Today Has Been A Bad Day For Trump-- And It Looks Like He's Trying To Worm Out Of Thursday's Debate

 

The Environmentalist by Nancy Ohanian

The NY Times reported late yesterday that Señor T's "withdrawal from the second presidential debate led to the event’s cancellation. Now, three days ahead of the final debate, Mr. Trump’s campaign is demanding changes to the format and accusing the organizers of bias toward Joe Biden." Always so much drama with these people! Trump's campaign manager Bill Stepien posted the letter he sent to the debate commission on Twitter to refocus Thursday’s debate on the subject of foreign policy, rather than the six subjects announced last week by the moderator, Kristen Welker of NBC. They are "fighting Covid-19," "American families," "race in America," climate change, national security and leadership. He's accusing the debate commission that it had "promised" the debate would be about foreign policy and accused the members of "pro-Biden antics" that "have turned the entire debate season into a fiasco."

On top of that, the debate commission adopted new rules to mute "anyone" who speaks during the other candidate's turn, something that Trump has said he will not accept.

AP reported that "The commission has faced pressure from the Trump campaign to avoid changing the rules, while Biden’s team was hoping for a more ordered debate. In a statement, the commission said it 'had determined that it is appropriate to adopt measures intended to promote adherence to agreed upon rules and inappropriate to make changes to those rules."

The Commission, under attack from Trump, who depends on making a circus out of everything as part of his brand, announced that "Both campaigns this week again reaffirmed their agreement to the two-minute, uninterrupted rule. The Commission is announcing today that in order to enforce this agreed upon rule, the only candidate whose microphone will be open during these two-minute periods is the candidate who has the floor under the rules."





This morning former RNC chairman Michael Steele dropped a bombshell on Trump's head:

Rather than binding up the nation’s wounds, Trump exacerbates division. Rather than standing up to the world’s dictators, Trump cravenly seeks the favor of thugs. Rather than fostering free enterprise, Trump embraces economic principles not only outdated in Lincoln’s time, but made even worse today by a leader who lost close to a billion dollars in a single year running a casino. Rather than seeking to build on the legacy of the Republican Party’s founders, of which Trump is surely ignorant, Trump has posited a single purpose for the GOP-- the celebration of him.

As I’ve reflected on matters of leadership, decency, and constitutional norms I am reminded of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who said “a man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.” Character matters. Our vote matters. The leader we choose matters. I cannot be silent, and I hope neither can you because we know a vote for Joe Biden is what is best for our country-- because America matters.

Also this morning, USA Today made it's first-ever presidential endorsement. The editors wrote that "Biden is a worthy antidote to Trump’s unbounded narcissism and chronic chaos. Having surmounted heartbreaking personal loss-- his first wife and year-old daughter died in a car crash, and his son Beau died of brain cancer-- Biden exudes decency and empathy. Ask yourself: Can you imagine Joe Biden denigrating servicemembers as losers? Cozying up to autocrats abroad? Shaking down a foreign leader for dirt on a political opponent?... Biden is well positioned to repair the wreckage Trump has made of the federal government, from the foreign service to the science agencies Trump has tried to politicize. As vice president in the Obama administration, Biden played a central role in the last economic recovery and is equipped to handle another one.

If this were a choice between two capable major party nominees who happened to have opposing ideas, we wouldn’t choose sides. Different voters have different concerns. But this is not a normal election, and these are not normal times. This year, character, competence and credibility are on the ballot. Given Trump’s refusal to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power if he loses, so, too, is the future of America's democracy.

For nearly four decades, the Editorial Board has stood for certain core values: truth, accountability, civility in public discourse, opposition to racism, common-ground solutions to the nation’s problems, and steadfast support for First Amendment rights. These aren’t partisan issues, or at least they shouldn’t be.

Donald Trump has trampled each of these principles, making more than 20,000 false or misleading statements, ducking responsibility for his actions, spewing streams of invective at his critics, trafficking in racial fearmongering, governing more as the leader of the red states than of the United States, and relentlessly attacking the free press.

Everything about Biden’s nearly half-century political career suggests he would do a far better job of respecting these values. “We need to revive the spirit of bipartisanship in this country, the spirit of being able to work with one another,” the Democratic nominee said in a recent speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Massachusetts Primary Results-- Progressive Movement Won The Big Prize, But...

Markey won his race handily tonight. Kennedy conceded. I bet Pelosi didn't call AOC and concede to her though. Every progressive group that endorsed Markey (other than Blue America) is trying to claim the credit but it really was a team effort that centered totally around Markey. Proof of that pudding. The other progressives picks (albeit not Blue America's)-- Alex Morse in the first congressional district and Ihssane Leckey in the 4th (the seat Kennedy gave up)-- lost.

A quick word about them. Both were perfect on policy and would have voted right all the time. That isn't all that Congress Members do though and although I thought Morse would make an infinitely better member than Richie Neal and that Leckey would have been better than Jesse Mermell, Jack Auchincloss, Becky Grossman or Natalia Linos-- each of whom appears to have out-polled her-- I didn't think I should ask Blue America contributors to give their money to either. Why? I got a feeling that neither had some intangible traits needed-- like "people skills"-- to succeed in Congress. I would have voted, without hesitation, for each of them, but that is different from contributing to them or urging other people to, especially when there are so many prospects in dire need of those contributions in a progressive universe that doesn't have infinite resources.

As for Kennedy, I expect he'll wind up in Biden's cabinet or be given some other stepping-stone job for his inevitable run for the presidency. Although... isn't he the first Kennedy to ever lose an election in Massachusetts?

