Democrats trying to unseat each other IV

[lpetrich]

From WTTW News:

“A great night for the pro-Israel community and a terrible night for anti-Israel candidates,” AIPAC posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Tonight’s results tell a critical story: centering campaigns on attacking Israel and demonizing pro-Israel Americans is a losing strategy.”

Much of AIPAC’s spending came from two newly formed groups — Elect Chicago Women and Affordable Chicago Now — that did not mention the U.S.-Israeli relationship or foreign policy but focused on the need to elect more female candidates to office and reduce the cost of living.

Illinois House Races: Crypto Spends Millions Against Progressives - Crypto Spends Big in Illinois House Races to Say Consumer Rights Supporters Are Corrupt - A crypto PAC smeared one progressive backed by Bernie Sanders as a “corporate pawn” and spent millions calling another a tax cheat.

From Politico:

The split scorecard comes a month after AIPAC angered its own centrist allies by going after another fairly pro-Israel candidate, former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) — a move that ended up handing the primary to a stronger critic of Israel, progressive Analilia Mejia.

“There was once again a vast amount of money spent and wasted trying to dust up a candidate who, by almost anybody’s reasonable analysis, Israel should be happy to have in Congress supporting a strong U.S.-Israel relationship,” one longtime AIPAC member, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said of the group’s spending against Biss.

AIPAC, the person added, “should take a look at the results in [the 9th District] and New Jersey and reconsider their strategy.”

AIPAC-aligned super PACs spent nearly $22 million in the Illinois primaries, more than one-fifth the total $100 million warchest it has in hand so far for the 2026 midterms, to win two of four open-seat races while losing the one that drove the most national attention.

They lost by letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, something that is a big problem for the Left.

 

[lpetrich]

From MSNow:

For all the money it invests, AIPAC’s goal of keeping Israel a bipartisan cause looks increasingly endangered. In many races, AIPAC can’t find a Democrat who will unequivocally stand by the Israeli government the way it would like. While Republicans have long been mostly unanimous in supporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, AIPAC also wants to elect Democrats who won’t put conditions on aid for Israel or be too critical of Israel’s government — because a bipartisan cause is more insulated from the shifting political winds of a particular moment.

But this election year is making clear how rapidly the politics of support for Israel is shifting, to the point where even among candidates who have historically supported aid to Israel, support from AIPAC has become a black mark with which few Democrats want to be tarred.

So AIPAC might go the way of the National Rifle Association.

At first, groups believed to be linked to AIPAC boosted state Sen. Laura Fine and attacked Biss. But with Fine attracting little support, AIPAC turned its sights onto Kat Abughazaleh, a young Palestinian American progressive and first-time candidate — but again, not by mentioning Israel. (One ad savaged her for supporting Marco Rubio’s presidential candidacy — when she was 16 years old.)

IMO, Marco Rubio would have been tons better than Donald Trump, so we have to give her credit for that.

Abughazaleh turned the tables by making AIPAC’s attacks a centerpiece of her campaign, mocking the group and its ads to her substantial social media following. AIPAC then tried to peel off support from Abughazaleh by boosting trailing candidate Bushra Amiwala, who harshly condemned the group for helping her.

Even Biss, despite being the front-runner in the race he won, used AIPAC as a foil. “AIPAC finds someone like me really scary,” he said. “Someone who’s Jewish, someone whose mother is Israeli, someone whose grandparents survived the Holocaust and who is willing to stand up and say, ‘Listen, the conduct of the national government in Gaza has been a horror.’” Despite AIPAC’s best efforts, the seat will likely be filled by someone who sees AIPAC as more foe than friend.

...
So while the ultimate fault for the decline in support for Israel lies with the country’s government and its policies, AIPAC plays its own damaging role by demanding unquestioning fealty to the Netanyahu government. The barest hint of concern for the lives of Palestinians and their aspirations for self-governance can get a candidate targeted with a wave of negative ads.

But rather than cower in fear of AIPAC’s power, more Democrats are wearing the group’s opposition as a badge of honor. That draws them closer to their own constituents — and suggests that in the near future, AIPAC will lose even more support among Democrats, making it what Democratic candidates seem to already believe it is: just one more Republican interest group.

