Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who's The Trumpiest Of Them All?

Do we need more like this in Congress?

Georgia is lousy with white Trumpists-- especially outside the Atlanta Metro, where Hillary did even better than Obama had. Trump won the state's 16 electoral votes 2,089,104 (51.05%) to 1,877,963 (45.89%). Even during the Republican primary, Trump won every single one of Georgia's 159 counties except 4 in the Atlanta Metro plus Clarke County (Athens), all of which were won by Rubio. In the general, 6 rural counties Obama won in 2012-- Baker, Dooly, Early, Peach, Quitman and Twiggs, swung over to Trump. White rural Georgia is still Trump Country, even if his favorability has sunk significantly in the suburbs and among minorities.

Jenna Johnson,writing for the Washington Post, used the Georgia GOP gubernatorial runoff primary to demonstrate how 2018 candidates are mimicking Trump's worst characteristics on the campaign trail. She started her report by pointed out that "In last week’s debate between Georgia’s Republican candidates for governor, policy was quickly abandoned as Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp lit into one another with a familiar slate of accusations. Kemp called Cagle a liar at least a dozen times. Cagle accused Kemp of conspiring with another Republican to release a recording of an 'out of context' private conversation. Kemp accused Cagle of spreading 'fake news' to Georgians, and Cagle repeatedly refused to apologize for saying what he says."

The two very right-wing candidates argue of who's Trumpier, bicker "over which of them has supported the president for the longest or who would most warmly embrace the Trump agenda" and have both started acting like the repulsive jackass themselves, "using some of his nastiest campaign tactics." But, unfortunately, Georgia isn't the only place this is happening.

In races across the country, other Republican candidates-- and some Democrats-- also are branding their opponents with unflattering nicknames, tweeting in all caps, refusing to apologize for things that politicians once apologized for, being proudly politically incorrect, circulating false information, calling their hometown newspapers “fake news,” releasing damaging information about their opponents and generating controversy to get headlines, even unflattering ones. A Republican candidate for California’s state legislature, copying Trump’s foray against President Barack Obama, has even launched a birther movement, demanding proof that his Democratic opponent is a legal citizen of the United States.

“Trump’s style was such a departure from anything we were used to seeing in a presidential campaign-- his willingness to just go all-out and criticize heavily someone, call them names and engage in schoolyard talk,” said Kerwin Swint, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. “Candidates this year are more willing to go there out of a sense that a precedent has been set or that it works or why not do it in my race.”

But it’s unclear if the tactics will work for many candidates other than Trump, who had a cache with his voters unmatched by most seeking office.

“I don’t like when candidates overly emulate the president. There’s only one Donald Trump,” said Harlan Z. Hill, a conservative consultant working on several midterm races who is also involved with Trump’s 2020 campaign. Hill said he gets frustrated with candidates who use gimmicky nicknames like the president does.

“My biggest problem with this is that it sort of reflects a wider problem in the Republican Party right now, where people are paying lip service to the Trump movement, the America First movement,” he said. “They really don’t understand it, so they’re just emulating the superficial aspects of it. I think voters see right through that.”

But it can be difficult for voters to know whether candidates are emulating Trump out of belief or ambition.

Former soap-opera actor [and gay porn star] Antonio Sabato Jr.-- who spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention and is now running for Congress in Southern California-- has called for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a Trump nemesis, to be locked up because he believes she is a “hustler of hate” who “wants to tar and feather anyone different from her.” In Indiana, Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Mike Braun cast his primary opponents as “Todd the Fraud” and “Luke the Liberal.” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann has nicknamed a Democratic congressional candidate “Absent Abby,” in hopes of drawing attention to her statehouse attendance record. Meanwhile, the Maryland Democratic Party has nicknamed Republican Gov. Larry Hogan “Hidin’ Hogan” while accusing him of hiding his conservative positions.

Some of the Trumpiest candidates-- the sort who were early supporters of the president’s campaign and decided to run for office themselves-- aren’t making it past the Republican primaries.

In northern Ohio’s 16th Congressional District, state lawmaker Christina Hagan was inspired by Trump’s 2016 victory to run for Congress, but she lost the primary to the Republican establishment’s favorite, former football star Anthony Gonzalez. One of Hagan’s commercials featured the same out-of-context footage of people rushing a Moroccan border that Trump used in one of his anti-illegal immigration campaign commercials. She also tweeted a news article about a suspect with a name similar to her opponent’s who had been charged in connection with what she called an “illegal immigrant drug ring”-- ignoring calls from fellow Republicans who asked her to delete the tweet.

In New York’s 11th Congressional District, which includes Staten Island, former congressman Michael Grimm challenged Republican Rep. Dan Donovan but lost the primary. Grimm labeled his opponent “Desperate Dan” and “Dishonest Dan,” and compared his own felony conviction for federal tax fraud to the ongoing investigation into whether the Trump campaign worked with Russia in 2016, a probe Grimm considers unfair and politically motivated.

The Trumpiest candidate in the Georgia governor’s race was Michael Williams, a state senator who was one of the few elected officials in the country to endorse Trump in 2015. In the final days of the primary campaign, a struggling Williams received a burst of local and national attention for driving a “deportation bus” around the state, sparking a string of protests. It was a stunt that surprised some of Williams’ supporters, who compared it to Trump purposely generating controversy so that he could dominate the news.

