The Orange Menace Must Be Defeated-- Biden Needs To Rev Up The Democratic Base

I feel like Trump is slitting his own throat and, in fact, he's already a dead-man-walking in terms of the November election. That's my opinion and not everyone agrees with me. But polls show most voters have made up their minds and will not be swayed and a majority of them have made up their minds to oppose trump, whether they like Biden or not. In fact, stunning numbers of voters are just motivated to cast ballots against Trump, not for Biden. On his blog yesterday, David Sirota took it a step further and noted that "As Biden has ignored the Democratic base, polls now show he faces an enthusiasm gap. Progressive pressure is needed to force him to energize Democratic voters and defeat Trump. The survey data is clear: One of the biggest threats to defeating Donald Trump in the upcoming election is a Democratic enthusiasm gap. It exists, in part, because Democratic voters spent the last 12 years voting for change, and now they are exhausted after they kept getting a status quo that gratuitously kicks the face of humanity. The enthusiasm gap also exists because Joe Biden has seemed more focused on trying to court Republicans in ways that can demotivate Democratic voters. Progressives sounding alarms about these facts are periodically depicted as seditious Russian-backed assets nefariously trying to throw the election to Trump."

Most [progressives] criticize Biden not just because some of his policies are so wrong on the merits, but also because his wrongness is a clear and present danger to the effort to win the 2020 election.

A comparison of Biden’s positions and polling suggest that this danger is now very real, even though the Democratic ticket still could win.

Biden has continued to oppose Medicare for All, even as polls show the health care crisis has made that proposal even more popular.

Biden has used the wildfire season to declare that he won’t ban fracking-- a move portrayed in the media as a way to court Pennsylvania voters, even though a new poll shows a majority of voters there oppose fracking.

I remember when Matt Cartwright challenged Blue Dog incumbent, Rep. Tim Holden. Holden basically represented the fracking interests inside the House Democratic caucus and Cartwright made his own opposition to fracking the issue. Blue America put up anti-fracking billboards all over the district. Thewhole Democratic establishment-- especially Steny Hoyer-- came out strong for Holden. The Democratic establishment said an anti-fracking platform would never win in northeastern Pennsylvania. In a leans-Republican district, Cartwright beat Holden 33,255 (57.1%) to 24,953 (42.9%) and then went on to beat pro-fracking Republican Laureen Cummings 161,393 (60.3%) to 106,208 (39.7%). The GOP has been throwing candidates up against Cartwright-- whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus-- even since and, aside from screaming "Socialist!!!!" and "Pelosi" (and now "AOC and Ilhan"), they campaign against him on fracking as well. Since Cummings, he's beaten all 3 pro-fracking Republicans they ran against him-- even in 2016, when Trump won the district against Hillary by 10 points. They're trying again now and if you want to help Matt keep his seat, you can contribute here. 

Cartwright is backing Biden and I'm sure will be a good influence on him when he's in the White House. Back to Sirota:

Biden engineered a Democratic convention promoting GOP politicians as a way to try to make this “the year of the Biden Republican,” as Rahm Emanuel put it. And yet, a recent CBS/YouGov poll shows Biden is earning the support of just 5 percent of Republican voters and trailing Trump among independent swing voters.

The Biden-Sanders task forces produced some solid progressive economic policy recommendations, but Biden hasn’t campaigned on those proposals. Instead, his campaign publicly downplayed the recommendations, while Biden has continued to periodically echo his infamous “nothing would fundamentally change” theme by telling donors he may not actually push those policies. Now, one poll shows him underperforming among some Latino voters and another poll shows just 9 percent of his own voters say they are supporting him because of his position on issues.

...To be sure, enthusiasm may not determine the election outcomes-- an excited voter’s ballot is no less powerful than a depressed voter’s ballot, and as long as both ballots are turned in, then enthusiasm levels don’t matter. But enthusiasm tends to relate to turnout, and it could particularly determine turnout at a moment when some Americans will be required to be so psyched about the election that they are willing to venture out during a pandemic to cast their vote.

In that situation, enthusiasm probably matters a lot-- which means an enthusiasm gap could be a big problem.

...Voters aren’t unreasonable “purists” because they are unhappy that Democrats don’t seem to be offering policies that will prevent communities from being incinerated in climate-intensified wildfires. They aren’t “holier than thou” by expressing dissatisfaction with a Democratic Party still propping up a for-profit health care system that threatens to quickly bankrupt people when they need medical care.

At a moment of such pain and suffering, attempting to guilt, insult and bully voters into supporting the Democratic cause is moronic and ineffective-- and worse, it is ignorant of millions of Americans’ lived reality over the last 12 years. The Democratic electorate has voted over and over and over again for change, and their party’s leaders have returned the favor with bank bailouts, record oil exports during a climate emergency, an abandonment of the labor movement, corporate-written trade policies that crush workers and health care reform that props up insurance profits.

Who could experience the real-world consequences of that and not feel a wee bit frustrated?

Like? Click.

Yes, wanting voters to throw Trump out of office is totally understandable-- he is far more dangerous than Biden, he must be defeated, and there are plenty of constructive ways to make the case that voters should back the Democratic ticket (which I’ve said before is what I’ll be doing). But vote-shaming isn’t one of them. Indeed, throwing shade at voters for feeling burnt out and unenthused is the modern-day “let them eat cake”-- and the impulse to engage in as self-destructive a tactic as vote-shaming evinces the dangerous ideology at work here.

You’ll notice that Democratic vote-shamers rarely complain the other way. Typically, they lament progressive pressure, but don’t lament big donors constantly demanding ideological fealty to an incrementalist corporate agenda that makes sure nothing fundamentally changes-- which inevitably leads to voter disillusionment.

They celebrate efforts to policy pander to affluent conservatives, but scoff at the notion of having to do any work to secure support from disaffected lower income Americans who might consider sitting the election out or voting third party because they are so completely disgusted with both parties.

In this world view, Democrats promising tax breaks to wealthy suburbanites is seen as laudable pragmatism and shrewd politics to attract affluent Republicans. By contrast, the idea of having to promise a Green New Deal to young people who see a lifetime of climate dystopia and think about voting third party-- that’s seen as uncouth behavior and detestable pandering to petulant serfs who supposedly don’t deserve even minimal respect or attention. The political class tells us to pay them no mind-- they are the electoral arena’s “no real person involved.”

As an election strategy, this attitude presumes that Chuck Schumer was right in 2016 when he insisted that “for every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”

Of course, that theory has been electorally shellacked for a decade. And yet, these Democratic elites adhere to it-- and vote-shame anyone who questions it-- not because it has been successful and is the best strategy to win back Congress, expand health care or save the planet from climate change. They cling to the hypothesis because it at least provides a rationale-- however absurd-- to continue running campaigns whose number one directive is comforting the donor class.

More than even defeating Trump, satisfying the big contributors is the top priority because at least that is guaranteed to keep their checks going to Washington super PACs, consulting firms, think tanks and advocacy groups that are the permanent full-time employment machine for the entire Democratic political class, regardless of whether that political class ever actually wins elections or materially improves the lives of voters.

As long as donor maintenance is the prime directive and the money keeps flowing, that political class will be safely insulated in their second homes in the Hamptons, still getting the big TV invites and the fat corporate lobbying contracts even if Trump wins.

The rest of us, though, are screwed in a second Trump term. We don’t have vacation compounds, escape pods or endless cash reserves for the basic necessities of life-- and so we do not have the luxury and privilege of staying silent while Biden’s corporate-friendly politics and nothing-will-fundamentally-change message elicits an enthusiasm gap that could blow this election.

When, for instance, Bernie Sanders politely suggested that Biden needs to amplify a stronger economic message and “do more as a campaign than just go after Trump,” that wasn’t apostasy-- that was much-needed encouragement for Biden to do the most basic things to actually win the race.

When progressives criticized Biden for loading up his transition team with corporate cronies, that wasn’t some evil plot to tank the Democratic ticket-- it was an effort to root out the soft corruption that has defined Democratic politics for three decades and that has contributed to voters being unenthused about the party.

