On Deck: 2022

[lpetrich]

Rep. Jackie Speier, Jonestown survivor who has served in Congress since 2008, will not seek reelection in 2022 - The Washington Post
The Jonestown of Jim Jones and his People's Temple.
Rep. Jackie Speier retiring from Congress - POLITICO

“Forty-three years ago this week, I was lying on an airstrip in the jungles of Guyana with five bullet holes in my body. I vowed that if I survived, I would dedicate my life to public service. I lived, and I survived,” she said in a two-minute video announcing her retirement.

Jackie Speier will not run for reelection to Congress in 2022 | TheHill

Speier has had a long career in elected office that began 1980 with a successful run for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. She went on to serve in both chambers of California’s state legislature before entering the U.S. House in 2008.

In 1978, while she was serving as an aide to the late Rep. Leo Ryan (D-Calif.), Speier survived being shot five times during a fact-finding mission to Jonestown in Guyana. Ryan was killed during that trip.

...
“There’s also another chapter or two in my book of life. And I intend to contribute to you, the communities I love on the Peninsula and in San Francisco, and the country that has given me so much,” she said.

She's 71 years old, and she's headed for a well-deserved retirement, I'm sure.

 

[lpetrich]

Groundbreaking Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson to retire from Congress after serving nearly 30 years - CNNPolitics

Pelosi said in a statement Saturday that Johnson is "a dedicated and highly effective leader on behalf of Dallas area families and the entire nation for her thirty years in the Congress and nearly 50 years in public service."

Johnson was the first Black woman elected to state public office from Dallas, according to Pelosi, as well as the first African American and woman to be the chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

"On behalf of her many friends in Congress, we thank the Chairwoman for her leadership for the people of Texas and all Americans, and wish her and her family, including her beloved son Kirk and grandchildren Kirk Jr, David and James, the best in their next steps," Pelosi said.

She's 85 years old.

No word on Nancy Pelosi, at least not just yet. She's 81 years old.

 

[lpetrich]

List of U.S. Congress incumbents who are not running for re-election in 2022 - Ballotpedia

Retiring Senators (1D, 5R): Richard Burr R-NC 0.65, Pat Toomey R-PA 0.74, Rob Portman R-OH 0.66, Richard Shelby R-AL 0.61, Roy Blunt R-MO 0.83, Patrick Leahy D-VT 0.23.

VT Rep. will run for VT Senate seat: Rep. Peter Welch launches Senate bid for Leahy's seat - POLITICO
Patrick Leahy is 81 years old, and he has served since 1975. Bernie Sanders, the other VT Senator, is 80 years old, and he has served since 2007. BS is up for re-election in 2024, and he may also retire. His govtrack.us ideology score is 0.00 (0 = lib, 1 = con).

Quitting Reps (19 D, 11 R):

Retiring Reps (11 D, 4 R): Peter DeFazio D-OR 0.27, G.K. Butterfield D-NC 0.28, Jackie Speier D-CA 0.21, Adam Kinzinger R-IL 0.66, Michael Doyle D-PA 0.28, David Price D-NC 0.29, John Yarmuth D-KY 0.29, Anthony Gonzalez R-OH 0.67, Ron Kind D-WI 0.50, Cheri Bustos D-IL 0.37, Kevin Brady R-TX 0.59, Filemon Vela D-TX 0.38, Tom Reed R-NY 0.56, Ann Kirkpatrick D-AZ 0.35, Eddie Bernice Johnson D-TX 0.18

Reps running for the Senate (4D, 4D): Peter Welch D-VT 0.29, Conor Lamb D-PA 0.42, Billy Long R-MO 0.73, Vicky Hartzler R-MO 0.93, Val Demings D-FL 0.27, Ted Budd R-NC 0.93, Tim Ryan D-OH 0.35, Mo Brooks R-AL 0.73

Reps running for state governor (2D, 1R): Tom Suozzi D-NY 0.34, Charlie Crist D-FL 0.34, Lee Zeldin R-NY 0.63

Reps running for other offices (2D, 2R): Louie Gohmert R-TX 0.75, Anthony G. Brown D-MD 0.28, Karen Bass CA-37 0.15, Jody Hice R-GA 0.88

 

[lpetrich]

Dr. Oz announces Senate bid to his millions of followers - POLITICO - "The celebrity television doctor will run in one of the nation’s most important races."