Williams finished last in the primary, even losing the county where he lives. Cagle earned the most votes but not enough to become the party’s nominee, so he and Kemp face a runoff on July 24. A poll released by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News on Friday shows Kemp with a slight lead.

Voter turnout for primaries is often low-- and it’s often even lower for runoff elections, especially those held in the dead of summer. Local strategists and political scientists say that voters who do show up will likely be the party’s most loyal and most conservative members. That explains why Kemp has done so many ads featuring his guns and pickup truck, which he claims in a southern drawl could be used to “round up criminal illegals.” And it explains why Cagle is now catering to the far-right edge of the party.

They're probably the only Republicans in the country who are pissed off that Sacha Baron-Cohen didn't interview them for the upcoming show he did about insane bloodthirsty Republicans advocating arming toddlers in kindergarten. It's worth watching-- released just a couple of days ago, three-and-a-half million people have already watched the YouTube version.

“It’s literally been hilarious to watch” said Seth Weathers, a former state director for Trump who worked on Williams’ campaign, describing what he said was Cagle’s transformation from moderate to Trump mimic.

“Just be who you are,” he said, adding: “No one is Trump.”

Soon after the May primary, Cagle met with one of the Republicans he beat, Clay Tippins, for a frank conversation that he hoped would lead to an endorsement. Tippins recorded the conversation and has been releasing parts of it. First came audio of Cagle saying that a bill providing public funding for private schools was “bad public policy” but he supported it to prevent a rival from gaining financial support from charter school supporters.

Last week, Kemp’s campaign released a snippet it had received from Tippins in which Cagle says that the GOP primary came down to “who had the biggest gun, who had the biggest truck and who could be the craziest.”

Kemp says that Cagle was trashing conservative voters with the comment, comparing it to Hillary Clinton describing Trump’s supporters as “deplorable.” Cagle’s aides said he was pointing out how crazy Kemp has made this race.

By way of timing, the audio controversy echoed the release in the presidential contest of a 2005 Trump interview with Access Hollywood in which he bragged about grabbing and kissing women without their consent.

Although Trump weathered that crisis, the polls here have tightened. Cagle recorded a new commercial last week that was staged to look like a Trump rally. He stood in front of an American flag, surrounded by supporters, and yelled out his beliefs to a cheering crowd.

“I’ll never apologize for outlawing sanctuary cities or stopping liberals from taking the values that make our country great,” he said, lines familiar to any Trump rally veteran. “The time for conservatives getting kicked around is over.”

Cagle tweeted out the ad with a claim that his opponent was “in cahoots” with the media to push “fake news.”

In the Thursday night debate, many of the buzzwords reflected 2016: “Colluding.” “Lies.” “Never going to apologize.” “Hypocrite.” “Despicable.” “Fake news.” After the debate, it continued as the candidates answered questions from reporters.

“Casey Cagle’s getting to be like Hillary Clinton now,” Kemp said. “He’s gone after my ‘crazy’ supporters that have guns, trucks and chain saws. He’s saying I’m colluding, and he’s saying I’m sexist. That’s the same thing that Hillary Clinton said about Donald Trump. I think Georgians know better.”

Minutes later, Cagle complained with a line that could have come straight from Trump. No one could hear about his record as Georgia’s lieutenant governor, he said, because “the only thing that my opponent can talk about is a tape-- a tape!”

Of course, after Trump's horrifying display of treasonous behavior in Helsinki yesterday-- and with even allies like Fox, seeming to turn on him (albeit not ass-licks like Hannity or Carlson)-- how soon will it be before GOP careerist candidatess start to realize that being the Trumpiest candidate is a hinderance not an attraction? This is how Jonathan Swan and Mike Allen put it at Axios early this morning:

Trump sucking up to Vladamir Putin after the summit in Helsinki yesterday was such an unbelievable, indelible moment that many deflated White House officials didn’t even bother to defend or explain it.

...A former senior White House official, who worked closely with Trump, immediately texted us: “Need a shower.”

One of Trump's own former National Security Council officials texted: “Dude. This is a total [effing] disgrace. The President has lost his mind."

CBS Face the Nation anchor Margaret Brennan, who was in the audience, told AP she was messaging some U.S. officials during the speech who said they were turning off the television.

...Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff at the Pentagon and CIA, told Brian Williams on MSNBC: "Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. Today's Donald Trump lost the post-Cold War for the United States of America."

...Newt Gingrich, one of the most vocal Trump backers among establishment Republicans, tweeted: "President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin. It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected-- immediately."

Republican congressional leaders said they believe the intelligence community.

Drudge, usually a Trump champion, bannered: "PUTIN DOMINATES IN HEL."

Smart Democratic congressional campaigners jumped on this immediately, contrasting themselves with Republicans foolish enough to stand with Trump's treasonous lunacy. Harley Rouda is running for an Orange County seat against Putin's favorite congressman. Rouda's statement to the media last night: "Dana Rohrabacher has once again proven that he's unfit to lead. In interviews today, he has apologized for Vladimir Putin's attack on our democracy during the 2016 Presidential election. He has insulted the patriotic, diligent men and women of the U.S. intelligence community by impugning their work. And finally, he has gone to the radical extreme to suggest that the U.S. has committed crimes far worse than Russia's despicable attack on our election. Dana's actions today may play well in Moscow, but they aren't befitting a member of Congress who swears to serve the Constitution and to defend our nation against all adversaries."

