Democrats trying to unseat each other

[lpetrich]

Pelosi backs Engel ahead of tight New York primary - POLITICO

“I firmly support Eliot Engel for Congress and I support Alexandria for Congress as well,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday. “I think the people of New York are very blessed to have them both in the Congress.”

...
Pelosi didn’t weigh in on the controversies Thursday surrounding Engel when asked about the primary, instead choosing to tout his seniority as an asset to voters in his district that would vanish if he loses. Engel has represented New York since 1989.

“Chairman Engel is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He also has unique privilege, which is unique and it wouldn’t happen again ... he is also not only the chairman of Foreign Affairs, he is a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee,” Pelosi said.

“That wouldn’t happen again — that’s a lot of power,” she added.

During her 2018 campaign, AOC had a great rebuttal to that in connection with Joe Crowley: how much has he put his seniority to work for his district?

Other senior Democrats have backed EE, and the Congressional Black Caucus has also done so.

 

[Derec]

During her 2018 campaign, AOC had a great rebuttal to that in connection with Joe Crowley: how much has he put his seniority to work for his district?

That is the big drawback to the system of single member districts - it becomes about provincial concerns and pork-barrel spending instead of what would be a good legislation or policy overall.
Especially when Congresspeople are in leadership positions, it's understandable that big picture and national concerns take priority over focus on one district.

Other senior Democrats have backed EE, and the Congressional Black Caucus has also done so.

Good for them!

 

[Derec]

About Grace Meng's primary challengers, Melquiades "Mel" Gagarin is running on the left, while Sandra Choi is ideologically similar to her, but considers her too close to the Queens political machine.

Any relation to THE Gagarin?

An aspect of some of the races that concerns me is vote splitting. With several similar candidates in some races, they could split the progressive vote and allow less progressive ones to win. Like NY-15. In some cases, this was resolved by some of the candidates dropping out, like Andom Ghebreghiorgis, who dropped out to support Jamaal Bowman. But in NY-12, only one candidate dropped out, with Carolyn Maloney continuing to have three other challengers.

Having primary runoffs would be good, and instant-runoff-voting primaries even better.

I hope the fauxgressive candidates in the mold of AOC lose.

 

[lpetrich]

During her 2018 campaign, AOC had a great rebuttal to that in connection with Joe Crowley: how much has he put his seniority to work for his district?

That is the big drawback to the system of single member districts - it becomes about provincial concerns and pork-barrel spending instead of what would be a good legislation or policy overall.

I agree. That's why proportional representation would be good. Or some system of "superdistricts", districts with several Congressmembers each.

 

[lpetrich]

About Grace Meng's primary challengers, Melquiades "Mel" Gagarin is running on the left, while Sandra Choi is ideologically similar to her, but considers her too close to the Queens political machine.

Any relation to THE Gagarin?

No connection to Yuri Gagarin, as far as I can tell. He doesn't even acknowledge the shared last name.

 

[Derec]

No connection to Yuri Gagarin, as far as I can tell. He doesn't even acknowledge the shared last name.

You'd think he'd want to celebrate that achievement of the glorious Soviet Union, as well as of a possible relative.

 

[Derec]

I agree. That's why proportional representation would be good. Or some system of "superdistricts", districts with several Congressmembers each.

I think proportional representation would have another benefit, unique to US presidential system. In parliamentary systems, the government is elected by the parliament, and thus theoretically always has the majority - losing an important vote is often a prelude to government losing power.
In the US, two outcomes are possible. Either president's party has majorities in both Houses of Congress in which case they are on relatively easy street (but never nearly as easy as when parliamentary majority functions well in those systems) or they don't, which is increasingly recipe for obstruction.

