Sunday, August 25, 2019

Media Bias Against Progressives-- The Story Of Politico

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Politico reporters, Sarah Ferris and Andrew Desiderio, presented a webinar Friday in how to please corporate media ownership and upper management by hammering how conservative talking points. The name of their Republican Party message lesson-- which was (seriously) sent out by the NRCC communications department-- is Swing-district Dems face blowback from progressive voters. The first and easiest lesson-- and the most common-place one among Beltway journalists is to refer to conservative Democrats as "moderates," making it seem like mainstream Democrats with widely and overwhelmingly popular ideas are extremists or radicals. That id always a must at Politico, but also used by most Washington Post and NY Times reporters and editors as well.

There was a time when conservative media would always refer to Social Security, the minimum wage, Medicare, the right of workers to organize into union, emancipation of the slaves, the right of women to vote, consumer protection, etc as extreme and radical, socialist and communist. A third of the population of the American colonies in the late 1770s opposed the Revolution and preferred the British monarchy. Many fought on the side of the British and many left the U.S. after the Revolution, skipping out to Canada, the West Indies and the motherland. Unfortunately, they didn't all leave and, worse yet, some of them returned. You'll have to ask Sarah and Andrew-- who referred to opposing Medicare-for-All (i.e., original Medicare) and the Green New Deal (which could be called saving the planet and humanity) as "dodging his party’s leftward drift-- what their antecedents were doing at the time.

They were upset that conservative Democrat Conor Lamb (PA) was approached by constituents asking him to back original Medicare (which includes revolutionary ideas like dental care and hearing aids) and saving the planet and humanity. They called the bills "some of the most liberal legislation the House has ever seen," which didn't include the attribution of the NRCC or RNC or NRSC, which use the phrase daily. "Liberal suburban voters, wrote Ferris and Desiderio, "including in swing districts like Lamb’s, are turning out in droves at town halls to complain about Congress’s inaction on their progressive wish list-- even as their representatives remain firmly in the centrist column. It highlights the quandary the vulnerable Democrats find themselves in: Remain moderate enough to appeal to the middle but risk the ire of the invigorated progressives." (At least they only implied "socialists" and didn't say it)-- though when the NRCC sent their handiwork out within 3 seconds of publication, the subject line was "socialists come for vulnerable Democrats."

Look at all these commies ruing the Politico owners' day: "At public events this week, freshmen in battleground districts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California heard from voters clamoring for Medicare for All, drastic climate action, gun control and the impeachment of President Donald Trump, among other priorities. And it’s not just sign-holding, T-shirt clad activists coming to the mics: It’s white-haired men in golf polos, and moms in work dresses and heels."

Heels no less! Gun control. There's a radical idea-- one that around 90% of non-Politico employees back! "But the freshman centrist also rejected calls to back Medicare for All from at least a half-dozen constituents-- a move that’s been repeated by many other moderates, though it frustrates some in their own base who are growing restless on the bigger issues. 'We have a lot of work to do on health care, there’s no doubt about it,' Lamb told a middle-aged nurse this week who urged him to support the bill. 'I happen to think the issue of prescription drug prices is the alligator closest to the boat, the one we absolutely have to deal with in this Congress.' Lamb, instead, said most people in the district are 'pretty happy' with their current insurance plans. Later in the night, he took another swipe at the ever-growing scope of the bill, and at 2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders: 'It seems like each time Sen. Sanders introduces it, he adds another thing.' True, Bernie added mental health care-- obviously important for Lamb's moron constituents who believe they are "pretty happy" being ripped off by the current insurance system.