Progressive Democrat JD Scholten makes the point that his opponent, Steve King (R-IA) was Trumpy when Trump was just some "reality" show TV host. "King," he said, "is one person who actually make Trump look tame. He's tweeted at Trump for not going far enough or fast enough on things like immigration and abortion. Steve King was the Donald Trump of the political world even before Trump was elected."

Thomas Guild is the progressive organizer and Berniecrat in Oklahoma City who I thought about immediately when I saw Jenna's Johnson's piece in The Post, since his opponent is such a pure Trumpist. He agrees. "Steve Russell," he told me this morning, "carries water for Trump on virtually every issue. Russell voted for the Trump tax cuts that benefit the wealthy and big corporations while blowing a huge $2.2 trillion hole in the national debt. He ran as a deficit/debt hawk and now has voted to add many trillions to the national debt and exponentially expand deficit spending for as far as the eye can see. I guess we will have to demote Russell to the rank of fiscal tweety bird (apologies to you-- tweety-- I’ve always liked your cartoons). Trump is a nemesis to the LGBTQ community and Russell has offered legislation to explicitly discriminate against individuals and companies doing business identified as LGBTQ. Trump has pursued questionable and racist policies and Russell has dragged his feet on important issues of equity like strengthening voting rights under federal law. Both Russell and Trump would likely break out the champagne and spontaneously jump for joy if Trump’s next SCOTUS appointment casts the deciding vote to overturn the longstanding precedent Roe v Wade, that protects women’s health and privacy and their right to make their own intimate personal decisions free from governmental interference. As they say in the Sooner State if it acts like a duck, and walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it must be a duck! What do you have to say about that Mr. Russell-- Quack! Quack!!"

Last word on the efficacy of trying to be the Trumpiest candidate in town-- Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman addressed Trumpanzee directly: "Mr President, you should be ashamed. To deny your own country and government in favor of a foreign leader whose country has, for decades, tried to undermine the United States is irrational and dangerous. Please step down, you are not fit to lead this great nation." Still no comments from Casey Cagle or Brian Kemp yet.

Progressive Berniecrat Tom Guild Makes It To The August Runoff

There has been so much buzz about Alexandria Ocasio's massive win over Joe Crowley-- and rightfully so-- that we haven't talked much about Tom Guild's success in making it into the August 28 primary runoff. There were 6 Democrats in the primary last week and the top two now move on to the runoff-- a garden variety Republican-lite Democrat who stands for nothing at all, the type who loses every single time they face the Republican in November-- and Tom, a dedicated Berniecrat in a district Bernie won in 2016.

Tom's very grassroots campaign-- largely based on door knocking-- set a goal of garnering 14,000 votes, which in both 2014 and 2016 would have been a majority of the primary vote. There was a total of 27,504 votes cast in the Democratic primary in 2014 and 27,203 votes in the 2016 primary. In both years 14,000 votes would have secured Tom’s nomination without a runoff primary between the top two candidates.

In 2018 State Question 788 appeared on the primary ballot. It is a ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana. It passed by a large margin in the primary, and drew huge numbers of people to the polls, people who wouldn't even have considered voting in a Democratic primary. Republicans were afraid to place the measure on the November general election ballot, because of the swell of progressives and non-Republican voters they expected would come out to vote, so they put it on the primary ballot. That anticipated increase in voter turnout became a virtual tsunami. Last week the CD-05 Democratic primary turnout was an eye-popping 79,505 votes! That's more than 3 times the turnout in 2014 or 2016. State Question 788 brought tens of thousands of additional Democratic and independent voters to the Democratic congressional primary-- especially independent voters who are allowed to vote in the Democratic primary but not in the Republican primary.

The medical marijuana measure clearly did green the vote. Guild’s campaign beat its stated goal and received 14,424 votes in a six-candidate contest, a bit more than their 14,000-vote goal. Although Tom didn’t win without a runoff, 14,424 votes were enough to knock 4 candidates out of the running and put Tom in in the runoff where, in August, Democratic voters will choose the Democratic nominee to run against the incumbent Republican congressman Steve Russell.

So... there are three candidates left standing. One of those remaining in the race is the far-right Republican incumbent Steve Russell who won his primary with a majority of the vote; another is the darling of the Democratic Party and corporate establishment, who is a self-described "No Labels moderate"; the other candidate still in the race is progressive Democratic candidate Tom Guild, who was elected as a 2016 Oklahoma Democratic National Convention national delegate supporting Bernie and who has the Blue America endorsement.

Guild was outspent by more than 5 to 1. Tom has a strong progressive populist message and helped Bernie win the Oklahoma presidential primary two years ago by a 10.4% margin. Tom is one of our progressive champions who needs our support to put together the financial resources to effectively compete with his corporate opponent in the primary runoff. (Think of it like this: Tom is Alexandria Ocasio and his opponent is Joe Crowley.)

Tom supports Medicare for All, a living wage for all Americans, programs to lessen the burden of debt weighing heavily on the shoulders of college students and he has been very clear that he will fight to reverse the curse of the Citizens United decision that makes the corrupt campaign finance system even worse. Tom has fought for immigrant rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, worker’s rights, transitioning to green energy, and a host of issues on the progressive agenda, including support for the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana.

