This is good news:
A progressive influencer launched a bid to unseat longtime Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).
Kat Abughazaleh, 26, announced Monday that she would challenge Schakowsky in the 2026 midterm elections. Abughazaleh is a former video producer at the liberal watchdog Media Matters for America and has hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are dismantling our country piece by piece, and so many Democrats seem content to just sit back and let ‘em,” Abughazaleh said in a video announcing her bid.
“So I say it’s time to drop the excuses and grow a f***ing spine. I’m Kat Abughazaleh, and I’m running for Congress in Illinois’s 9th District,” she said.
Abughazaleh noted she has grown frustrated with the Democratic Party’s opposition to Trump. She said, “This party has become one where you have to look to the exceptions for real leadership, and the majority work from an outdated playbook.”
We should be welcoming this. We should want it in every district, especially safe ones. Jan Schakowsky is a fine woman, but SHE IS 80. It’s time for some young blood, especially in a safe blue seat. And if the voters decide they still want her, they can vote for her, but now they have an option.
Trollhattan
Won’t be able to decide until I hear from Zombie DiFi.
Timill
What an optimist, thinking there will be 2026 midterms…
comrade scotts agenda of rage
More on Kat:
https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/qa_kat_abughazaleh_vibe_check.php
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/kat-abughazaleh-congress-1235301996/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Ly4umLprM
General quotes from the above links. She started by quoting the following from a Dem meeting that suggested the party do this:
She then skewers that line of bullshit thinking with this:
Other notable quotes:
And then MM has some advice:
https://heymistermix.com/p/my-strategy-memo-to-kat-abughazaleh
ETA: The above edited because I was hasty.
John S.
100%
Watch any clips of Kat and you will be impressed. She’s smart, has great presence, and really knows how to make a point.
She would be an excellent representative.
@heymistermix.com
Agree, John. I thought it was very telling that the reflexive response of a lot of folks on BlueSky (notably GOLIKEHELLMACHINE) was to say that she’s not from the district, and just moved to Chicago.
First, the district is a pretty gerrymandered slice of the north shore suburbs of Chicago. If you’re living in the north side of Chicago, you can represent it.
Second, she moved to Chicago because it’s a great city and lots and lots of people move there.
it was also really telling to see that accounts that consider themselves “liberal supporters of Democrats” decided that their first, best response was to shit on this obviously smart young woman who’s challenging someone who should have retired already.
The district will have 1.5 years to get to know Kat and decide if she’s a good replacement of their rep. No need to crap on her primary challenge, which began with a smart critique of the way that Democrats lose elections.
twbrandt
I remember my great-aunt when she was in her 80s complaining about the old fossils in congress. I am 69, and I have the same complaint. I love the Frosts, the Crocketts, the AOCs, and people like Schumer need to step aside.
A Ghost to Most
Any Democrat with a spine, and a penchant for bully punching, sounds good.
Baud
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
I don’t understand this one.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
Now edited.
twbrandt
@Timill: so what do you propose? Roll over and play dead?
PJ
I could not care less, but this looks like an influencer grift. Abughazaleh apparently just moved to Illinois, and doesn’t live in the district she’s running in.
WaterGirl
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Wait, small dollar donors are bad? I don’t get it.
Shinobi42
I lived in Jan’s district for a long time and was thrilled to vote for her – I hope she takes this opportunity to mentor a young progressive voice.
Baud
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Sorry, I don’t see the edit.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
Just read it again.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Do you have a link to that small-dollar donors quote from the Dem meeting?
PatD
@Timill: if you think that you’ve already given up.
Scout211
Shitting on the old guard Democrats, shitting on the new young Democrats. It’s all about shitting on Democrats these days. I’m not fond of it but I don’t know how to change it.
Baud
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
I’m dense, I guess, but I have the same question as WaterGirl.
ETA: Are there particular small dollar donors she’s talking about? I would think progressives are concerned about large dollar donors.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
Please go back and read it now. I’ve made it clearer, I hope.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
She says it in the YouTube link. It’s worth watching although I’m not sure she provides substantiation.
Baud
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Ah, thank you. I was rereading the quotation over and over and not the surrounding text.
zhena gogolia
Never heard of this person, have no idea if it’s a good idea or not, let the voters decide.
