• Welcome to the Internet Infidels Discussion Board.

Democrats trying to unseat each other IV

Gun Violence
Our children and communities deserve to exist without fear of gun violence. As a member of the "school shooting generation," I know too well the anxieties caused by active shooter drills, lockdowns, and the very real threat of gun violence in the classroom.

That’s why we must implement a federal assault weapons ban modeled after Illinois' assault weapons ban, enact comprehensive universal background checks, require waiting periods, institute mandatory gun safety training, close gun show and ghost gun loopholes, and prioritize victims of gun violence above all else.

Healthcare
Every American deserves healthcare regardless of whether they have a job. That’s why we need a universal single-payer healthcare system — with an opt-out if you’re a private insurance super-fan… for some reason.
Medicare for All
No more deductibles, no more “that’s not covered under your plan,” no more “out of network providers,” and no more insurance agents trying to get you the least possible care for the most possible money. Just you and your doctor in the room.

...
All-Inclusive: That means dental, because your teeth are not luxury bones. Eye care, because you shouldn’t have to stretch those disposable one-day contacts over three days.
I add: ears. Also, "Drug Price Negotiation" and "Rural Support" and "Innovation". Price negotiation ought to include subsidizing the production of some kinds of drugs.
 
Humane Foreign Policy
For decades, American foreign policy has recklessly resulted in mass death and displacement, dehumanization, and seemingly endless wars. We cannot allow taxpayer funds to go to war crimes, whether those crimes are committed by American soldiers, contractors, or our allies. Countries and militaries that receive financial assistance and weapons from the United States must abide by that simple principle if they want our to continue receiving American aid. Otherwise, Congress and the State Department must work to ensure that, as per the Leahy Act, allies are investigated for their conduct and military aid is rescinded.

... Global peace means not bowing down to authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin or Viktor Orbán, as Donald Trump and his cronies have done.

Trump and Elon Musk's dismantling of critical USAID programs and other foreign assistance threaten millions and must be immediately restored.

...
I believe in holding our allies accountable, even when it's inconvenient. For too long, the United States has let allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia commit egregious acts with American taxpayer-funded weapons. I am a proud Palestinian-American, but people of all backgrounds and ethnicities should be disturbed by our government's complicity in Israel's 58-year-long illegal occupation of the West Bank and the ongoing attacks on Gaza, which have killed tens of thousands of civilians, including infants and children. My foreign policy centers people, not the governments or groups claiming to represent them. I wholeheartedly support the immediate release of all hostages held in Gaza and a permanent ceasefire that sets the stage for peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.
I like that.
 
Immigration
The United States has always been a country of immigrants: I'm the daughter of one. I vehemently oppose Donald Trump's insistence on vilifying immigrants and criminalizing their very existence. Immigration is not just about the economy, it's about basic human rights and dignity. All people deserve to be able to come to a country where they are free from persecution and strife and we must create a country that reflects that ideal.

I want to be as clear as humanly possible: NO mass deportations, NO internment camps for immigrants, and NO backtracking on the best part of the American Experiment.

LGBTQ+ Protections
The LGBTQ+ community has historically been forced to be canaries in the proto-fascist coal mine and this time is no different. That's why even though Republicans are trying their best to villainize queer (particularly trans) people, we're not going to fall for it. Some Democrats might be happy to throw trans people under the bus for an interview with Steve Bannon, but I'm not. I refuse to meet this GOP smear campaign with anything except unflinching solidarity with the queer community.
Proposing "Ensure legal protections for the queer community." and "Protect the transgender community." and "More medical support and research."

Social Security - "Social Security is the backbone of this nation and yet Donald Trump is trying to destroy it." and "Almost a fifth of our country depends on Social Security (which they paid into) to survive. Any cuts, much less full dismantlement, are unacceptable." Even to the extent of a general strike.
 
Reproductive Rights
This is pretty easy for me: Abortion access is essential to healthcare, plain and simple. That's why — and I'm sure Sean Hannity will clutch his pearls at this — I refuse to endorse any term restrictions.