If you want to help Tom win the runoff and the Democratic nomination so he can present an actual contrast and strong progressive challenge to Steve Russell and the Oklahoma Republican Party, he needs that help now. That's what that thermometer on the right is for.

Trump's Zero Tolerance Incarcerations-- Follow The Money

Ben Ray Lujan (right), Pelosi's DCCC chairman, takes blood money from the crooks building private immigrant detention facilities for Trump. Why won't he return the cash?

This week the organization In The Public Interest issued a report-- An examination of private financing for correctional and immigration detention facilities-- that examines the finances behind Trump's ramping up of the criminalization of immigration. The Department of Homeland Security has been instructed to "accelerate resource capacity." The report shows how private prison corporations CoreCivic and GEO Group are primed to provide additional immigration detention space by privately financing new facility construction, a new business frontier-- privately financing new facilities through "public-private partnerships." Providing financing to governments has become a central growth strategy as both companies became Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in 2013, requiring them to have significant real estate holdings.  REIT status allows the corporations to avoid corporate-level taxation. GEO Group received almost $44 million in tax benefits in 2017.

While governments have traditionally used municipal bonds to finance the construction of correctional facilities, there is evidence that the two major private prison companies, CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA) and GEO Group, are actively pushing governments to consider the use of private financing to build new facilities, and that governments are increasingly interested in the idea. This focus on building new prison and immigration detention facilities with private financing (known as “public-private partnerships”) represents a critical shift in these companies’ business model.

Friday, In These Times published an essay by David Dayen, These Private Prison Companies Are Already Profiting Off of Trump’s Order on Family Separation. "[T]he Trump administration," he wrote, "still has the goal, expressed in the order, of detaining families together indefinitely, until their immigration cases are complete. That goal is contingent on convincing a federal judge to rip up the Flores settlement, a 1997 agreement that says migrant children can only be kept up to 20 days in non-secure, licensed facilities. On June 21, Trump’s Department of Justice asked a judge to change the rules, but the Obama administration asked for the same changes in 2016 and was rebuked."

In the last few years, the private prison companies have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump, Republicans and Blue Dogs in exchange for their support.

Last cycle the dozen members of the House who took the biggest bribes from the GEO Group were:

• Carlos Curbelo (R-FL)- $10,000
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- $9,690
• Scott Tipton (R-CO)- $7,500
• Mike Bishop (R-MI)- $6,000
• Steve Russell (R-OK)- $5,000
• Michael McCaul (R-TX)- $5,000
• Steve Knight (R-CA)- $5,000
• Will Hurd (R-TX)- $5,000
• John Culberson (R-TX)- $5,000
• Don Bacon (R-NE)- $5,000
• Rod Blum (R-IA)
• Barbara Comstock (R-VA)

Tom Guild, the progressive Democrat whose Oklahoma primary is Tuesday noted that his far right Republican opponent, Steve Russell, is one of Congress' biggest supporters of the for-profit prison industry-- and, in return, the industry has funded his political career in a big way. "Public-private partnerships," Tom told us yesterday,"between elected officials creating 'demand' for additional detention facilities and private owners of such incarceration factories looking for a big pay day constitute old fashioned pay-for-play corruption. Steve Russell (R-OK) taking huge campaign gratuities from the private detention facilities industry earns him an honorary membership in the DC Swamp and is not a notable man bites dog storyline. Russell and Trump are two peas in a pod sharing the characteristics of avarice and greed while swimming in a putrid smelling self-dealing cesspool. It’s no wonder that Americans who currently approve of Congress' performance are limited to close friends and family members of those serving in Congress. Hopefully, the good folks in Oklahoma’s fifth congressional district will give Steve his walking papers soon. Then, he can go out into the 'real world' and earn an honest living for a change while chafing under the laws he created."

They also put mammoth amounts of cash into directed PACs-- $170,000 into Trump Victory, $50,000 into another Trump front group-- Rebuilding America Now and then $50,000 each to Republican Super PACs and Dark Money committees like Win In 2016, NRSC Targeted State Victory Committee and the Florida First Project and $25,000 each to House Majority 2016, Conservative Congress Now!, NRCC, Growing A Sustainable Future, and the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

So far this cycle they've ponied up big bucks for several shady groups like Kevin McCarthy's Victory Fund ($45,000), various GOP building funds (over $100,000), and $10,000 each for John Culberson's PAC, Rick Scott's PAC, Henry Cuellar's PAC Paul Ryan's PAC and, hold your nose, the DCCC. And this year's dozen biggest GEO Group bribe-takers so far:

• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog, TX)- $10,000
• John Culberson (R-TX)- $10,000
• John Carter (R-TX)- $10,000
• Scott Taylor (R-VA)- $6,000
• Ron DeSantis (R-FL)- $5,000
• Matt Gaetz (R-FL)- $5,000
• Tom Graves (R-GA)- $5,000
• David Pence (R-IN)- $5,000
• John Katko (R-NY)- $5,000 (returned)
• Robert Aderholt (R-AL)- $3,500
• Vicente Gonzalez (Blue Dog-TX)- $2,500
• Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM)- $2,500

The other big private prison spender in Congress is CoreCivic. So who were the big bribe takers from these crooks? Last cycle's dozen worst-- you know with some of these congress crooks, a pattern emerges:

