The Best Primary Targets For The 2020 Cycle-- And Blue America's First 2020 Congressional Endorsement

Blue America loves a good primary battle against a stinking incumbent-- and we've been involved with them when other Democrat groups were still looking askance at them... as though incumbents somehow "owned" the seats they were representing and and primary was an affront. We worked on primaries against some of the worst Democrats in Congress-- Rahm Emanuel (New Dem-IL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (New Dem-FL), Steny Hoyer (MD), John Barrow (GA), Darren Soto (FL), Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR), Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL-- see you soon, again, Dan) and the successful ones against Joe Crowley (New Dem-NY), Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA), Silvestre Reyes (TX) and Al Wynn (MD). One thing I've learned is that among all the necessary components to a successful primary you need a solid villain and you need a driven, compelling candidate. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Matt Cartwright, Beto O'Rourke and Donna Edwards are classic examples of winning primary candidates.

I talked to potential candidates against Crowley for years and never came up with the right one. Ocasio-Cortzez was a self-starter, who wasn't waiting for anyone to give her permission. The Democratic political establishment hates primaries against incumbents and they come down on challengers like a ton of bricks, as they did against her and against Cartwright, O'Rourke and Edwards, none of whom buckled in the slightest.

Persuading voters that their congressman is a villain is never easy. Never. But I've put together a short list of the best Democratic primary targets in the House for the 2020 cycle. It's based on how much the incumbent deserves a primary and takes into account how winnable the primary would be with a good, solid challenger. Left out are even the worst freshmen since none of them have a relevant record yet. Yet.

• Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL)- workin' on it- D+6
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- D+9
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)- workin' on it- D+9
• Frank Pallone (NJ)- workin' on it- D+9
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- R+12
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)- R+3
• Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN)- D+7
• Kathleen Rice (New Dem-NY)- workin' on it- D+4
• Tony Cárdenas (New Dem-CA)- D+29
• Al Lawson (New Dem-FL)- D+12
• Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY)- D+37
• Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)- D+6

Yesterday there was a minor fuss online over Hakeem Jeffries, a Wall Street hack from Brooklyn with tremendous ambition. Politico reported that Alexandria Ocasio and the Justice Democrats are planning to primary him. He's far from my favorite Democrat but I don't know he rises to the best target. His voting record is good ("A" from ProgressivePunch) and it would be really to successfully paint him as a villain in that district (where I used to live). The PVI Is D+36, so obviously there's no worries about defeating him and seeing a Republican grab the seat, which is exactly what would happen after a successful primary against Collin Peterson. (The district starts at the tip of Coney Island, moves east through Sheepshead Bay, north through Flatlands, Mill Basin, Canarsie, East New York, Howard Beach, Ozone Park, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill and west into Downtown Brooklyn.)

I think they may be overstating Ocasio's role in this. But, who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. According to Politico, "The person who spoke with Ocasio-Cortez and her team, who asked for anonymity to discuss a private conversation, called Jeffries the 'highest priority' primary target of Ocasio-Cortez." Seems silly to me when there are far better targets like Lipinski in Chicago and Greg Meeks right there in NYC. Politico: "Challenging Jeffries would open an audacious new front in Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts to steer the direction of the Democratic Party, pitting her and allies against a rising-star African-American Democrat seen by some as a potential future speaker of the House. It would also set off another intra-party New York City brawl-- Jeffries’ Brooklyn district is just a few miles south of Ocasio-Cortez’s Bronx-and-Queens seat-- that would peak just as Democrats hope to rally around a presidential nominee in mid-2020."

The fact that a corrupt corporate Democrat beholden to Wall Street is being talked about in establishment circles as a future Speaker is actually a good reason to consider short-circuiting his career now. I know for sure that Crowley fund-raising was easier because he had been picked by the establishment to follow Pelosi in the role.

Jeffries has sparked the ire of Justice Democrats for several reasons. The group feels Jeffries takes too much money from corporate interests, a key litmus test, and is overly friendly with banking and pro-charter school interests. But Ocasio-Cortez is also unhappy that a campaign donation to her from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) was allegedly used in a whisper campaign against Lee before her narrow loss to Jeffries in the recent race for Democratic caucus chair-- a charge those allegedly involved have called a complete falsehood.

“It’s personal for Ocasio,” said the person who spoke with Ocasio-Cortez and her staff. "And she’s going to go all out to take him out.”

...Jeffries, a former state legislator who was first elected to Congress in 2012 after running an aggressive primary campaign against former Rep. Ed Towns, forcing him into retirement, represents a majority-black Brooklyn district that’s 23 percent white and 18 percent Latino. Voters there went against Ocasio-Cortez’s preferred candidates for governor and attorney general in 2018 primaries-- Cynthia Nixon and Zephyr Teachout-- instead backing Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General-elect Letitia James.

