the district: Democrats have been closing in on Republicans rapidly this year.

The five-point spread in party registration that the GOP enjoyed two years ago is now just a one-point spread today. In fact, the Democrats have narrowed the gap by 2.6% since December 31.

The reason for this appears to be a significant push by Democrats in the 36th Assembly District (Antelope Valley and some parts of northern SCV)… [T]he City of Santa Clarita has a 6.7% GOP advantage, down from 9% in 2012 (ten years ago, it was 17%).

Last cycle, one of the biggest Democratic donors was trying to get me to join the board iof a music-related company she was forming. I had no interest. She was persistent but I really had no interest. And then she figured out a way to get me to change my mind. She offered to through an even for CA-25 candidate Lee Rogers at her mansion and guarantee she would raise a minimum of $50,000 for him. Sign me up! We agreed to meet at some watering hole where people like me avoid like the plague. I think I may have even changed out of my hoodie. I shouldn't have. She swept into the room and informed me that, "Darling, Steve told me your candidate isn't serious and isn't even going to really run. He knows about these things." Undermining progressive candidates like this is something I've watched Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel, Debbie Wasserman Schulz and Steve Israel do for years. She didn't do the event for Lee and I didn't join her board. He was serious of course and he did run-- and came closer to beating Buck McKeon than anyone else ever had. He came so close, in fact, that McKeon decided to avoid a rematch by becoming a lobbyist.

This cycle, Israel did his worst to prevent Lee Rogers from winning a very winnable open seat. He'd rather spend DCCC money on Blue Dogs and New Dems running in much, much redder and much less winnable districts. AR-02, for example, is an Israel fave. He's already reserved $625,000 in broadcast time between October 21 and November 4, even though the Democrat in the race is a conservative who has signaled he'll be regularly voting with the GOP and even though the district has a PVI of R+8. Rogers, who hwas endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is in a district with a rapidly narrowing 1% registration gap was left to fend for himself. The DCCC spent no money in CA-25 the way they did in CA-31. The result: a Republican vs Republican general election in November:

• Tony Strickland ®- 14,573 (29%)
• Steve Knight ®- 14,016 (28%)
• Lee Rogers (D)- 11,107 (22%)
• Ivan Thomas (D)- 4,868 (10%)
• Troy Castagna ®- 2,905 (6%)
• David Bruce (L)- 907 (2%)
• Michael Mussack (NPD)- 700 (1%)
• Navraj Singh ®- 534 (1%)

CA-33 was the most-watched race in the state, with 18 candidates on the ballot. 17.7% of registered voters bothered casting ballots. The DCCC played no role, although the California Democratic Party worked on behalf of Ted Lieu, who will face off against Republican Elan Carr in November and, hopefully, ending the political career of carpetbagger Wendy Greuel. The results among the 8 candidates who got more than 1% of the vote (along with the amount each campaign spent):

• Elan Carr ®- 17,904 (21.49%)- $402,594
• Ted Lieu (D)- 15,870 (19.05%)- $448,551
• Wendy Greuel (D)- 13,976 (16.77%)- $864,173
• Marianne Williamson (NDP)- 10,789 (12.95%)- $1,340,720
• Matt Miller (D)- 9,973 (11.97%)- $353,595
• Lily Gilani ®- 5,831 (7%)
• Barbara Mulvaney (D)- 1,945 (2.33%)- $142,096
• Kevin Mottus ®- 1,935 (2.32%) $64,373

Vanity candidate David Kanuth raised $912,945 and spent $609,153, and garnered 1,177 voted (1%) for his efforts. The only outside spending in the race was EMILY's List's $158,519 on behalf of Greuel and Blue America's $20,923 on behalf of Williamson. The tenor of Greuel's highly negative campaign turned off women voters she was depending on, acerbated her poor image with the voters and cost her a spot in the general. She has $185,960 left in her campaign treasury.

Up in the Silicon Valley area (CA-17), Mike Honda unleashed a can of whoop-ass on plutocrat-backed Ro Khanna, beating him decisively. The results, again, with amounts spent:

• Mike Honda (D)- 28,136 (49%)- $1,122,500
• Ro Khanna (D)- 15,691 (27%)- $2,615,519
• Vanila Singh ®- 9,783 (17%)- $216,771
• Joel Vanlandingham ®- 4,248 (7%)

Honda and Khanna will face off in November.

Last night Blue America challengers Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and Pat Murphy (IA-01) won their primaries and, like Ted Lieu (CA-33), advance to the general election. If you'd like to give them a boost, you can do that here on the Blue America ActBlue page. Next week's key primaries are opportunities for Patrick Hope (VA-08) and Jay Stamper in the South Carolina Senate race.