Pelosi's endorsement of Kennedy turned out to be a kiss of death for him, starting with a big jump in contributions for Markey as soon as Pelosi interfered. Kennedy was never able to articulate a reason for voters to abandon Markey-- and neither could Pelosi (nor could Mark Pocan, another Kennedy endorser who fell flat on his face while splitting the Congressional Progressive Caucus from its grassroots supporters). 

The partial results available now show Markey beating Kennedy 55.52% to 44.86%. Establishment Pelosi ally Richard Neal is up over Alex Morse 59.02% to 40.98%. With all 14 precincts reporting Morse lost his own town, Holyoke, where he is mayor, to Neal, 4,366 (52.56%) to 3,940 (47.44).

With 80% of precincts counted, MA-04 is too close to call between Jesse Mermell (22.37%) and Jake Auchincloss (22.29%). Leckey came in 5th with around 11%.

All the results should be in tomorrow when I'll be a guest on Brad Friedman's radio show too discuss tonight's results.

What Will Joe Kennedy Do After His Congressional Career Ends Tomorrow? A Biden Sub-Cabinet Position?

Tomorrow is primary day in Massachusetts and the more progressive of the two candidates, incumbent Ed Markey, is ahead of Joe Kennedy III in the Senate race. Every public poll this summer has shown Markey ahead and the latest-- an Emerson poll released yesterday-- has him beating Kennedy 56-44%, The RealClearPolitics polling average has Markey ahead 52.0% to 40.8%, an 11.2% gap. That's some turn-around since the first poll taken a year ago that showed Kennedy beating Markey 42-25% (a since evaporated 17 point lead for Kennedy).

Much of the national coverage of the election has been about endorsements. One way of looking at it is that the entire progressive grassroots movement-- from MoveOn (92% of whose Massachusetts members opted for Markey), Daily Kos, NARAL, Sierra Club, HRC, Peace Action and the Working Families Party to DFA, Indivisible, Our Revolution, Sunrise, Justice Dems, PCCC, PDA and Blue America-- has come out for Markey. But the media is also looking at this as a battle between Pelosi-- who hypocritically endorsed Kennedy, probably doing him more harm than good-- and AOC, who validated Markey as the progressive choice. Kennedy was probably further harmed when the only sitting U.S. senator to endorse him was the most right-wing Democrat in Congress, Arizona crackpot Kyrsten Sinema. Elizabeth Warren, on the other hand, is backing Markey. All the massachusetts members of Congress who have weighed in, have weighed in for Markey. And another major progressive validator, Ro Khanna endorsed Markey. Two other widely mistrusted members of Pelosi's leadership team-- Hoyer and Hakeem Jeffries-- have also come out for Kennedy.

Kennedy's congressional endorsement roster is a good signal to not support him. Some of Congress' most loathsome Wall Street-owned New Dems-- the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- are on Team Kennedy, from Filemon Vela, Conor Lamb and coke-freak Pete Aguilar to worthless conservative Dems like Gil Cisneros, Juan Vargas, Elissa Slotkin, Xochitl Torres Small, Sharice Davids, Sean Patrick Maloney, Derek Kilmer, Blue Dog chair Stephanie Murphy and David Trone the crooked Maryland businessman who spent a horrific $31,327,397 of his own cash over 2 cycles to buy a seat. Many are hoping to build relationships with the Kennedy Machine-- and it isn't only conservative Dems in ye ole tit-for-tat, transactional camp. Establishment progressive Mark Pocan, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who imagines himself running for Senate in 2022, has led a number of progressives into the Kennedy tent, putting them in opposition to their own grassroots supporters-- terrible mistake for a movement Pocan has never given a shit about.

Meanwhile, Gabe Debenedetti reported for New York Magazine that Bernie"has not endorsed Markey-- who backed Elizabeth Warren for president-- and shows no signs of planning to do so, despite pleas from Markey and plenty of his advocates... Markey and Sanders served together in the House for 16 years, and in the Senate-- where Warren also serves-- for six.)"

National coverage of the race has tended to focus on two big issues: Markey’s position in the progressive firmament and persistent questions about why, exactly, Kennedy is running if he has few substantive complaints about the senator. “I have been a fan of Ed Markey’s since he led the fight to reform the state’s judiciary when I was governor and that was a long time ago,” 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis told me this week. “I am also a fan of Joe Kennedy’s, my congressman, but I can’t for the life of me understand why he is putting us all through this to defeat a fine U.S. Senator. He should be in Iowa digging up votes for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.” Together, these arguments appear to have made Markey a slight favorite.

Largely inspired by the endorsements and ongoing involvement of Ocasio-Cortez and the Sunrise Movement (a group of young environmental organizers), national progressives have joined Markey’s cause. In a year where the presidential race has offered few clear opportunities for the left flank of the Democratic party to push back against the center-left, this race has seen more vicious intra-party brawling than it might have in a different political context. “Kennedy is a really good release valve when you know you can’t go after Biden,” said one national progressive leader backing Markey.

“What the progressive movement is saying-- particularly the young progressive movement-- is they’re trying to make clear that what happened in 2018 is not just a bunch of women of color knocking off a bunch of old white guys,” Markey’s campaign manager John Walsh told me, explicitly comparing his candidate to Charles Booker, who fell short in Kentucky’s Senate primary in March, and Cori Bush, who defeated longtime congressman William Lacy Clay earlier this month. “When a 74-year-old almost-50-year veteran defeats-- if it happens-- the Mt. Rushmore legacy of Massachusetts politics, maybe national politics, it’s not about how old you are. It’s not about the color of your skin. It’s actually about the policy.”