Third trimester abortions are exceedingly rare and reserved for the most severe possible pregnancy complications. Even with exception carve-outs, the only thing these restrictions do is force dying patients and doctors to jump through legal hoops to get and provide basic medical care.
I like that she addressed the issue of mid- to late-term restrictions on abortion.

Veterans
Republican presidents like George Bush and Donald Trump have wanted to send young Americans abroad to risk their lives in wars we shouldn't be involved in in the first place only to welcome them home with minimal support. Now Trump and his administration have turned minimal support to no support, slashing veterans' benefits, including healthcare. Veterans deserve better.

Much like AOC's platform and AOC's Green New Deal

To me, at least, that's a great platform, and I'm sure that Rep. Jan Schakowsky would agree with much of it: Issues | Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky
 
Prem Thakker ツ: "A tale of two Gen Z congressional candidacies: ..." — Bluesky
— First-time candidate Kat Abughazaleh with a detailed policy page on Day One
— Second-time candidate Isaiah Martin, who announced last week, with no policies on his website:
noting Kat Abughazaleh: "I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I'm running for Congress." — Bluesky

Isaiah Martin For Congress - also running as a Democrat, for TX-18. But his campaign site does not contain an "Issues" page, a platform page.
 
I think that the Biden Admin wimped out on such things as the child tax credit and Build Back Better.
Wrong. The Biden administration pushed hard for B3 (aka the $3.5T Spendapalooza) even though it was really Bernie agenda originally.
The Kamala Harris campaign also wimped out,
Did she really? I don't think so. She pushed spending programs even more profligate than Biden's.
Harris wants to give a $6,000 tax credit to parents of newborns. Here's what to know.
Harris to propose up to $25K in down-payment support for 1st-time homebuyers
Harris promises 1 million forgivable loans for Black businesses

The expanded child tax credit was even more generous than the one pushed by Biden as part of Speandapalooza.
keeping Tim Walz out out sight because he attacked Republican candidates as "weird".
I do not recall the Knucklehead being kept out of sight, and certainly not because he called Republicans "weird". On the contrary, it was that quip that got him the nod. Before that, he was not even on the short list.
Kamala Harris made a mistake picking Walz. She should have gone with Josh Shapiro. But, of course, he was not acceptable to the Muslims and left wing crazies.
ebir16k1p0qd1.gif

It did not work, of course. Even with Walz as the running mate, places like Dearbornistan still voted for Trump and Jill Stein.
Detroit Evening Report: Trump wins Dearborn, Jill Stein wins 18 percent of the vote over Gaza
It just shows that you can't appease extremists unless you agree with them 100%.
It is very disappointing that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema were allowed to be rotating villains.
On the contrary, they saved us from the even higher inflation that B3 would have caused.
 
Last edited:
Democrats are desperately searching for new leaders. AOC is stepping into the void. - March 20, 2025, 2:00 AM PDT - "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is hitting the road with Bernie Sanders this week as even once-skeptical Democrats seek to elevate the progressive star in their fight against Trump."
The Dems took the wrong lesson from Trump's 2016 victory and swerved hard to the left. That overreach paved the way for Trump regaining power in 2024.
Dems must not make the same mistake again. Polls show that voters want them to be more moderate.
More Democrats Favor Party Moderation Than in Past
 
We need term limits, imo, more than anything else. That goes for judges as well. There are too many people that stay in Congress or on the courts far too long. They often become corrupt or easily influenced by big business etc. I don't care how old someone is, if they are healthy, but nobody should be in Congress for decades regardless of whether I agree with their ideology or not. No Judge should be given a lifetime appointment either. People on both sides are addicted to their power and not what is best for the country.

I think we need people who are on the left, on the right and in the middle. Of course it will be based on the make up of a district or state that will determine which person wins. Compromise is what life is all about and we don't have any of that right now. Democrats are more likely to compromise to some extent, while Republicans rarely do these days. Unless we can get rid of MAGA and get some honest, decent people of many political persuasions in office, we're fucked. That is likely a fantasy at this point in time, but it's the only thing that will save us.