But imagine a proportional representation in Congress. Third parties have a difficult time gaining votes because their votes are almost always lost and act as spoilers. It is difficult to get first past the post.
More people would choose those parties if they could get some seats with 5% or 10% of the vote.
That would in turn make Congress more diverse party-wise and would make it unlikely that a single party would control both Houses of Congress, which means it could neither . In a parliamentary system more parties means coalitions (see Germany,or Italy, if you want a particularly dysfunctional example) but in the US system the executive gets elected separately anyway, so it just needs to get a majority for legislation which could vary from bill to bill and from one candidate to be confirmed to another. That would mean no gridlock, but also no rubber stamp Congress. President would have to put more work into passing legislation, but it would rarely be doomed because of some obstructionism.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC has another endorsement.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: ".@MondaireJones is a deeply committed fighter for justice.
He‘s a people’s champ rejecting corporate who belongs in Congress representing Rockland & Westchester (where I went to public school!
Let’s rally around Mondaire. I’m proud to endorse him: https://t.co/BtENIpBb7j" / Twitter
then
Mondaire Jones on Twitter: "Growing up poor, black, & gay, I never imagined someone like me could run for Congress. I’m proud to be endorsed by @AOC, who gives hope to so many kids wondering if there is a place for them in a world filled with so much injustice. Will you join us? https://t.co/meKeBtamj2" / Twitter

Mondaire Jones is running in NY-17, with Westchester and Rockland Counties in it, and near the SW end of Connecticut. Its incumbent is Nita Lowey, but she's retiring, and MJ is one of 8 candidates in that seat's Democratic primary, with 8 more not making it on that ballot.

 

[lpetrich]

Mondaire Jones retweeted this in his Twitter feed:
Jordan Zakarin on Twitter: "On Sunday, I’ll have an interview with @MondaireJones, the progressive running for Congress just north of NYC.
Here’s the quote that won me over: "I'm not someone who is still traumatized by Democratic losses in the 80s.”
Subscribe to get it on Sunday: https://t.co/kCg5BOezju" / Twitter

He intends to follow in his predecessor's footsteps in at least one way:

Mondaire Jones on Twitter: "Our current Congresswoman Nita Lowey has been a co-sponsor of #MedicareForAll for years. I’m proud to be the only candidate in this race who is ready to continue her legacy of fighting for a system that truly guarantees health care as a human right to every single American. https://t.co/2nh9dK95YV" / Twitter

About another candidate:

David McKay Wilson on Twitter: " [MENTION=274]Adam[/MENTION]SchleiferNY, with up to $55 million in Big Pharma stocks, won't sign pledge to divest pharma stocks in Congressional race in Westchester/Rockland #lohud @MondaireJones @EvelynNFarkas @DavidBuchwald @EMPIREREPORTNY @GannettAlbany @Afine https://t.co/a43RlhXnR4" / Twitter

Traumatized?

Haunted by the Reagan era - The Washington Post

It’s hard to overstate how traumatizing that 1980 landslide was for Democrats. It came just two years after the rise of the New Right, the Class of ’78 led by firebrands like Newt Gingrich, and it felt like the country was repudiating everything the Democrats stood for. The party that had saved the world from the Nazis, built the modern welfare state, gone to the moon and overseen the longest stretch of economic prosperity in human history was routed by a C-list actor. Reagan won 44 states.

That November saw not just Jimmy Carter defeated but a generation of liberal lions poached from the Senate. A net loss of 12 Democrats flipped the chamber to the Republicans.

George McGovern, Frank Church, Birch Bayh, Warren Magnuson, Mike Gravel, ...

Collectively, the defeated Democrats represented every plank of liberalism — whether it was support for workers or the environment or opposition to militarism or racism. They were the party.

Politicians like Pelosi, Schumer and Hoyer were just coming into their own. The lesson they took was that the party had gotten too liberal in the late ’60s and ’70s, and the Reagan Revolution was payback.

Thus began Gilded Age II. We are still in it, though Trump's Presidency seems almost like a caricature of it -- venal, greedy, you name it.

 

[lpetrich]

Engel says he refuses to seek NYT endorsement over Cotton op-ed | TheHill

"No U.S. Senator should be calling out the military on the pages of the New York Times. And no progressive leader can morally accept the paper’s endorsement," Engel said, adding that he has canceled a scheduled interview with the paper's editorial board.

The Times, which has yet to release its 2020 congressional endorsements, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

He has a little bit of decency, he seems. If nothing else, he may be moving left to save his skin, as Joe Crowley did.