Everything Kennedy does-- every breath he takes, every move he makes, every bond he breaks, every step he takes, every word he says, every game he plays-- is all about the presidency. It's revolting because it's based on absolutely nothing but his bloodline. He hasn't accomplished a single thing and hasn't distinguished himself in any way other thinly a disgusting display of naked ambition. He's going to lose tomorrow because he never managed to explain why he's running against Markey. In the age of Trump, Massachusetts doesn't have enough low-info Democrats for JK-III to win.

Yesterday Politico reported that "Kennedy’s campaign believes Markey has an advantage among voters who have already cast ballots by mail-- namely white, well-educated voters in the suburbs-- but that high turnout on voting day would lend itself to Kennedy... Pelosi also provided a financial bump for the congressman. Kennedy raised $100,000 within a day of Pelosi's endorsement, according to his campaign. But Markey, who’s assembled a potent small-dollar fundraising operation, says he raised four times that amount-- $400,000-- in the 24 hours after Pelosi weighed in, much of it from progressives frustrated with Pelosi’s decision to intervene."

Civil War Breaking Out Among Both Congressional Parties

Pelosi made a very big mistake a couple weeks ago. She endorsed Joe Kennedy III in his bid to unseat and replace Massachusetts progressive Ed Markey. Pelosi's endorsement immediately turned the race around. Kennedy had been substantially ahead and Pelosi's kiss of death, brought a tidal wave of momentum into the race-- for Markey. Since Pelosi's endorsement there have been two public polls. Suffolk University's Massachusetts Senate poll shows Markey beating Kennedy by an astounding 10 points and the Data for Progress poll a few days ago has Markey up 7 points. This is quite the turn-around from the 17 point lead Kennedy began the race with!

Incumbents usually try to stay out of primaries, especially primaries that involve incumbents. But as all DWT readers are well aware, the only accountability for incumbents in deep blue (or deep red for that matter) districts comes through primaries. Pelosi wasn't attempting to give Ed Markey an accountability moment-- although she opposes the Green New Deal legislation he and AOC wrote-- but was instead trying to cultivate the Kennedy Clan for one reason or another. Same with 2022 Wisconsin Senate hopeful, Mark Pocan, who also endorsed Kennedy against the much more progressive Markey, even though Pocan is co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Yesterday Melanie Zenona and Heather Caygle, reporting for Politico wrote that the congressional primary taboo is breaking down. They speculated that "lawmakers, aides and strategists in both parties say the pattern will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. It’s a shift that reflects the ideological-- and anti-establishment-- churn taking place in the Donald Trump era, and it’s sparking concern among the old guard about rising intraparty warfare."

"More and more members of Congress are going to look and say 'rules are rules' but if in fact there’s a district that’s suffering… we’re going to see a lot more members of Congress supporting challengers,” said Marie Newman, who knocked off longtime Illinois Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski earlier this year with the backing of several prominent Democrats.

Even as leaders in both parties have tried to paint any decision to wield influence in primaries as a “special” case, younger firebrands are interpreting their leadership’s involvement as a green light to show support and spend money on the challengers they prefer.

“If the establishment is going to start shooting at the outsiders and the pro-Trump elements of our caucus, then the bullets aren’t only going to be flying in one direction,” said Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who backed the successful GOP challenger to Rep. Ross Spano (R-FL) after a member of GOP leadership targeted one of his other colleagues.

Playing in primaries has long been looked down upon in both the Republican and Democratic Party, where leaders deploy multi-million-dollar campaign arms to shield incumbents and squash any potential challengers. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took it a step further this cycle-- enforcing a “blacklist” of vendors who work for candidates seeking to oust sitting lawmakers, a move that outraged progressives and motivated them to get even more involved in primary campaigns this cycle.

“These places operate on members’ dues,” said Brendan Buck, a GOP strategist, referring to the parties’ campaign arms. “To be able to get members to contribute, they need to convince them it’s an incumbent protection operation.” Otherwise, he added, “that trust is eroded” and “the money stops coming in.”

Plus, it’s dangerous to take a shot and miss. Leadership used to even shy away from open primaries amid fears of picking the wrong candidate and alienating a future colleague.

“It’s a risky play, no doubt,” said Buck, who served as a top aide to former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI). “You better be damn sure it’s gonna work if you’re gonna do it. People have long memories.”

But now, insurgent lawmakers angry with the establishment and tired of abiding by the kind of decorum that once governed Washington are looking to flex their muscles in primaries — and put leadership on notice.

“No one gets to complain about primary challenges again,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response to Pelosi’s endorsement of Kennedy. The freshman lawmaker, who has won the ire of some colleagues for her openness to supporting primary challenges, also called on the DCCC to get rid of its vendor blacklist. “It seems like less a policy and more a cherry-picking activity,” she wrote.

This is hardly the first time rank-and-file lawmakers have engaged in primaries-- although many more are openly doing so this year-- but it’s now easier than it was a decade ago to actually wield influence through the use of grassroots fundraising and social media.

“The old ways of Washington empower leadership through money. But we’re starting to see that the message and movement may be more important than money,” said Gaetz, who swore off PAC funding. “In today’s world of social media, digital communication and wall-to-wall cable television, the leadership no longer has a stranglehold on the brand or the messengers.”

The 2022 cycle may offer further opportunity for insurgents, as incumbents may be facing entirely new constituencies after the latest round of redistricting.

Allies of Pelosi have defended her decision to back Kennedy, arguing the speaker did not undermine her policy of fiercely protecting House incumbents since she was weighing in on a Senate race. Progressive lawmakers and strategists have dismissed that explanation.