Mehmet Oz, a Republican, will self-fund part of his campaign and is planning to “put significant resources” into the battleground state race, campaign manager Casey Contres said.

His opening ad, set to begin airing on television Friday, takes aim at the government’s response to Covid, a topic Oz has spoken about in interviews over the course of the pandemic.

“Covid has shown us that our system is broken,” Oz said in the campaign ad. “We lost too many lives, too many jobs and too many opportunities because Washington got it wrong. They took away our freedom without making us safer, and tried to kill our spirit and our dignity.”

Lowering drug prices, bringing back jobs from China and establishing a “secure border” are among the issues his campaign plans to champion, according to his website.

Oz’s campaign launch comes a week after Sean Parnell, the GOP candidate who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, suspended his Senate campaign after losing legal custody of his children. The former frontrunner’s departure from the race has scrambled the GOP primary, with Oz jumping in and other top candidates eyeing runs.

Some people are claiming that he is a carpetbagger.

One challenge that has already surfaced for Oz: Republicans are questioning whether, and for how long, he has been a resident of Pennsylvania, a famously parochial state. According to his campaign, Oz has lived in Pennsylvania since December 2020, renting a home in Bryn Athyn owned by his wife’s family. He attended the University of Pennsylvania for both medical and business school.

Oz was previously a decadeslong resident of New Jersey, where he voted in October 2020. He registered to vote in Pennsylvania soon after.

Several other Republicans are also in the race or are considering running, and also several Democrats.

 

[blastula]

Abrams will be running in 2022 for GA governor.

 

[lpetrich]

BREAKING: Stacey Abrams is running for Georgia governor in 2022

The Democrat announced her campaign with a video that highlighted her work in the state since her narrow 2018 defeat to Kemp, along with a message that “opportunity and success in Georgia shouldn’t be determined by your ZIP code, background or access to power.”

Her decision, long expected by local Democrats, clears the way for what could be a titanic showdown between two longtime political rivals. That is, if Kemp survives a fight for the GOP nomination first.

That's Governor Brian Kemp, who won in 2018 with 50.2% of the vote, SA by 48.8%, and Libertarian Ted Metz by 0.9%.

A month ago, her org did this:
Stacey Abrams group donates $1.34M to pay people's medical debts : NPR
Stacey Abrams Clears Millions In Medical Debt For Residents In 5 States - Essence
From NPR from the AP:

The Fair Fight Political Action Committee on Wednesday told The Associated Press it has donated $1.34 million from its political action committee to the nonprofit organization RIP Medical Debt to wipe out debt with a face value of $212 million that is owed by 108,000 people in Georgia, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

...
Fair Fight said letters will be sent to those whose debts have been absolved to notify them. The purchase will forgive the debt of nearly 69,000 people in Georgia, more than 27,000 people in Arizona, more than 8,000 people in Louisiana, and about 2,000 people apiece in Mississippi and Alabama.

That's an average of almost $2,000 per person, and the debt was bought for an average of 0.63% of its face value.

From Essence:

“I know firsthand how medical costs and a broken healthcare system put families further and further in debt,” said Abrams in a statement. “Across the sunbelt and in the South, this problem is exacerbated in states like Georgia where failed leaders have callously refused to expand Medicaid, even during a pandemic.”

A national study published by The Journal of the American Medical Association found “17.8 percent of people with a credit report as of 2020 had medical debt in collections.” It also established that of that population “the South has the most people with medical debts.”

 

[lpetrich]

From NPR:

Fair Fight wipes out people's medical bills by buying them up at steep discounts

RIP Medical Debt said Fair Fight is giving the third-largest donation in its history. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave the group $50 million last year. The group has aided more than 3 million people since it was founded in 2014, typically buying bundles of medical debt at steep discounts from the face value. The bills often are purchased from collection agencies that have been trying to get debtors to pay for years. The group has wiped out debt with a face value of more than $5.3 billion.

Allison Sesso, executive director of RIP Medical Debt, said such liabilities often drive people into bankruptcy, can deter people from seeking needed medical care, and can lead to wages being garnished or liens filed on property.