We need realism, not extremism or idealism.
 

A Tik-Tok influencer? That's the best Dems can do?

She has a career of reporting on right-wing kookiness, and she was employed by Mediaite for a while, and she is online as "Kat Abu". Her father is a Palestinian, her mother a Texan, thus her name.
She also did not even live in Illinois until last July and she is still not living in the 9th district. Instead, she is living in the 7th district, which is also represented by an octogenarian, but it is a mostly black district, and so less favorable to her.
She is a classic carpetbagger.

Kat Abu said:
I'm 26, I don't have health insurance, and I'm running for Congress.
Why doesn't she have health insurance? With Obamacare subsidies, anybody making any reasonable income can afford premiums for something like a silver plan. What's her excuse? Does Tik-Tok influencing really pay so poorly she can't even afford subsidized premiums?
We have a representation problem. As in, about half of Congress are millionaires and people born before the Moon landing.
[Citation needed] that P((net worth ≥ $1,000,000)∧(birth year < 1969)) ≈ 0.5.
Or did she mean "or" when she said "and"?
And that's part of the reason we're in this mess: Our leaders are out of touch.
I am not sure electing an air-headed Tik-Tok influencer will make Congress more in touch.
I am actually not even sure she genuinely wants to get elected. This is possibly just a ploy to increase her follower count.
I'm a renter. I don't have health insurance. My net worth is pretty much just the laptop I bought with my entire severance when I got laid off... and my adorable cat Heater. I spend my spare time knitting, playing video games with friends, and reading sci-fi.
Like AOC, Maxwell Frost, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, ...
I thought the fire marshal was a middle school principal. Don't they have health insurance?

Also, I think somebody who seeks power over and responsibility for the multitrillion dollar US budget should be able to handle her own money better.

The current Representative for that district is Jan Schakowsky, and she was first elected in 1998, a year before KA was born. She did not have a competitive primary in any year between 2000 and 2024.
I am all for new blood, but Dems need to do better than air-headed carpet bagging Tik-Tok influencers who can't figure out how to operate healthcare.gov.
 
Last edited:
Kat Abu said:
The climate crisis is an existential threat and the Trump administration's subservience to Big Oil will only accelerate the planet's warming.
Trump is bad on climate, no doubt. But we will need oil (and gas) for a few more decades.
Electric cars are still less than 10% of all new car sales.
Electric Vehicle Sales and Market Share (US – Q4 2024 Updates)
And even if, say, by 2040 sale of new ICE vehicles gets banned (except for maybe some niche applications), the cars sold until then will run well into 2050s.
So while I am all for incentives for buying EVs and more spending on public transit in cities, as well as more walkable/bikable neighborhoods, I do not think we should demonize oil and gas either.

We need urgent action which is why I endorse the Green New Deal, including the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps to create millions of good-paying jobs that will ensure a speedy and sustainable transition to renewable energy across the board.
GND is a bad proposal. It had a lot of stuff that is only tangentially, or not at all, related to climate policy. It is more of a Trojan horse to smuggle in a host of left-wing policies like federal job guarantees or the climate paramilitaries that she mentions here.
Despite what the right may have told you, the Green New Deal is not some woke scam to ban beef farming or take away your old Corvette.
Then why does the GND FAQ talk about eliminating things like cattle farming and air travel?
GND FAQ said:
We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast,

It's a plan for revitalization, not just for the climate but for our economy, our country and our planet as a whole: clean water, clean air, clean energy, more green space, and millions of jobs, just to name a few of the benefits.
In other words, utopia (which means "no place"). And how to fund the at least $60T price tag? Modern Monetary Theory, aka Magic Money Tree. GND is not a serious policy. Note that it has been more than half a decade since the initial resolution, and the likes of AOC and Markey still have not written up any detailed proposals about how to implement the whole thing practically.
 