“What we’re seeing right now is the Democratic establishment really being honest in public about what they’re doing. What’s not a change is them taking sides in primaries-- they have long done it for years and years and years, they’ve just been more private about it,” said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America.

Ocasio-Cortez, who declined to be interviewed for this story, shot to prominence after toppling one of the most powerful Democrats in the House: Joe Crowley, the Democratic Caucus chair who was often mentioned as a potential future speaker. A fellow member of her liberal “squad,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), took down longtime Rep. Mike Capuano in 2018 and has since backed other primary challengers.

Progressive challengers have already unseated several long-entrenched Democratic incumbents this year, including Lipinski, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel in New York, and Rep. Lacy Clay in Missouri.

If Neal is defeated by Holyoke mayor Alex Morse, it would be a huge victory for Ocasio-Cortez and a disappointment for Pelosi. The speaker spent several minutes praising Neal’s progressive bona fides at a news conference Thursday and said his district would suffer “a tremendous loss” if he’s ousted.

...But both Gaetz and Ocasio-Cortez have serious sway on the right and left, respectively, so if they do decide to get more involved next cycle, things could get messy. Several other Gaetz-backed candidates sailed to victory in open Florida GOP primaries last week, including far-right activist Laura Loomer who has been banned from Twitter and Facebook for racist comments and attacks on Islam but who has little shot at winning in November.

“One of the jobs of leadership is to keep the peace amongst your team. A real quick way to have your team fall apart is if there is suspicion that certain members are trying to unseat other ones,” Buck said. “Politics is a team sport. And if your team devolves into this type of fighting, it’s really hard to put that back together.”

As I pointed out yesterday, the increasingly dominant and uber-corrupt corporate-backed New Dem caucus has been given the keys to the DCCC. Their endorsement list is basically the Red-to-Blue program this cycle. Two of their most recent endorsements are in jungle primary states-- California and Washington-- where November elections can pit two members of the same party. Vile corporate conservative Sara Jacobs is running against progressive Georgette Gomez in San Diego and another corporate conservative, Marilyn Strickland is trying to defeat state Rep Beth Doglio for the congressional seat in Thurston (Olympia) and Pierce (Tacoma area) counties that Denny Heck is giving up. Jacobs and Strickland are both being backed by the New Dem PAC, while Gomez and Doglio are being backed by the Progressive Caucus. I'm guessing that unless the House Dems dump Pelosi as leader-- and pronto-- this kind of intra-party fighting will accelerate into all-out civil war. (NOTE: You can contribute to both Gomez and Doglio here.)

Kiss Of Death Endorsements: Trump And Pelosi

I know I don't have to interpret that Twitter poll for you, although if you don't know who Shahid Buttar is, he's the progressive Democrat who, along with Nancy Pelosi, came out of the March jungle primary and will face her one-on-one in November. (You can contribute to Shahid's campaign here, as you can see, the only candidate endorsed by this blog.)

After Pelosi exhibited startling, even breath-taking hypocrisy by endorsing Joe Kennedy III who is challenging incumbent Democratic Senator Ed Markey for his Massachusetts seat, just 6.8% of respondents said her endorsement will influence them to favor Kennedy or favor him more. On the other hand... well you can see.

Most Republican senators aren't asking for Trump's endorsement. Like Pelosi's, an endorsement by Trump is just toxic-- especially among independents. Sure, in states or districts that are so heavily Republican, an endorsement from Trump or Pence or Mitch McConnell would be a net plus... and in deep red House districts it makes sense to ask for an endorsement. Senate seats are different. Trump is still popular in Wyoming, Idaho, Oklahoma and the Dakotas but don't expect to see Trump endorsements being ballyhooed by incumbent senators where independent voters determine winners. I don't know what John Cornyn (R-TX) is going to do but I would bet that Susan Collins (ME), Cory Gardner (CO), Thom Tillis (NC), and Joni Ernst (IA) aren't going to be advertising-- at least not to a general audience on TV or radio-- that Trump is backing them.

On the other hand, in Alaska, where nearly half the voters are independents, there is a lot of ballyhooing of Trump's endorsement of Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan-- all of it from Independent Al Gross who is running on the Democratic Party line. I spoke with Gross' campaign manager yesterday and he was almost gleeful to have seen Trump endorse Sullivan. "I hope President Trump comes up here to campaign for Dan," he said. "A majority of the state doesn't approve of him, and with his help, we can make that 60%!" He sent me this:

Yesterday, Collins announced that part-time Maine resident George W. Bush-- remember, relative to Trump and for many people, the stink has worn off now-- has endorsed her-- his first endorsement of 2020. "The nod from the former president, whose politics appear centrist by Trump-era standards, may nudge some traditional Republicans into Collins’ corner," wrote David Sharp for the Associated Press. "Trump has not endorsed the Maine senator, whose race is among a handful critical to Republicans’ hopes of keeping control of the Senate, where they have a 53-47 advantage. Collins, meanwhile, has not said whether she intends to vote for Trump." Fellow New England Republican, Governor Phil Scott (R-VT) made an announcement yesterday that leaves no doubt he doesn't want and would not accept Trump's endorsement: "I won't be voting for President Trump... I have not decided, at this point, whether to cast a vote for former Vice President Biden... something I would consider."

After Pelosi's endorsement of Joe Kennedy III infuriated progressives-- not as much because of the pick as because of Pelosi's disgusting hyocrisy-- AOC sent her followers a fundraising letter from her own campaign but for for Markey, a staffer explaining the double standard:

Last year, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee instituted a new blacklist-- targeting staffers and companies who worked for primary challengers. Unsurprisingly, that overwhelmingly targeted people who worked with progressives.