I wouldn't underestimate the mental anguish that people have from medical debt," Sesso said.

Sesso said her group is not just pursuing debt abolishment "but thinking about how we can improve the system nationwide," trying to advocate that hospitals should do more to make charity care available. She also said research shows states that expanded Medicaid have lower rates of medical debt.

"We are not the permanent solution," Sesso said. "There does need to be a larger solution around what we do about medical debt."

From the numbers, RIPMD has forgiven $1,800 of debt per person.

Homepage - RIP Medical Debt
Claiming:

Every day 79,000,000 Americans choose between paying their medical bills and basic needs like food and shelter.

66% of all US bankruptcies are tied to medical debt issues. 25% of all US credit card debt is medical debt. To avoid high costs, 1 in 2 don't go to the doctor when they're sick.

 

[lpetrich]

Home | Fair Fight
From its About page:

We promote fair elections around the country, encourage voter participation in elections, and educate voters about elections and their voting rights. Fair Fight Action brings awareness to the public on election reform, advocates for election reform at all levels, and engages in other voter education programs and communications.

From its About Stacey Abrams page:

After witnessing the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election by the Secretary of State’s office, Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every American has a voice in our election system through programs such as Fair Fight 2020, an initiative to fund and train voter protection teams in 20 battleground states.

The state's Secretary of State during that election was Brian Kemp, the Republican candidate for governor. A gross conflict of interest.

From its Medicaid-expansion page:

The American Rescue Plan Act granted all 50 states the opportunity to expand Medicaid. Under the American Rescue Plan, the federal government will pay 90% of the costs to expand Medicaid coverage to lower-income workers who cannot afford health insurance. 38 states and the District of Columbia have fully expanded Medicaid, guaranteeing quality, affordable care to almost 15 million Americans. These efforts have been broadly popular across demographics, regions, and party lines.

Listing 12 states without Medicaid expansion: WY, SD, WI, KS, TX, TN, NC, MS, AL, GA, SC, FL

From its medical-debt relief page:

25 million American households (almost 1 in 5) struggle to pay their medical debt in full. The size of the problem has swelled during the pandemic, overwhelming Americans and their families.

Fair Fight has eliminated the available medical debt of 108,243 people. Working with RIP Medical Debt, Fair Fight was able to abolish $212,781,814 of medical debt for these individuals, who live across five states: Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Arizona.

 

[lpetrich]

Stacey Abrams on Twitter: "I’m running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by zip code, background or access to power. #gapol
Be a founding donor to my campaign: (links)" / Twitter

Elsewhere,
Matthew McConaughey Says He Will Not Run for Texas Governor - The New York Times

The actor and author Matthew McConaughey announced on Sunday that he would not run for governor of Texas for now, after months of weighing whether he would seek the office.

In a video posted on Twitter and Instagram, Mr. McConaughey, 52, said running for governor is a “humbling and inspiring path to ponder.”

“It is also a path that I’m choosing not to take at this moment,” he said.

Beto O'Rourke, however, is running.

Mr. McConaughey’s announcement also came weeks after he drew widespread attention for saying that he would not mandate vaccines for young children because he would like more information, adding that in his household, “we go slow on vaccinations, even before Covid.”

Seems like an anti-vaxxer.

Instead of running for governor, Mr. McConaughey said, he would continue to support entrepreneurs, businesses and foundations that are “leaders,” establishments that are “creating pathways for people to succeed in life,” and “organizations that have a mission to serve and build trust, while also generating prosperity.”

“That’s the American dream,” he said. “And politicians? The good ones can help us get to where we need to go. Yeah, but let’s be clear: They can’t do anything for us unless we choose to do for ourselves.”

He did not indicate whether he would be running as a Republican or a Democrat. He appeared in movies “Interstellar,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Dallas Buyers Club,” and he won Best Actor Academy Award in 2014 for the latter movie. He recently published a memoir, “Greenlights.”

While he was running, he did not say whether he was running as a Republican or a Democrat -- or in some other party or as an independent. Seems like a vanity run to me, like all those runs for President by people who don't have a chance.