Jeffries has climbed the ranks of Congress while working across the aisle, and he is on the cusp of seeing the First Step Act, which he co-sponsored, become law. It would be the fourth bill he's shepherded through the House to be signed into law. The sweeping criminal justice reform measure is expected to pass the Senate this week after years of haggling in both chambers. It reforms prison sentencing, reducing the “three strikes” penalty for drug offenses and giving judges latitude to make exceptions to mandatory minimum guidelines.

Jeffries’ allies said he will be well-prepared to defend his seat-- the former corporate lawyer for CBS and Viacom has more than $1 million on hand after the 2018 cycle, according to OpenSecrets.

"There is no one who knows their district better than Hakeem Jeffries," said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY). "Hakeem is and will continue to work the district, and he will continue to win by large margins, so, ultimately, whoever primaries him will be wasting their time and their money."

...Justice Democrats-backed primary challenges could sprout elsewhere around the country, too. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, a Blue Dog Democrat who in the past has won endorsements from the conservative Club for Growth and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is also on Justice Democrats’ early target list, according to the person with knowledge of the group’s plans.

Justice Democrats said that in 2020 it hopes to challenge more Democrats who, like Crowley, it considers too closely aligned with special interests and it says don’t demographically reflect districts that are minority-white.

“We’re going to double down on primary challenges and look at some of these white, male corporate Democrats similar to Joe Crowley," said Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats. "Many of these places are majority or plurality people-of-color districts that don’t demographically or policy-wise reflect the diverse working class communities they often serve.”

Rep. Scott Peters (New Dem-CA), a leader of the moderate New Democrat Coalition, which has been a target of criticism for progressives, voiced frustrations with Ocasio-Cortez’s push to primary Democrats.

"This majority was made by New Dems and Blue Dogs,” Peters said, referring to a second Democratic caucus considered more centrist than the New Democrats. "It was not made by turning seats from blue to blue. It was made by those people who turned seats from red to blue. If we want to keep the majority, those are the people we should be listening to."

"We should not be listening to people who don’t represent that mainstream voter who’s given Democrats the majority," Peters added.

Peters is far from the mainstream of the Democratic Party. He votes against anything progressive as a reflex. His ProgressivePunch "F" grade shows him with the 9th most Republican crucial vote lifetime score of any Democrat in the House. He would certainly be on everyone's list of primary targets except for the fact that he's leaving Congress two run for mayor of San Diego, selling his seat to someone who seems much better-- policy-wise-- than Peters is, his pal Paul Kerr, who ran for Congress in a different district and self-funded his campaign with a $5,912,728 personal check (98% of his campaign funds). All that money and he came in 7th in the primary, behind 3 other Democrats and 3 Republicans.

Anyway, next month Blue America will be revealing our first couple of forays into 2020 primaries. First though, as of this morning, we have our first congressional endorsement: Kara Eastman. Kara, who came very close to defeating Republican incumbent Don Bacon last month, just announced she is seeking a rematch in 2020. The margin between them was less than 2%, just 4,945 votes. Perhaps this time the DCCC will actually give her a hand instead of leaving her to the tender mercies of the GOP congressional SuperPAC and their smear campaign. This morning, Kara told her neighbors in Omaha that "Running for Congress to represent the Nebraska 2nd was the greatest honor of my life. I am proud of our campaign and the enthusiasm we ignited in the district. Donald Trump and Don Bacon continue to fuel the incredible partisan divide in our country. Nebraskans deserve an independent voice who can bring people together and fight for the things we all need and deserve. All Nebraskans should be able to get ahead when they work hard; that means having a living wage, healthcare, and affordable, healthy housing. They also deserve a representative who will fight against the corruption we are seeing in DC and stop the outsized corporate influence in our political system. The recent court ruling to overturn the Affordable Care Act is just another example of the Republican effort to strip healthcare away from Americans without a policy to replace it. Bacon even opposed Medicaid expansion, which passed by more than seven percentage points in our state. He continues to demonstrate that his extreme positions are out of touch with those of his regular working-class constituents. I spent the past two years introducing myself to the Nebraska 2nd, now I am excited to give everyone a chance to really get to know me. I am ready to roll up my sleeves again, talk to voters, and earn their votes in 2020."

If you'd like to join us in welcoming Kara into the 2020 election fray, you can do that right here.

Wall Street-Owned New Dems Ready To Make War Against Elizabeth Warren And The Progressive Movement

Multimillionaire Scott Peters (D-CA) wants to undermine Elizabeth Warren

Scott Peters is a very wealthy conservative Democrat who bought himself a San Diego congressional seat in 2012. In one of the closest races in the country, Peters beat incumbent Republican Brian Bilbray 124,746-122,086, after outspending him $4,352,737 to $2,772,270. And not just outspending him; Peters ran one of the most self-financed congressional campaigns in history, having spent $2,757,452 of his own money. Since getting elected, Peters amassed a very conservative voting record that finds him voting with the GOP on crucial issues as frequently as he votes with progressives. He's not popular with Democratic voters in his own district and it was no surprise when the GOP mounted a strong campaign against him last year. Luckily for Peters, the Republican candidate, Scott DeMaio, spent the campaign on the front pages of the newspapers defending himself in a conveniently timed series of gay sex harassment cases. He would have won and even with all the tawdry scandal, he nearly did win!