Now, it’s clear: That blacklist was never just meant to "protect incumbents." It was meant to block progressive leaders from being elected, like Ayanna Pressley, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, or even Alexandria in 2018.

...Markey is not taking the safe route. He’s causing good trouble in Washington, fighting for international peace, a Green New Deal, and dismantling ICE. These are hard fights to win. Many look at them and back down. But not Ed Markey.

Markey is listening to the next generation of leaders-- the young folks on the ground working day in and day out to change the world-- and does everything in his power to amplify their voices on Capitol Hill. If Washington had more leaders like Ed Markey, we’d be a lot better off.

Scary that Pelosi is no longer self-aware enough to understand that her endorsement really is a kiss of death in most places in the country-- even in as blue a state as Massachusetts. Isn't she supposed to be retiring now and passing along her seat to her daughter? You know, the dynasty thing-- like the Kennedys.

John Negroponte Just Endorsed Biden! Is Henry Kissinger Next?

Kamala and Joe by Nancy Ohanian

Not enough Republicans paraded around by the nascent Biden administration for you? Tim Reid at Reuters wrote that over 70 former Republican national security officials including ex-CIA and FBI chiefs will endorse Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday while launching a scathing indictment of [Señor Trumpanzee, aka- the Orange Menace] calling him corrupt and unfit to serve." That's today and... here's the statement from a brand new group: Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden. Some of the big names I recognized on the list include some pretty bad hombres (and when I say "bad," I actually mean bad, like in lousy): Richard Armitage, John Negroponte, William Webster, Chuck Hagel, Michael Hayden, Chester Crocker, Carla Hills...

Collin Powell also endorsed Biden this week (video below) but he's not part of this group. And for some reason they threw ex-Sen. John Warner (R-VA) and ex-congressmen Jim Leach (R-IA), Chris Shays (R-CT) and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) on the list too. Hey, why not? I guess this was the crew that Miles Taylor was teasing out when he said the other day that more Republicans would be coming out against Trump and for Biden. He's one of the signatories of the statement too. They made 10 key points, all pretty basic and nothing that anyone who hasn't been brainwashed by Fox and Hate Talk Radio would dispute:

• Trump has gravely damaged America’s role as a world leader
• Trump has shown that he is unfit to lead during a national crisis
• Trump has solicited foreign influence and undermined confidence in our presidential elections.
• Trump has aligned himself with dictators and failed to stand up for American values.
• Trump has disparaged our armed forces, intelligence agencies, and diplomats.
• Trump has undermined the rule of law.
• Trump has dishonored the office of the presidency.
• Trump has divided our nation and preached a dark and pessimistic view of America.
• Trump has attacked and vilified immigrants to our country.
• Trump has imperiled America’s security by mismanaging his national security team.

I predict a very Republican Biden administration.

Musicians Are Feeling The Bern

I can't believe people were asking me if I went to the big Bernie-Public Enemy event at the L.A. Colliseum ever the weekend. Me? In a 17,000 people arena? In the middle of the coronavirus. I don't even like going to a restaurant anymore. That said-- and watch the video up top-- L.A. Times pop music reporter Randy Lewis wrote about Bernie's immense support from musicians of all stripes. It wasn't a review of the Public Enemy concert though. "Two days ahead of California’s Democratic presidential primary," wrote Lewis, "the 78-year-old Sanders, after taking the stage to the thump of John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band’s “Power to the People,” introduced Chuck D as someone “who has spoken truth to power for decades.” After his brief speech, Chuck and his four-man crew performed a 30-minute set featuring bits and pieces of such classic hip-hop agit-prop as 'Bring the Noise,' 'Black Steel in the Age of Chaos' and, fittingly, Fight the Power.

Among musicians, Chuck D is far from alone for his full-throated support of the Democratic-Socialist-turned-Democratic-frontrunner. The Vermont senator has drawn endorsements from a wide range of Gen X and millennial rock musicians— from Vampire Weekend, the Strokes and Portugal the Man to Jack White, Best Coast and Bon Iver. Many are not only supporting Sanders by word but also performing at fundraisers or other rallies: Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver played Sanders events in Iowa in January; the Strokes performed for him in New Hampshire, and neo-soul group Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats are playing to boost Sanders’ efforts in Minnesota on Monday on the eve of the Super Tuesday primaries.

Sanders is “the only non-corporate candidate, so by default, he’s the only person who you can trust what he’s saying,” the Strokes’ frontman Julian Casablancas told Rolling Stone. “Whatever energy an announcement can give, [we wanted] to get that attention to Bernie. That’s way more important. We would probably do anything he asked.”

Sonic Youth singer and bassist Kim Gordon has participated in politically and socially oriented rallies in years past, but this election has come out in public support for Sanders. Taking Sanders’ grassroots campaign ethic to heart, she invited her more than 300,000 Instagram followers to join her in canvassing precincts door-to-door last month in the San Fernando Valley.

“I feel like it’s kind of the bleakest moment or maybe the most hopeful moment right now,” she told The Times. “Or it could be both. Bernie is such an inspirational figure. He’s been saying the same thing for years, and he’s the only candidate who has grown the Democratic party, who has done outreach to the Latino community, to people who’ve never been approached, as well as to black communities. He really helped create this movement that’s bigger than any candidate.”

In addition to winning support in the rock community, Sanders also has won over a number of hip-hop artists, among them Cardi B., Lizzo, Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike, Anderson .Paak, Lil Yachty and rapper T.I., as well as pop stars including Miley Cyrus, Zedd and Ariana Grande.