• John Culberson (R-TX)- $11,500
• Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN)- $11,200
• Diane Black (R-TN)-$11,000
• Will Hurd (R-TX)-$7,500
• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)- $5,000
• John Carter (R-TX)- $5,000
• Paul Ryan (R-WI)- $5,000
• Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)- $5,000
• Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)- $5,000
• Tim Ryan (D-OH)- $4,500
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- $4,000
• Gregg Harper (R-MS)- $4,000

And so far this cycle... you can recognize some of the names that are constantly getting blood money from the private prison industry... repulsive characters like John Culberson of Texas for example-- always standing up and fighting for the private prison industry. Here are the 5 worst House members so far in 2018

• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)- $19,100
• John Culberson (R-TX)- $11,000
• John Rose (R-TN)- $7,700
• Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN)- $5,500
• Greg Pence (R-IN)- $3,500

Mike Siegel, the progressive Democrat running for the very gerrymandered Texas seat that Trump enabler Michael McCaul occupies mentioned to my yesterday that "McCaul is responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the Trump Administration. As Homeland Security Chair, he has been an architect of the Travel Ban, a proponent of the Border Wall, and a defender of Family Separation. Not only are his actions immoral, but his acceptance of campaign contributions from the private prison industry-- and his advocacy to demand full occupancy of detention centers-- is downright corrupt. I am confident that the voters of the Texas 10th will not look kindly on his actions."

Oklahoma's Clyde "Steve" Russell Is The Odd Man Out When It Comes To DACA

Lankford (R) & Guild (D) finally found something to agree on-- a humanitarian approach to DACA

This morning, we took a look at how Trump's DACA craziness is playing out in California and Texas. Did you imagine this could even help elect Democrats in states as beet red as Oklahoma. I'm sure it isn't news to you that the Blue America-backed candidate in the Oklahoma City-centered congressional district, Tom Guild, uses the hashtag #IStandwithDreamers. Yesterday he posted Trump's decision "will affect and disrupt the lives of 800,000 Dreamers, including 100,000 in Texas, many in the area of Southeast Texas already devastated by Harvey. This decision is heartless and will devastate the lives of hundreds of thousands of valuable and valued immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents while they were young children. This action is divisive, undermines families, hurts our economy, and robs America of the talents of well-educated and productive immigrants who are integrated into the fabric of our society and often have little connection with the countries of origin of their parents who brought them to the U.S. 45 said he would deal with this issue with "great heart". Maybe he should visit the Wizard of Oz and ask for a new and improved and compassionate heart." It's the kind of statement we would expect from Tom (whose campaign you can help support here).

But Oklahoma's very conservative junior senator, James Lankford surprised a lot of fellow right-wingers both in DC and in Oklahoma on Monday when he seemed to take a more compassionate and reasonable stand than Trump and his supporters. Keep in mind that Lankford has the highest Trump adhesion score in the Senate, 95.8%, exactly the same as the other Oklahoma senatorial lunatic, Jim Inhofe. There's no one in the Senate with a higher Trump adhesion score!

And yet yesterday, Lankford said that "It is right for there to be consequences for those who intentionally entered this country illegally. However, we as Americans do not hold children legally accountable for the actions of their parents."

That puts Lankford, who formerly represented OK-05 in the House, at odds with his successor, crackpot xenophobe Steve Russell. Russell is a standard Tea Party nut and fervently anti-immigration. He adheres to the Tea Party view that Obama’s actions in adopting DACA by executive order was unconstitutional and we need rule of law and to remove DREAMers or any immigrants "breaking the law." He certainly isn’t criticizing Señor Trumpanzee over his pending action. Russell got his head taken off the last time he held a townhall-- in Shawnee in March-- and has kept his head down to avoid incoming since then, but no one expects him to say anything that will alienate Trump core voters in OK-05. Trump won the district 53.2% to 39.8%, Trump's worst performance among Oklahoma's 5 congressional districts. He won the other 4 with over 60%-- two with over 70%! There are 3 counties within OK-05, Oklahoma County, Pottawatomie County and Seminole County. It's worth noting that on primary day Oklahoma County voters were more enthusiastic about Bernie than about Trumpanzee. Bernie took 32,368 votes while Trump scored just 22,117, coming in third behind Rubio and Cruz. In Pottawatomie County Bernie took 3,400 votes and Trump took 2,309. And in Seminole County Bernie beat Trump 1,194 to 560.

The fools at the DCCC have written OK-05 off; they shouldn't. Voters there might not be interested in the status quo claptrap that Hillary was spewing and that the DCCC prefers but they loved what Bernie campaigned on-- which is very much what Tom Guild has also been campaigning on.

Not a statement Steve Russell wants his OK-05 constituents to see

Even Congressional Districts The DCCC Has Written Off As "Too Red" Are Up For Grabs In 2018 Thanks To Trump

Yesterday, we looked at WV-03, Trump's strongest congressional district in West Virginia. He beat Hillary there 72.5-23.3%. It was one of Hillary's worst performances in any district in America. And the point yesterday was that a progressive Democrat, running on a populist economic platform, would stand to win there in 2018 or 2020. Caveat: there's no Democratic candidate yet for this open seat. Today, though, I want to bring us to another red bastion-- Oklahoma, It was one of Trump's strongest states. He won every single county and beat Hillary 949,136 (65.3%) to 420,375 (28.9%) statewide. His "weakest" showing was in OK-05, the Oklahoma City-centered district represented by radical right kook Steve Russell. The district, which also includes Pottawatomie and Seminole counties, gave Trump a 53.2-39.8% win over Clinton last November. In the primaries, though, Bernie out-performed Trump in each of the district's 3 counties!