New Jersey Blue Dog Mikie Sherrill, they wrote "also faced an intense push for Medicare for All, impeachment and robust climate action, with many people in the room applauding loudly each time a progressive issue was raised. When Democrats voted for her in 2018, they had idea of what a bag of Republican-lite garbage they were getting. She sure didn't tell them. And all the Republicans said about her is that she's a socialist. Unfortunately, she wasn't. At her town hall, she "turned down multiple requests to co-sponsor the Medicare for All bill, to visible disappointment in the crowd. 'Right now, I think it's critical that we bring down health care costs and get everybody covered. That is my goal,' Sherrill said, who made it clear she understood the pain of rising drug prices and insurance bills with stories about her own families’ costly treatments." She doesn't understand anything. She's a hack who deserves to lose her seat. Unfortunately she has no primary opponent yet.
Even swing-district Democrats who have embraced the progressive agenda, like Rep. Mike Levin of California, are coming home to voters who are irked by the stalled progress. Many are pivoting to McConnell, turning him into the boogeyman in 2020 for his so-called “legislative graveyard.”
That must confused every single Politico employee. I mean what sense does that make?!?!
“[Voters] say, why isn’t the House doing more? Well, we are. We are moving forward. It’s the Senate, and it’s Mitch McConnell specifically that’s unwilling to do his job,” he added. “They didn’t run for positions as a United States senator so that they could watch Mitch McConnell block all of the legislation that we send them.”

With control of just one chamber, Democrats have also struggled to make progress on even on the least contentious of their campaign promises, like drug pricing and infrastructure. That puts a strain on the dozens of freshmen like Levin and Lamb who clawed back their seats from the GOP last fall, largely campaigning on local and pocketbook issues.

But key parts of the base are also keen to show Democrats they’re more interested in fighting Trump than simply trying to fix potholes.

Democratic Party bosses, they say, are still playing it safe on the more divisive issues that are reenergizing voters on the left — an attempt to hold onto a “big tent” base in 2020 and protect vulnerable members like Lamb and Levin without alienating increasingly vocal progressives.

That’s a tough task, especially as trademark ideas, like Medicare for All, have gained prominence with help from a more-liberal-than-ever field of 2020 presidential candidates.

The tone of the town halls is far from the scathing public showdowns of the post-2010 Obamacare era. Still, the events this week drew standing room-only crowds in some cases, with dozens of people looking to take the mic and occasionally prompting outbursts of “impeach now!” or “Moscow Mitch.”

Levin has embraced many of the agenda items progressive voters are pushing. Still, the California freshman was confronted over his support for a Senate-passed humanitarian aid package for migrants at the southern border, which most Democrats opposed over concerns it didn’t go far enough.
Politico is careful to never refer to the concentration camps as concentration camps. And, yes, voters are angry that Democrats like Pelosi and Levin voted to fund the concentration camps which plenty of grassroots Democrats were horrified by. Levin, who is Jewish, noted that he has criticized members of both parties for anti-Semitic remarks... Like when Trump said their were very fine people on both sides in Charlottesville, the anti-racists and the Nazis. Both sides.

Balls by Nancy Ohanian

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Friday, February 08, 2019

How Have All Those Freshman Members We Elected In November Been Voting?

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The worst new senator (AZ) and worst new House member (NJ)

First the good news: Although there haven't really been enough controversial votes yet to definitively analyze the voting records of the congressional freshman class, there are mostly pretty good signs. With every day that passes, records are beginning to become somewhat clearer, at least at the extremes. According to ProgressivePunch, 38 freshman House members are tied for the #1 spot-- with 100% perfect scores. There are obvious perfect voters like AOC (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Joe Neguse (D-CO), the Levin Boys (Mike from California and Andy from Michigan), Debra Haaland (D-NM) and Chuy Garcia (D-IL) but even some of the reactionary candidates have been voting exactly the way the Democrats who entrusted them with high office would have wanted them to vote-- crap candidates who will likely soon start disappointing, like Jason Crow (New Dem-CO) and Susie Lee (New Dem-NV), for example. For now... 100%.

But some Democrats have already started slipping over to the Dark Side and finding their comfort zones on the other side of the aisle. Further down the list of freshmen, there are 10 tied for 144th most progressive: Cindy Axne (D-IA), Abby Finkenauer (D-IA), Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA), Katie Porter (D-CA), Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA), Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ), Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI) and Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA). Republicans are already starting to look at some of these freshman as obvious targets for 2020 since they are already beginning to show signs of disappointing the Democratic base. For example, in Orange County-- CA-48, the coastal district Rouda won from Dana Rohrabacher last year, 157,837 (53.8%) to 136,899 (46.4%)-- Republican businessman James Bradley, who was the top finishing GOP candidate in last year's U.S. Senate race, declared against Rouda, whose congressional office is said to be in utter turmoil and disarray, last week.

