Alex Morse Is In! Pelosi Crony Richard Neal Gets A Primary Opponent
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Alex Morse released this announcement video this morning. He's the 30 year old mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts, who originally won that office when he was 22 and beat an establishment politician who was very much like current MA-01 Congressman Richard Neal. "There's an urgency to this moment in Massachusetts’ First District and our country, and that urgency is not matched by our current representative in Congress. We need new leadership that understands that we can no longer settle for small, incremental, and compromising progress. We need to be on offense. We need to be fighting for something, not just against."
Neal, a Pelosi and Hoyer ally, isn't a Blue Dog or New Dem, but he's far from a progressive. ProgressivePunch grades him a "C." His western Massachusetts district, which includes Springfield, Pittsfield, Great Barrington, Easthampton and North Adams, has a strong D+12 PVI and went for Obama with 64% of the vote both times he ran. In 2016 Bernie edged Hillary in 2016 and in the general Hillary beat Trump 57.2% to 36.5%. Last year, the district went overwhelmingly for Elizabeth Warren in her Senate reelection. The Republicans didn't bother running a candidate against Neal. In fact, the GOP in the region has withered away so badly that the last time a Republican ran for Congress there was in 2010. Based on the district, Neal could easily be supporting the progressive agenda-- but he's 70 and satisfied, not the kind of guy who is backing impeachment-- in fact he's helping to hold it up-- nor Medicare-for-All. And 10 of Massachusetts' 11 member congressional delegation are cosponsors of the Green New Deal. The outlier? Richard Neal-- something his constituents have noticed... and something Morse is running on.
There is always a whiff of corruption around Neal, at least in part because more than half of his massive campaign contributions have been coming from political action committees. So far this year he has raised $1,420,369. Last cycle, with no opponent, he raised $3,554,755. The biggest sectors were all with business before the House Ways and Means Committee, that he chairs:
Holyoke's Valley Advocate reported this morning that "after months of speculation about his political plans," Morse had made it official, giving voters a real choice when they vote in the September 2020 primary.
When Morse was first sworn in as mayor of Holyoke in 2012, he was both the youngest mayor in the city at 22 and its first openly gay mayor. On his campaign website, he touted his efforts leading an “economic rebirth” in Holyoke, his work on the issue of affordable housing, his defense of reproductive rights, community policing initiatives and a needle exchange program he helped implement in the city.
...Neal has been a target both of progressive groups and of rural members of his district, who have long complained that he has been absent from their communities.
Neal is also under renewed scrutiny regarding his campaign spending at swanky, high-end Boston locales for donors, as well as his role in what critics have said is a sabotage of the free tax file system, which plays into the desires of Neal donors TurboTax and H&R Block. In his campaign release video, Morse vowed to eschew corporate PAC money, which makes up the vast majority of Neal’s campaign haul.
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Labels: 2020 congressional elections, Alex Morse, MA-01, Massachusetts, primaries, Richard Neal
6 Comments:
Poor Chris Matthews will be very disappointed. He actually thinks Neal is a tough guy who'll stand up (which he won't) for his principles (which he hasn't).
Still waiting for him to request Trump tax returns from New York, who passed a bill for this very purpose - to hand Congress solid evidence of financial crimes. And what does Neal's committee do with the smoking gun? Leaves it lying on the ground and slinks away.
GO, ALEX!!!
Yes, Neal has earned a good primary challenger. Now you need to get Morse elected, win the general, and be seated. The real issue is the Party itself. I don't believe there is time to replace the Party before Trump finishes the destruction of the Federal government. Then what?
Replace the Democratic party with what? Green? Have you forgotten Jill Stein?
A manufactured from thin air Labour Party? An English-speaking Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands?
Pelosi, Biden, Hoyer, Richie Neal,... are not nearly good enough. But Trump, Pence, McConnell, Jim Jordan,... are far beyond bed enough. For now, it's a fairly simple Yes-No choice. And no, we can't survive trying to go the Trotskyite route of "neither war nor peace."
What I meant, 4:19, is to replace the bad Dems with better ones. There is a theme on this page today of candidates DWT deems to be suitable replacements for those DINOs who work against the welfare of the nation by being corporatist tools.
This is but a stopgap measure, since the corruption in the Party can move quickly to taint new members. Howie has posted lists of those who qualify. So as much as I'd love to see a replacement party, there isn't time for that to happen unless and until Trump is stopped - something I don't believe that the Democrats are capable of doing (to my great regret).
so... if the democraps won't and a new party can't... might as well find a high bridge to jump off?
Why not try Green or Socialist? Just as a protest, since nothing at all can ever work and all.
why continue the useless affirmation of evil? try something, even if it doesn't work.
Due to California's ridiculous jungle primary, I can only for Greens or Socialists in the primary (and I do). Greens have only survived in certain local races (none in my vicinity), but no Socialists to my knowledge. I will continue to do so.
But in an attempt to reach the clueless represented by 4:19, one has to speak their language. I don't expect to be any more successful in that endeavor, but one must try. It provides evidence when assaulted by these frools later once their grandiose plans again fail to deliver victory.
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