Some musicians have lined up behind other candidates: Cher and singer/actress Rita Wilson-- and her husband, Tom Hanks-- are stumping for former Vice President Joe Biden, while John Legend, Melissa Etheridge, Rosanne Cash and Aimee Mann are backing Sen. Elizabeth Warren. John Mellencamp [LOL] is supporting former New York mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg.

All these endorsements beg the question in 2020: What does such support mean in the age of social media? Unlike in decades past, when rock and pop stars’ support was considered essential to amplifying candidates’ public profiles or policy positions-- it was virtually a rite of passage in recent decades when Bruce Springsteen would perform in support of Democratic presidential frontrunners-- today politicians can reach out directly voters through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posts and advertisements. Voters themselves also voluminously broadcast their own preferences to their own followers, whether those number in the dozens or in the millions.

For Cash, an outspoken activist for most of her life and the daughter of country music icon Johnny Cash, a tweet announcing her support for Warren wasn’t posted with any expectation it would suddenly push the 70-year-old former schoolteacher to the front of the Democratic pack.

“People are pretty entrenched these days, there’s not much dialogue,” Cash said. “I don’t know what impact I’ll have. If I make any waves, it’s a tiny ripple. What’s important to me is to participate in the process.”

“For any given celebrity or artist, I think their political impact is diluted because of the online ecosystem we have now,” said Nate Sloan, professor of musicology at USC. “I think the exception to that is endorsements by artists that are unexpected in some way.

“One would be rapper Killer Mike, who has been a really strong supporter of Bernie Sanders’ campaign. His endorsement has been particularly surprising-- an African American inner-city rapper endorsing a left-wing Jewish socialist from Vermont. It reaches communities Sanders might not otherwise reach.”

At the same time, Sloan cited another artist who has more in common with Sanders-- 74-year-old rock star Neil Young, who last month took his oath of U.S. citizenship so he can vote in the November election and soon thereafter posted a scathing attack on President Donald Trump, laying out his concerns about climate change, his animosity toward Trump and his support for Bernie Sanders.





“We’ve seen examples where certain artists making public statements about politics backfired,” USC’s Sloan said. “Lady Gaga was actually used by Trump in 2016 for her support of a Democratic candidate, and that became a rallying cry for how many people didn’t like her.

“Neil Young has a fan base that’s somewhat older, probably white, probably male-- a lot of people who would be voting for Trump,” said Sloan. “Perhaps his letter may have more impact than one coming from Lady Gaga.”

[I have to jump in here and wonder aloud if Mr. Sloan has been to Neil Young concerts. Neil's fan-- and I was the president of his record company-- are not, by and large, Trump voters.]

What Gaga has that Young, Cash or other veteran musicians don’t, though, is millions of social media followers. Young has more than 450,000 Twitter followers, Cash has just under 120,000.

Gaga, by contrast, has 81 million, Taylor Swift has nearly 86 million, and 2016 Hillary Clinton advocate Katy Perry has more than 108 million, translating into massively greater potential reach for whatever issues or candidates they decide to support.

Swift notably ended her historically apolitical public profile during the 2018 Congressional midterm elections, endorsing Democratic Tennessee senatorial candidate Phil Bredesen and House of Representative candidate Jim Cooper [two conservatives].

Cooper won his race [just as he always does, a right-wing Democrat in a totally blue D+7 district where the Republicans don't even bother running a serious candidate], while Republican Marsha Blackburn ultimately narrowly defeated Bredesen. Swift’s message urging her 120 million Instagram followers to vote, however, was followed by a wave of more than 434,000 new registrations-- with nearly two-thirds from people under 30-- in the first five days after her post went up, according to Vote.org.

For all the political and cultural divisiveness many have complained about in recent years, some say they’ve found a measure of comfort in actively engaging with politics ahead of the November election.

L.A. singer-songwriter Julia Holter was one of a handful of local indie musicians who performed on Feb. 24 at an unofficial fundraiser for Sanders at the Lodge Room in Highland Park. “It was a very warm feeling at the show-- just people there for a cause and not taking themselves seriously, no divas,” she said. Filled to capacity, the event ended up raising $10,000 for the Sanders campaign.

“In today’s climate,” Holter said, “it’s important for people to feel something positive.”

Other musicians who have endorsed Bernie include Norah Jones, Sacred Reich, Jackson Browne, Béla Fleck, The Wonder Years, Ani DiFranco, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Michael Stipe, Pussy Riot, Devendra Banhart, Jello Biafra, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Billy Bragg, Jack White, Jason Mraz, Belinda Carlisle, Harry Belafonte...

Biden Campaign Proves That Endorsements From The Wrong Sources Can Hurt A Campaign-- Meet Abby Finkenauer (IA-02)

Worthless careerists, Abby and Joe, have nothing to offer voters

Did conservative Democrat Abby Finkenauer's endorsement of Biden ruin his Iowa campaign? Iowa's first district used to be very blue. Obama beat McCain there, 58.5% to 40.4%, Obama's biggest win in the state. It was also the scene of his biggest victory against Romney in 2012-- 56.2% to 42.5% Then the Democratic Party shoved centrist status quo candidate Hillary Clinton down the party's throat and Iowans looking for fundamental change turned to Trump. A strong Democratic district turned red, or, at best, purple. Trump beat Hillary in IA-01. In 2014 when Democrat Bruce Braley gave up the congressional seat for an ill-fated Senate run, multimillionaire Republican wing nut Rod Blum won the seat and kept it in 2016 thanks to DCCC interference. It took the anti-red wave of 2018 to dislodge him-- despite another worthless DCCC/EMILY's List candidate, state Rep. Abby Finkenauer (an unaccomplished joke in the state legislature).