Right-of-center freshmen like Blue Dog Mikey Sherrill, are going to need all the help they can get if they keep voting against progressive bills and refuse to back popular progressive initiatives like Medicare-For-All and the Green New Deal. History has taught us that Democrats like her will wind up without support from a crucial sector of the electorate: committed progressive activists. In NJ-11, former governor Chris Christie has already started pushing his wife to run against Sherrill. It's a very swingy red-leaning district (R+3) and the only thing Sherrill will be able to count on for reelection is suburban revulsion at Trump at the top of the ticket. The Christies have lived in the district for 25 years and are very popular there.

And those ten aren't even the worst problem-children-- not by a loingshot. Tied as the 202nd most progressive (which is not at all progressive) are 7 freshmen who keep finding themselves voting with the GOP an awful lot:
Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
Antonio Delgado (D-NY)
Jared Golden (D-ME)
Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)
Now we're in real stinky garbage territory. Those 7 above will all have tough reelection battles, if not primaries. Xochitl Torres Small already has two declared GOP opponents... as her support from progressives activists evaporates. And that brings us to the 3 worst freshmen Democrats-- tied for the 231st "most progressive" and already with voting records better than only 2 sewer lane Democrats, Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX) and Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN). Tied for the worst freshmen of all and just begging to be one termers:
Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)
The DCCC announced their 2020 frontline program yesterday-- 44 Democratic incumbents, mostly shitty freshmen, who are in trouble for reelection. The only non-freshmen on the list are a couple of truly crap Blue Dogs-- Tom O'Halleran (AZ) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ)-- and a progressive, Matt Cartwright (PA) in a Republican-leaning seat. O'Halleran's biggest political problem is a primary from progressive Democrat, Eva Putzova. As for the freshman members, most of them are Republican-lite types who can count on Trump-hatred to get them over the hump next year, although most of them are likely to be defeated in 2022 after Pelosi leads the Democratic Party into disappointing everyone on everything important... But at least she passed her own top priority: Pay-Go. Which of the freshmen on the list deserve some support? So far I'd say Mike Levin (CA)... but I'm holding out some hope that Katie Porter (CA), Jahana Hayes (CT), Jared Golden (ME), Andy Kim (NJ) and Kim Schrier (WA) are on their way to proving themselves worthwhile members of Congress. The rest have already proven themselves the contrary. Most of the good freshmen are not on the DCCC Frontline list of course.

Over in the Senate, there are are 4 freshmen tied as the 47th most progressive-- two Democrats and two Republicans. The Republicans are Josh Hawley (MO) and Martha McSally (AZ). The Democrats are the only freshmen in the class, both of whom had very right-wing voting records in the House-- Jacky Rosen (NV) and the worst of the worst, the Democrat who applauded the loudest and most often and with the greatest enthusiasm for Trump Tuesday night, Kyrsten Sinema. All four are rated "F," of course. The four pictured below have nothing to do with these four from the Senate-- and do I mean nothing!



Hey, but while we're all here, this is a list of all the House Democratic freshmen and the committees they were assigned to. You might find it useful moving forward... or not, but I'll be using it s a reference for the next couple of years.