AIPAC triumphed over Nina Turner in 2021, Nida Allam and Donna Edwards in 2022, and Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush in 2024, but so far, it's less successful this time around.

 

[Derec]

From Common Dreams:

CD is a far-left, rabidly anti-Israel rag. And Kat the Karpetbagger would have been far worse than Biss. Biss is about as good a candidate as can be expected to prevail in a district like IL-9 in today's highly polarized climate.

 

[Derec]

AIPAC triumphed over Nina Turner in 2021, Nida Allam and Donna Edwards in 2022, and Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush in 2024, but so far, it's less successful this time around.

NT is a nutjob, as are the Fire Marshall and CB. Don't know much about the other two, but if they are uttered in the same breath, they are probably pretty bad too.

Kat lost, luckily, but which anti-Israel candidates won so far? "Christian Left" zealot Talarico in Texas wants to ban weapons sales to Israel, and he won his primary, but unlike most of these "D+double digits" House districts, winning statewide in Texas will be an uphill battle, especially if Cornyn wins the R-U-N-N-O-F-T.

 

[Toni]

I think that the Biden Admin wimped out on such things as the child tax credit and Build Back Better. The Kamala Harris campaign also wimped out, keeping Tim Walz out out sight because he attacked Republican candidates as "weird".

It is very disappointing that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema were allowed to be rotating villains. I could half-understand JM, but KS turned against much of what she stood for in her pre-Congress career. Like eagerly taking what she once called bribes.

I cannot understand why anyone ever trusted Sinema in the first place.

While I very much agree that Pelosi deserves to retire, and that there is a danger to staying too long, there is a careful balance to be maintained. With seniority comes power and if the Dems are mostly comprised of freshman and very junior members, they give up important access to key committees —to the GOP.

 

[lpetrich]

US Congressional Primary Schedule:

• 03/03/26 AR NC TX
• 03/10/26 MS
• 03/17/26 IL
• 03/31/26 runoff AR
• 04/07/26 runoff MS
• 05/05/26 IN OH
• 05/12/26 NE WV runoff NC
• 05/16/26 LA
• 05/19/26 AL GA ID KY OR PA
• 05/26/26 runoff TX
• 06/02/26 CA IA MT NJ NM SD
• 06/09/26 ME NV ND SC
• 06/16/26 OK VA runoff AL GA
• 06/23/26 MD NY UT runoff SC
• 06/27/26 runoff LA
• 06/30/26 CO
• 07/28/26 runoff SD
• 08/04/26 AZ KS MI MO WA
• 08/06/26 TN
• 08/08/26 HI
• 08/11/26 CT MN VT WI
• 08/18/26 AK FL WY
• 09/01/26 MA
• 09/08/26 NH RI
• 09/15/26 DE
• 10/25/26 runoff OK

So the next big contests will be coming up in May and June, and then in August and September.

 

[Harry Bosch]

I think that the Biden Admin wimped out on such things as the child tax credit and Build Back Better. The Kamala Harris campaign also wimped out, keeping Tim Walz out out sight because he attacked Republican candidates as "weird".

It is very disappointing that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema were allowed to be rotating villains. I could half-understand JM, but KS turned against much of what she stood for in her pre-Congress career. Like eagerly taking what she once called bribes.

I cannot understand why anyone ever trusted Sinema in the first place.

While I very much agree that Pelosi deserves to retire, and that there is a danger to staying too long, there is a careful balance to be maintained. With seniority comes power and if the Dems are mostly comprised of freshman and very junior members, they give up important access to key committees —to the GOP.

It's rare for me to disagree with Toni, but I can't agree here! Sinema helped save the filibuster. If she or Manchin had backed down, we'd be fucked right now. If no filibuster, Trump and his Q wacko followers are controlling the election process. And the republicans would probably retain congress in 26. Our country desperately needs a check on Trump's power.

 

[Jarhyn]

With seniority comes power

See, this is what the problem is.

Power shouldn't link to "seniority"; it should be loosely correlated, but not directly correlated.

Instead, power should scale with how well someone represents the will of the public, not through how ready they are to align like a weathervane, and instead because they are already aligned/fixated on goals we already agree with.