Nancy Pelosi backs Rep. Engel after AOC endorses challenger - NYPost

During a press conference with local leaders and elected officials, he asked Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. if he could make some remarks at the microphone.

When Diaz Jr. said there were too many people on the list, Engel mumbled through his face mask: “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care.”

“What was that?” Diaz Jr. asked him, according to the audio captured on a News 12 live feed of the event and shared on Twitter by NY1 reporter Emily Ngo.

“If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” he repeated.

“Don’t do that to me,” Diaz Jr. scolded him.

Political pundits fear Engel is setting himself up to be the next Joe Crowley, the longtime powerful incumbent whom AOC defeated in a stunning 2018 upset in the adjoining district.

Didn't he ever think to himself "What happened to Joe Crowley might happen to me"? He must have known JC for a long time, and his district is right next door to JC's former district. That makes his cluelessness all the more baffling.

 

[lpetrich]

'AOC effect' put to the test in heated New York primaries

One of New York City's congressional primaries is among the progressive movement's best hopes for a repeat of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's upset win in 2018. Another could deal a blow to that movement.

About EE's absenteeism, JB said

“It’s disgusting. It’s abhorrent. It’s unfortunate, and it’s disappointing. But it’s not surprising,” Bowman said. “We’ve been very critical of Congressman Engel’s absence from the district during this pandemic. We’ve been very critical of his absence during his 31 years in Congress.”

...
Bowman said he has retooled his campaign during the pandemic to focus in part on mutual aid, including getting food to seniors who need it. “If you’re not here in the district you cannot feel the pain and the struggle people are going through,” he said. “He’s taken the voters for granted for far too long.”

BronxTalk: NY 16 Democratic Primary Debate | Bronxnet - like what Bronxnet had for NY-14 (AOC, MCC, BK, SS), and NY-15 (12 candidates)

“I have been one of the real pains in the neck to Donald Trump in Washington,” he said. “I’ve now had lots of seniority, being in Congress a long time, and I have the clout. I bring home the bacon. I bring home the money. I can do those kinds of things. That’s not something a freshman can do.”

But all bacon is pork, in this metaphorical sense also.

Pork barrel is something that AOC has never discussed or criticized, as far as I know, with one possible exception. In "Knock Down The House", she compared her campaign mailings with Joe Crowley's, and she noted that JC bragged that he "delivers". AOC said about it that it's "insider talk" and that "'Deliver' means 'pork'".

In that documentary, we find AOC taking on that issue -- if having a lot of seniority means bringing home a lot of bacon, er, pork, then how much has he brought back home? I think that Eliot Engel is also vulnerable to that criticism.

 

[lpetrich]

More:

Meanwhile, in New York’s 15th Congressional District in the South Bronx, Pentecostal Rev. Rubén Díaz Sr. — a bombastic social conservative who opposes abortion rights and was censured last year for saying his City Council colleagues were controlled by the “homosexual community” — appears to be out front in the race to replace Rep. José Serrano, who is retiring after three decades in office.

He also likes President Trump.

Data for Progress did a poll of that district: Memo: The State of the Democratic Primary in NY-15
Its results, with the Politico article's descriptions:

• Not sure - 34%
• Ruben Diaz, Sr. - 22%
• Ritchie Torres - 20% - first openly gay Latino City Councilmember - fundraising leader, support from national LGBT groups
• Michael Blake - 6% - Assemblymember - lots of support from labor unions
• Melissa Mark-Viverito - 6% - fmr. City Council Speaker, support from teachers' unions, others
• Ydanis Rodrigues - 6%
• Samelys Lopez - 2% - community activist, supported by AOC, Democratic Socialists of America, Working Families Party
• Jonathan Ortiz - 1%
• Julio Pabon - 1%
• Tomas Ramos - 1%

The progressive side's candidates are much alike in their positions, so there is a danger that they will split the vote enough to allow the right-winger to win.

 

[lpetrich]

Running against Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) and Yvette Clarke (NY-09):

Suraj Patel is again running against Maloney, while Adem Bunkeddeko is mounting another challenge to Clarke — but in both districts, one-on-one contests in 2018 have given way to primaries with multiple challengers this year, making it more difficult for one candidate to break through.