When progressives wondered aloud why Biden was giving a platform to unpopular Republican politicians like John Kasich at the Democratic convention, it wasn’t some pointless temper tantrum-- it was an attempt to steer Biden away from touting the GOP politicians who turn off Democratic voters and toward generating the massive Democratic turnout that will be necessary to defeat the current president.

When this newsletter spotlighted Biden’s campaign using GOP talking points and suggesting he will not follow through on his campaign promises, that wasn’t a display of purity trolling-- it was a warning that such messages were not only dishonest but potentially vote-depressing. And when Team Biden then backed off, that’s not something to complain about-- that’s a victory not just for better policy, but also for the campaign to defeat Trump.

That’s a different interpretation than you are probably used to seeing. After all, in our red-versus-blue, with-us-or-against-us tribalized politics, loyalty is venerated as the ultimate value. But here’s the thing: Loyalty is not falling in line and shutting up while leaders coddle donors and create a dangerous voter enthusiasm gap.

That’s political suicide-- and all of us who do not want to see another election-night disaster have an obligation to speak up and try to avert it before it happens.

Did You Help Elect Matt Cartwright To Congress? Here's What You Got For It

In 2012 Blue America encouraged Matt Cartwright to run against entrenched Blue Dog and cororoate whote Tim Holden in eastern Pennsylvania. We raised consciousness and contributions for Cartwright and we ran a concerted I.E. campaign in the district. Our #1 focus in all of our activities: Holden's shilling for the fracking industry, based on the key role Holden played in helping the GOP pass the Halliburton Loophole which opened the fracking floodgates. We ran billboards like the one above and Facebook and Google ads like these two:

Holden even stooped to a personal attack on me and Hoyer blamed the attacks against his ally on Blue America as well. Holden spent $1,215,099 on the primary, far more than Cartwright but Cartwright beat him 33,255 (57.1%) to 24,953 (42.9%). Hoyer and a posse of corrupt lobbyists were in the district over and over campaigning for Holden, who was also endorsed by a pack of conservative corporate Democrats like Ed Rendell and Bob Casey. The Blue Dogs were raising money for the campaign and lobbyists, Big Business and transactional labor unions all joined Big Oil in trying to save Holden's seat. But the anti-fracking onslaught doomed Holden and helped Cartwright sweep to victory. He was elected freshman class president and is widely admired and broadly considered one of the top new leaders among progressive Democrats in the House. Yesterday, he was the only Democrat in the Pennsylvania delegation to vote against the Wall Street giveaway that was snuck into the Cromnibus. As for fracking-- he didn't end his interest in protecting his constituents once he beat Holden. This week, David Hasemyer from Inside Climate News made it clear Cartwright has come into his own as a leader in this mine-field.

A congressional investigation into the way states regulate the disposal of the often toxic waste generated during the fracking of oil and gas has expanded.

Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D-PA) launched the investigation in October by singling out his home state for the inquiry.

Now Cartwright, a member of the House Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, has broadened the probe to include Ohio and West Virginia. Those states generate waste from hydraulic fracturing as well as accepting waste from other states, including Pennsylvania.

Cartwright’s growing inquiry mirrors the increasing national concern about the disposal of oil and gas waste left over from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

In letters to the heads of the environmental protection agencies for Ohio and West Virginia, Cartwright said fracking waste can “cause harm to human health and the environment” if not properly handled.

Consequently, Cartwright wants the two states to explain how their inspection procedures of oil and gas waste disposal facilities protect human health and the environment.

The representative also is seeking answers to more than a dozen other questions, including the number of inspections or investigations of disposal facilities receiving fracking waste. He also wants to know how the states’ regulators monitor the accuracy of reporting and compliance requirements for handling and disposing of fracking waste.

“The Subcommittee minority is conducting this oversight to determine if state regulations and monitoring of fracking waste are sufficient to ensure accuracy, completeness and compliance with applicable environmental laws,” Cartwright said in the letters.

Fracking is the process of blasting a mixture of water, chemicals and sand down a well to break open shale to extract fossil fuels.

Among other concerns, Cartwright, who was recently elected to a second term, wants to determine whether Ohio and West Virginia are obeying the federal Clean Air Act, which mandates protection from airborne contaminants.

Cartwright cites a 2011 minority staff report of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It identified 29 chemicals found in fracking waste that are possible human carcinogens, and are regulated under both the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act for their risks to human health.

The report identified benzene, toluene, xylene and ethylbenzene as being among the chemicals found in fracking products. Each of those compounds is a contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act and a hazardous air pollutant under the Clean Air Act. Benzene also is a known human carcinogen.

Primary Season Ends For Another Cycle

Christine O'Donnell must be missing student loans payments or mortgage payments again. She's threatening the Republican Party that she may run for the U.S. Senate again. Her successful primary challenge to popular mainstream Rep. Mike Castle in 2010 in universally thought to be the reason the GOP doesn't hold the Delaware Senate seat occupied by Chris Coons now. “I think I owe that to my supporters, to at least consider a run,” O’Donnell said in an interview last week. “People sacrificed. Not only came out of their comfort zone-- sacrificed to work hard in order to win the primary. And I think that I owe it to them to give it every consideration.” (She has also said she is available for a paying gig in a Romney Administration if he wins the November election.)

If Democrats are cheering, mainstream Republicans must be rolling their eyes at the thought. Primaries by right-wing extremists like O'Donnell have hurt the GOP in general elections, not so much in deep red states where the brain-dead citizens would vote for a lump of shit labeled "Republican"-- think Utah or Texas-- but in normal states. This primary cycle, for example, saw 15 congressional incumbents defeated-- 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats, although, to be fair, one of the Republicans, Bob Turner, was gerrymandered out of his district and then lost the GOP Senate primary.

All but 2 of the Democratic losses were incumbent vs incumbent matches-- Jason Altmire lost to Mark Critz in western Pennsylvania. Both are extremely reactionary right-wing Democrats who commonly vote with the GOP. In New Jersey moderate Steve Rothman lost to more progressive Bill Pascrell. In Ohio, quirky economic progressive/social conservative Marcy Kaptur beat progressive icon Dennis Kucinich, in a district that was drawn to predict those results. In Michigan under-funded progressive Hansen Clarke was beaten by ConservaDem Gary Peters and St. Louis political fixture Russ Carnahan, a moderate, was beaten by the more progressive William Lacy Clay in a 63% to 34% landslide. In the two districts where there were actual non-incumbent challengers, corrupt Blue Dog Tim Holden was beaten by a more progressive Matt Cartwright, 57-43%, a stunning and rare upset. A few weeks later a similar primary battle in El Paso resulted in longtime Establishment Democrat Silvestre Reyes going down to defeat at the hands of popular young reformer, Beto O'Rourke, 50.5 to 44.4%. (Beto, pictured on the right, will be the Blue America live guest at Crooks and Liars tomorrow at 11am (PT, noon El Paso time.)

In Republicanville, there were 3 incumbent vs incumbent races. Florida Establishment shill John Mica swamped teabagger Sandy Adams, widely considered the stupidest Member of Congress (yes, dumber that Gohmert). He swamped her financially, spending $1,214,486 to her $451,281, and beat her 60-40%. The Republican Machine wiped out an annoying teabagger without much effort. In Illinois, the GOP Machine got behind freshman zombie Adam Kinzinger and helped him beat Don Manzullo, 56-44%, even though the redrawn 16th CD included 44% of Manzullo's constituents and 31% of Kinzinger's. Kinzinger spent $1,548,515 on the primary and Manzullo spent $1,257,113 but outside groups orchestrated, possibly illegally, by Eric Cantor and Aaron Schock (widely rumored to have a gay crush on Kinzinger) spent a great deal of money to defeat Manzullo. The third incumbent vs incumbent race pitted Dan Quayle's lunkhead son, Ben, a leadership lackey, against David Schweikert. Ben Quayle was never popular in the Arizona district and was remembered for having been an on-line pornographer (DirtyScottsdale.com/Brock Landers) before narrowly winning a wild primary against 10 other Republicans (outspending all his rivals combined). This year Schweikert spent $1,289,381 and Quayle spent $1,537,407. An Adelson-funded superPAC, Friends of the Majority, spent another $1,120,000 in negative ads against Schweikert. But Arizona voters were tired-- after just one term-- of being embarrassed by the clownish Quayle and he went down 53-47%.