Peters eked out reelection 98,332 (51.6%)- 92,408 (48.4%). Peters spent $4,504,003 to DeMaio's $3,349,677. This time, though, Peters "only" spent $476,659 of his own money on the race. The DCCC came to his rescue. They spent $2,574,753 and their super-PAC, the House Majority PAC, spent another $831,751 on the race-- so, over $3,000,000 on a conservative whose voting record this year is already worse than his first term record. His ProgressivePunch 2015-16 crucial vote score is an abysmal 46.15, the worst of any California Democrat. If you contributed to the DCCC last year, you enabled that. And a bad voting record isn't where it stops for Scott Peters.

Yesterday, The Hill was reporting that his corporately-financed, Wall Street-friendly faction, the New Dems is plotting a "strike against the Warren wing" on the Democratic Party. Of course, opposing the legitimate interests of working families is all the New Dems ever do, so that shouldn't come as too big a shock to people who follow carefully.

"I have great respect for Sen. Warren-- she's a tremendous leader,” said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), one of the members working on the policy proposal. “My own preference is to create a message without bashing businesses or workers, [the latter of which] happens on the other side."

Peters said that if Democrats are going to win back the House and Senate, "it's going to be through the work of the New Democrat Coalition."

"To the extent that Republicans beat up on workers and Democrats beat up on employers-- I'm not sure that offers voters much of a vision," Peters said.

Peters and other New Dems are working with Third Way and other Wall Street and Big Business-backed groups to undermine progressives in the policy arena and to push the Wall Street agenda that Republicans already back. Reminder: when you contribute to the DCCC, you are financing garbage like Scott Peters with money that could be going to help elect and reelect progressive Democrats. Just stop. If the DCCC and DNC feel a drop-off in contributions from grassroots Democrats, they're likely to be more responsive to actual Democrats outside of K Street and Wall Street. Peters and two other especially bad Democratic congressmembers-- Suzan DelBene and Kyrsten Sinema-- were just named Honorary Co-Chairs of the extremely corrupt Third Way.

UPDATE: NJ Christiecrats' Bump In The Road-- NJ Pinelands Pipeline: 4 Ex-Govs Oppose Barr Appointment

On February 27, we reported on the underhanded procedure Christiecrats Steve Sweeney and Jeff Van Drew used to get the nomination of Robert Barr approved by the New Jersey State Senate’s Judiciary Committee.

In an interview posted on the Asbury Park Press web site later that day, Sweeney arrogantly defended his move and reiterated his support for running a natural gas pipeline through the environmentally unique Pinelands Preserve in order to keep an outmoded electric generating station in operation.

On March 1, the Newark Star-Ledger, the state’s largest daily paper, published a blistering editorial condemning Sweeney’s manipulation of the Judiciary Committee to ensure approval of the Barr nomination, calling it “a Machiavellian power grab.”

And on yesterday, the same four ex-governors who urged the Pinelands Commission to reject the pipeline proposal in December 2013 wrote a letter to Ray Lesniak-- an opponent of the pipeline project, and the senator that Sweeney replaced with Van Drew on February 24. This time they were asking the full Senate to reject the Barr nomination. Here’s the text of that letter:

Dear Senator Lesniak,

We are writing to urge the Senate to withhold confirmation of the pending nomination for the Pinelands Commission, Robert Barr to replace Robert Jackson, when it comes before the full Senate in the coming weeks. We believe that at this time and in the present circumstances, this nomination would undermine the independence of the Pinelands Commission. For thirty-five years, the Pinelands Commission has been the bedrock of the Pinelands conservation effort. Its extraordinary success in that mission is due in great part to the fact that it has functioned as an independent executive agency without undue interference in its implementation of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan. Recent events threaten to erode that independence. The Senate can preserve the integrity of the Pinelands program, and help protect the work of other independent executive agencies, by withholding confirmation of this nomination at this time. As former governors for whom the Pinelands represents one of New Jersey’s great-- but ever-vulnerable-- treasures, we ask for your help at this important juncture in the life of the Pinelands.

Sincerely,

Brenda T. Byrne
Thomas H. Kean
Christine Todd Whitman
James J. Florio

GOP Staffer Accuses Boehner's San Diego Candidate, Carl DeMaio, Of Predator Sexual Behavior

Scott Peters is a conservative San Diego New Dem, a multimillionaire (8th richest Member of Congress) who bought himself a seat in Congress in 2012 by writing his campaign a $2,757,452 check and outspending his Republican opponent, incumbent Brian Bilbray $4,352,737 to $2,772,270. Newly redistricted, CA-52 is way bluer than it’s ever been before, a D+2 district that takes in most of the city of San Diego before heading north to La Jolla along the coast and out to Poway and Rancho Bernardo inland. Under these line, Obama won the district 55-43% against McCain and 52-46% against Romney. Peters beat Bilbray 151,451 (51%) to 144,459 (49%) in 2012. This year Peters hasn’t self-funded much ($71,659) but as on the June 30 FEC filing deadline he had collected $2,554,980. His GOP opponent, Carl DeMaio raised $2,232,048. The DCCC and NRCC have spent almost identical amounts on ads, $1,661,848 and $1,669,047, respectively.