What we need is not a wimpy car capable of steering finely, but a freight train whose direction we appreciate already, and can grab on for dear life as it blows through.

 

[Elixir]

power should scale with how well someone represents the will of the public, not through how ready they are to align like a weathervane

That.
Individuals like Lindsey “Windsock” Graham, Little Marco, etc should be subject to prosecution for lying about their own views and intent.

 

[Toni]

With seniority comes power

See, this is what the problem is.

Power shouldn't link to "seniority"; it should be loosely correlated, but not directly correlated.

Instead, power should scale with how well someone represents the will of the public, not through how ready they are to align like a weathervane, and instead because they are already aligned/fixated on goals we already agree with.

What we need is not a wimpy car capable of steering finely, but a freight train whose direction we appreciate already, and can grab on for dear life as it blows through.

Eh, I think you are describing what is in place. Take a Senators from state A: they are elected by the people of their state and in due time, if they do a sufficiently good job of ‘doing the will of the people who vote in their district ,’ and wish to continue to be Senator, they stand for re-election. And of course are more able to attract enough money to fund an effective campaign. Lather, rinse and repeat. Along the way, if they are good at their actual job, and if their POV aligns sufficiently well with the powers that be already in place, they pick up committee assignments. This does not rely solely on their own merits: they have to work well enough with others, often in the opposition party, to move forward. Some charismatic and canny bright young things move up very quickly: AOC, for instance.

This, more or less is how Pelosi and all other powerful members of Congress move up the food chain, so to speak.

It is maddening, of course. We do want fresh leadership from time to time. It is all too easy to become a creature of Washington rather than a representative of your people. Flip side is that with more experience, you come to realize and appreciate that those people who elected you don’t have the expertise or insider or just specific knowledge and understanding (often because those people don’t concern themselves with pesky details) that members of Congress gain through their work, just as there are advantages to a brand new plumber or electrician or doctor or nurse —and advantages to those with years of job experience. At a certain point, wisdom and experience must be tempered with the reality of becoming older and also with the very real issue of becoming more a creature of the system vs the representative of the people. We hire plumbers and re-elect representatives because they know more than we do about stuff or are just better and more effective at doing the work. But comes the day when your beloved contractor retires or god forbid, the genius appliance repair person passes away and you are scrambling for a replacement.

It’s a tension. I think it certainly is time for Pelosi to retire, if for no other reasons than likely her husband’s health and her own are in decline and also because you need to make room for the next generations. You want someone to take over your spot. Bernie has done that with AOC, who quite cannily knew who to flatter to advance her goals -and her career. Sanders is also at an age where he needs to pass the baton. Grassley and Mitchell are far past whatever prime they could claim. I know there are others I have t named and certainly there are those who do not stay nearly so long.

The other thing is that power and privilege are addictive. And too often you don’t see your own reliance on these drugs soon enough to make a graceful and timely departure. A big part of that is also on the too easily complacent electorate who do not pay sufficient t attention.

 

[Toni]

power should scale with how well someone represents the will of the public, not through how ready they are to align like a weathervane

That.
Individuals like Lindsey “Windsock” Graham, Little Marco, etc should be subject to prosecution for lying about their own views and intent.

Re: Rubio. Do you think he was lying during his campaign or is he just mistakenly under the belief that he can keep some of the wheels on the track by serving Trump, as did many of Trump’s first cabinet? I’m not sure myself.

 

[Elixir]

power should scale with how well someone represents the will of the public, not through how ready they are to align like a weathervane

That.
Individuals like Lindsey “Windsock” Graham, Little Marco, etc should be subject to prosecution for lying about their own views and intent.

Re: Rubio. Do you think he was lying during his campaign or is he just mistakenly under the belief that he can keep some of the wheels on the track by serving Trump, as did many of Trump’s first cabinet? I’m not sure myself.

For certain, that will be the after-the-fact excuse. I’ll give him credit for preventing anything he can prove he prevented. But he cannot retroactively change the two-faced nature of everything he has said.