WaterGirl
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’ve read it 5 times and it still sounds like small dollar donors are bad, and we should move away from them.
Baud
Just curious if people know if Schakowsky has declared that she’s running again. It’s still pretty early in the cycle.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I still don’t see it. Can you quote and include the part that makes it make sense?
Okay, I finally see it, but the formatting of the comment is really not clear.
PatD
@PJ: Not sure how she plans to answer the district question but I’m of the opinion that every Dem should have a good primary challenger. Too many Dems haven’t faced a quality opponent or challenging primary and it becomes rather obvious that their political skills atrophy.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@WaterGirl:
She’s not saying that. She’s saying that that was put forth at a recent Dem meeting that she references in the YouTube video. She goes onto to say why that’s bullshit and counter to a basic Dem Party value. Or should be a basic Dem Party value.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Read the original comment in its entirety again. That quote isn’t hers.
ETA: Comment 3.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
That’s how I’m reading it too. According to her and comrade scott, this was allegedly said at some Dem meeting.
If actually said, I think it’s stupid and dumb. What other alternative to small-dollar donors would there be than corporate/wealthy donors, who definitely would not reflect the electorate
@heymistermix.com
@WaterGirl: The point she’s making is that she was at an event and someone said that small dollar donors with an agenda are the problem and she basically said, do you think rich donors with an agenda are better? At least that’s my read of it.
@Scout211:
She hasn’t said one negative word about the 80 year-old incumbent. Read my strategy memo that Scott linked above. I agree with her strategy.
Jay
@WaterGirl:
@Baud:
There are voices in the Democratic Party that advocate for shifting fundraising efforts to the Billionaire class by catering to their needs, and dropping issues that align with small donors needs.
Go Plutocrat not Populist.
She is saying that’s the wrong strategy.
As an “influencer” she probably talks to more “average” people a day than Chuck Schumer has talked to in his entire career.
Miss Bianca
And here I thought this was going to be an obituary for Jesse Colin Young. Oh well. Guess that makes me one of Teh Olds.
LeftCoastYankee
I watched a bunch of her videos when she was at Media Matters about the BS on Faux, particularly during the pandemic. She was right on point.
She has a good backstory being raised and active as a Republican in Texas in her teens, and then seeing the light (as it were).
This is exactly what we need everywhere. I wish her luck, and in the worst case scenario she does not succeed this time, she and her team and volunteers will learn for the next.
WaterGirl
@@heymistermix.com: @Jay:
Yeah, I see it now, thanks. It’s the formatting of that comment that’s confusing. Being in block quotes, they appear to be things she said.
Whimsical Pickles
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Apparently a Third Way meeting.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2025/03/02/democrats-in-despair-00206883
Baud
Great. So she’s advocating for even more emails and texts from Dems!!!
j/k
Miss Bianca
@@heymistermix.com: If she’s against the plutocrats, good on her. Still fuming about the outsize role that big money is playing in our politics. I will never not be fuming about it, actually.
@heymistermix.com
@PJ:
It’s interesting to me that Democrats who support a party that begs for money 24/7 and fails horribly are worried about “influencer grift”.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
I found a reference to where the quote comes from, an NY Mag article, A New, Moderate Way Forward for the Democratic Party, by a Ross Barkan
ETA: Whimsical Pickles got there first
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Jay:
Precisely. To again quote Shawn Fain of the UAW:
That goes to the heart of what Kat heard and criticized in the YouTube link.
And goes to the heart of policy arguments we have internally as to what the Party should represent. That split was readily apparent last weekend as AOC/Sanders wrapped up their stump tour talking about the working class while noted communist billionaire Marc Andreesen along with good old MattY were hosting a “suggested contribution” of $5K per person event with Gallego in AZ. And to think how he used to give Sinema shit for doing the exact same thing.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Good sleuthing.
CHETAN R MURTHY
@Baud:
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): haha, I could swear I read that quote from somebody else about Democrats in a meeting saying that. Not her. Somebody else.
TurnItOffAndOnAgain
@@heymistermix.com: The left has had its share of grifters and spoilers; it’s not a terribly unreasonable thing to be worried about or keep your eyes open for.
Fair or not, newcomers are going to have a lot to prove.