It isn’t the kind of race Blue America would ever get involved with. Both candidates are putrid and neither deserves to be in public office. “Lesser of two evils” doesn’t even begin to describe the choice voters are being asked to make between these two shady conservative shitheads.

The two most recent polls, both by SurveyUSA show a close race but with some momentum for DeMaio. Their September poll showed Peters ahead 47-46% and the poll they released last week showed DeMaio beating Peters 48-45%.

Compared to a SurveyUSA poll 3 weeks ago, DeMaio is up 2 points, Peters is down 2 points. Poll-on-poll, there is movement among men, where the Republican is now up by 12, and there is movement among independent voters, where the Republican is now up by 18. Voters say that "integrity" is the most important issue when filling out their ballot, and on that issue, DeMaio leads narrowly 50% to 46%. Second most important is the issue of "fiscal responsibility," and on that issue, DeMaio leads overwhelmingly, 81% to 15%. Peters leads on 3 and DeMaio leads on 2 of the following 5 attributes:

• More trustworthy? 48% say DeMaio, 44% say Peters.
• Stronger on transportation issues? DeMaio 42%, Peters 40%.

• In sync with you on same-sex marriage? Peters 44%, DeMaio 38%.

• In sync with you on abortion? Peters 45%, DeMaio 37%.

• In sync with you on veterans affairs? Peters 46% to DeMaio's 43%.

Friday, however, Peters got his lucky break, a game-changer, likely to effect DeMaio’s big gender gap among males. It’s the biggest political story in San Diego and CNN made it a national story as well. Watch the shocking video up top.

Charges of sexual misconduct, plagiarism and burglary have pitted a former staffer against a high-profile congressional candidate just weeks before the midterm elections.

The drama is unfolding in a city that just weathered a sexual harassment scandal ending the career of its Democratic mayor. The latest accusations by a former campaign aide could derail the career of up-and-coming Republican Carl DeMaio.

In a story of charges and counter charges, the one constant is this: they both insist the other is lying.

DeMaio has won national name recognition as a "new generation Republican," calling on his party to ditch social issues and winning plaudits for helping the Grand Old Party shed what many see as its intolerant image.

The openly gay, former San Diego city councilman has won support from GOP heavyweights like Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner and even former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

But behind the scenes, things are much messier. DeMaio's former campaign policy director is accusing the candidate of sexual harassment, even saying DeMaio masturbated in front of him. DeMaio vehemently denies the allegations, saying they're the cover story of a plagiarist and suspected criminal.

This is not the first time DeMaio has been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior. Last year, a fellow city councilman said he twice caught DeMaio masturbating in a city hall restroom— an allegation DeMaio denied.

Todd Bosnich says he joined DeMaio's campaign last year eager to work for a candidate who shared his values and who, like himself, is an openly gay Republican.

But Bosnich said his enthusiasm for his boss was soon replaced by dread, because DeMaio would find him alone and make inappropriate advances, massaging and kissing his neck and groping him.

One morning last April, Bosnich said he arrived early at campaign headquarters and DeMaio called him back to his office.

"I came over to his office, door was open. And he was masturbating," Bosnich said. "I saw his hand, his penis in his hand and he had a smile on his face. And as soon as I came over he was looking at me."

There was no mistaking what was happening, he said.

Bosnich said the harassment that culminated that spring morning started months before, when DeMaio drove Bosnich back to his car after drinks with the staff at a local bar.

"We were making small talk on the way back. And when he pulled up to my car, he reached over into my lap and grabbed my crotch. And I flipped out. And I pushed his hand away," Bosnich said. "I just was shocked because I'd never had anyone do something like that to me, especially in a position of authority and trust. And, at the time, I just figured, well, maybe he was drunk and blew it off. But he progressively and progressively, the inappropriate touching incidents continued from there."

It was several more months, Bosnich said, before he mentioned the behavior to campaign manager Tommy Knepper, who laughed it off.

"'That's just the way Carl is,'" Bosnich recalls Knepper saying. "And that if I really felt that uncomfortable I shouldn't have let him know that I'm a gay man."

Knepper, Bosnich said, was blaming him.

"He was implying that it's my fault, that it's incumbent on me to stop Carl DeMaio from these behaviors," Bosnich said. "And I was really offended."

It wasn't until a few weeks after the masturbation incident, Bosnich said, that he confronted DeMaio, telling him to either stop the harassment or drop out of the race.

"It was the very next day, in the morning, that the campaign manager called me into his office and said that Carl lost his trust in me and that he'd terminated me," Bosnich said. "He offered me a position in the county Republican Party and also told me to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for $50,000."

Bosnich said he considered the offer "an attempt to bribe me to keep my silence."