 

[lpetrich]

Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio will retire in 2022 - OPB -- he's the Rep in my district. So it will be up for grabs.

“With humility and gratitude I am announcing that I will not seek re-election next year,” DeFazio, 74, said in a statement. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as Congressman for the Fourth District of Oregon.”

He is the head of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He helped get the recent infrastructure bill through, even if it didn't contain very much for high-speed rail and climate-change mitigation.

“He’s one of the most influential members of Congress on infrastructure, and I think I know a little something about that,” U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a longtime friend and transportation wonk in his own right, said Wednesday. “It will be a tremendous loss to lose the longest-serving member of Congress in Oregon’s history.”

He has been in Congress since 1987 -- 34 years.

Redistricting means a district more favorable to Democrats than previously, with OR-04 going from R+1 to D+9. What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State - Oregon | FiveThirtyEight

In fact, the new map actually helped the congressman’s decision to retire after decades of a grueling commute that often saw DeFazio flying cross-country to Portland then driving back to his Springfield home. He told reporters Wednesday he had “the longest commute in the lower 48″ and said he’d spent the equivalent of 435, 40-hour workweeks traveling back and forth while in Congress.

DeFazio said he needed back surgery earlier this year, as a partial consequence of spending extended periods on planes.

“There comes a time when you need to pass the torch,” DeFazio said. “My district now has been improved. It’s now winnable by another Democrat.”

Had the district remained a potential swing seat after redistricting, he said, “I would have felt more obligation to run again.

Driving???

 

[lpetrich]

Peter DeFazio was rather eccentric, voting against every trade agreement and supporting a Constitutional amendment to balance the Federal budget.

And he opposed President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus bill, saying it didn’t include enough money for infrastructure spending.

DeFazio often talked about battling “idiots,” as when he told a TV station in Eugene in 2011 that there was a shortage of federal money for needed dam repairs in Oregon because of “some of the idiots I’m working within Washington.”

DeFazio’s disillusionment with the political gamesmanship in D.C. has only grown since then. On Wednesday, he railed against House Republican leadership for threatening to punish 13 GOP members who voted in favor of the bipartisan infrastructure package.

“He is frustrated that he is spending a lot of time in committee with Republicans just complaining,” Blumenauer said. “They’re not involved in any constructive efforts. Peter’s instincts are to get things done.”

...
News of his impending retirement drew praise for DeFazio from many in his party.

“Peter DeFazio blends all the best qualities of a top-notch legislator – he’s an effective, passionate and powerful advocate who always puts the best interests of his constituents first,” U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said in a statement. “Thanks to Peter DeFazio, roads, bridges and transportation systems in Oregon and nationwide are stronger, last longer and are cleaner and greener.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement called DeFazio “an absolutely force for progress, whose 36 years of effective leadership in the House will leave a legacy that will benefit the Congress and Country for decades to come.”

“Our Democratic Caucus will miss a trusted voice and valued friend,” Pelosi said.

Congressman Peter DeFazio Announces He Will Not Seek Re-Election | Congressman Peter DeFazio

He plans to spend his retirement in Oregon, including visiting wilderness areas that he helped to protect.

But he’s got work in mind, too: A book that will offer a dim view of the chances of salvaging democracy in the United States.

“I want to write that,” DeFazio said. “For years I gave a speech called, ‘Can American democracy survive?’ Even before Trump, it was pessimistic. The challenges are even greater now.”

 

[lpetrich]

Oregon Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio, chairman of transportation panel, to retire at end of his term - The Washington Post

“It’s time for me to pass the baton to the next generation so I can focus on my health and well-being,” DeFazio, 74, said in a statement. “This was a tough decision at a challenging time for our republic with the very pillars of our democracy under threat, but I am bolstered by the passion and principles of my colleagues in Congress and the ingenuity and determination of young Americans who are civically engaged and working for change.”

He's also the third committee head to not seek re-election next year, joining Rep. John Yarmuth D-KY, head of the House Budget Committee, and Eddie Bernice Johnson D-TX, head of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Nancy Pelosi will miss her long-time colleague. She may join him in retiring next year, and they could spend a vacation together.

In a statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said DeFazio is “an absolute force for progress, whose 36 years of effective leadership in the House will leave a legacy that will benefit the Congress and Country for decades to come.” She said the Democratic Caucus “will miss a trusted voice and valued friend.”