Colin Allred (New Dem, TX)
Foreign Affairs
Transportation and Infrastructure
Veterans' Affairs
Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)
Agriculture
Financial Services
Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
Agriculture
Veterans' Affairs
Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI)
Appropriations
Natural Resources
Sean Casten (New Dem-IL)
Foreign Affairs
Science
Gil Cisneros (D-CA)
Veterans' Affairs
Armed Services
T.J. Cox (D-CA)
Agriculture
Natural Resources
Angie Craig (New Dem-MN)
Agriculture
Transportation and Infrastructure
Jason Crow (New Dem-CO)
Armed Services
Small Business
Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
Natural Resources
Veterans' Affairs
Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
Small Business
Transportation and Infrastructure
Madeleine Dean (New Dem-PA)
Financial Services
Judiciary
Antonio Delgado (D-NY)
Agriculture
 Small Business
Transportation and Infrastructure
Veronica Escobar (New Dem-TX)
Armed Services
Judiciary
Abby Finkenauer (D-IA)
Small Business
Transportation and Infrastructure
Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX)
Science
Transportation and Infrastructure
Chuy Garcia (D-IL)
Financial Services
Transportation and Infrastructure
Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)
Financial Services
Judiciary
Jared Golden (D-ME)
Armed Services
Small Business
Debra Haaland (D-NM)
Armed Services
Natural Resources
Josh Harder (New Dem-CA)
Agriculture
Education and Labor
Jahana Hayes (D-CT)
Agriculture
Education and Labor
Katie Hill (New Dem-CT)
Armed Services
Oversight
Science
Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
Armed Services
Science
Stephen Horsford (New Dem-NV)
Budget
Ways and Means
Natural Resources
Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA)
Armed Services
Small Business
Foreign Affairs
Andy Kim (D-NJ)
Armed Services
Small Business
Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)
Agriculture
Appropriations
Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)
Education and Labor
Veterans' Affairs
Andy Levin (D-MI)
Education and Labor
Foreign Affairs
Veterans' Affairs
Mike Levin (D-CA)
Natural Resources
Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)
Armed Services
Veterans' Affairs
Tom Malinowski (New Dem-NJ)
Veterans' Affairs
Transportation and Infrastructure
Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
Financial Services
Science
Lucy McBath (New Dem-GA)
Education and Labor
Judiciary
Joseph Morelle (D-NY)
Budget
Education and Labor
Rules
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (New Dem-FL)
Judiciary
Transportation and Infrastructure
Joe Neguse (D-CO)
Judiciary
Natural Resources
AOC (D-NY)
Financial Services
Oversight
Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Budget
Education and Labor
Foreign Affairs
Chris Pappas (New Dem-NH)
Veterans' Affairs
Transportation and Infrastructure
Dean Phillips (New Dem-MN)
Financial Services
Foreign Affairs
Katie Porter (D-CA)
Financial Services
Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
Financial Services
Oversight
The worst Democratic members of Congress-- posing proudly

Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
Veterans' Affairs
Homeland Security
Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA)
Oversight
Transportation and Infrastructure
Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)
Judiciary
Rules
Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA)
Agriculture
Education and Labor
Donna Shalala (D-FL)
Education and Labor
Rules
Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)
Armed Services
Space
Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI)
Armed Services
Homeland Security
Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)
Agriculture
Foreign Affairs
Greg Stanton (New Dem-AZ)
Judiciary
Transportation and Infrastructure
Haley Stevens (New Dem-MI)
Education and Labor
Science
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
Financial Services
Oversight
Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)
Armed Services
Homeland Security
Lori Trahan (D-MA)
Armed Services
Education and Labor
David Trone (D-MD)
Foreign Affairs
Education and Labor
Lauren Underwood (D-IL)
Veterans' Affairs
Education and Labor
Homeland Security
Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)
Agriculture
Natural Resources
Jennifer Wexton (New Dem-VA)
Financial Services
Science
Susan Wild (New Dem-PA)
Foreign Affairs
Education and Labor

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Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Can Establishment Dems Lose 2 Senate Seats Not Even Republicans Were Hoping For?

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Greg Giroux penned an essay for Bloomberg News, All Signs Point to Big Democratic Wins in 2018, which is a hell of a lot more reality-based than the tepid Beltway prognosticators who "think" the Democrats "may" win the 24 seats they need to take over the House again. That was last year's discussion. 12 months on, it's about how many Republicans will be left after the tsunami washes the party away. And is Beto's O'Rourke's second consecutive quarter of outraising Ted Cruz an indication that the Democrats are going to win the Senate as well? "History, demographics and the national mood," wrote Giroux, "are pointing to one conclusion about the 2018 congressional races: Democrats are well-positioned to bring one-party government in Washington under Donald Trump’s presidency to a screeching halt... Even if only one chamber flips to the Democrats, Trump’s ability to impose his agenda would be thwarted, and his administration almost certainly would find itself pinned down by investigations and subpoenas from congressional committees. An analysis by Bloomberg Government of historical data, election maps and public polling points to sweeping Democratic gains in the November election, when all 435 House seats and one-third of the Senate are on the ballot."
Republican pollster Lance Tarrance wrote in a Jan. 5 analysis for Gallup. “Trump’s 20-point approval deficit in recent Gallup polling does not bode well for him, in part because none of the past five presidents saw an increase in their approval rating in the year before their first midterm.”

...The off-year and special elections conducted since Trump took office underscore the Republican challenges.

