Not Any Goo Will Do, Part Two

Oligarch now has a "D" next to his name. Is that enough of a reason to vote for him?

And by "Part Two," I'm just talking about the past 24 hours! Part Three, for those who plan ahead, comes this evening at 9pm (PT). Some would say that's practically the theme of the whole DWT blog; period. OK, fair enough; it is a frequent topic. And when I saw this Akela Lacy tweet yesterday (just below)... well, you can probably imagine! That was the end of the post I was planning to write about the Georgia and Alabama Republican Senate primaries. Part One, as you can see by clicking on the first link above, was in the intro to the guest post our newest candidate, Jim Harper, wrote:

Indiana’s 1st congressional district is a rare deep-blue territory in Mike Pence’s home state. Incumbent Democratic Congressman Pete Visclosky-- retiring after 18 terms-- won the district by 31 points in 2018. The primary on May 5 will decide whether the next representative from this district is a conservative, a lobbyist, an anti-impeachment former Republican, or a truly bold progressive.

Any blue will do? Not really. Not in the presidential race, not in the Senate race (see Kyrsten Sinema) and certainly not in House races either.

I asked a bunch of California Congress members what Bustos was up to. One wrote back to say that she could be worried that if no Democrat comes in in the top two in the jungle primary, the Democrats would lose the purple-district seat. I responded with another question: "So is Bustos going to ask everyone to pressure that Republican-lite candidate who looks like Katie Hill to get out of the race so Cenk can sail to victory? If she does, I'll publicly apologize for all the unkind things I've ever said about her." No response. But after the meeting one of the freshmen called me to told me what actually happened at the meeting. The freshmen are worried that the DCCC is dumping too much money to prop up Christy who they say is too lazy and entitled to raise enough money to fund an aggressive campaign. The freshmen have a vested interest in the DCCC spending money to protect their seats and not waste it on someone who is unwilling or unable to stand on her own two feet. This was completely shocking for me to hear. And then there was some off-the-record stuff that I hope to be able to share eventually, but the idea of the DCCC even considering backing off from Christy Smith is nothing short of astounding.

I wonder if Bustos is also calling meetings of all the Texas and Illinois Democrats too, since it certainly looks like Blue Dogs Henry Cuellar and Dan Lipinski are finally about to be flushed down the toilet. Tuesday, in fact the Chicago Sun-Times endorsed progressive Democrat Marie Newman for IL-03, noting that Lipinski is "a closet Republican", just like Bustos' candidate Jeff Van Drew Christy Smith in California is. Lipinski, wrote the Sun-Times editorial board "is a reluctant Democrat. He voted against the Affordable Care Act in 2010 before coming around and doing so later on. Lipinski, we should add, also has voted against key legislation on immigration-- measures widely favored by his own party-- before coming around. And he’s been slow to support full rights and equality for LGBTQ folks, though of late he’s been coming around. And why does Lipinski, who has never distinguished himself in Washington, finally keep coming around? ... Our endorsement goes to Newman. Nobody will have to give her a push to champion the values and policies of her own party."

Like Lipinski and Cuellar, Van Drew Christy Smith is the kind of candidate who, if she wins, will have be constantly pushed to do the right thing. (Unlik Cenk, who would be leading the charge, something that may be a bit scary for many "more establishment Democrats." It's meant to be. The L.A. Times, when endorsing Smith yesterday, explained why they passed on Cenk, the very clearly much better candidate: "While we agree with him about the corrupting influence of money in politics and some other subjects, we find his pugnacious style off-putting and not conducive to a more civil Congress." Yep... no, doubt he'll fight way too hard for anyone to feel comfortable, especially if they oppose fundamental change. No possibility of anyone fearing Van Drew Christy Smith on that count. Besides, what would you rather have, a civil Congress or an honest Congress?

As for Bustos' special friend Henry in south Texas, he is so spooked by the gigantic grassroots Jessica Cisneros campaign that he released a TV ad smearing her, with the same kinds of lies Republicans use.

Cuellar, for example, claimed she just moved into the district to run against him. She was born and raised there and was recruited to run by her Laredo high school teacher. Here's the fact check on the ad's content; maybe someone should show it to Cheri Bustos and Pelosi, who are both backing Cuellar and have threatened anyone who works for Cisneros:

No wonder Cuellar became Trump's favorite Democrat after Cheri Bustos' favorite Democrat, Jeff Van Drew, migrated, officially, to the GOP, where he and Cuellar and Lipinski and Christy Smith and Bustos all belong! I spoke with Cisneros last night and she told me that Cuellar's "brand of 'bipartisanship' means sticking the Democratic stamp of approval on Republican legislation and Republican talking points." It's taken some members of Congress years to learn that lesson. It's uplifting that Jessica Cisneros understands it before she even gets into Congress. Speaking off which, please consider contributing to her campaign by tapping on that thermometer up above.