The D(a)NCers are once again on the neocentrist warpath/dance floor…repeating their Bernie Sanders mistake all over again. One time once…and then again and again and again. Forever, apparently. When will they learn that the only way out of this country’s current downward path is to let the voters decide who is and who isn’t representing their best interests?
From the NY Times…which (quite surprisingly) seems to have at least a vague idea that big money “democracy” may not be the way to go for the Democratic Party or for the country.
Fearing Chaos, National Democrats Plunge Into Midterm Primary Fights
Read on.
FULLERTON, Calif. — The Democrats’ message to Mai Khanh Tran was polite but unsparing. With half a dozen Democrats running for Congress in her Orange County district, they showed her a discouraging poll and argued that she could not win — and risked fracturing the party in the June primary election.
Ms. Tran pointedly replied that she was “the only qualified woman, the only immigrant and the only physician in the race.”
“I said to them, frankly, let the voters decide,” recalled Ms. Tran, a pediatrician.
The national Democratic Party was not chastened: On Wednesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took sides in that House race and backed Gil Cisneros, a Navy veteran and former Republican.
A “Navy veteran and former Republican.”
Hmmmm…
I wonder why?
Could it be because Fullerton is in Orange County?
Reagan country?
Naaaaahhhh…never happen. He must just be the best candidate for the job.
Right?
Riiiiiight…
With their forceful intervention in Orange County, national Democrats have lunged into an impatient new phase of the 2018 primary season — one in which they are clashing more openly with candidates and local political chieftains in their drive to assemble a slate of recruits for the midterms.
In districts from Southern California to Little Rock, Ark., and upstate New York, the party has begun interceding to help the Democrats it sees as best equipped to battle Republicans in the fall.
—snip—
And there it is.
The same way that they “chose” Hillary Clinton. Or maybe better stated, the same way that they unchose Bernie Sanders. Don’t rock the boat. At least…don’t rock it enough to displace the corporate power brokers who are really navigating the ship.
Look where that got us.
Trump U.S.A.
The approach is laced with peril for a party divided over matters of ideology and political strategy, and increasingly dominated by activists who tend to resent what they see as meddling from Washington. A Democratic effort to undercut a liberal insurgent in a Houston-area congressional primary in March stirred an outcry on the left and may have inadvertently helped drive support to that candidate, Laura Moser, who qualified for the runoff election next month.
But in some areas, Democratic leaders have concluded it is worth enduring backlash to help a prized recruit or tame a chaotic primary field.
“But in some areas, Democratic leaders have concluded it is worth enduring backlash to help a prized recruit or tame a chaotic primary field.”
Translation:
“Democratic leaders have concluded it is worth enduring backlash to be able to continue corporate control of the party.”
Why?
Because, as the ’30s and ’40s bank robber Wille Sutton answered when asked why he robbed banks, “…that’s where the money is.”
Duh!!!
Yup.
—snip—
Ms. Tran disagreed with national Democrats picking favorites in the party’s House primary. “Let the voters decide,” she told them.
National Democrats may also intervene in the Southern California districts held by Representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Jeff Denham, where multiple Republicans and Democrats are running, and in the seat held by Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican who is retiring. Voters receive mail-in ballots starting in early May, making the next few weeks exceptionally important.
House Majority PAC, a heavily financed Democratic group that spends millions in congressional elections, recently polled all four races and has been conducting digital surveys that simulate the complicated California ballot, according to people briefed on the group’s strategy. The super PAC has run ads in California in the past when Democrats have faced disaster in primary season.
Oh.
Great.
The old “polls” rigamarole.
2016 all over again.
—snip—
In the 39th District, Democrats went beyond prodding underdogs like Ms. Tran, 52, to stand down. Mr. Thorburn said the D.C.C.C. presented him with polling that suggested attacks on his finances and business record would be damaging in the general election — data Mr. Thorburn dismissed out of hand. He said the committee clearly indicated its preference for Mr. Cisneros.