Democrats won governors’ offices by wide margins in New Jersey and Virginia while also capturing Republican seats in both states’ legislatures, as suburban voters shifted to Democratic candidates. In Alabama, Doug Jones became the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the state in 25 years in a race that featured a scandal-tarred and controversial Republican who divided his own party, even though he had Trump’s endorsement.

“That’s three pretty big canaries in the coal mine that ought to warn you that you’re headed into a turbulent period in the next election,” Cole said.

...Democrats improved their showing in well-educated, historically Republican areas in the 2016 and 2017 elections, so some hard-fought races in the fall will be in the suburbs. Among the House districts that may be in play are those of Representatives Rodney Frelinghuysen and Leonard Lance in New Jersey, John Culberson in the Houston area, Barbara Comstock in the Virginia suburbs near Washington, and Peter Roskam in the Chicago area.
Goal ThermometerFor various reasons-- primarily the GOP-oriented 2018 map-- Giroux is less sanguine about Democratic chances for a Senate takeover. All the Democratic red-state incumbents would have to win and the Democrats would have to pull off wins from two of the worst Senate candidates in recent history-- both handpicked by Chuck Schumer who pretty much always picks losers-- putrid Blue Dog Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and tepid, pointless Nevada nothing-burger Jacky Rosen. Or one of them plus someone the DSCC and the Democratic DC establishment has been ignoring, Beto O'Rourke. You can contribute to Beto's campaign-- and the other Senate candidates endorsed by Blue America-- by tapping on the ActBlue "Senate 2018" thermometer on the right.

But that doesn't include unexpected stumbles from Senate Democrats that could give the Republicans opportunities they shouldn't even have. Here are two: Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Trump won-- barely, and possibly with actual Russian vote tampering in 3 counties, Luzerne, Erie and Northampton-- Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes 2,970,733 to 2,926,441. That's 44,292 votes (0.72%). Casey is anti-Choice. He always votes that way-- as he did yesterday when he supported the Republicans' very extremist and probably unconstitutional 20-week abortion ban. (Also crossing the aisle on that one were Joe Manchin or West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana.) How turned off will parts of the Democratic base in Pennsylvania be by Casey's little reminder that he's as anti-Choice as any hateful Republican patriarchal goon who wants to interfere with women's ability to make their own health choices? How can Democrats denounce the GOP for voting that way when Casey and 2 other Democrats also did? Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowsky voted with the Democrats against the bill. Last time Casey faced the voters (2012) he beat Republican Tom Smith 3,021,364 (53.7%) to 2,509,132 (44.6%) and took all 3 counties the Kremlin tampered with for Trump, Erie, Luzerne and Northampton.

If the measure passes and is signed-- Ryan already got it passed by the House-- anyone performing an abortion on a woman who is more than 20 weeks pregnant would face a fine, up to five years’ jail time, or both. According to Planned Parenthood something like 99% of abortions occur before 21 weeks of pregnancy and those later on often involve severe fetal abnormalities or serious health risks to the woman.

New Jersey has a completely different nightmare brewing for the Democrats. It is not a swing state; it's a pretty safely blue state with a PVI of D+7. Hillary beat Trumpanzee there, winning their 16 electoral votes 2,148,278 (55.45%) to 1,601,933 (41.45%). So in 2012 Menendez, always a shady character but before the most recent scandals that rocked the politics of New Jersey, beat Republican Joe Kyrillos 1,987,680 (58.9%) to 1,329,534 (39.4%). Should be a safe seat, right? And it would be-- except for Menendez, who is adamantly refusing to resign.

Newark Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran asked his readers to "try to envision Sen. Robert Menendez trying to manage his daily calendar when he's juggling his second trial on corruption charges with his campaign for re-election. Will he march in parades? Or will he attend the trial every day to save his neck?" He points out how dangerous-- actually he said "ridiculous"-- it is "in the Trump era, when a single Senate seat can tip the balance of power."
New Jersey voters haven't sent a Republican senator to Washington for half a century, and with Trump soiling the brand so badly, Democrats could win by picking a name out of the phone book.

Their only chance to lose this seat is to do exactly what they are doing-- rallying around Menendez with a unanimity that virtually ensures he will win the primary race on June 5, provided he's not sent to prison first.

Could Menendez win in November if he escapes conviction? Probably. The Cook Political Report rates him as the favorite today, even with the baggage. But that could change.