“Chairman DeFazio is known and respected by all as a champion of sustainable, smart and green infrastructure, whose progressive values, passion and persistence have helped rebuild America and the middle class,” Pelosi said. “His legislative successes — including expanding preservation and conservation efforts, protecting affordable health care, advancing tribal sovereignty, rebuilding our highways, ensuring aviation safety and, most recently, helping pass the historic, once-in-a-century Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Build Back Better Act — leave an outstanding legacy of progress for America’s children and future.”

Pelosi Statement on Retirement of Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio | Speaker Nancy Pelosi

He didn't get all that he wanted in the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

DeFazio, for example, had wanted states hungry for billions of new highway funds to be required to first address huge outstanding maintenance needs before taking on major expansion projects. But that so-called Fix-it First provision in the transportation bill he shepherded through the House died in the Senate process.

DeFazio’s push for a fundamental shift in the infrastructure bill toward prioritizing reducing transportation emissions, the top U.S. source of greenhouse gases, was also pared back dramatically. He said he remains hopeful key provisions sought by the House will survive in the budget reconciliation bill that includes many of Biden’s climate and social policy priorities and is currently under consideration in the Senate.

...
He said when Republicans controlled the House, Senate and White House, President Donald Trump’s promises on infrastructure proved hollow. “They just kicked the can down the road,” DeFazio said. Compared to that, he said, the legislation Biden signed was “truly an amazing bill,” although one limited by Washington realities.

“We do what we can do. We are hobbled by a Senate which is operating with arcane rules that basically hobble its capability to do anything meaningfully over there unless one party has a supermajority,” DeFazio said. “So the president being able to negotiate this bill with the Senate was pretty amazing to me.”

And, he added, “This isn’t the end of what we’re going to do. We are now engaged in reconciliation.”

He'll be keeping busy in his remaining 13 months in office.

 

[lpetrich]

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker won't seek reelection - POLITICO
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito is also not running.

Baker and Polito said in a joint statement that a reelection bid would "be a distraction" from managing the Covid-19 pandemic. "We want to focus on recovery," they said in a note to friends and supporters, "not on the grudge matches political campaigns can devolve into."

A moderate Republican with enduring support among Democrats and independents, Baker was the GOP’s best hope of holding onto the governor’s office in deep-blue Massachusetts and Polito was widely seen as his heir apparent. But Baker, who eschews national politics, has been increasingly at odds with his own party as it coalesced around former President Donald Trump. Running for reelection presented plenty of obstacles, including a conservative primary challenger backed by the former president and attacks from across the political spectrum on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We both love the work," Baker said while briefing reporters Wednesday afternoon, adding, "focusing on campaigning and focusing on politics and on all the things that come with that — while certainly appropriate and necessary to anybody who chooses to run in 2022 — just seemed to us like a big step away from what we should be focused on."

CB is 65 years old and in his second term. Running again would mean an unprecedented third term.

One recent survey showed Baker with higher job approval ratings among Democrats and independents than among members of his own party. Other recent surveys from Democrat-aligned firms showed him trailing Trump-endorsed former state Rep. Geoff Diehl in a Republican primary and suggested the incumbent had a better path forward as an independent rather than continuing with his own party — though Baker repeatedly rejected the idea of deserting his party.

He said he blanked his ballot for president in 2016 and 2020 so as not to vote for Trump, and emerged as a persistent critic of the president’s handling of the pandemic. Baker also supported Trump’s second impeachment and rejected the former president’s false claims that the 2020 election was rife with fraud — prompting direct attacks from Trump and the endorsement of Diehl for governor. Baker has increasingly and publicly clashed with the pro-Trump chair of his state party as well, a bitter intraparty feud that would have muddied the Republican primary waters and provided ample fodder for the Democrats next year.

CB is the kind of Republican who used to be very common, especially in heavily-Democratic areas, but his kind is steadily being pushed out by the Trumpies in the party.