 

[lpetrich]

From Common Dreams:

CD is a far-left, rabidly anti-Israel rag. And Kat the Karpetbagger would have been far worse than Biss. Biss is about as good a candidate as can be expected to prevail in a district like IL-9 in today's highly polarized climate.

Why not mourn the defeat of Laura Fine, AIPAC's favorite?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

power should scale with how well someone represents the will of the public, not through how ready they are to align like a weathervane

That.
Individuals like Lindsey “Windsock” Graham, Little Marco, etc should be subject to prosecution for lying about their own views and intent.

Re: Rubio. Do you think he was lying during his campaign or is he just mistakenly under the belief that he can keep some of the wheels on the track by serving Trump, as did many of Trump’s first cabinet? I’m not sure myself.

That the US screwed Ukraine, did whatever with Venezuela, and are currently at war with Iran, I'm guessing if Rubio thought that he could keep it on the rails, he was wrong. I have no idea what Rubio actually thinks. Back in 2016, he was trying to run as a Teabagger, but Trump sucked all of the air out of that camp. So Rubio became a responsible conservative moderate, and got whooped by Trump, like everyone else did.

 

[Elixir]

power should scale with how well someone represents the will of the public, not through how ready they are to align like a weathervane

That.
Individuals like Lindsey “Windsock” Graham, Little Marco, etc should be subject to prosecution for lying about their own views and intent.

Re: Rubio. Do you think he was lying during his campaign or is he just mistakenly under the belief that he can keep some of the wheels on the track by serving Trump, as did many of Trump’s first cabinet? I’m not sure myself.

That the US screwed Ukraine, did whatever with Venezuela, and are currently at war with Iran, I'm guessing if Rubio thought that he could keep it on the rails, he was wrong.

He’s s not an idiot, but he’s full of hubris (like so many trump hires who are idiots). Little Marco has surely (IMHO) rationalized his disgusting forked tongued obsequiousness as you suggest.

Donning a superhero cape and imagining that he is heroically directing the Awesome Power of Trump to the benefit of mankind is probably not difficult under the power intoxication from which he suffers.

No matter how bad things get, saving mankind from the inevitable extinction that would follow from a Trump-sans-Marco makes little Marco a big Hero.

I have no idea what Rubio actually thinks.

Nor do I. But I know some things he doesn’t think.

 

[Toni]

power should scale with how well someone represents the will of the public, not through how ready they are to align like a weathervane

That.
Individuals like Lindsey “Windsock” Graham, Little Marco, etc should be subject to prosecution for lying about their own views and intent.

Re: Rubio. Do you think he was lying during his campaign or is he just mistakenly under the belief that he can keep some of the wheels on the track by serving Trump, as did many of Trump’s first cabinet? I’m not sure myself.

That the US screwed Ukraine, did whatever with Venezuela, and are currently at war with Iran, I'm guessing if Rubio thought that he could keep it on the rails, he was wrong. I have no idea what Rubio actually thinks. Back in 2016, he was trying to run as a Teabagger, but Trump sucked all of the air out of that camp. So Rubio became a responsible conservative moderate, and got whooped by Trump, like everyone else did.

Obviously those more competent than Rubio could not keep it on the rails during the first term. What’s really driving everything south is that the oligarchy is now supporting Trump ( as a useful idiot puppet) and the real big battle will be between the techno nerds oligarchs and the religious oligarchs.

World wide.

God save us.

 

[Elixir]

What’s really driving everything south is that the oligarchy is now supporting Trump ( as a useful idiot puppet) and the real big battle will be between the techno nerds oligarchs and the religious oligarchs.

World wide.

God save us.

No! TECH save us!

 

[Toni]

What’s really driving everything south is that the oligarchy is now supporting Trump ( as a useful idiot puppet) and the real big battle will be between the techno nerds oligarchs and the religious oligarchs.

World wide.

God save us.

No! TECH save us!

Apparently tech intends to replace us all.

Fuck that noise.

 

[ZiprHead]

It's rare for me to disagree with Toni, but I can't agree here! Sinema helped save the filibuster

Sorry, but I cannot agree here. There is nothing in the Constitution that allows a filibuster, at least not in the form it is today.

 

[Elixir]

Apparently tech intends to replace us all.

Now, why would tech want to do that?