It’s time we fight for real family values, not the fake "family values" that the far-right uses as a smokescreen for homophobia and misogyny. We need compassionate and comprehensive support for all. Every family and individual deserves to thrive, which is why we must 1) implement a substantial child tax credit, 2) guarantee at least a year of paid parental leave, and 3) provide a monthly income and Social Security credits to stay-at-home parents.
It's easy to be generous with other people's money. In practice, child-free people making $40k or $50k end up subsidizing expanded child tax credits for parents making six figures (eligibility is up to $400k for those filing jointly). In what universe is that fair?
One of the biggest legislative successes of this century was reducing child poverty by almost 50% with the passage of an expanded child tax credit, which Congress (including several Democrats) then let expire, plunging millions of kids into poverty.
Of course if you give people more money they will have less poverty. But money does not grow on trees. Somebody must pay for it, and much of it is paid for by child-free people with modest incomes, while people with children making up to $400k get subsidized.
Also, the expanded child tax credit was meant as a temporary Pandemic measure, not as a permanent entitlement.
Raising children is a form of labor and deserves to be compensated as such. I support federal implementation of programs to provide stay-at-home parents with a monthly stipend of at least $3,000, adjusted based on the number of parents and children in the household.
Again, somebody has to pay for this. It's not free money. Parents already get more than enough subsidies.
And any subsidy for children should phase out with increased number of children, it should not increase linearly or indefinitely.
In 2025, having and raising a child in America is a radical and courageous act.
She is exaggerating quite a bit here.
 
Last edited:
Progressive TikToker Kat Abughazaleh raises $100,000 for House primary bid | Semafor - Katherine Abughazaleh - “What if we didn’t suck?” she asked in her launch video.
Abughazaleh, 26, said that she only moved to Chicago last year, but didn’t see Rep. Jan Schakowsky, 80, wielding her power effectively in the House.

“Democrats should have been standing outside the Treasury Department when Elon Musk and his cronies went in,” she told Semafor.

Gen Z Progressive With Massive TikTok Following Launches Congressional Bid in Illinois | Common Dreams
Kat Abughazaleh said that her campaign had raised $200,000 in its first 24 hours because "people believe in our 'far-left' ideas like Existence Shouldn't Be So Difficult."

...
U.S. President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk "are dismantling our country piece by piece, and so many Democrats seem content to just sit back and let them, so I say it's time to drop the excuses and grow a fucking spine," Abughazaleh said in her campaign launch video.

Schakowsky, who is 80 and has held the seat since 1998, "has had a pretty great track record on her voting," Abughazaleh told Rolling Stone. "She's been a good congresswoman, but I want to be better."

A reporter with the local paper Evanston Now posted a statement from Schakowsky responding to Abughazaleh's campaign. "I have always encouraged more participation in the democratic process, and I'm glad to see new faces getting involved as we stand up against the Trump administration," Schakowsky wrote. Schakowsky has not said officially whether she plans on running for reelection, according to the reporter.
Does JS want to retire? If KA seems like a strong enough candidate, JS might well do so. That's what Nita Lowey did back in 2020. She was 83 at the time, having served for 32 years.  Nita Lowey She died last January.
 
Last edited:
That’s why we must implement a federal assault weapons ban modeled after Illinois' assault weapons ban,
Not that stupid old canard!
A ban on so-called "assault weapons" will do nothing. Vast majority of firearm homicides are committed using handguns, not rifles of any type. Even for mass shootings handguns are more common.
And for things like school shootings, should an AR15 be unavailable, handguns work just as well. Perhaps even better because they are smaller and lighter. Just look at  Seung-Hui Cho. He killed 32 and wounded 17 with a couple of handguns.
enact comprehensive universal background checks, require waiting periods, institute mandatory gun safety training, close gun show and ghost gun loopholes, and prioritize victims of gun violence above all else.
On the other hand, a lot of these are sensible. Banning an entire class of rifles is not.
Every American deserves healthcare regardless of whether they have a job. That’s why we need a universal single-payer healthcare system — with an opt-out if you’re a private insurance super-fan… for some reason.
Then it's not technically "single payer". It's more like ACA with a public option. Single payer would be a system like in Canada.
Medicare for All
Medicare is not a single payer system either.
No more deductibles, no more “that’s not covered under your plan,” no more “out of network providers,” and no more insurance agents trying to get you the least possible care for the most possible money. Just you and your doctor in the room.
Any system will have things that are covered and things that are not. And Medicare has networks and private supplemental insurance as well.
The only possible way it is "just you and your doctor in the room" is for those who pay cash. If somebody else pays, be it private insurance or the government, they will have some say.
All-Inclusive: That means dental, because your teeth are not luxury bones. Eye care, because you shouldn’t have to stretch those disposable one-day contacts over three days.
I agree with here here.
I add: ears. Also, "Drug Price Negotiation" and "Rural Support" and "Innovation". Price negotiation ought to include subsidizing the production of some kinds of drugs.
While pharm companies need to be able to develop new drugs (very expensive) and also turn a profit, these costs should be more evenly shared. If we negotiate prices (as we should) Canadians will have to pay more (as they should). Right now, US patients are subsidizing Canadians and others.
 