In Brooklyn, Army veteran and DSA member Isiah James is running to the left of Bunkeddeko, while City Council Member Chaim Deutsch has jumped into the race as a conservative Democrat with support in the Orthodox Jewish community.

Besides Patel, Maloney’s challengers include Lauren Ashcraft and Peter Harrison.

More and more vote splitting.

AOC rankles Democrats again for campaigning against an incumbent: 'She has abandoned her colleagues' | Fox News

“Once again, she has abandoned her colleagues in Congress and supported an outsider," grumbled one Democratic source. "Sadly, the people she supports often lose. That might be different here, but it has little to do with her. She came in in the ninth inning.”

...
But one Democratic aide said Ocasio-Cortez’s involvement in the Engel race doesn’t appear to have garnered the level of anger as earlier progressive attempts to oust incumbents of color, either led by Ocasio-Cortez or the AOC-aligned group Justice Democrats. Engel is hurting and Bowman is a credible candidate in the predominantly black and Hispanic district that covers parts of the Bronx and Westchester County.

“I think she's coming into this race because she kind of smelled blood in the water,” the Democrat source told Fox News, citing the Engel hot mic moment that concerned fellow Dems.

The Democratic aide viewed AOC’s late endorsement as a shrewd political move to potentially take credit for a Bowman win and further bolster her chances to play kingmaker.

AOC is supporting these candidates because she wants more like-minded people in Congress. That's why she founded her Courage to Change PAC.

Her wanting to primary certain incumbents is rather unsettling to some of her fellow Congressional Democrats -- for many of them, it is something that is just not done.

"They're not used to it," Sheinkopf said. "If there's anything to be said about New York Democrats is that they fail to understand Political Science 101, which is that when you have one party in control you tend to have factionalism.

Political parties inside of political parties.

"These establishment figures were, in many cases, the Democratic reformers of 40 years ago," Sheinkopf continued. "They are now challenged by the very thing that brought them to power, which is someone who is saying 'I want to reform things'. [AOC] will ultimately become the new establishment, but it'll just take time.”

So the pigs will turn human.

 

[lpetrich]

NowThis on Twitter: "UPDATE: @AOC has endorsed @MondaireJones for Congress (links)" / Twitter - Mondaire Jones introduces himself.


Lauren Ashcraft for NY-12 on Twitter: ".@surajpatelnyc’s campaign refuses to deny allegations against him. Instead, his paid staffers have resorted to calling me racist against my own race (what?), erasing my heritage and trying to silence my voice when I stand up for women. I will await your apology, Suraj. https://t.co/QPbeq9tpCs" / Twitter
Lauren Ashcraft is 3/4 white, 1/4 Japanese. She called herself Asian-American, despite being 3/4 honky.


Brendan Jordan on Twitter: "@VoteAshcraft @surajpatelnyc .@surajpatelnyc is a creep who literally tried to catfish an entire congressional district in 2018. His lack of judgement in that regard alone convinced me to never vote for him for anything. As of now, @VoteAshcraft is looking like my choice." / Twitter
What Suraj Patel and his campaigners did back in 2018:
New York Congressional Candidate Suraj Patel Woos Voters on Tinder | Observer
Congressional candidate using hookup apps to recruit supporters
By using false identities -- catfishing.

The article claimed that he teaches business ethics at New York University.


Lauren Ashcraft for NY-12 on Twitter: "You know, there’s another choice in this race. You don’t have to vote between “a creep” and an establishment Dem who is extremely disconnected from her district: https://t.co/GSt2sdg8h6" / Twitter
noting
Rep. Carolyn Maloney slams Congressional rival Suraj Patel in new ad

Seeking to avoid the fate of ex-congressman Joe Crowley — who was ousted in a shocking primary victory by young unknown Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — veteran Manhattan Rep. Carolyn Maloney is throwing the kitchen sink at her chief Democratic primary rival.