Far more interesting were the 4 races where non-incumbents beat incumbents. The headliner, of course, was far right extremist Richard Mourdock beating Indiana GOP icon Richard Lugar with a stunning 60% of the vote. Lugar was viewed (disapprovingly) as a mainstream conservative when the GOP primary voters wanted someone more like... Christine O'Donnell. Mourdock spent $3,162,191 on the primary and Lugar spent $8,301,994. But outside spending, mostly from extremist groups, was tilted in Mourdock's favor. Club For Growth spent $947,991 in negative ads against Lugar and $517,810 in favor of Mourdock. The Koch brothers' FreedomWorks spent $341,503 against Lugar and another $330,129 in favor of Mourdock. Similarly the NRA spent over a quarter million dollars tearing down Lugar and approximately $638,000 bolstering Mourdock.

In the Tulsa, OK-area and Jacksonville, FL-area House races, unknown challengers came from nowhere to beat, respectively, John Sullivan and Cliff Stearns. Jim Bridenstine beat Sullivan, an extremist and drug addict, 54-46%. Sullivan spent $1,113,091 on the primary and Bridenstine spent $293,890. The PACs from opthamologists and anesthesiologists, who had felt dissed by Sullivan, spent around $100,000 against him and seem to have made the difference in the race. And in the case of the never-popular Mean Jean Schmidt, it was podiatrists who did her in. In fact, a podiatrist, Brad Wenstrup, beat her 49-43%, in a district east of Cincinnati. Wenstrup sent $357,260 and Mean Jean spent $657,489. The good government group, Campaign for Primary Accountability, spent $132,022 against Schmidt. (It's worth noting that they also spent $240,000 against Reyes, $130,875 against Hoden and $224,529 (some of it funneled by Cantor and Schock) against Manzullo.

Primary season is over and it's time to get serious about November. Normally this would be a time when we could safely say that there isn't a single congressional race anywhere in America where the GOP nominated someone better than the Democrats. That may not be the case this year. We're still investigating, but Republican rebel and libertarian may well turn out to be a less odious choice for voters than anti-Choice fanatic Steve Pestka in the Grand Rapids/Battle Creek area of south-central Michigan. We'll get back to you on that one.

Checking Chicken Bones In Pennsylvania... Sifting Through The Blue Dog Ashes

If you've been reading this blog lately you probably have come to the conclusion that we were more than a little obsessed with defeating corrupt Blue Dog Tim Holden in northeast Pennsylvania, where I used to live. Holden was gerrymandered into the district and a native, a progressive native, Matt Cartwright, beat him decisively on Tuesday night. Since then Holden has been out trying to find a lobbying job while he's still got a vote in Congress and the media has been trying to figure out what happened. How is it possible that some guy who never ran for anything and backs marriage equality, a pro-Choice position and is decidedly anti-corporate and anti-Austerity could beat the dean of the Pennsylvania delegation who was actively-- very, very actively-- backed by Steny Hoyer, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Allyson Schwartz, Joe Crowley and most of the rest of the corrupt DC Democratic Establishment? Maybe they should glance up from Drudge once in a while and take a look at Digby's blog or even DWT.

A good deal of the coverage Wednesday emphasized that it was another Blue Dog Apocalypse, albeit a mini one. Across the state a Blue Dog even more conservative than Holden-- if not quite as corrupt-- was also beaten. That would be Jason Altmire. We paid that race almost no attention at all since there was virtually no difference between Altmire and his opponent, Mark Critz, who were thrown together by Republican gerrymandering in Harrisburg. Let me run three numbers by you-- the 2011-'12 crucial vote scores, tabulated by ProgressivePunch, of Holden, Altmire and Critz:

Critz: 36.36
Holden: 35.80
Altmire: 22.10 (meaning he votes with the GOP over three quarters of the time, worse than only 3 "Democrats," fellow Blue Dogs Jim Matheson of Utah, Mike Ross of Arkansas and Dan Boren of Oklahoma, the second two of whom are retiring).

Have no doubt... these are three of the worst Democrats in Congress and all three have been counted on by John Boehner and Eric Cantor to provide the votes on key legislation that allows them to go crying to the press that the Senate won't pass their wonderful "bipartisan" bills. Blue America would have been happy to join a battle to unseat Altmire or Critz-- just as we did to unseat Holden-- but not to replace one with the other. Neither has any saving grace... at least not for me.

But I talked with a friend of mine who serves with them in Congress. He had a different perspective. He was rooting for Altmire-- who has a lower score and is a member of the Blue Dog caucus. I was surprised, since my friend is one of the most progressive Members of Congress... in history. This is how he saw it:

"There is a temperamental difference. Altmire, like for instance Walt Minnick, felt that he was constrained to vote the way that he did because of his perception of the district. On any particular vote, though, you could have a meaningful conversation with Altmire. Critz, on the other hand, really is conservative."

That's how Holden excused his horrific voting record; he blamed it on the voters in the southern part of the state who are far more conservative than the Democrats up north, the new heart of the district-- and the area that sent Holden packing. He took over 80% of the vote in conservative Schuylkill County-- where he lives and was once sheriff-- but lost by nearly as big a margin in Lackawanna County... which has a lot more people. If you look at the dozen worst voting Democrats.

Let's look at the dozen worst Democrats in Congress, according to their propensity for voting with the Republicans and compare it to how Obama did in their districts in 2008. We'll go from bad to worse:

Bill Owens (NY)- 36.03... Obama: 52%
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)- 35.80... Obama: 48%
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)- 31.87... Obama: 43%
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- 28.47... Obama: 56%
Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)- 26.45... Obama: 54%
John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)- 24.36... Obama: 54%
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)- 23.88... Obama: 60%
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 22.63... Obama: 47%
Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA)- 22.10... Obama: 44%
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)- 18.25... Obama: 39%
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)- 16.36... Obama: 39%
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)- 14.02... Obama: 34%

And in Critz's old district, Obama and McCain essentially tied with McCain ahead by a nose. But I guess that comparing these numbers one could say that Owens, Cuellar, Donnelly (who the Democratic establishment picked to run for U.S. Senator this year), Barrow, and certainly Costa are not voting with the Republicans so consistently because they're forced to but despite the voters they represent being more progressive than they are.

You can also use this type of analysis to figure out which Republicans are voting to the right of their constituents. Let's take Wisconsin's 5 Republican-held districts for example.

WI-1- Paul Ryan ... Obama: 51%
WI-5- James Sensenbrenner (11.23)... Obama: 41%
WI-6- Tom Petri (13.41)... Obama: 50%
WI-7- Sean Duffy (4.36)... Obama: 56%
WI-8- Reid Ribble (4.44)... Obama: 54%

It certainly appears that Duffy and Ribble are challenging their constituents to do something about it. And Paul Ryan, at least by the numbers, is also skating on thin ice. Meanwhile, let me get back to the Inside the Beltway spin, always ideologically-phobic. Their interpretation of what happened last night-- he lesson learned: the Democrats need more Blue Dogs, more Democrats to vote like Republicans. The serious Paul Kane, hoping as always to be the next David Broder, has so many glaring errors that I was thinking of doing a contest to see who could find the most. In the first two paragraphs he makes the preposterous claim that the Blue Dogs were once "the most powerful voting bloc on Capitol Hill" and that Critz was "more liberal" than Altmire, both of which should have been caught by a fact checker... if the Post employs those any longer. And only a Broderite would call Altmire's and Holden's GOP-lite voting records "centrist" instead of extreme right wing. But instead of noting how far to the right the GOP has marched, he blunders into the kind of error not even rookies would make: the Democrats, basically a status quo, conservative party are now, "father to the left than any time in the last decade." I wonder if he wrote this while he was on drugs.

Just two years removed from being the most powerful voting bloc on Capitol Hill, Blue Dog Democrats are now trying to stave off political extinction.