How this TikToker running for Congress is designing her campaign for Gen Z - Fast Company
Kat Abughazaleh’s run to represent Illinois’s 9th District in D.C. provides some insight into how Gen Z candidates might change the campaign playbook.

...
After stating her intention to run for a House seat against the 80-year-old Democratic incumbent, Representative Jan Schakowsky, Abughazaleh adds, “Unfortunately, this party has become one where you have to look to the exceptions for real leadership, as the majority work from an outdated playbook. We need a makeover.”

...
On TikTok, Abughazaleh has become known by more than 225,000 followers for her liberal political commentary, giving viewers frank, easy-to-understand analyses of policy and cultural trends, like an eight-part series on the rise of white Christian nationalism. Outside of social media, she’s worked as an independent journalist for the left-leaning watchdog nonprofit Media Matters for America, monitoring conservative content and analyzing emerging trends. Now she’s using her experience as a communicator to craft a campaign designed to capture young voters’ attention.
Her announcement video is in the style of her numerous other TikTok videos.
Instead of being a production-heavy or highly edited announcement, Abughazaleh’s video is just her, in her home, casually speaking into a microphone with captions—a standard TikTok format she also uses for her political commentary.

... Her mix of candid honesty, exasperation, and a touch of humor feels like a refreshing reflection of how Gen Zers actually talk to each other on the internet.

...
In short, Abughazaleh’s copy style communicates that she’s a regular, in-touch, working-class citizen of the U.S., and it’s meant to distinguish her from the reputation of elitism and inaction that has plagued many established Democratic politicians.
 
Kat Abughazaleh Announces Run for Congress Against Jan Schakowsky - at Rolling Stone - "The Democratic district where Kat Abughazaleh is running hasn’t had a competitive primary in decades"

JS won her first general election for her current seat in November 1998, and KA says about that “I wouldn’t be born for another four months.”
Abughazaleh is transparent about the fact that she is not what anyone thinks of as shoo-in for Congress: a 26-year-old narcoleptic freelance social media creator who doesn’t live in the district and has only lived in the state for less than a year, challenging a Democratic Party leader who has represented this part of Illinois for more than a quarter of a century.

That’s kind of the point: She is a normal person — with a rental lease she can’t break before it’s up, financial pressure bearing down on her, and prescription medication that she needs to function properly, which has been challenging to obtain since Elon Musk went after her employer, and she and many of her colleagues were laid off.
So she does not have much choice in where to live.
“We are in an emergency,” Abughazaleh says. “Right now, the answer to authoritarianism isn’t to be quiet. It’s not matching pink outfits at a state address. It’s not throwing trans people under the bus. It’s not refusing to look at the party at all and see where it could be better. The answer is to very publicly, very loudly, very boldly, stand up. The only way to fight fascism, and this has been proven over and over and over again, is loudly, proudly, and every single day.”