 

[lpetrich]

Donald Trump has become the de facto leader of the Republican Party. His endorsements for governor:

• MA: Geoff Diehl -- Charlie Baker is retiring
• AR: Sarah Huckabee Sanders
• AZ: Kari Lake, supporter of Trump's election-theft beliefs -- Doug Ducey is term limited, and he rejects Trump's election-theft beliefs
• GA: (no endorsement yet, possibly fmr Sen. David Perdue) -- against Brian Kemp, for rejecting Trump's election-theft beliefs
• ID: Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin -- against Brad Little
• MD: (someone) -- against Larry Hogan, who has opposed Trump, and who is term-limited. LH wants Commerce Sec'y Kelly Schulz to succeed him

The Democrats have a good chance in MA and MD, and at least something of a chance in AZ and GA.

Senate Republicans quietly buck Trump in Alabama race - POLITICO - "Despite Trump’s strong support for Rep. Mo Brooks, GOP senators have donated to Katie Britt and appeared with her at events."

No senator other than her former boss, Sen. Richard Shelby, has publicly endorsed Katie Britt yet. But she is quietly getting support from at least a half-dozen of Shelby’s Republican colleagues in her bid against Donald Trump’s pick in Alabama’s open Senate race.

Five Republican senators — Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) — have donated to Britt’s campaign from their leadership PACs. None of them have done so yet for GOP Rep. Mo Brooks, who Trump endorsed in April to replace the retiring Shelby (R-Ala.).

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a Trump ally who won his seat in 2020 with Trump’s backing, attended a Wednesday night D.C. fundraiser for Britt, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) who served as the event’s “special guest,” according to the invitation.

“I like Katie a lot,” Graham told POLITICO on Thursday, noting he has known Britt since she worked for Shelby, and eventually became the senator’s chief of staff.

However,

I see that the RINO Senator from Alabama, close friend of Old Crow Mitch McConnell, Richard Shelby, is pushing hard to have his ‘assistant’ fight the great Mo Brooks for his Senate seat,” Trump said in a July statement. “She is not in any way qualified and is certainly not what our Country needs or not what Alabama wants.”

But Brooks has faltered since he entered the race, and a narrative has spread that Trump is disappointed in the Alabama congressman’s performance.

 

[lpetrich]

Herschel Walker’s Long Run from Racial Controversy - POLITICO
"He has often remained silent when asked to take sides. Running for Senate in Georgia, that might not be possible."

Then on how he refused to get involved in racial issues ever since his days as a high-school athlete who lived in a town with major racial strife.

But after a lifetime of mainly steering clear of making head-on comments on matters of racial conflict, Walker only relatively recently began to more overtly engage in the political arena — and did so on behalf of a polarizing white celebrity-politician who had earned a reputation for stoking the very racial divisions Walker says he was taught and inclined to evade.

Donald Trump, and HW supported him back in 2015.

Walker’s first challenge is winning a GOP primary. Should he win, though, as expected, he will face in the general election not merely another Black man — incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock — but a Black man who is the first Black senator from Georgia, a Black man who is an heir of sorts of Martin Luther King, the senior pastor of King’s spiritual home of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. Walker is a political novice — and also, by any conventional measure, an imperfect candidate, with a documented history of erratic behavior and alleged threats of violence against women that he’s partly chalked up to a rare mental health condition about which he has been eye-openingly candid. Given, though, the salience of Black voters in this state and the looming matchup with Warnock, the way Walker has engaged with race and race-related matters, and the way he has not, could be an equally or even more important facet of the coming contest, say Georgia-experienced political analysts and strategists from both parties.

The article discussed his football career, and had this:

He was, in other words, a Black athlete white fans cheered and liked — in that era, more O.J. Simpson, say, than Muhammad Ali. While Walker “kept close track” of Ali, Wrightsville mentors said in 1981, he was impressed by Simpson’s “stature” and “class.”

“Herschel Walker,” Harry Edwards, the Black sociologist and longtime advocate for activism among Black athletes, once told the Atlanta Constitution, “was in good shape in Georgia as long as he was ‘the right kind of n-----.’ It’s as simple as that. That’s something Black people recognize universally in this society. As long as he restricted himself to activities and comments about what was happening on the football field, he was OK. They were demonstrating against racial injustice in his hometown, and he couldn’t come out and make a statement about it because he was eminently concerned about being above reproach as far as his credentials relative to being ‘the right kind of n-----.’”