Maloney on Thursday released a hard-hitting digital ad and mailings slamming hotel magnate Suraj Patel for his “creepy” use of dating apps to promote his campaign and joking about his attraction to sexually abused gold medal gymnast McKayla Maroney — when she was just 16-years-old.

...
“Looking for creepy online love connections? Meet Suraj Patel. Patel takes advantage of women by using fake dating profiles to promote his campaign,” the ad says.

The ad quotes a critic saying Patel’s ploy “makes my skin crawl.”

Suraj Patel had challenged CM in 2018, and he's back again this year.

The Patel campaign accused Maloney of engaging in gutter politics.

“This is a disgusting character assassination of a brown man by one of the richest and most privileged white women in Congress,” said Patel campaign spokeswoman Cassie Moreno.

 

[lpetrich]

No Creeps for Congress | Suraj Patel on:

A 30-year old hitting on a 16-year-old sexual assault survivor? Worth bragging about.

A 40-year-old dating a 17-year old? "Not that bad."

Catfishing people for votes? "Worth it."

Ad created by Carolyn Maloney's campaign.


Senate Primary in West Virginia Pits Dems Ojeda, Swearengin | West Virginia News | US News - "In 2014, Shelley Moore Capito became the first female U.S. senator to be elected from West Virginia."
She's a Republican, and she has two Republican challengers.

In an Associated Press interview, she highlighted her work on improving economic and broadband development and emphasized her position on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Capito said she's also helped residents obtain unemployment benefits and other social services during the coronavirus pandemic.

...
Her GOP primary challengers are Family Policy Council of West Virginia President Allen Whitt and former craftsman Larry Butcher of Wood County. Butcher earned just 4% of the vote in the 2014 primary against Capito

AW doesn't consider SMC conservative enough.

The Democrats include coal miner's daughter Paula Jean Swearengin, outspoken retired Army paratrooper Richard Ojeda and former South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb.

Swearengin, a progressive featured in the 2019 Netflix documentary “Knock Down the House,” received 30% of the vote in 2018 against Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. This time, Swearengin has raised nearly $336,000, by far the most among Democrats in her race, and has accepted only individual donations.

...
As a state senator, Ojeda became a friend to state teachers in 2018 during their strike for better pay and benefits. He also took up the cause of medical marijuana, successfully sponsoring legislation to make it legal.

But he lost a 2018 congressional race to now-U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, and then resigned his state Senate seat last year to mount a long-shot bid for president, quitting after two months.

Richard Ojeda had run for President for this year back in 2019, but he quit after he didn't get very far.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Running against Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) and Yvette Clarke (NY-09):

More and more vote splitting.

AOC rankles Democrats again for campaigning against an incumbent: 'She has abandoned her colleagues' | Fox News

AOC is supporting these candidates because she wants more like-minded people in Congress. That's why she founded her Courage to Change PAC.

Her wanting to primary certain incumbents is rather unsettling to some of her fellow Congressional Democrats -- for many of them, it is something that is just not done.

"They're not used to it," Sheinkopf said. "If there's anything to be said about New York Democrats is that they fail to understand Political Science 101, which is that when you have one party in control you tend to have factionalism.

Political parties inside of political parties.

"These establishment figures were, in many cases, the Democratic reformers of 40 years ago," Sheinkopf continued. "They are now challenged by the very thing that brought them to power, which is someone who is saying 'I want to reform things'. [AOC] will ultimately become the new establishment, but it'll just take time.”

So the pigs will turn human.

I think that AOC is making a big mistake. She's really upset a lot of democrats. Most of the people whom she's trying to help are losing. Here's the thing, even the ones she helps may not trust her in the end. Hard to trust people that will screw you over. She was the only politician who voted against PPP! The democratic party needs to be the big tent party to beat the republicans. Isolating herself will ultimately lead to isolating her ideas. Which is a shame.

 

[lpetrich]

Engel primary challenger hits $1 million in donations | TheHill - that's Jamaal Bowman

Rep. Carolyn Maloney Faces 3 Democratic Primary Challengers: Watch the NY-12 Candidates Debate on Monday June 8

Will Suraj Patel's catfish campaigning come up in it?