On Tuesday Reps. Jason Altmire and Tim Holden, members of the moderate-to-conservative caucus of Democrats known as the Blue Dog

Coalition, lost their primary battles to more liberal opponents who painted their centrism as apostasies that could no longer be tolerated.

These were the latest blows delivered to the Blue Dogs, whose membership ranks have been decimated the last two years by a perfect political storm that has driven the House Democratic caucus farther to the left than at any time in the last decade.

It’s increasingly unclear whether Democrats can ever reclaim the House majority unless they pick up ground in the conservative-leaning terrain that the Blue Dogs once represented. In addition, with so few moderates left, there are fewer House members in the political center to
create the sort of bipartisan coalition that in the past has provided the bulwark of support for budget compromises.

...The group's long-term prospects are endangered on a few other political and demographic fronts. This moderate group has lost almost all of its female members, down to just Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), whose Orange County district often makes her more in line with the suburban New Democrat Coalition than the rural-tilting Blue Dogs.

[I hate to interrupt but Kane should lose his newspaper writer's license for peddling this completely made up nonsense, at best stuff he remembers when he was a child. Loretta Sanchez's district is in Orange County-- he did get that right-- but a completely Democratic part of the county. McCain only managed to get 38% of the vote there. And sooner or later the Democratic voters in the district will throw Sanchez out for being too conservative.]

...Interviews with a handful of current and former senior aides to Blue Dogs all focused on recruiting, with each strategist suggesting that finding the right candidates in these regions can be very painstaking but also very rewarding. When he served as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman in 2006, then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) found non-politicians such as Shuler-- a college football legend in the South who played a few years in the NFL-- and telegenic sheriff Brad Ellsworth in Evansville, Ind., to run in very conservative districts.

They both won and helped propel the Democrats into the majority for the first time in 12 years, giving Pelosi her historic speakership.

Privately, many Blue Dogs and their staff blame Pelosi’s liberal leadership. Her image was run countless times in 2010 against Shuler and Altmire, both of whom were rare survivors. Despite a coordinated recruiting effort by the DCCC this time around, few Blue Dogs who lost in 2010 have opted to run for their old seat. Shuler and Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), both co-chairmen of the coalition, decided to retire at the end of this year rather than run for re-election in new districts that tilted toward Republicans. Ellsworth lost a Senate race in 2010 by 15 percentage points, leaving behind a House seat that flipped to Republicans.

Shuler, who spent time Wednesday on a conference call trying to recruit Blue Dog candidates, said his coalition resonates with most voters in terms of its anti-deficit message but is struggling with translating that into seats in Congress. “The Blue Dogs represent 80 percent of America, but there are just 25 of us in the House,” he said.

The DCCC-- Not A Friend Of Working Families... Not By A Longshot

The DCCC added a shitload of shit to their Red-to-Blue program today-- a greenlight for big donors and idiots who take their financial walking orders from pimped-up hustlers and con artists like Steve Israel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Steny Hoyer, Joseph Crowley and Allyson Schwartz. The list is a nightmare, not only for all the good progressives it leaves off-- like Rob Zerban, who exceeded the gargantuan goals the DCCC gave him to get on it, only to be left off anyway, Chris Donovan, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives, and David Gill, who beat their corrupt Machine in Illinois only to be left in the cold while the DCCC endorsed corrupt conservative hacks like Tammy Duckworth, Cheri Bustos, Bill Foster and Brad Schneider, all of whom won the same night-- but also because they once again broke their own pledge not to endorse in active primaries. But they did-- and they always picked the corrupt conservative.

Great example of their ultimate lameness-- Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1) was defeated in 2010 because she was one of the worst, most useless Members of Congress and Democrats didn't turn out to vote for her and let a teabagger get in. In 2008 when she first won election, for an open seat she got 155,791 votes (56%) against the Republican's 109,924, tying him in the biggest county and winning in 6 of the remaining 7. After one term of voting like a Republican, Democrats stayed home in droves and in 2010 all she managed was 99,233 votes (44%) against 112,816 for the Republican. This time she lost by a landslide in Yavapai, the biggest county, and of the remaining 7 only won 3. A far better choice would be strong, independent progressive, Wenona Baldenegro, but the DCCC decided to not leave anything to chance-- or the Democrats in the area-- and moved this week to bolster the pathetic candidacy of sure loser, Kirkpatrick. The progressive in the race, Wenona, told me publicly what dozens of candidates are telling me off the record-- that Steve Israel and his cronies are a bunch of flat-out liars.

"Across the country, the self-appointed kingmakers in Washington are trying to tell the American people who should represent them in Congress. We will not let them anoint candidates for us; the people will decide who they want to represent them. I am truly humbled by the immense support that I have received from the people of my district, and I am proud to be running a grassroots campaign that is not in the pocket of corporate money and ALEC lobbyists. I will continue my campaign to give the people of Arizona the type of representation that they deserve, and to be the first Native American woman to ever serve in the U.S. Congress."

Please consider sending the DCCC thugs a message here... today.
Since taking over the DCCC with his band of cutthroats, "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel has turned over a hefty chunk of recruiting to the most hated part of the Democratic Party, the anti-Choice, anti-gay, anti-working family Blue Dogs. So far this year the Blue Dogs have endorsed 8 pasty-faced bigots (aside from their hideous gaggle of incumbents): Leonard Bembry (FL-2, DCC "Emerging Race"), Clark Hall (AR-1, DCCC "Emerging Race"), Nick Lampson (TX-14, "Red to Blue"), Brendan Mullen (IN-2, "Red to Blue), Hayden Rogers (NC-11, DCCC's "Emerging Races"), ALEC leader Ted Vick (SC-7, "Emerging Race District"), Rob Wallace (OK-2, DCCC Emerging Race), Charlie Wilson (OH-6, "Red to Blue"). Yes, every single Blue Dog has been embraced by the DCCC, even though many of them-- best example being NC-11 where Cecil Bothwell is going to hand Israel's corporate shill his ass on a platter on May 8-- have active primaries against progressives, where the DCCC has given their worthless word that they would remain neutral and let them play out.

Almost none of their picks are progressives-- Miklosi, Kuster and Takano being the exceptions-- and one is an actual Mitt Romney supporting Republican gussied up to look like a semi-Democrat, Patrick Murphy. My favorite DCCC story so far this year is how badly Wasserman Schultz and Israel fucked up the "#1 sure-thing district," FL-26, seat of breathtakingly corrupt freshman David Rivera. We've been over that a couple times before, but they've been recruiting the worst set of candidates imaginable-- so bad that they eventually are forced into unrecruiting them. And this week they found another one, Gloria Romero Roses, some typical unions-suck/taxes-are-too-high entitled rich asshole from Broward County. They managed to infuriate every Democratic official in Miami-Dade-- and every labor union by not even consulting them and shoving her right onto their "Emerging Races" list. And they did this, completely aware that the immensely popular (and populist) Joe Garcia is jumping in next week!

I bet Miami-Dade Democratic Party chair Richard Lydecker isn't going to take it lying down either. The DCCC thinks they have Miami-Dade all sewn up because of Debbie. Debbie's a joke and just another out-of-touch DC hack who works for the Fanjul brothers. It wouldn't surprise me if she's sabotaging Democratic chances in FL-26 on behalf of the Fanjuls, who want desperately to keep a pliable crook like Rivera in place. Meanwhile, Debbie and Israel and Crowley have a full scale rebellion on their hands from labor. Roses was illegally targeting and firing SEIU members when she was in HR... and it's payback time. Watch Wasserman Schultz lose Florida for Obama with her clueless shenanigans!

When Democrat Gloria Romero Roses runs for Congress this fall, her biggest opponent may not be incumbent Republican Rep. David Rivera, but her own résumé.

For nearly three years, Roses worked for a Hollywood-based condo management company that fought a nasty battle against one of the Democratic Party’s biggest contributors: the Service Employees International Union.

Roses headed the employee relations department and later became director of communications and community relations for The Continental Group, which manages condo properties across South Florida. Beginning in 2004, a local SEIU chapter tried unsuccessfully to unionize Continental’s condo workers, mostly in Miami Beach. The union accused the company of interfering with the union effort... From the union’s end, hard feelings remain toward the company and its directors, including Roses and her husband, Tom, who at the time headed the company’s property management division.