...
Abughazaleh was born in Texas and raised as a Republican — really Republican. Her maternal grandmother, Taffy Goldsmith, was such a legendary GOP operative that when she died, the flag at Texas state capitol was flown at half mast. (Abughazaleh inherited the mink coat Goldsmith wore to Nixon’s inauguration.) Her father is a Palestinian immigrant. Both her parents, she says, were Reagan Republicans whose relationship with the party has ruptured since Trump took it over.
She has narcolepsy, and she worked for Media Matters until Elon Musk sued MM. As a result, she got laid off, and she has done some pieces for Mother Jones and Zeteo, and she won't even have that income while she campaigns.
Instead of money, everyone who attends her first event, she says, will be asked to donate a box of tampons to a collective that distributes period products among shelters and institutions across Chicago. ...

She is planning to document every step of the campaign process on all her platforms in hopes of inspiring others, especially those who would be interested in primarying Democrats, to run for office too. “I want my candidacy to get other people to be candidates, and I want to highlight their candidacies.”

...
“There’s no reason every American should not be able to afford housing, groceries, health insurance, public transit (ideally), and then still have enough money to save and take your kid to the zoo or go to the movies with your friends. There’s just, there’s no reason — we are the wealthiest country in the world,” Abughazaleh says. “The idea that that’s unrealistic or idealistic or naive or even called childish, I think that’s sucky.”
KA is not alone. Run For Something - its executive director Amanda Litman says that signups since Election Day are 27,000, close to the total number over 2017 and 2018.
 
Vast majority of firearm homicides are committed using handguns
Thank you for advocating for a handgun ban. I totally agree.
Not advocating that at all. Instead of mindlessly banning guns for everyone, we need stricter rules on who is allowed to buy and possess firearms.
Your position is what NRA types point to when they say that the so-called "liberals" want to grab their guns.
 
I think that the Biden Admin wimped out on such things as the child tax credit and Build Back Better.
Wrong. ...
Not very apparent. He let Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stymie B3.
The Kamala Harris campaign also wimped out,
Did she really? I don't think so.
I do. She said that she would govern just like Joe Biden, even about Israel's siege of Gaza, she used Bidenite campaign managers, and she kept Tim Walz out of sight after he called some Republican politicians "weird". She also showed up with Liz Cheney and talked about having a gun. It's almost as if she was trying to get Republican votes.

The Dems took the wrong lesson from Trump's 2016 victory and swerved hard to the left. That overreach paved the way for Trump regaining power in 2024.
Between fake Republicans and real Republicans, voters will choose the real thing. It's like Gavin Newsom appearing in a podcast with Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk - neither side liked him.
Dems must not make the same mistake again. Polls show that voters want them to be more moderate.
More Democrats Favor Party Moderation Than in Past
With "moderation" left undefined. I'd like to see actual policies polled on.

(about Kat Abughazaleh)
A Tik-Tok influencer? That's the best Dems can do?
As opposed to a reality-show host?
She is a classic carpetbagger.
Not much of one, since she won't need very big carpetbags to visit her district.
I am not sure electing an air-headed Tik-Tok influencer will make Congress more in touch.
Have you watched any of her videos?
Also, I think somebody who seeks power over and responsibility for the multitrillion dollar US budget should be able to handle her own money better.
That's common among right-wingers: acting as if everybody has an upper-middle-class income or an upper-class one.

Then why does the GND FAQ talk about eliminating things like cattle farming and air travel?
GND FAQ said:
We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast,
That was a leaked draft version.

In practice, child-free people making $40k or $50k end up subsidizing expanded child tax credits for parents making six figures (eligibility is up to $400k for those filing jointly). In what universe is that fair?
It's no worse than self-protectors subsidizing the protection of people who are too lazy to protect themselves.

Also, making a program universal is a good way of getting support. Means testing erodes such support and it has certain side effects, like having to choose between work income and benefit income. Ideally, one should not have to choose.

While pharm companies need to be able to develop new drugs (very expensive) and also turn a profit, these costs should be more evenly shared. If we negotiate prices (as we should) Canadians will have to pay more (as they should). Right now, US patients are subsidizing Canadians and others.
That's what they want for everybody to believe about them, that they are perpetually on the edge of bankruptcy because of all the drugs that they develop.
 
Back
Top Bottom