“Down in Georgia at that time they didn’t call you Black. They called you a n-----,” Edwards told me recently. “He was simply saying, ‘I’m not going to get involved with activism, because it’s not about Black folks, it’s not about the state of Georgia — it’s about me. And as long as they think that I’m a good n-----, I got a chance.’”

In effect, he was OK with honkies as long as he didn't seem threatening to them.

Perhaps no less important than these admissions, his past transgressions or mental health, though, is just hard electoral and demographic math. “When he stops carrying that football, he has to return to the Black community.” That’s what Hosea Williams, the civil rights activist and state rep, said back in 1980, and now, headed into 2022, Black people make up nearly a third of the registered voters in Georgia — a state in which the share of the white vote is shrinking, a state that currently has a Black man as one of its two U.S. senators, a state that came within a whisp of electing a Black woman to be governor in 2018 and will have another chance next year now that Stacey Abrams is running again.

 

[lpetrich]

Book Review: Chris Christie to the Rescue? - Insider NJ - his most recent book, "Republican Rescue", shows an elephant carrying a life ring on its cover.

"As the name implies, the GOP is in danger. If not, why would it need to be rescued? The peril for Republicans is Donald Trump and the wacky conspiracy theories the former president seems to inspire." -- like his being a very sore loser about the 2020 Presidential election.

Part of the book was CC's experience with Donald Trump, like Trump offering CC a lot of jobs, but not the one that CC might have accepted: attorney general.

The anecdotes and observations Christie presents of Trump will shock no one who follows politics closely.

When a very ill Christie was fighting COVID at Morristown Medical Center, he got a call from the president.

A heartfelt wish to get well?

Not really. Christie said the president was concerned that he (Christie) would blame him (Trump) for his getting the virus.

Then about Trump getting very sore about something during debate preparation, where CC played Joe Biden.

About the Jan. 6 attacks, "Christie, who was home that day, said he tried to contact Trump four different ways in hopes of getting him to do something – anything – to stop what was happening at the Capitol. But he never reached him." Trump also ignored other Republican politicians, like Sen. Susan Collins.

The second part of the book is "Crazy Talk".

Christie is candid about the dopey conspiracy beliefs and theories that he says are hurting the Republican party, among them Q-anon, Pizzagate ( the belief Hillary Clinton and other top Dems are running a child sex operation out of a D.C. pizzeria) and, of course, the refusal of Trump and many other Republicans to accept results of the 2020 election.

In my view, this is the most controversial section of the book, simply because the problem is probably greater than Christie believes.

CC thinks that there are still a lot of sensible Republicans in the party, Republicans who dislike this lunatic-fringe theorizing. But Trump continues to poll well among Republicans, and his main competition is the likes of FL Gov Ron DeSantis.

Then, "Winning Again". CC described his successes as NJ Gov.

But there’s nothing provocative here. For all the independent thought he offers in the first two sections, the last part of the book is very much standard Republican thinking. Conservatives will like it; liberals will not.

Christie condemns “critical race theory” as something that indoctrinates students when it is mostly a college level discipline. He criticizes corporate America for now leaning left. OK. But for many, many years, it leaned right – if it leaned anyway at all.

Also defending GA's recent controversial election laws as creating opportunities, despite making voting by mail much more difficult. He also ignored the issue of climate change.

Why Chris Christie’s ‘Republican Rescue’ Isn’t Selling - YouTube

Chris Hayes: “The problem for Christie is that no matter how many times he repeats the message of his book on air—his argument for a...not explicitly authoritarian, anti-democratic version of Republicanism—there's no market for it.”

 

[lpetrich]

Trump intervenes in Ohio Senate primary — for himself - POLITICO

The Ohio Senate race is turning into one of the most brutal contests of next year’s midterm elections — and former President Donald Trump is worried it could hurt him if he waged a 2024 comeback bid.

Trump last month called Club for Growth President David McIntosh to complain about a TV advertising campaign the conservative organization was running targeting Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance, and asked McIntosh to take the ads down. The commercials attacked Vance by using footage of him from 2016, when he described himself as a “Never Trump guy” and called Trump an “idiot,” “noxious” and “offensive.” The message was designed to hurt Vance in a Republican primary centered on fealty toward the former president. Vance, like others in the race, has cast himself as a staunch Trump ally.