...Eric Brakken, director of the SEIU Local 32BJ, said he is troubled by Roses’ congressional run.

“We have deep concerns about her candidacy,” said Brakken, who directed the campaign to unionize Continental workers. “She’s going to have to come and explain to a lot of workers who have been through the same experience as Continental workers went through why she’s the best choice.”

Roses said she has already called several unions to introduce herself. “I’m making those overtures so that I can talk to them-- absolutely,” she said.

The SEIU tried to unionize Continental condo workers such as janitors, housekeepers, pool cleaners, valets and front-desk concierges. Brakken, who has never met Roses, said Continental mounted a serious anti-union effort, holding work-site meetings with managers who spoke against unionization and issuing written communications that made it clear the company opposed a union.

Roses said she was not involved in any of those tactics. [She's lying.]

The National Labor Relations Board found that the company wrongfully terminated one employee for his union activities. In its investigation, the board found Continental distributed “anti-union literature”-- including a bulletin to managers saying the company was “100% against a Union getting in here”-- and violated labor rules by photographing workers holding a mock election to reinstate a colleague.

“They clearly heard the message,” Brakken said of the workers. “Continental ran a pretty sophisticated campaign to stop their employees from forming a union.”

Roses and her husband, Brakken added, “were clearly central to that.”

One well connected Miami Democratic leader laughed at the cluelessness of the DCCC. "They went for Gloria who? From Broward that no one knows except the unions because of her past trying to bust them and is supposedly a business woman but somehow doesn't even have a website for her business as Roll Call and Politico pointed out. Ugh! I will support Joe. So will everyone else."

Tonight Democrats in Pennsylvania told Hoyer and Israel and Wasserman Schultz to go take a flying leap as they defeated their hackish corrupt Blue Dog, Tim Holden, and replaced him with progressive Matt Cartwright. With 447 of 449 precincts reporting, Cartwright beat Hoyer's corrupt Blue Dog 33,102 (57%) to 24,871 (43%). Holden lost all the big population centers. Cartwright ran up solid majorities in Lackawanna (78%). Luzerne (71%), Northampton (55%) and Monroe (64%). Grassroots Democrats in other states should take up the banner. Don't trust anyone endorsed by the DCCC. Check them out carefully first. Most will be worthless shills like the majority of the people on the Red-to-Blue List of Shame.

Tomorrow Is Election Day In Pennsylvania

Easily, tomorrow's most important race, at least for progressives, is the primary in the heavily blue new 17th congressional district in the northeastern part of the state that pits progressive Matt Cartwright against the Machine-backed corrupt Blue Dog Tim Holden, who represented the old-- relatively red-- 17th district south and west of the new district. We've been making the case for Cartwright and why Holden is too corrupt and too conservative to be given another term in Congress. But for anyone who lives in the area-- or who has friends or relatives who live in the area-- I want to ask you to remember one final thought before voting. and it isn't even my own. This thought comes from Eugene Kiely and Ben Finley of FactCheck.org who make the point that Tim Holden is a lying sack of shit who, in his desperation, has resorted to smearing Matt Cartwright with the hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate bribes being sent his way by Democratic congressional corruptionist-in-chief Steny Hoyer. Their startling and horrifying report:

Rep. Tim Holden falsely claimed in a recent TV ad that his opponent won a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in exchange for campaign contributions to a corrupt judge. In fact, a jury-- not the judge-- awarded $3 million to lawyer Matt Cartwright’s client in that case. The Holden campaign told us it had no evidence to prove the donation had any influence over the judge during that trial. The campaign pulled the ad after just one day on the air.

This is not the first time that the veteran Democratic congressman has accused his primary opponent, Cartwright, of making improper campaign contributions. In an earlier TV ad, Holden sought to link Cartwright to the infamous “kids-for-cash” scandal that sent two Pennsylvania judges to prison. In that ad, Holden criticized Cartwright for contributions he and his law firm made to judges who accepted kickbacks for sending juveniles to for-profit juvenile detention facilities. Again, the campaign contributions from Cartwright and his law firm were unrelated to the corruption case. It was merely a case of guilt by association.

In their own words, Holden's smear campaign against Cartwright-- who has tried to run a strictly positive campaign based on the issues and on what he can offer to Democrats in northeastern Pennsylvania-- "is the most savage example of what has been a bruising primary."

If Cartwright wins tomorrow-- and a third poll was completed last week showing him 6 points ahead among likely voters-- it will be a huge victory for grassroots Democrats sick and tired of the corruption and lying in Washington. It's time to take our party back. There's already one party dedicated to the conservatism and sleazy corrupt practices of people like Tim Holden-- we can't let them own both.



Yesterday the biggest newspaper in the district, the Scranton Times-Tribune endorsed Matt Cartwright against the supposed incumbent. ("Supposed" because Holden never represented anyone in Lackawanna, Monroe, Luzerne, Nothampton or Carbon counties.)

The Times-Tribune editorial board usually does not endorse in primary elections. But because the Democratic primary will pick the ultimate winners in several races, the board has decided to endorse in those races.

17th Congressional District: Matt Cartwright

Due to egregious gerrymandering, the 17th Congressional District has been redrawn along a convoluted route that includes Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Easton and Pottsville.

The 10-term incumbent is Rep. Tim Holden of Schuylkill County, dean of the state congressional delegation. But Mr. Holden never has represented more than 70 percent of the people in the redrawn district. It is clear from his record, and from his astonishingly dirty campaign, that he is out of step with the redrawn district.

The editorial board endorses Scranton lawyer Matt Cartwright.

Mr. Holden has voted against progressive initiatives such as the most sweeping housing finance reforms, greater consumer protections, energy reform and health care reform.

In an interview, Mr. Holden declared that he always had heeded the advice of the late Rep. John Murtha, who had told him to keep his mouth shut and make friends. In keeping with that approach, Mr. Holden refused to debate Mr. Cartwright while visiting county Democratic committees in search of endorsements.

Mr. Holden's campaign was an affront to voters. Some of his ads attempted to tie Mr. Cartwright to judicial corruption, in the process smearing jurors and a woman who had suffered due to an incorrect cancer diagnosis.

There were negative elements to Mr. Cartwright's campaign, but they focused on Mr. Holden's record rather than his personal integrity.

Overall, Mr. Cartwright focused on tax reform, health care and education reforms.

Mr. Cartwright would be a vocal and active representative. He needs to temper his lawyer's adversarial mind-set, however, to recognize that progress in Washington requires compromise.

Cartwright spent the weekend barnstorming up and down the large, sprawling district, including appearances with former Congressman Joe Sestak, who endorsed him last week. The biggest newspaper in Luzerne County, the Citizens Voice, endorsed him over the weekend, stating bluntly that "Judging by Cartwright’s campaign and Holden’s record, Cartwright would be a stronger advocate for working families in our region." Highly respected Wilkes-Barre columnist and ex-state Rep., Kevin Blaum ("The Arena"), writing for the Times Leader explained on Sunday why he's voting for Cartwright tomorrow, in what he recognizes as "this year’s most important congressional primary in Pennsylvania."

Lately we seem to be awash in officials who labor strenuously at elevating ineffectiveness to an art form capable even of bringing about their re-elections.

They and the party leaders with whom they cavort have gone out of their way to support Cartwright’s opponent, who so often follows his finger headlong into every-which-way the wind blows.

Cartwright’s opponent, U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, voted against the 2010 health insurance reform law, its coverage of pre-existing conditions and its provision extending coverage to your son or daughter in their early 20s unable to find affordable health insurance on their own.

Cartwright’s opponent also voted to exempt natural gas drillers from the Safe Drinking Water Act requirement that they list those chemicals forced underground in the drilling process. This travesty, known as the “Halliburton Loophole,” is now in our national Safe Drinking Water Act.

What has become of the Congress when elected representatives go out of their way to oppose common-sense insurance reforms while voting to keep under wraps the dangerous chemicals that gas drillers pump underground?