• Oklahoma Co.: Bernie- 32,368; Trump- 22,912
• Pottawatomie: Bernie- 3,400; Trump- 2,309
• Seminole: Bernie- 1,194; Trump- 673

The DCCC rights this district off as "unwinnable" and they don't contest it. Though Bernie did so well here, the Democratic Party keeps nominating conservative-leaning establishment types... who routinely lose. The leading candidate this cycle is Tom Guild, a strong Berniecrat and longtime party activist whose platform has 6 very basic planks-- all about what he can do to help rebuild and strengthen working families and Oklahoma's threatened middle class. This comes directly off an announcement of his campaign kickoff event today at Don's Alley Restaurant in Del City (3pm):

• Increase Social Security benefits
• Support public education
• Increase the minimum wage
• Reduce college student debt
• Keep our country's commitment to veterans
• Invest in infrastructure by repairing crumbling roads, highways, bridges and schools

So how is this blood-red district worth contesting? Time for a little history. In 2015 long-time Republican state Rep., David Dank, a banker, died, triggering a special election in this very red state legislative district within the confines of the 5th CD. Once the seat of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin (R), Democrat Cyndi Munson beat Republican Robyn Matthews 47% to 35%. Last year, on the same day Trump was beating Clinton, Munson was reelected over Republican Matt Jackson 54% to 46%. That wasn't a good day for Oklahoma Democrats statewide-- they lost a net of 4 state House seats and 3 state Senate seats-- but it was a different story in OK-05, where Democrats, aside from reelecting Munson, picked up 2 Democratic House seats, electing Collin Walke and Mickey Dollens to seats previously held by Republicans, beating, respectively Bruce Lee Smith (48-45%) and Jay Means (60-40%).

This past Tuesday there was more good news for local Democrats. Voters in Pottawatomi and Seminole counties, the reddest part of the district, elected Republican Zack Taylor by just 56 votes for a state House special election-- this is a legislative district Trump had just won 69-31%! Taylor's 50-48% win contrasts shockingly with Tom Newell, whose resignation created this vacancy, who had won re-election last year 67-33%.

Meanwhile progressive groups Change Oklahoma, the Brennan Society, & Our Revolution OK came together to form one single caucus at the recent Oklahoma County Democratic Convention, which they dominated, electing progressives Jesse Jackson and Jane Anderson Oklahoma County Democratic Party chair and vice chair with comfortable margins. A few weeks after the county convention, the same coalition elected Bernie national convention delegate Nadine Gallagher, chair of the OK-05 party and another progressive, Wyatt McGuire, vice chair, also with around two-thirds of the votes.

Even if the DCCC acts as though they've never heard of Oklahoma and fails to recognize the potential to take back OK-05-- which had been a Democratic bastion from1907 until 1975 when longtime Congressman John Jarman switched parties and became a Republican, bitching about how liberals were forcing their views on the party and "punishing those who do not adhere to the liberal party line as laid down by the caucus." It's been Republican ever since. We asked Tom Guild why he thinks he can win it back in 2018.

"Running against James Lankford for Congress this district in 2012, I received 97,504 votes in the general election. Our race was the strongest race any Democratic nominee for Congress in OK-05 has run since 1992. I feel that with my organization, ability to raise money, name identification, and particularly my unapologetic progressive populist platform, I will win in November of 2018 and become the first Democratic congressman in the district since 1975, and perhaps the first progressive congressman in this congressional district in state history. The incumbent, Steve Russell, is a corporatist who votes the interests of Wall Street, Big Corporations, and billionaires. He has completely lost touch with real people in our district. He opposes raising the minimum or even having a minimum wage law. I favor raising the minimum wage to a living wage. I favor increasing Social Security benefits, Russell opposes increasing them. I support Medicare and will do what it takes to keep the program sound. Russell is offering the same old/same old tired voucher plan that has been peddled by extremists in the GOP for decades."

And Russell, of course, was a big cheerleader for Ryan's TrumpCare legislation and was happy to vote for it, despite the fact that it would throw 23,196 of his constituents off their health insurance coverage-- more than in any other Oklahoma district. This is from a letter Russell sent to a constituent after he was shaken up when a recent town hall in Shawnee (in Pottawatomie County), the most conservative part of his district, erupted in boos when he refused to answer participants' questions.

Thank you for contacting me about Medicare and Social Security policies. I appreciate your input on these important issues.

Both Medicare and Social Security are funded by working Americans throughout the lengths of their careers and help millions of seniors achieve health and retirement security. Therefore, it is understandable that proposals to fundamentally restructure them are met with concern. I support careful, well-designed reforms to these programs, and I appreciate the opportunity to share why I believe they are necessary to preserve Social Security and Medicare for today’s seniors and strengthen them for future generations.