He left the campaign, he said, without taking any money or signing any papers. A day before the primary, Bosnich recorded an interview with a local conservative radio station outlining his allegations, but the interview never aired.

…This is not the first time DeMaio has been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior. Last year, a fellow city councilman, Ben Hueso, said he twice caught DeMaio masturbating in a semi-private city hall restroom accessible only to city officials.

The Democrat declined an interview request, but councilwoman Marti Emerald said she learned about the 2009 incident immediately after Hueso witnessed it. On the way to the women's room, she said she literally bumped into Huseo as he exited the men's room across the hall.

"He was furious; he looked like something serious had just happened," Emerald said. "He said DeMaio was in there (masturbating). And I said do you want to grab a police officer and have him arrested? Because this is a violation of the (city) code. He said no, but he was pretty upset."

It's a claim DeMaio denied— even saying he took a polygraph test to support his denial, but he declined to provide the results to CNN.

"This lie crossed the line. It's so gross. It's so untrue. It's so humiliating that it demands a response," DeMaio said last year.

Bosnich also took an independent lie detector test to support his allegations, a copy of which Bosnich's attorney provided to CNN. The report said Bosnich's answers were "truthful" and found "no deception."

"It corroborated my account of being sexually harassed by Carl DeMaio," Bosnich said.

Bosnich also denied that he was the one who plagiarized from National Journal.

"Carl authored the report. And I offered input on it. But in terms of the final draft, in terms of the, even the composition of it, that was from Carl, as he admitted to the National Journal,” he said.

Embarrassing for the gay community? Well… it takes a very sick mind for a gay person to join the Republican Party and even when they come out of the closet, it would probably take decades of intense psychological therapy for someone like DeMaio— not to mention Lindsay Graham, Aaron Schock, Patrick McHenry, Mitch McConnell— to begin behaving like a normal person. Carl DeMaio happens to be gay. His sickness is that he chose to be a Republican, exactly the same kind of mental illness that Jews who supported Hitler’s Nazi Party in 1930s Germany.

Are You Surprised That The Chamber Of Commerce Is Backing Incumbents From The Republican Wing Of The Democratic Party?

Last night when we were looking at vile DC lobbyist John Breaux, formerly a very conservative Louisiana senator, I recalled that he was a New Dem, a Wall Street-funded organization of business-oriented Democrats. It should come as no surprise that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, delights in finding anti-family Democrats and endorsing them the same way they endorse anti-family Republicans. In 2012 the Chamber of Commerce attack machine spent $27,912,717 smearing Democrats with TV and radio ads. But they also spent $305,044 bolstering 2 of the most right-wing Democrats in the House, reactionary Blue Dogs Jim Matheson (UT- $202,112) and John Barrow (GA-$102,932). So far this year they already spent $12,758,084 on behalf of Republicans and nothing at all helping Democrats. But that's about to change.

In past years the U.S. Chamber has been among the top donors for New Dems and Blue Dogs willing to sell out the interests of working families and vote with Republicans on core economic issues, slimy and corrupt characters like Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX), Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI), Tim Mahoney (Blue Dog-FL), Melissa Bean (New Dem-IL), and John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA).

Last cycle one of the big races the Chamber got involved with to try to help sleazy lobbyist Brian Bilbray hold his San Diego congressional seat (CA-52). It was a very close race and conservative multimillionaire Scott Peters-- who wrote his campaign a check for $2,757,452-- outspent Bilbray $4,352,737 to $2,772,270. In the end Peters beat Bilbray 151,451 (51%) to 144,459 (49%) in the D+2 district. The Chamber was one of several right-wing outfits that spent $4,018,104 smearing Peters with Independent expenditures. The Chamber threw in $320,000 worth of TV spots.

This year the Chamber, perfectly happy with Peters conservative New Dem voting record, is backing Peters. And Peters, whose voting record has turned off many base Democrats, is in a tough race against Republican Carl DeMaio. Peters is balking at spending more of his own fortune and so far has only put $71,659 of his own into the race, out of the $2,554,980 he's raised. DeMaio is keeping up with him and has raised $2,232,048.

Thomas Donohue, the right-wing Republican nut who runs the Chamber-- and who funnels tens of millions of dollars into GOP camapigns-- wrote to Peters last week that "We believe that your re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives will help produce sustained economic growth, help create jobs, and get our country back on track. We will encourage the business community to vigorously support your candidacy."

While scores of groups offer election endorsements, “this one stands out a bit,” Peters said in a phone interview Tuesday evening.

“What this shows is that I really am the candidate that’s working across the aisles. I’m not just a member of one of the partisan armies,” Peters added.

In 2013, Peters voted with the chamber 69 percent of the time on key bills supported by the organization, according to the chamber’s website.

The DeMaio campaign said the endorsement underscored the status quo in Washington that DeMaio has pledged to change.

“We’re not surprised that a special interest group in D.C. is trying to protect members of Congress-- they like the system the way it is. They know Carl DeMaio is coming to end the perks for this crowd,” said Dave McCulloch, spokesman for the DeMaio campaign.