Can’t you just hear the crisp snap of insurance industry fingers and the crackle of chemical drillers as congressmen pop out of their seats to do their bidding?

Matt Cartwright wants to put a stop to such behavior and go to Washington to re-establish a strong voice for Northeastern Pennsylvania within the halls of Congress.

It is a daunting task for sure, but Cartwright possesses the necessary skill set to lead the way and make a difference.

...When the new 17th Congressional District was drawn by the cartographers in Harrisburg so as to weaken Northeastern Pennsylvania by dividing our population centers and diluting our influence, Matt Cartwright leaped into the race to unite and strengthen the entire region.

Throughout this campaign Matt Cartwright has demonstrated an extraordinary energy, intelligence and the natural leadership that the job requires and that the Pennsylvania congressional delegation so desperately needs.

Cartwright has all the tools. He is the most promising congressional candidate I’ve seen from this region in more than three decades.

On Tuesday vote Matt Cartwright for Congress …. and for Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Republican Wing Of The Democratic Party-- Meet Tim Holden

Steny Hoyer, the quintessential corrupt old machine Democrat, jockeying to be Speaker, is running around the country bolstering the kinds of corrupt, transactional political hacks he feels most comfortable with. Tim Holden is his exact cup of tea. Policy-wise Holden is far to the right of Hoyer. Holden votes with the Republicans on most important roll call votes-- more than almost any Democrat in Congress. But Hoyer doesn't care about things like that. So he's virulently anti-Choice and votes for the corporate agenda on every issue... who cares? What Hoyer wants is personal fealty to his career aspirations. Period. So he looked the cameras straight in the face and said, "Tim Holden is a real Democrat. There is zero doubt." And if Hoyer's world of backroom corruption, he's correct. Holden is part of that room. Never mind that his definition of "Democrat" includes taking cash from Big Energy in return for helping them pass their agenda in Congress. Never you mind that this is his execrable voting record on women's Choice or that he has consistently voted with the Republicans against contraception. Nevermind that he's an unrepentant warmonger or that he has one of the worst records in Congress on civil liberties, equal justice, healthcare and the environment. He takes money from lobbyists and votes for whatever they want. And he's personally committed to Steny Hoyer getting his paws on the Speakership. As Joshua Grossman of Progressive Kick said yesterday, “Holden’s vote in Congress may not be for sale, but it’s certainly for rent."

“He’s rented his vote in the United States Congress to the energy industry, subjecting his constituents to the prospect of polluted water in exchange for campaign contributions when he voted for the Halliburton Amendment. He’s rented his vote to Wall Street in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. And he’s rented his vote to the banking industry and stood against his own constituents whose homes are being foreclosed upon.”

Healthcare reform advocates in Pennsylvania certainly know Marc Stier. He headed up HCAN in that state while Holden was conspiring with the Republicans and his corporate donors to derail it. He explains why Matt Cartwright's campaign to replace Holden is "the most important Democratic congressional primary in the country."

Voters in the 17th Congressional District in Pennsylvania have an opportunity to do something really important, not just for themselves, but for the entire country: defeat Congressman Tim Holden, who represents the Republican wing of the Democratic party.

It is obviously important to the 17th District to have a member of Congress who actually supports their interests, not those of the corporate rich. And it’s important to the Democratic Party and the country as a whole to rid ourselves of members of Congress who fail to do the minimal in standing up for the ideals of our party. Defeating such members will send a critical message throughout the Democratic Caucus: Democratic members of Congress are accountable to us.

And, as I explain below, defeating Tim Holden will remove from office a whining, gutless, dishonest example of the American politician at his worst.

Let me be clear: I’m not a wild eyed leftist. I’m a slightly left of center Democrat. I’m not naïve about political strategy either. In endorsing Allyson Schwartz, I pointed out that members of Congress sometimes have to stand apart from progressive ideals in order to be reelected. And I said that they have a “moral responsibility” to do that because control of the House is important for the party and the country-- so long as they don’t vote the wrong way when progressive legislation is at stake and their vote is absolutely necessary.

But Tim Holden’s opponent, Matt Cartwright, is not only a much more progressive Democrat than Holden, he is someone who can definitely win and hold the 17th Congressional District this year and in years to come.

Moreover, Tim Holden is not just a member of Congress who votes with Republicans now and then in order to preserve his seat. He votes with Republicans much of the time, and what’s worse, and on the issues that are most important to us, without making any attempt to persuade his district, and when his voted is definitely needed. And, on top of that he repeats Republican lies to justify his vote.

I’m talking, of course, about the Affordable Care Act. I met with Congressman Holden a few times, and until they cut us off, talked to his staff many times when I ran Health Care for America Now in our state. In all those conversations, I never once heard Congressman Holden show any serious concern about the tens of thousands of uninsured and underinsured in his district or the even larger group of people whose health insurance were going up far faster than their wages. Instead he whined about how health care reform (and cap and trade) were creating political problems for him.

Even his chief health care staff person was disappointing. She repeated Blue Dog talking points to me whenever I met with her.

And let me point out that even the old 17th district had a Democratic majority and supported Obama, unlike a lot of other districts held by Democratic members of Congress who voted for the ACA.

When members of Congress like Kathy Dahlkemper and Chris Carey were out in their districts, facing the tea party, and working with citizen and labor activists to defend what became the ACA, Tim Holden was hiding under his desk. He only came out to attend a private event hosted by an insurance company.

And, after the vote and since, Holden defended his stance by repeating the totally false Republican claim that the ACA cuts Medicare and Medicaid benefits. I called him on that two years ago in the Patriot-News. His constituents need to call him on it now.

What kind of Democratic member of Congress not only votes against his party on the most important legislation in his career but undermines the other members of Congress from his own party as well as a Democratic President by repeating Republican lies?

I hope that on Tuesday the answer will be Democratic Congressman who goes down to a well-deserved defeat in a Democratic primary.

Politicians Who Play Footsie With Interests That Use Money To Dominate Politics Open Themselves Up For Career-Ending Events

On Wednesday morning, ace investigative journalist, Lee Fang, exposed some classic hypocrisy by corrupt Blue Dog Tim Holden (PA). Holden is being pummeled in his losing reelection campaign by progressive groups-- like Blue America, Progressive Kick and the League of Conservation Voters-- because of his ultra-conservative voting record in Congress. But a non-ideological SuperPAC, Campaign for Primary Accountability is also clobbering him, not on behalf of Matt Cartwright, the progressive in the race, but because they want to rid Congress of corrupt members-- from both sides of the aisle. They were, for example, largely responsible for defeating Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH) and, with the help of clueless Republicans Aaron Schock and Eric Cantor, Dan Manzullo (R-IL). The PAC's main financial backer is an eccentric millionaire in Texas named Leo Linbeck, a far right wing financier. Unsurprisingly, Holden’s campaign is decrying the influence of big money in politics:

Holden’s campaign condemned the influence of Super PACs, political organizations that cannot make contributions to candidates, campaigns or parties and must spend contributions independently. Super PACs, which are allowed under a 2010 Supreme Court Decision, give corporations, unions and other organizations the ability to spend unlimited money in an effort to sway the outcome of elections.

“Tim Holden is firmly opposed to Super PACs and believes that voters are supposed to decide elections, not corporations from outside the 17th District,” campaign manager Eric Nagy said.

While most Democrats in Congress (and a few Republicans) have rallied around the need for more disclosure and better campaign finance rules in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to allow corporate money in elections, the pro-corporate Blue Dog caucus has often sided with big business.

On June 24, 2010, Holden had a chance to weaken to power of Super PACS and add disclosure and new restraints to the campaign finance system when the DISCLOSE Act came up for a vote. The legislation contained a package of campaign finance reforms, including a prohibition of foreign entities from spending on American political campaigns, stopping certain contractors who get large sums of government money from lobbying, and requiring many groups to disclose their funding in campaign materials. Holden, however, sided with corporate lobbyists and most of the GOP in voting no.

Now, he’s complaining.