America’s national debt is growing at an unsustainable rate, and the hard truth is that the climbing cost of these programs is the main reason why. It is now projected that by 2030, every single dollar in federal tax revenue will be spent in just four places: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the interest payments on our national debt. At that time, any other function of the federal government, including national defense, will have to be borrowed and added to our national debt for future generations to pay.

When these programs were conceived in the 1930s and 1960s, American demographics were quite different than today. The ratio of employed workers to retirees was much larger at the creation of Medicare and Social Security, and American families gave birth to nearly twice as many children. This created a robust workforce for the last few decades, but is now resulting in a large influx of retirees. These programs are unsustainable in the long-run, and they will eventually lead to a painful collapse unless we act soon.

I support restructuring Medicare from a single-payer, fee-for-service program into a free-market structure which would help seniors receive the best health care for the lowest possible cost. This would provide premium support from the federal government to help seniors purchase private insurance from a list of several guaranteed options. This is the same type of plan that most federal employees utilize today. It is essential to note, however, that no changes to Medicare would apply to anyone who is currently 55 years old or older.

Steps must also be taken today to start addressing Social Security’s long-term solvency. This begins by having conversations about ideas, including: modestly raising the retirement age to match longer life expectancies; adjusting the cost of living; allowing workers to invest Social Security funds privately; and asking wealthier Americans to contribute more during their working years.

In 2018 voters are going to decide if they want to replace this guy and his 19th Century world view with a progressive Democrat with a platform seeking the make the lives of Oklahoma residents better, not worse. If you'd like to help Tom campaign, please consider contributing by tapping on the ActBlue thermometer below. The DCCC isn't going to do it for us.

Living In The Promised Land

This ugly sour puss is Blue Dog Brad Ashford, the only "Democrat" to co-sponsor the anti-refugee bill

In regard to last Thursday's ugly anti-immigrant vote in the House, we've mostly been concentrating on the 47 coward, craven Democrats who voted with the GOP on that shameful 289-137 roll call. The cowards from the Steve Israel wing of the party, your Patrick Murphys, Kathleen Rices, Pete Aguilars, and John Delaneys, many of them Republican-lite Dems that Israel helped recruit for just these kinds of votes. But that 289-137 wasn't always 289-137. At one point it was 288-138 and instead of 2 Republicans voting against Michael McCaul's vicious anti-refugee legislation (co-sponsored by 102 Republicans plus one rot-gut Blue Dog, Nebraska "ex"-Republican Brad Ashford), there were 3 Republicans voting no.

Iowa racist Steve King voted against it because he wanted a more strident and overtly anti-Muslim bill. Walter Jones (R-NC) told his constituents that he voted against it because the bill would do nothing to cut off the funding for Obama’s plan to import tens of thousands of Middle Eastern refugees into the U.S. Maybe he was listening to too much Trump on Fox News. "Defunding President Obama’s refugee program," he said, "is the only way to ensure that America can actually stop a refugee influx until we can determine without question that we are not giving terrorists a free pass into the United States. Congress can defund the program in the appropriations bill which will come to the floor in early December. To ensure our safety, Congress must seize that opportunity and use its constitutional power of the purse. Short of that, even if today’s bill were to pass the Congress and be signed into law, the President would still retain the power to let in whoever, and however many, refugees he pleases. And given the President’s unwavering support for open borders, unchecked illegal immigration, and mass importation of foreign refugees, we know he can’t be trusted with that authority." GOP hardliners usually call him a "moderate," a "squish" and a "RINO." Tough crowd!

But the third Republican who voted against the bill, Oklahoma City wing-nut Steve Russell, has a whole other take on how the GOP has been using the Paris terrorist attack for narrow partisan gain. The video of him speaking on the floor last week (just below) doesn't sound anything like what you've been hearing from partisan hacks like Paul Ryan, let alone the sociopaths running for president. It's short; listen to what he said:



So when he voted against McCaul's ugly bill, no one should have been surprised, right? Yeah, they shouldn't have been-- but they were. In fact, Russell-- a proud combat veteran-- says after he voted against the bill he was "surrounded" by angry Republicans demanding he switch his vote like the rest of the herd, claiming the bill wouldn't be "veto-proof" if he voted against it. That isn't even true but, despite the high-sounding rhetoric about how we should "not become the America that ISIS wants us to be," tough Steve Russell meekly informed the clerk that he was changing his vote to "aye." He's the opposite of cowardly coke freak Pete Aguilar, a corrupt New Dem from San Bernardino, who has been bragging that he only voted with the Republicans against the refugees because his constituents are too dumb to understand the nuances and that he'd switch to opposition if Obama vetoes the bill and he's needed to sustain the veto. One cowardly New Dem to pair up with one cowardly Republican. No wonder Americans hate Congress so much!

The progressive Democrat running for the seat Russell hold, Tom Guild, who Blue America has endorsed, told us that "My opponent Rep. Clyde 'Steve' Russell debated against a bill making it virtually impossible for Syrian refugees to immigrate to the U.S. to escape persecution and death.  He debated against the GOP-sponsored bill by saying it was xenophobic and a "knee-jerk" reaction. Then after being pressured by Republicans in the House he voted for the bill he had just characterized as xenophobic and a "knee-jerk" reaction. He has shown the entire world that he can say one thing now and vote the opposite way minutes later. We can't count on him to keep his word. I support the current system that takes up to two years to vet Syrian refugees before they are approved for immigration to America. I will be true to my word and not do a bait-and-switch on voters when voting on issues before Congress."