Rob Engstrom, chamber vice president for political affairs, said on Twitter Wednesday that DeMaio had tried to get the chamber's endorsement.

The DeMaio campaign "needs to get facts straight. The campaign actively sought our endorsement. Sour grapes," Engstrom tweeted.

And, as they do every year, the Chamber will also be endorsing Georgia New Dem/Blue Dog John Barrow, who votes with the GOP on crucial economic issues far more than he votes with Democrats.

Barrow is the fourth Democrat this cycle to receive the backing of the chamber, a pro-business group that spends millions in federal elections usually in support of Republicans. The others include Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., a top GOP target who was endorsed Wednesday, along with Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas and Jim Costa of California.

These days, the Chamber hates the Tea Party Republicans-- like DeMaio-- and is happy to lend a hand to Democrats like these:

Northern San Diego County-- Will They Ever Have Good Representation In Congress?

Though many of the most salient questions about his corruption have never been addressed, Republican former-congressman/DWT star Duke Cunningham is out of prison. Apparently, we will never find out what happened to the $400,000 Thomas "Gus" Kontogiannis gave Cunningham to pay off George W. Bush for a pardon. (Be sure to read the comments at the link; some of these folks have very inside information they're sharing.) Anyway, now that the Dukester is out, the media isn't asking him about the bribes, especially not the big Bush bribe, just about what it was like to be in a Club Fed. Huff Po reports the 72 year old sleazy right-wing sociopath is now an advocate of sentencing reform and rolling back harsh mandatory minimums for drug crimes. "He's active in his church," they report, "he's volunteering with his local fire department, and he even says he's setting up meet-and-greets and fundraisers for Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas." He lives in Arkansas now-- in "the largest gated community in the U.S." Like Cunningham, Hutchinson is a far right extremist who a record that would be labeled "fascist" in any country that has ever experienced the tyranny of fascism.

"Unfortunately, some of my Democrat colleagues were right and I was wrong on some issues as far as criminal justice," Cunningham said, specifically regretting votes for mandatory minimums for drug crimes that take discretion away from federal judges and give federal prosecutors a tremendous amount of leverage over defendants.

"We have taken out of the judge's hands the ability to be merciful in some reasons or to do the right thing," Cunningham said. "I've heard case after case where the judges have said, 'I wish I could help you, but my hands are tied.' I want to untie the hands of our judges."

"I saw kids in there who are 19 to 30. They go into prison, they maybe got caught with cocaine or rock or something like that, and they give them 10 years minimum. What do they do when they get out?" Cunningham said. "There's a lot of very nice guys that got caught up."

…"I'm not going to give you their names, but I've already called some Republican and Democrat friends of mine and told them that I would make myself available to testify if they could protect me from you guys when I come back there," Cunningham told HuffPost, adding that he was worried "you paparazzi would eat me alive" if he ever came back to Capitol Hill.

"Eat me alive," I hope means someone would ask him questions about the Bush bribe and about the other Republicans on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee doing the exact same thing he was doing, particularly Jerry Lewis, Duncan Hunter, Virgil Goode, Darrell Issa and Ken Calvert.

Cunningham says he still hasn't forgiven himself for accepting millions in bribes from defense contractors, and again apologized to those whose trust he violated. But he said he wants to use any influence he can still muster to influence changes in what he refers to as the December of his life.

"I got a friend who told me that the only cure for politics is embalming fluid," Cunningham said. "I think that's true."

The infamous "menu" of what Cunningham was offering and for how much

The state of California wasn't waiting for the embalming fluid. At the first opportunity, they chopped up his R+5 district (which Bush won with 54% against Gore and with 55% against Kerry) to erase whatever was left of Cunninghamism from San Diego County. They gave many of the most die-hard Republican parts of the district-- Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas and Carlsbad along the both coast and, inland to Rancho Santa Fe-- to Darrell Issa and other inland chunks like San Marcos to Duncan Hunter, Jr., making both of them safer in seats that were threatened demographically. Issa's district R+10 district was turing blue but the addition of the reddest parts of Cunningham's (plus Steve Israel's tenure at the DCCC) gave him a reprieve in a district that would be a D+2 but is now an R+4. When Duncan Hunter's slow-witted, alcoholic song, Jr., inherited daddy's seat, the district had a PVI of R+9 and was headed bluer. The spoils from the northeast of Cunningham's old district put the brakes on the slide and Hunter's district has a PVI of R+14-- reddest in the state and safe for a few more years, even for a dullard like him.

All that said, the core of Cunninghamland is now much friendlier for Democrats-- with a PVI of D+2. In 2012 the Democrats, tepid and unsure of themselves as always, ran a self-funding multimillionaire from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, conservative New Dem Scott Peters and Peters managed to buy himself a seat (spending $2.8 million of his own dollars) by outspending corrupt Republican lobbyist/incumbent Brian Bilbray nearly two to one. Peters has done nothing to engage the Democratic base and, despite that D+2, he's considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in Congress. His voting record sucks and Democratic base voters have no reason to come out and bolster his career in November other than the DCCC's mantra: "the Republican is worse."