Mr. Thorburn, 74, is now the most unsettling rival for Mr. Cisneros and national Democrats, pairing a pointed ideological message with a personal fortune to spend on advertising. Deriding Mr. Cisneros as a “wishy-washy” newcomer to the party, Mr. Thorburn said he would strike back hard if the committee were to attack him, as it did Ms. Moser.
“I’m much more of a fighter than the national party,” Mr. Thorburn said, warning: “If they do something like they did in Texas, we would come back guns blazing.”
“If they do something like they did in Texas, we would come back guns blazing.”
Let us pray that this happens, and happens successfully.
All over the country.
—snip—
Some voters sounded unlikely to take their cues from national parties. Outside a Fullerton coffee shop where Mr. Jammal was greeting voters, Adam De Leon said he was suspicious of the candidates using personal wealth to sway the race. Mr. De Leon, 72, said he favored Mr. Jammal, 36, because of his government experience.
“What does it tell you when people spend millions of dollars to get into a position that pays maybe $140,000 a year?” Mr. De Leon said, somewhat underestimating the $174,000 congressional salary. “It’s all about power and connections.”
Yup.
Make that idea the Democratic Party’s campaign linchpin idea and maybe we would see a real change in the government of the United States.
But NOOooo…
—snip—
For Democrats, that project extends beyond California: On the same day the D.C.C.C. endorsed Mr. Cisneros, it also boosted candidates in New York and Arkansas who face contested primaries. In New York, the committee enlisted Juanita Perez Williams, a former candidate for mayor of Syracuse, to challenge Representative John Katko this month, though a lower-profile Democrat was already running with the support of local party leaders.
That kind of big-footing may be trickier in California. Mr. Chen, the Democrat who opted out of the 39th District race, said the party still faces a “precarious situation” there. He said he had decided against running after conducting a poll that showed him neck and neck with Mr. Cisneros and Mr. Thorburn — but with Democratic voters fragmented enough to create an all-Republican general election.
He predicted none of the remaining Democrats would follow his lead and get out.
“If you’ve never been involved in the party before and you just ran because you want to run, then you don’t really have those considerations,” Mr. Chen said. “They are new to this. They don’t have bridges to burn.”
“They are new to this. They don’t have bridges to burn.”
Some bridges need burning.
You know…like the Democratic bridges that collapsed in 2016?
And don’t give me any of that horseshit about the election having been stolen. I don’t care if it was the Russians, the corporatist elite, alien intelligences from another dimension or any possible combination of whatever forces that ran the Bot War on Facebook, Twtter or any other anti-social(ist) media. The one third or more of eligible voters who did not vote would have come out in force had they been given a real deal…a democratic socialism deal…instead of that weak, “public/private” posturing-poisoned campaign from HRC.
However…despite the fact that quite possible answers to our problems have been blowing in the wind for at least two decades, the DNC remains rooted in a past so far away that only its controllers and their controllees seem to even remember it, let alone think that it’s going to work out this time around.
As I said in a recent post, the worm is turning. It’s a big worm, and it is totally destabilizing the traditional political terrain. A majority of the American people…despite the best efforts of the media….is rapidly losing faith in both parties. Trump’s election was only the first symptom of this change. He ran against both parties and won despite plain evidence that he has been nothing but a big-time snake oil salesman during his entire career.
At least he isn’t a DemocRatpublican, Martha!!! Let’s vote for him!!! Whaddaya say!!!???
The Democratic Party doesn’t even seem to feel these pre-shocks. It is lost in the past, while the future is now!!!
Sigh.
Later…
AG
P.S. Am I preaching to an opposing choir?
Could be.
But I am warning you…just as I warned you about Trump when you were all slapping each others’ shoulders about what an asshole clown he was…the Dem church in which you sing your songs is built on quicksand. You may very well win in 2018 and even in 2020, but sometimes “winning” isn’t enough. Sometimes you can win the battle only to lose the war.
Watch.
Station WTFU signing off.
Best of luck in the future.
Call if you get work.
And…hang by your thumbs.
(Bob and Ray knew…bet on it.)