But according to three people briefed on the call, Trump told McIntosh the commercials could have the effect of driving down his popularity in Ohio, which he won by 8 percentage points in the 2020 election. Prior to the call, Trump had been stewing over the ads and had complained about them to people in his circle.

...
Trump’s intervention in the race illustrates how he views the 2022 midterm election: as a tool to bolster and measure his own political standing ahead of a potential 2024 bid. The former president has been endorsing Republican candidates across the country and using their successes to trumpet his popularity within the party. And when he believes he hasn’t gotten enough credit he’s lashed out: After Republican Glenn Youngkin’s upset win in last month’s Virginia gubernatorial race, the former president steamed that he wasn’t getting enough recognition.

Seems like Trump wants the position of President more than wanting to do anything as President.

I think that he could do well as a ceremonial President in a parliamentary republic. He wouldn't have to do much more than strut round and proclaim what a great he-man he is.

 

[lpetrich]

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Twitter: "For your service to America’s transportation and infrastructure and for all those who depend on it, we thank you. (pic link)" / Twitter
then
The Trucker Vote on Twitter: "@TransportDems @RepPeterDeFazio
- -
• Sinema - Big Pharma
• Manchin - Coal
• DeFazio - Big Trucking

After 15 years of zero response to my multiple polite and professional minded phone calls and letters requesting help in reducing wage-theft in the #trucking industry I now say good riddance to you sir. (pix link)" / Twitter

A more negative view of Rep. DeFazio.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Twitter: "For your service to America’s transportation and infrastructure and for all those who depend on it, we thank you. (pic link)" / Twitter
then
The Trucker Vote on Twitter: "@TransportDems @RepPeterDeFazio
- -
• Sinema - Big Pharma
• Manchin - Coal
• DeFazio - Big Trucking

After 15 years of zero response to my multiple polite and professional minded phone calls and letters requesting help in reducing wage-theft in the #trucking industry I now say good riddance to you sir. (pix link)" / Twitter

A more negative view of Rep. DeFazio.

Defazio has been a great dependable democrat who has delivered for the people for many years. He defeated a real Trumpian piece of shit named Alex Skarlatos. Shockingly, Alex came relatively close to beating Defazio in 2020 in Eugene, a very liberal area. I wish that people when attacking moderates, would spend as much time attacking the far right opponents that they have to face every election period.

​

 

[blastula]

Dr. Oz announces Senate bid to his millions of followers - POLITICO - "The celebrity television doctor will run in one of the nation’s most important races."

Mehmet Oz, a Republican, will self-fund part of his campaign and is planning to “put significant resources” into the battleground state race, campaign manager Casey Contres said.

His opening ad, set to begin airing on television Friday, takes aim at the government’s response to Covid, a topic Oz has spoken about in interviews over the course of the pandemic.

“Covid has shown us that our system is broken,” Oz said in the campaign ad. “We lost too many lives, too many jobs and too many opportunities because Washington got it wrong. They took away our freedom without making us safer, and tried to kill our spirit and our dignity.”

Lowering drug prices, bringing back jobs from China and establishing a “secure border” are among the issues his campaign plans to champion, according to his website.

Oz’s campaign launch comes a week after Sean Parnell, the GOP candidate who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, suspended his Senate campaign after losing legal custody of his children. The former frontrunner’s departure from the race has scrambled the GOP primary, with Oz jumping in and other top candidates eyeing runs.

Some people are claiming that he is a carpetbagger.

One challenge that has already surfaced for Oz: Republicans are questioning whether, and for how long, he has been a resident of Pennsylvania, a famously parochial state. According to his campaign, Oz has lived in Pennsylvania since December 2020, renting a home in Bryn Athyn owned by his wife’s family. He attended the University of Pennsylvania for both medical and business school.

Oz was previously a decadeslong resident of New Jersey, where he voted in October 2020. He registered to vote in Pennsylvania soon after.

Several other Republicans are also in the race or are considering running, and also several Democrats.

The junk medicine peddler did pick the right party to run for.