The Republican is, no doubt, worse but he's also more interesting than Peters-- and not that much worse. The GOP is running openly gay Republican Carl DeMaio-- and he's ahead of Peters in the blue district. The latest polling shows DeMaio beating Peters 51-44%. How can that happen in a blue California district?

• DeMaio holds 82% of the Republican base, and gets 88% support from conservatives. Peters holds 85% of the Democratic base, holds 87% of the liberal vote, and edges DeMaio among moderates 54% to 43%.

• DeMaio leads by 17 points among men, trails by 2 points among women, a 19-point Gender Gap.

• DeMaio leads decisively among the less educated and less affluent voters. Peters draws even among the most educated and most affluent voters.

• Union voters break heavily for Peters, non-union voters break for DeMaio. Voters split when asked which of the 2 candidates is more trustworthy. 45% say DeMaio, 41% say Peters.

DeMaio and Peters emerge from a 06/03/14 "Top-2" primary in which DeMaio finished behind Peters, in large part because DeMaio and other Republicans split the Republican vote. Today, those voters who backed Republican Kirk Jorgensen in the primary break 5:1 for DeMaio. Those voters who in 2012 backed Republican Brian Bilbray in CA-52, today back DeMaio 11:1. Those voters who in 2012 backed Democrat Peters, stick today with Peters 11:1.

Contrast Real Democratic Candidates With Steve Israel's DCCC Mystery Meat Shills

Several months ago, when the DCCC endorsed Pete Aguilar for the D+5 Inland Empire congressional seat he lost last year to two Republicans because of his obvious inability to connect with Democratic voters, I tried calling him to ask him where he stands on issues. Like virtually all DCCC-manufactured candidates, his website is devoid of issue positions. I reached what I thought was a naive volunteer, a pleasant kid with a Chechen accent, named Boris. Boris was verity friendly and forthcoming but admitted-- shockingly to me, but very routinely to him-- that Aguilar didn't have any positions on issues yet but the DCCC would soon tell him what they are and that he'd call me back then. He hasn't called back yet.

You always know when one of the DCCC's consultant-driven candidates send you an e-mail because there's generally no content. The DCCC candidates just solicit money by warning how bad the Republican is and how they need money to save… whatever the talking point of the day is in Washington. The worst examples this cycle have been focus-group tested New Dem shills like Patrick Murphy (FL), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Raul Ruiz (CA), Ami Bera (CA), and Scott Peters (CA). Here's one I got from Peters recently, the transparent goal of which is to get the recipient to sign a meaningless "petition" so that his or her e-mail address can be sold to fundraisers:

Howard --

You’re making a HUGE difference:

Since we sent our first message last week, over 9,000 supporters from San Diego and across the country have stepped up to say they don’t want any part of this shutdown.

Will you click here to automatically sign your name and help us reach 10,000 strong?

Every day, I’m working as hard as I can to serve the people of San Diego. I’m working to put forward commonsense solutions and end the divisiveness; I’m working to spread equality for all of our citizens; and I’m working to bring more jobs to Southern California.

The truth is, San Diegans I talk to have had enough with the political game-playing. They’re looking for progress, not partisanship.

Let’s end this shutdown and finally get Washington working again.

Non-empty suits follow Alan Grayson's example of engaging their supporters in serious and substantive issues. Along these lines, Paul Clements sent out an e-mail over the weekend that immediately marks him as the kind of independent, non-consultant-driven candidate the DCCC eschews. He's running against Fred Upton, the multimillionaire Michigan Republican under the protection of Steve Israel. Under the protection of Steve Israel, despite Obama having won the district in 2008 and despite polling that shows Upton's approval rating is only 34% and that a Democrat would easily beat him.

Paul's letter committed the cardinal sin-- in DCCC-land-- of asking potential donors to think about something other than just writing a check:

Dear friends,

In 1978 I was 17 and a freshman at Harvard. At a student meeting I learned that the government in South Africa made black South Africans live in “bantustans”-- secluded wastelands-- and carry passes to come to the cities and suburbs to work as maids or gardeners. Hundreds of protesters had been shot down in the Sharpeville massacre, Steve Biko had been killed in police custody, and Nelson Mandela was in prison on Robben Island. But the Harvard endowment was growing from profits made in South Africa, benefiting from the racist state.

To do what I could I joined our campus’s Southern Africa Solidarity Committee, and helped to organize teach outs and demonstrations calling for divestiture. A great university should not profit from racist oppression.

On Mandela’s passing, I want to honor and appreciate his leadership not only in ending apartheid, but in accomplishing the near-impossible, a largely peaceful transition to a democratic, inclusive, multi-racial South Africa.

I’m grateful to have made my small contribution. Harvard’s divestiture movement was one of the first in the country, and divestiture is a cause I’m proud to have shared with Congressman Howard Wolpe and two-time 6th District congressional candidate Don Cooney.