35 other Democrats, most of them corrupt conservatives, crossed the aisle to vote with Holden and his Republican chums and most of them were defeated in the 2010 Blue Dog Apocalypse. A few, like Holden, are still crawling around sucking up to lobbyists and betraying the trust of working families, like Mark Critz, another Pennsylvania conservative fighting for his worthless political life in a primary next Tuesday and the DCCC's favorite Blue Dog Mike McIntyre (NC).

Yesterday Greg Sargent reported on the unpleasantness around the SuperPAC phenom in his Post column. Did Obama and the Democrats take the threat seriously enough? I bet they wish they had focussed on it a little more diligently.

Today’s New York Times reports an eye-popping figure: The pro-Romney forces may be able to raise and spend no less than $1 billion to oust President Obama. That number could climb considerably higher, if the fundraising by Romney-aligned outside groups is a success.

Which raises a question: Why is Dem outside-group fundraising failing to keep pace?

“The fact that the Romney forces are going to be able to amass at least $1 billion dollars should be a tremendous wake up call for our side,” Paul Begala, an adviser to Priorities USA, the main pro-Obama outside group, tells me.

Media reports have speculated that the Obama campaign will raise $1 billion for reelection, but the campaign vigorously disputes this. Meanwhile, Priorities USA and Priorities USA Action have only raised a combined $10 million. That sum was matched by a single anonymous GOP donor who quietly handed the Rove-founded Crossroads GPS a $10 million check the other day.

I asked Begala why Dems are lagging behind. He gave three reasons. The first: Dem donors are used to an outdated calendar. The air wars designed to establish the frame of the election are getting under way far earlier in the new era.

“Dems are used to giving late-- we’d have an ad blitz in the last eight weeks, but before then it would be all about building up the ground game,” Begala said. “Now we’ve got a different timetable. We want to define Romney now, as he’s trying to define himself.”

“The second reason is that our donors are not transactional,” Begala continued. “For the Koch brothers, this is a straight return on an investment deal.” A Republican president, Begala continued, “would preserve tax breaks for their oil companies and kill off Obama’s investments in green energy.”

Begala’s third reason: “Many progressive donors think President Obama has it in the bag. But he doesn’t even have it in the shopping cart yet, much less in the bag.”

That's why it's even more important for progressives to not waste a nickel on groups supporting faithless conservative Democrats and Blue Dogs, like the DCCC. It's why we constantly urge people to contribute directly to candidates who share your values and political passions. The DCCC, for example, is spending a ton of money on corporate shills who voted with the GOP on crucial issues-- like the DISCLOSE Act-- and on core principles like freedom of Choice for women. If you contribute to the DCCC most of that money will be wasted on overhead, corruption and reactionary incumbents like Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY) and Larry Kissell (NC), all of whom have Republican voting records. If you want to find progressive Democrats to support instead... look no further.

Meanwhile, keep in mind that Blue Dogs-- financed by the same shady special interests and Wall Street crooks that finance the GOP-- are not giving up Holden without a fight. Late yesterday, Center Forward, the deceptively named anti-working family Blue Dog pack headed by far right Alabama ex-congressman-turned-lobbyist Bud Cramer, launched a coordinated attack on Matt Cartwright, claiming he's "too liberal." They're spending $100,000 on the attack ad, money that comes from traditionally anti-Democratic sources who fear candidates like Cartwright who are not corrupt and who focus on serving ordinary working families, rather than Wall Street. The board of Center Forward is composed of 5 of the most notoriously corrupt lobbyists Inside the Beltway-- besides Cramer (who works for he sleazy Wexler Walker and Associates), you have 2 Blue Dog ex-congressmen, John Tanner (a lobbyist for Prime Policy Group) and Baron Hill (of APCO), as well as Vickie Walling (also of Prime Policy) and Libby Greer (of Cauthen Forbes & Williams), 5 corporate shills working for 4 firms specializing in assaulting the American taxpayers on behalf of Big Oil, hedge funds and Wall Street speculators. That's the company that Tim Holden keeps.

The Buffett Rule-- Do Democrats Really Care?

Republicans, as Chris Hayes and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse discuss in the MSNBC clip above, had several reasons-- none of them good-- to fly in the face of public opinion and filibuster the Buffett Rule to death on Monday. As Miss McConnell lisped menacingly right after President Obama was elected, the number one job of Republicans would be the make him a one term president. They have done this by betraying the interests of their own constituents, by obstructing every effort the president has made, no matter how conservative those efforts-- and almost everything Obama has tried since being elected has been based on traditional mainstream Republican policies-- to rescue the American economy from the morass created by Bush and the Republicans in Congress... like Miss McConnell. But forget these foul, treasonous Republicans for a moment. There was one Democrat who crossed the aisle to vote with them Monday afternoon.

You may remember the hapless idiot from Arkansas who had a shocking and disgraceful cameo in Bill Maher's film Religulous. No, not Blanche Lincoln-- another senatorial jerk cut from the exact same WalMart cloth though: Mark Pryor, who inherited his (much more worthy) father's Senate seat. As he giggled, on camera, for all the world to hear, "You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate." Apparently not-- and certainly not from Arkansas. Tom Coburn (R-OK) may be one of the Senate's most closed-minded morons but in his just released book, The Debt Bomb he was certainly correct when he said that the Senate is “heavily sedated” and that "Congress today is a stagnant pond that needs to be drained and refilled with a steady stream of new public servants." He said 90% should be fired. And I doubt there is anyone in the Senate or anyone who observes the Senate who would exclude Mark Pryor.

Apparently Pryor didn't learn any lessons when Arkansas Democrats abandoned Blanche Lincoln last cycle for the same kind of perfidy he regularly engages in. Right after the vote, Guy Cecil of the DSCC sent out a fundraising letter excoriating the Republicans for filibustering the Buffett Rule. Maybe he should have included a paragraph about how no contributions would be used to save Mark Pryor's worthless neck. But that would have been a lie because a huge part of the DSCC budget will be used for exactly that purpose. So... contribute to the DSCC to punish Republicans who voted against the Buffett Rule so they can save the seta of a right-wing Democrat who voted against the Buffett Rule. I might add that, according to ProgressivePunch, in the 2011-12 session, Pryor has voted with the GOP about a third of the time on crucial roll calls, like the one Monday-- worse than Lieberman. The only Democrats who have voted more frequently with Miss McConnell are Claire McCaskill, Joe Manchin and, of course, Ben Nelson.

Let me skip away from the Senate now and get to a feature in yesterday's Scranton Times-Tribune by my old friend Borys Krawczeniuk about a very different kind of Democrat than Mark Pryor. Matt Cartwright is six days away from possibly doing something that is almost never accomplished in American politics-- displacing an entrenched incumbent in a primary, in this case corrupt Blue Dog Tim Holden. Polls show Cartwright with a significant and growing lead. Borys reported on his meeting with the Times-Tribune editorial board last week.

In unflinching terms, Democratic congressional candidate Matt Cartwright said tea party members serving in Congress "are hurting this country" and said he will "expose them" if elected.
Tea party members are intent only on "gumming up the works" of the federal government, Mr. Cartwright told the Times-Tribune editorial board.

"These are people who signed pledges never to do anything to enact revenue legislation no matter what," Mr. Cartwright said. "You can't compromise with people like that because all you ever end up doing is giving in to them because they refuse to give you anything. ... We have to blow the lid off these people."

Mr. Cartwright said people who send tea party members to Congress "aren't really thinking it through, because you're sending people into government who don't believe in government.

"My plan is not to go compromising with tea partiers; my plan is to go expose them for what they are, people who are hurting this country," he said.

Mr. Cartwright called for raising the income tax on the wealthiest Americans from the current 35 percent to the 39 percent level under President Bill Clinton, whose final years in office produced budget surpluses.

"Warren Buffett thinks that would be a good idea. Bill Gates thinks that would be a good idea," he said. "It's not much to them. To this nation, it's a fortune, a boatload of money that we don't need to be going into debt for to give an extra 3 percent to the wealthiest Americans."

Mr. Cartwright said Democrats have for too long allowed Republicans to win the war to "spin" the effects of legislation under President Barack Obama. "Spin" means creating perceptions-- correct or incorrect-- about a subject through a coordinated public relations campaign.