Alan Grayson, a candidate for the open Florida Senate seat, is running against 3 right-wing cowards, Republicans David Jolly and Ron DeSantis and "ex"-Republican New Dem Patrick Murphy, all of whom voted against the refugees. Grayson, as you can probably imagine, had something to say about that-- and immediately.

Earlier today, Patrick Murphy chose fear over humanity when he voted in favor of a Republican bill that will make it nearly impossible for Syrian refugees fleeing terrorism in their homeland to come to the United States.

We’re not sure whether it was Patrick Murphy’s fear of orphans and widows with brown skin that caused him to vote for this atrocious bill, or if it was his fear of going against the Republican Party. But, either way, he chose fear over humanity. Hate, over love. He has proven once again that he doesn’t have the courage to do what is right when times are hard. And we can’t have another person like that in the US Senate.

This bill does nothing to punish the terrorists who have killed so many. It does nothing to make us safe-- all it does is deliver Daesh (ISIS) another victory because Congress is giving in to the fear they’re peddling.

This bill punishes the homeless, stateless refugees whose only mistake is believing that when we say we are a nation that welcomes the huddled masses, we actually mean it. Many of these refugees are trying to escape the same terrorists that we’re trying to stop. It would be inhumane to deny them safe passage to the United States based on the color of their skin and their religion.

In the past few days Republicans have called for a religious test for refugees, talked about closing down Mosques and shutting our borders to refugees. Now Patrick Murphy has shown once again that he stands with Republicans in all of their fear-mongering craziness.

We don’t need a Senator that thinks, acts, or votes like Donald Trump or Ben Carson.

His campaign concluded by reminding his supporters that "Alan Grayson will always fight for equality, justice, and peace. He’ll always fight for the most vulnerable amongst us, and he will never back down in building an America we can be proud of."

The next day he wanted to make sure everyone got the message about what a worm Murphy is. "What do terrorists want? To change people’s religions?" he asked rhetorically. "No" he responded to his own question.

They want to cause terror. And this week, when my opponent Patrick Murphy voted to block Syrian refugees from entering our country because he was terrified, he gave them exactly what they wanted.

We will not end terrorism with fear, nor closed borders, nor bombs. We will end terrorism when we are able to overcome our fear, and have the courage to be humane. Without terror, there can be no terrorism.

Our country chose fear over compassion when we rejected refugees from Europe fleeing Nazism. Fearmongers said that there might be Nazis among the masses. We know what happened after that.

We’re supposed to be the land of the free, and the home of the brave. We’re supposed to welcome the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of the teeming shore, the homeless, the tempest-tost. And in the past, we haven’t been.

But now, we have an opportunity to live up to these ideals and values that we’ve claimed for so long. We can choose to be courageous and compassionate.

Patrick Murphy and his Republican friends want our country to be scared into submission by these terrorists. That’s the easy thing to do. But we don’t have to let them, or the terrorists, win. We can do what is hard, and what is right. We can prove once and for all that we are the land of the free, and the home of the brave, and that we don’t negotiate with terrorists.

And most importantly of all, we can help those who need it the most. We can lift our lamp beside the golden door.

And then on Monday, Grayson shared a moving experience he had had right after the vote, an event at Constitution Hall honoring Willie Nelson.

Willie Nelson did something magical. Something I’ll never forget. After that miserable anti-refugee vote earlier that day, he found the perfect way to honor our common humanity.

Willie received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, bestowed by the Library of Congress. In his honor, a packed auditorium listened to covers of his great songs, performed by Neil Young, Paul Simon, Cyndi Lauper, and a dozen other amazing performers. At the end of that incredible show, Willie himself took the stage, with his two sons and a few others, and he performed three wonderful songs.

Willie could have played “On the Road Again,” “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” and “Crazy,” and left it at that. It was his night, receiving one of the highest honors America can bestow. But he knew that the House of Representatives had passed a terrible slam-the-door-in-their-faces bill just a few hours earlier, and that a number of Congressmen who voted for that awful piece of offal were in the audience. In fact, one of them, Kevin McCarthy, was sitting almost right next to him.

So Willie Nelson saved his best for last. He reached deep, deep down in his personal playlist, and pulled out a song from three decades ago. His last song that night was a musical slap in the face to those who had voted, just a couple of hours earlier, to turn away people in danger, in desperate need. The song is called “Living in the Promiseland,” and it starts like this:

Give us your tired and weak,
And we will make them strong.
Bring us your foreign songs,
And we will sing along.
Leave us your broken dreams,
We’ll give them time to mend.
There’s still a lot of love,
Living in the Promiseland.

The audience went wild. Absolutely, totally wild.

And I felt proud that I had voted against that stinking meadow-muffin of a bill, that putrid cow pie in the form of legislation. Proud to be in the audience, honoring that great man. Proud to be part of the worldwide community of decent human beings.

After the show, I went to Willie’s tour bus, joined him and his wife Annie, and thanked them both.

Willie Nelson, November 18, 2015: It could have been his night, and his night alone. But he made it our night.

Here's some of that performance Grayson was lucky enough to see:



And here's the whole song:



Suggestion: help Grayson win the Florida Senate seat Rubio is giving up instead of electing someone every bit as bad as Rubio. Please contribute what you can here.