On Mandela’s passing, let’s remember that racism remains a blight on American society. The preponderance of young black men in America’s prisons represent a failure of our society. In recent years we also see rising inequality, poverty, and hunger throughout our country, while 90% of the gains from America’s economic growth have been going to the top 1%.

Can you help me to carry the struggle for social justice to Congress? December 31st, the next Federal Election Commission campaign finance filing deadline, is crucial. The following deadline is the end of March, and by then the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and most of the national organizations will have chosen the races they will support in 2014.

To gain the national support my campaign needs in order to win, my fourth quarter finance report needs to show grassroots support continuing to build; I need to raise another $30,000 by the end of the year.

Can you contribute $10, $50, $100 or $500?

You can send a check to Paul's campaign at "Committee to Elect Paul Clements"  2517 Broadway Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49008 or you can contribute at the Blue America ActBlue page.

Will Steve Israel Lose California Democrats Two Seats Next Year?

Endangered ConservaDems Ami Bera and Scott Peters

A few months ago, when I wrote to a congresswoman who was elected as a grassroots progressive but then started voting like a conservative corporate shill, she blasted back that she's doing exactly what Steve Israel has been telling her to do. Direct quote from her letter: "I am happy to discuss my voting record with you anytime which has been 100 percent with the House Democratic Leadership recommendation for Frontline members." Oh… well then it must be just fine. That's why I contributed money to your campaigns and why I persuaded other people to do likewise… so that you would be "100 percent with the House Democratic Leadership recommendation for Frontline members?" Those recommendations have proven disastrous to Democrats in the past. That's how the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010 happened and how the Republicans came to control the House. And that's why-- despite Obama and the Senate Democrats wiping the floor with the GOP last year-- the House Dems disastrously underperformed and failed to even come close to winning back the House.

The good news in this particular case, is that pressure from her constituents finally seemed to have outweighed Israel's urging that she vote conservatively. She's back to voting more frequently with the Democrats. California freshman Democrats Ami Bera and Scott Peters are still mostly following Israel's stupid advice and voting with the GOP on crucial roll calls.

Let's look at their two districts. Bera, who has already announced he's in favor of bombing Syria-- an extremely unpopular position, although one that sticks with Steve Israel's-- won CA-7 last year, one of the only districts in the whole country with a zero PVI, signifying that it is a true swing district. Obama beat both McCain (52-46%) and Romney (51-47%) in the district, which basically encompasses the suburbs east of Sacramento, including Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Elk Grove. The district is entirely within Sacramento County. Bera took out incumbent Dan Lungren, 119,726 (51%) to 115,902 (49%). That's very close and Bera needs every Democrat in the district to turn out for him again. They won't. His ProgressivePunch crucial vote score is a dismal 58.65, even worse than some Blue Dogs. Worth noting: Bera outspent Lungren last year $3,531,711 to $2,716,574.

This week, the NRCC announced a coup, the successful recruitment of former Congressman Doug Ose (1999-2205). Ose was a mainstream conservative, not a teabagger type. He had pledged to serve only 3 terms so he didn't run again in 2005. He tried running again in 2008 but was beaten by libertarian right-winger Tom McClintock in a bitter primary. (McClintock's chief of staff, Igor Birman, is probably also going to run-- likely with support from the Club for Growth. Perennial candidate Elizabeth Emken is also running. If the primary gets ugly enough, Bera could possibly survive, but right now, I'd rate his chances at 50% at best. If Ose gets through the primary and comes out strongly against the war and Bera supports it, Ose will win.

Scott Peters is another wretched freshman. He managed to beat GOP incumbent Brian Bilbray by outspending him $4,352,737 to $2,772,270. Peters was one of the most extravagant self-funders of 2012, putting $2,757,452 of his own (63% of the total raised) into the campaign.

CA-52 includes western San Diego from Imperial Beach, up through Coronado Island and Mission Beach to La Jolla and then north and east to Miramar, Rancho Bernardo and Poway. It's friendlier territory to Democrats, at least on paper. The PVI is D+2 and Obama beat McCain, 55-43%, and Romney, 52-46%. Peters largely rode in on Obama's coattails last year, beating Bilbray 124,746 (51%) to 122,086 (49%). Peters, who joined the corrupt, corporate-oriented New Dems, also has a pretty ghastly voting record, very similar to Bera's-- another zombie who does exactly what Israel recommends. That will hold down grassroots participation next year and probably lose Peters, who is not enthusiastic about spending another $2.7 million of his own to keep the seat.

Worse yet, the NRCC managed to recruit their dream candidate, Carl DeMaio, an openly gay mainstream conservative who announced Tuesday that he not running for mayor but will take on Peters instead. If Peters votes for war and DeMaio says he opposes war, Peters might as well retire and sve himself the trouble and money. Peters, burdened with Steve Israel's model anti-grassroots, Republican-lite voting record is unlikely to inspire enough grassroots Democrats to come out to the polls to bother voting for him. Like Bera.