He said Republicans won the "spin" war over health care reform by calling it "Obamacare" at a time when many Americans were still suspicious of the new president.

"So let's call it Obamacare because that makes it scary," Mr. Cartwright said. "And then let's have people like Sarah Palin talk about death panels. Death panels. Nonsense. And that's all spin. We Democrats ... have to do a better job of spinning the message. We've been getting beaten in the court of public opinion."

Mr. Cartwright, 50, of Moosic, is seeking his party's nomination for the 17th Congressional District against U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, who holds the seat now. The district will begin to include Scranton and surrounding parts of Lackawanna County next January.

Mr. Cartwright ripped Mr. Holden for voting against the health care reform bill, which allows children to remain on their parents' insurance policies until age 26 and outlaws discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions; for voting for a watered-down bankruptcy reform bill that hurts consumers; and an energy act that forbids regulation of pollution caused by hydraulic fracturing used in natural gas drilling.

Mr. Holden is "not a fighter" and has passed just two bills-- both naming post offices-- in his 10 terms in office, Mr. Cartwright said.

Good government isn't going to fall out of the sky and land on our heads. We-- the people-- have to make it happen or the corporations will continue buying off corrupt whores like Eric Cantor and Steny Hoyer to enact legislation that oppresses the 99% on behalf of the 1%. So far no one has emerged to challenge Mark Pryor in Arkansas in 2014. We have time to work on that. But next Tuesday, Democratic voters in northeast Pennsylvania have an opportunity to make history by replacing a corrupt and reactionary Blue Dog careerist with a progressive public servant. It's not too late to help Matt win this one.

League Of Conservation Voters Endorses Matt Cartwright Against Blue Dog Tim Holden

There's less than a week before primary day in Pennsylvania and, according to two consecutive polls, progressive challenger Matt Cartwright is leading reactionary and corrupt Blue Dog Tim Holden. It's the only race in the country where the Democrats have a plausible shot at replacing a dogged ally of Boehner's and Cantor's with a real Democrat. Even in Holden's blood red bastion in the newly redrawn district, conservative Schuylkill Co., way down south and unrelated to the rest of teh bright blue northeast Pennsylvania district, longtime Holden supporters are sick of him, especially Democrats.

Democrats in this Holden stronghold weren’t enthusiastic about re-electing Holden to an 11th term. Democrats such as Vickie Lord, a longtime tour guide at Pottsville’s Yuengling Brewery, knows Holden as the “local boy” who always aired positive advertisements. But the negative ad wars have worn on her, and now she’s not sure for whom she’ll vote in next week’s primary.

“Sometimes people get old and stagnant in their ways,” she said. “I’m not opposed to new ideas, new faces, refreshing things every once in a while. Just because you’re there 20 years doesn’t mean you should be there 20 more. Maybe it’s time for a change.”

And Vickie isn't alone on being turned off to Holden's brutal barrage of vicious negative attacks against Cartwright-- who has waged an entirely positive campaign. Former state Rep. Jim Wansacz, currently Chair of the Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners, is bucking the Democratic Machine and endorsing Cartwright today. And today the local MoveOn.org chapter also came on board for Cartwright. Having persuaded MoveOn nationally to back Cartwright, the local chapter will be engaged in a tremendous Get Out the Vote effort next Tuesday.

As we saw the other day, that great champion of women's rights and warrior against the "Republican" War Against Women, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, gave $2,000 to anti-Choice fanatic/anti-bith control freak Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA) a $2,000 contribution. Debbie, Jr-- Allyson Schwartz-- jumped in with another grand. They could have easily sat it out while lifelong Democrat and pro-Choice progressive Matt Cartwright defeated Holden and made the House Democratic caucus more Democratic by one. But Wasserman Schultz and Allyson Schwartz wanted to prove, just one more time, that they have no principles whatsoever-- and that the battle over women's health is just a convenient cudgel they can wield against their partisan enemies, the Republicans (unless they live in South Florida, in which case they are forgiven).

The League of Conservation Voters, on the other hand, is based on very transparent principles. Their main concern is saving the environment from devastation and destruction. Tim Holden has a long and putrid record of standing with Republicans and the corporations who bribe him-- for devastation and for devastation. Blue America has billboards up all over PA-17 based on the key role Holden played in helping the GOP pass the Halliburton Loophole which allows for fracking. The LCV has taken the battle to the small screen with a massive $230,000 ad buy. You can watch the 30-second ad above.

The LCV didn't mention Lee Fang's report on the latest Holden shenanigans in the effusive endorsement in the PA-17 race. “Matt Cartwright," said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski, "has fought to hold corporate polluters accountable to protect Pennsylvanians from the hazardous chemicals released in natural gas extraction. LCV Action Fund is proud to endorse Matt Cartwright because he understands that the policies needed to grow America’s economy and keep our competitive edge are the same policies that will protect the air we breathe and the water we drink for generations to come.” I think when he reads Fang's report he'll go into orbit-- so would most Americans.

Holden, a member of the pro-corporate Blue Dog caucus, appears to be raising last minute campaign funds using a new bill that will allow agricultural giants in the mid-Atlantic region to continue to dump pollution into the Chesapeake Bay. While Cartwright picks up a number of public interest endorsements, Holden appears to be parlaying his polluter bill into political support.

Rod Snyder recently hosted a fundraising event for Holden in the offices of Tri-State Strategies, a Pennsylvania lobbying and consulting firm. Snyder is the president of the national Democratic club called Young Democrats of America, whose bylaws prohibit providing “official endorsements to any candidate in a contested primary election,” so presumably Snyder hosted the event in his personal, not his YDA, capacity.

But Snyder also happens to be a lobbyist for the National Corn Growers Association. According to the NCGA’s latest disclosure filing, which was submitted to the Senate late last year, Snyder has been working on developing a new Chesapeake Bay bill that would prevent the EPA from using the Clean Water Act to create a multi-state solution for dealing with industrial farm run-off. The issue has been quite contentious, with many big ag interests working to undercut the EPA. Snyder has not responded to our request for comment.

And in March, Holden came to the rescue of industrial farm interests with a bill he introduced along with Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). Holden’s bill would prevent the EPA “from implementing the long-awaited, court-ordered Chesapeake Bay restoration plan known as the Chesapeake TMDL (total maximum daily load).” The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Doug Siglin says Holden’s bill would “undermine the pollution limits currently in place, derail clean-up efforts, and undercut the federal government’s role in making sure that all Americans have access to clean, swimmable, fishable waters.”

Holden’s bill bailing out industrial farm operations hasn’t escaped noticed from big lobbyists. Republic Report reviewed recently filed FEC disclosures and noticed an interesting pattern:

– On March 7, Holden introduced his bill to kill EPA efforts to regulate cross-state industrial farm pollution into the Chesapeake Bay.

– On March 12, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives gave Holden $1,000.

– On March 26, the National Turkey Federation PAC gave Holden $2,000 (in addition to $1,000 earlier this cycle).

– On March 26, the Cotton Growers PAC gave Holden $1,000.

– On March 26, Dean Foods Company PAC gave Holden $2,500 (in addition to $2,000 already given to Holden this cycle).

– On March 30, the National Chicken Council PAC gave Holden $2,000 (in addition to $1,000 given to Holden earlier in the cycle).

– On March 30, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association gave Holden $2,000.

– On April 11, the National Corn Growers PAC gave Holden $2,500.

– On April 13, the pork industry’s Pork PAC gave Holden $3,000.

Meanwhile, the American Postal Workers Union based in Scranton (Local 101) has no choice but to stick to its principles-- the principle of survival in particular. Existentially threatened by conservatives who want to shut down the post office, the postal workers aren't playing the DC Dems' little footsie game with conservatives who call themselves Democrats. Their decision to endorse Matt Cartwright over Holden came after a unanimous vote of the local membership. As Kevin Gallagher, President of Local 101, explained, “We need someone who will fight for our Area and middle class families and to keep decent paying jobs in our Area... including the Scranton mail procession plant.”