Finkenauer immediately established herself as a waste of a seat--worthless in the House as she had been in Iowa's state legislature, a pointless backbencher happy to do nothing at all. She quickly ran up an "F"-graded voting record, worse than the records of many Blue Dogs and New Dems. Stephanie Murphy is the chief Blue Dog and even her record is slightly better than Finkenauer's!

No one noticed her until she endorsed Status Quo Joe a couple of months ago. His pathetic and clueless campaign aggressively promoted the anti-charismatic Finkenauer as "Biden's AOC." Laughably, while AOC was helping to draw hundreds and even thousands to Bernie rallies, Finkenauer rarely brought in more than a dozen people to Biden events. She was as colossal a failure in her own district as she was in DC.

That became more than obvious on caucus day, when Biden was gutted like a fish across her district. There are 20 counties in the district, although most of the voters live in the 3 bluest counties-- Linn (Cedar Rapids), Dubuque and Black Hawk (Waterloo). Below are all the counties in descending order of voting population and how the candidates with 15% of more of the vote fared (SDE-wise) in each county.

Linn

• Bernie- 5,274 (28.4%)
• Mayo- 4,571 (24.6%)
• Elizabeth- 3,912 (21.0%)
• Biden- 2,813 (15.1%)

Blackhawk

• Bernie- 3,070 (31.5%)
• Mayo- 2,182 (22.4%)
• Biden- 1,697 (17.4)
• Elizabeth- 1,677 (17.2%)

Dubuque

• Mayo- 2,160 (29.9%)
• Bernie- 1,680 (23.2%)
• Biden- 1,653 (22.9%)
• Elizabeth- 1,093 (15.1%)

Marshall

• Bernie- 816 (34.0%)
• Mayo- 672 (28.0%)
• Biden- 512 (21.3%)

Benton

• Biden- 465 (31.0%)
• Mayo- 435 (29.0%)
• Bernie- 353 (23.5%)

Bremer

• Mayo- 567 (33.3%)
• Elizabeth- 363 (21.3%)
• Biden- 317 (18.6%)
• Klobuchar- 272 (16.0%)

Winneshiek

• Mayo- 486 (30.4%)
• Klobuchar- 397 (24.8%)
• Bernie- 333 (20.8%)
• Elizabeth- 269 (16.8%)

Jones

• Mayo- 368 (30.7%)
• Biden- 256 (21.3%)
• Bernie- 256 (21.3%)
• Klobuchar- 208 (17.3%)

Jackson

• Mayo- 377 (31.4%)
• Biden- 309 (25.8%)
• Klobuchar- 189 (15.8)

Buchanan

• Biden- 383 (29.8%)
• Mayo- 342 (26.6%)
• Klobuchar- 219 (17.0%)

Poweshiek

• Bernie- 504 (36.0%)
• Elizabeth- 392 (28.0%)
• Klobuchar- 210 (15.0%)

Fayette

• Mayo- 432 (36.0%)
• Biden- 264 (22.0%)
• Bernie- 180 (15.0%)

Clayton

• Mayo- 367 (38.0%)
• Klobuchar- 217 (22.4%)
• Bernie- 183 (18.9%)
• Biden- 167 (17.3%)

Iowa

• Mayo- 260 (26.0%)
• Elizabeth- 260 (26.0%)
• Bernie- 240 (24.0%)
• Biden- 200 (20.0%)

Delaware

• Mayo- 248 (27.5%)
• Klobuchar- 218 (24.2%)
• Elizabeth- 195 (21.6%)
• Biden- 188 (20.8%)

Tama

• Bernie- 298 (28.4%)
• Mayo- 285 (27.2%)
• Biden- 220 (21.0%)

Allamakee

• Mayo- 233 (36.1%)
• Klobuchar- 140 (21.7%)
• Bernie- 101 (15.6%)

Mitchell

• Klobuchar- 180 (35.2%)
• Mayo- 113 (22.1%)
• Biden- 90 (17.6%)

Howard

• Mayo- 171 (34.2%)
• Biden- 100 (20.0%)
• Bernie- 86 (17.2%)

Worth

• Klobuchar- 120 (27.3%)
• Mayo- 87 (19.8%)
• Bernie- 73 (16.6%)

And district-wide, what did Finkenauer do for Biden? Not much if anything, the SDEs for all the top candidates:

• Mayo- 14,356
• Bernie- 13,447
• Biden- 9,634
• Elizabeth- 8,361
• Klobuchar- 2,190

These calculations are based on the official party reports accounting for 96.43% of caucus goers. Status quo Joe and Elizabeth are battling it out to see who will be in third place and who will be in fourth place. He probably would have done better without Finkenauer's kiss of death endorsement.

Just wait 'til he gets to the suburbs east of Sacramento, where he was endorsed by spineless and despised lesser-of-two evils incumbent Ami Bera, whose elderly father in rotting in prison for taking the rap for one of Bera's fund-raising frauds. Or to Massachusetts, where two collossally unpopular members of Congress, conservatives Stephen Lynch and Seth Moulton have both endorsed him. Worse yet, in Oregon he has been endorsed by political pariah right-wing Blue Dog Kurt Schrader-- the only House Democrat opposing the pro-labor legislation pending before the House this week. Fun weeks ahead for Team Biden!

Kurt Schrader: The face of Biden's Oregon efforts

Bob Lefsetz is probably the most incisive critic of the American music business. This week he also took a swing at Status Quo Joe's crumbling campaign. "One thing’s for sure," he wrote; "Biden’s toast. But how could this be? For months we’ve endured polls, talking heads, telling us he was the leader and the people’s choice, the man with experience shooting right up the middle. But it turns out that’s not what people wanted at all."