...Republicans have not chosen a candidate yet, but they are giddy about the prospects of Bob Hugin, a self-made millionaire and former Marine who told county chairmen recently that he would start the bidding by spending $20 million of his own money, and hopes to raise $40 million more, according to reliable sources in the GOP.

Imagine the flood of 30-second TV spots that money will buy. Menendez on a private jet to a luxury resort in the Caribbean, no charge. Menendez at a luxury hotel in Paris with a young woman, also gratis. Menendez hiding these gifts, despite the rules. Menendez doing favors for the man who paid for it all, his best pal, Salomon Melgen, a rich old man with a fondness for stray models, and now a convicted felon.

"Right now, a sitting Senator is vulnerable, and that creates an opportunity for us," says the state GOP chairman, Doug Steinhardt.

Think about the stakes. The repeal of Obamacare failed by one vote in the Senate, and the horrific tax bill passed by just three. Are Democratic leaders really that reckless?

Maybe not. Because there is a Plan B floating out there.

It goes like this: If Menendez is convicted, or so damaged that he's likely to lose, they will replace him, just as they replaced Sen. Bob Torricelli when he was under federal investigation during his 2002 re-election campaign.

Who would replace Menendez? Here's the leading theory among a long list of Democrats I asked over several weeks:

Rep. Donald Norcross (D-1st) would replace Menendez, answering a top priority of his brother George Norcross, who controls the biggest Democratic faction [faction?? The Star-Ledger isn't allowed to say "Machine," let alone "corrupt Machine?"] in the state Legislature.

Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) would leave the Statehouse to fill that vacant seat in Congress.

That would open Sweeney's top spot in the state Senate, which would go to someone loyal to Murphy, probably from northern New Jersey, for regional balance.
Can't get any worse? How about this stinky little scenario?
New Jersey politics are a mess. Chris Christie left the governor’s office stinking of corruption. Sen. Bob Menendez will seek re-election in November, less than a year after a hung jury declined to acquit him of bribery charges; a repeat trial is in the offing.

Menendez is among the least popular senators in the country, with an approval rating of 29 percent. He’s likely to be re-elected anyway, because New Jersey’s Republican Party is in shambles. Christie left office as the least popular governor in the country, with an approval rating of 19 percent. He won re-election in 2013 with 60 percent of the vote. His lieutenant governor and two-time running mate, Kim Guadagno, lost her race to replace him with just 42 percent of the vote.

...The Libertarian Party ought to take a stab at Menendez’s seat. And their candidate ought to be Alan Dershowitz... he isn’t a run-of-the-mill Democrat. He’s a member of a rare breed of originalist Democrats who oppose judicial activism and defend the inalienability of even the least trendy constitutional rights. He voted for Hillary Clinton in ’16 and prefers Joe Biden in 2020, but has on several occasions come to Trump’s philosophical aid. He defended the legality of Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director Jim Comey. He defended the legality of Trump’s travel ban. He’s defended Trump’s allegations of bias in the FBI’s Russia investigation, and he’s attacked the left for trying to delegitimize Trump’s presidency through innuendo and tele-psychiatry.

Dershowitz told Politico that he’s lost seven pounds since finding himself forced to defend Trump. He says his liberal friends don’t invite him to dinner anymore. No doubt John Adams had a similar experience when he agreed to defend the British soldiers who killed five Americans at the Boston Massacre. (That sounds hyperbolic-- and it is-- but really, does the half of the country that hates Trump hate him less than Colonial Boston hated those soldiers?)


All that said, the tsunami keeps on building. Another powerful close Ryan ally House Appropriations Committee chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) made it clear yesterday that he's another rat deserting the sinking ship. He's the 9th House committee chairman to be resigning rather than face defeat in November. I've never seen anything like that before. And it's likely Ryan himself will soon announce he wants to spend more time with his own family. The Democratic establishment, by the way, have a conservative piece of crap they're running, someone sure to disappoint the base and lose the seat in the nest midterm, New Dem/EMILY's List garbage candidate Mikie Sherrill, a Wall Street criminal the DCCC is trying to pass off as a great and valiant military heroine. The only nice thing I've ever heard about her from New Jersey activists is that she probably won't turn out as bad as Josh Gottheimer... probably.

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