 

[lpetrich]

Matt Miner MAYBE SOMEDAY on KS now! on Twitter: "I’ve noticed a LOT more right wing attacks on @Shaniyat2020 the last few days which tells me something:
While they surely don’t like Gregory Meeks, the GOP is SCARED TO DEATH of Shan.
AOC is their nightmare- imagine if Queens gets ANOTHER fiery young progressive upstart. " / Twitter

Cute sentiment. Are they also taking aim at Jamaal Bowman?


Maloney challenger's campaign fundraising email: 'F&$# THE POLICE.' | Fox News It started with “We are living the results of a completely broken criminal justice system.”

Lauren Ashcraft for NY-12 on Twitter: "It’s this video. It’s the video of an officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck. It’s the video of police plowing into a crowd. It the video of a woman being thrown on the pavement. It’s the video of an officer groping then beating a woman." / Twitter

Lauren Ashcraft for NY-12 on Twitter: "It’s the video of Philando bleeding to death. It’s the recording of police saying to shoot us. It’s the video of Eric Garner unable to breathe. And so, so many more. Our leaders have failed us. We are living in a broken state. Enough is enough." / Twitter

Her main opponent in NY-12, incumbent Carolyn Maloney:
Carolyn B. Maloney on Twitter: "I'm proud of the Americans protesting to condemn police violence, demand justice, and declare unequivocally that #BlackLivesMatter
To meet this moment, Congress must do more than decry these wrongs – we must act.
Here's a growing list of proposals I support to do just that. https://t.co/vWFDb3PTug" / Twitter
She then tweeted about a long list of them.

 

[lpetrich]

Dave Weigel on Twitter: "Eliot Engel talking about @AOC endorsement of his opponent at a candidate forum today:
"This is not a dictatorship. This is a democracy. We shouldn't have one person, from high, even though she's a colleague of mine, think that she can anoint whoever's elected." https://t.co/PPvOU3ohfH" / Twitter


Sen. Ed Markey is being challenged by Joe Kennedy III
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Massachusetts: @EdMarkey is the real deal in the Senate.
He makes clear commitments over vague platitudes- a rare quality in a time when it’s politically easier to do the opposite.
You are lucky to have him as a Senator,& I hope you organize to keep him: https://t.co/1fYwHT2gZp" / Twitter
noting
Ed Markey on Twitter: "Reform is not enough. We need to restructure our budgets away from incarceration, militarization, and the funding of state violence. It’s time we spend more on public health than on punishment. #MASen #SouthcoastDebate" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Reel Women in Film: Knock Down the House | Livestream - YouTube - recent - nice interview with two of that documentary's subjects: Amy Vilela and Cori Bush. The other two are Paula Jean Swearengin and AOC.

AV recalled her run for the NV-04 seat. At first, she was primarying he incumbent. But he dropped out and it became a wide open race. A Washington lobbyist flew in and got registered to vote there one day before he registered as a candidate. He was Steven Horsford, and he had been a Rep from that district until he was unseated in 2016. But several other people entered the race, giving AV a lot of competition.

AV also talked about how as a businesswoman, she wanted to project an image of invulnerability. So she wore black suits and didn't wear any dresses. So she wasn't sure about having moments of vulnerability, like crying, in the film.

What the Stars of Netflix's 'Knock Down the House' Are Up to Now | Full Interview - YouTube - a year ago, around when KDTH was released

Cori Bush took on the issue of her opponent's seniority, asking what it has been good for. AOC also asked that about Joe Crowley when she was running.

AV recalled Steven Horsford renting a house to claim residency in his district. He received lots of donations from outside from various Democratic politicians and from the DCCC - the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He didn't raise much more than AV on his own, but he got a big dose from outside. He even got a donation from Joe Crowley, almost as if he was more concerned about Nevada than about his backyard, where a certain young activist was challenging him.

AV describes her campaigning and she concedes some mistakes. Like not sending out any mailers or making TV ads. Couldn't have AOC's sort of ground game - lots of places either gated or distant. NV-04 is one of the largest districts. Need at least 3 impressions.