So, the pollsters got it wrong. Oh, there was that Des Moines Register poll that was canceled that was supposedly more accurate, and I’m sure Nate Silver and the rest of the experts will weasel once again and tell us how they really got it right, but they didn’t. Turns out it’s not only government that is out of touch with the public, but the pollsters and the media too.

It all comes down to if you’re winning. If the present environment is working for you, you want no change.

But it turns out the present environment isn’t working for most of America.

Let’s start with Trump. The same media outlets and pollsters failed to see the disharmony that led to the Donald’s election, they convinced us, even him, that his campaign was a sideshow, a way for Trump to burnish his brand, to start a TV network, to get richer. Little did we expect that he would use the Presidency to get richer.

And on the other side you’ve got Bernie. According to Hillary Clinton, an evil hatemonger who refuses to play well with others. Meanwhile, Bernie almost deposed the anointed Hillary in 2016 and it appears he’s gonna run to the roses this year. Turns out most of the populace is not happy with business as usual.

Let’s talk about the Clintons. Sure, they were eviscerated by the right, but they also used their position to get rich, even Chelsea has gotten rich, she’s even wealthier than Hunter Biden! But sucking up to Wall Street and the rest of the billionaires was de rigueur, because everybody else did it. You needed their money to win. But Bernie didn’t take a dime from the usual suspects and this time around he’s raised more money than anybody!

... [T]he Democrats have no center. It’s a big party under a big tent but a self-serving cabal runs it and they don’t want any change. Now that Bernie Sanders is a distinct possibility the truth has finally come out, those in power, at the DNC, don’t want any change, no different from the Grammys. You see a new guy is gonna come in, who gets to choose the head of the party and…a lot of people are gonna lose their influence, if not their jobs.

So, America doesn’t appear that different from Afghanistan, some other tribal country.

... [E]ssentially no one is alive who remembers when America was a second-class nation. Everybody thinks the U.S. of A. is the greatest country in the world, it cannot be defeated.

As for Vietnam and Iraq, the belief is the agitators undermined us and if we just gave the armed forces and Dick Cheney and the other rulers carte blanche, we would have won again.

Only that doesn’t take into account hearts and minds. The North Vietnamese were willing to sacrifice everything for the cause. And the truth is so many of the losers in today’s society feel the same way. They’re sick of billionaires, sick of kowtowing to the rich, they want some power.

Which is how Trump got elected. He represented change.

Hillary was damaged goods offering business as usual.

Just like Joe Biden.

But the insiders tell us we must nominate someone safe in order to win in November, we must sacrifice all our beliefs, all our interests, for a greater good…which would only benefit the entrenched. Which brings up the question why bother to vote at all?

A huge slice of the public never does. Many because they believe there will be no difference. And after living through twenty five years of tech innovation they know that change can happen overnight, if people choose to make it happen. They also know that techies run circles around D.C., elected officials don’t understand tech, never mind regulate tech.

But all we hear from insiders is how dumb the populace is.

But that’s because they don’t understand it’s not about issues so much as emotions.

Oh, the Republicans always focus on a divisive issue, but the Democrats…Hillary Clinton fake smiled, just like old Joe, and no one bought it, they didn’t speak to your soul, they were controlled by those with the cash.

Globalization is here to stay. What’s your answer to that?

Trump’s is to promise impossibilities as he engages in trade wars. No, manufacturing is not coming back to America, and coal mining won’t boom. Instead of providing false hope, why don’t you give the disenfranchised a roadmap as well as a safety net as opposed to service jobs that don’t put food on the table, never mind a roof over your head.

This is why Bernie is resonating, because it’s crooked and you’re screwed. Everybody knows this, it’s just the winners don’t want to admit they’ve bent the system to their satisfaction, they just tell others to pull up their bootstraps, it’s easy, everyone can be a millionaire, even though you can’t get into a good college because they’ve paid for slots, with either bribes or buildings, and have had their kids tutored and… It would be like trying to become a coder in a school without computers, it can’t be done.

I’m not saying a whole hell of a lot new here, I’m just wondering when the powers-that-be are gonna wake up and admit what’s going on.

Add up the numbers. Put Sanders and Warren together and…

It appears the public wants radical change.

But what does the media do? Concoct a phony war between them.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi steals Trump’s thunder by ripping up his speech. He wouldn’t shake her hand and she took revenge. And owns the news cycle.

Sometimes you’ve got to test the limits, sometimes you have to push the envelope, sometimes you have to throw decorum out the window, sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.

But all the left can do is respond to the talking points of the right, as opposed to leading.

Which is one reason Mayor Pete can’t win. Do you think people are gonna buy his phony smile? He appears devious, and he’s selling nothing other than himself. It’s like he constructed his campaign on a computer. Let’s see, where’s the best slot, somewhere between Bernie and Biden, if you can believe in this guy, you probably went to Harvard and worked at McKinsey yourself.

Meanwhile, if you didn’t go to an Ivy, good luck getting that gig at McKinsey. As for the funds, they load your employer up with debt, take their investment and profits out first and you’re left holding the bag.

But you’re supposed to laud them because they’re rich.

The old America is dead. The internet proved that those telling us what was going on had no clue. Meanwhile, the rich on the left and right, the elites, rigged the game to their advantage, telling the less fortunate that it was just luck they lost out, that there was nothing they could do about it.

So, the public wants its revenge.

Any Democrat can beat Trump if the party just gets behind the nominee. Instead, the DNC keeps going on about who’s electable.

You know who is electable?

THE ONE THAT WINS!