CHETAN R MURTHY
@Jay: voices like that f*** knuckle Ruben Gallego who decided to fundraise with Mark Andreesen.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Ah yes, good old Third Way and their spiritual counterpart, the New Liberals, suggesting exactly what Kat was railing against:
Geminid
@Baud: Schakowsky made a statement about her future plans January 25, but it could be read either way it seemed to me. She’ll probably come down on one side of the fence or the other by June. I expect that if Schakowski retires Ms. Abughazalah will have strong competition.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Geminid:
We’ve discussed this elsewhere and yeah, the Chicago machine will undoubtedly make sure a Chicago machine candidate is given every chance to prevail in a primary.
This young woman has her work cut out for her but good on her for starting the attempt.
narya
Most of the RS article is her bashing Dems, which doesn’t impress me. Even the crack about wearing pink. Go tell the people fighting for women’s suffrage that colors don’t matter. And I do think that we need a variety of approaches–there is no one right answer to this mess. I get a say in this one, so we’ll see.
Salty Sam
Read it as if you are a consultant trying to persuade her to come over to the dark side…
@heymistermix.com
@TurnItOffAndOnAgain:
Let her prove it to the district. There’s something wrong with a party that immediately descends upon someone challenging an 80-year-old who should have retired long ago, worrying that they’re a “grifter”. We should be excited that a 26-year-old is going to spend a huge amount of effort to try to win this district. Instead, nothing but shitting on her.
Martin
I like Kat, but most of the commenters here are going to hate Kat.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: I hadn’t heard of her either. Expect Gaza to be a big divisive issue in the primary. This run is meant to further splinter Ds.
I don’t know the demographic breakdown on the 9th district.
Everyone is old according to the purity left except their patron saint, he is forever young. Why do these young bloods not run to make red districts blue? They claim that their economic populism is popular everywhere
Expect more images like the one that was deleted yesterday.
Geminid
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Just because someone runs against your favored candidate doesn’t mean they’re the product of the “Chicago Machine.” I’ll wait to see who actually runs before I make that judgement.
I followed the 2022 primary between Reps. Sean Casten and Marie Neuman in a another Chicagoland district. I don’t recall any reporters talk about some “Machine” influencing the contest. But hey, maybe those reporters were part of the Machine that won the primary for Casten.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Geminid:
Lord, I don’t consider her a “favorite candidate”, don’t read something into something I didn’t actually say or imply.
It’s a statement about the district and how machine politics will be in play given the history of the region, old and new, and the fact she’s parachuting in from elsewhere to do this.
No judgement from me on machine politics, they have their place.
@heymistermix.com
@schrodingers_cat:
IL-09 is a D+19 district. Whoever wins it will be a Democrat guaranteed.
But go on, tell us more about how this will “splinter” the Democratic Party.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@Martin: I don’t know who she is. And frankly, since I don’t live in Illinois, I don’t care to find out unless she’s going to do something that endears me to her or makes me immediately suspicious of anything she does going forward. And if she’s doing anything like that, that means she’s trying to make national noise…which is probably a point in the second column. If she’s serious about this, then she needs to make her district the priority first and show that she’s not just in this for some of that Bernie Sanders glory.
scav
O! Anything but a fate of Jan Schakowsky!
Let Chicago be Chicago.
Seemed to muddle about all right when I shambled about the place apparently being a cog in the dreaded machine. And there I was, thinking I was making devisions and shit.
CaseyL
I read some less than flattering takes on Kat Abughazaleh online, but I don’t know how true those are. She is definitely of a different zeitgeist – “social media influencer” and all that – but that might be what’s needed nowadays.
She has a history of shitting on Democrats. On the one hand, that’s not good: progressives shitting on Democrats is part of what got us where we are. On the other hand, ever since I realized all that rhetoric about fighting fascism was just a campaign tactic, when the Democratic Party went right into “Let us all work together” mode after November 5, I’m inclined to shit on them myself.
TurnItOffAndOnAgain
@@heymistermix.com:
Yes, and that something has been called “Ralph Nader” and “Jill Stein” and most recently “Tulsi Gabbard”.
PJ
@@heymistermix.com:
Well, we’ll see if your favorite message of “Democrats suck” is persuasive in a year and a half. At this stage, she’s just another Dr. Oz.
schrodingers_cat
@@heymistermix.com:
A door knob with a D after its name will win in this district. That’s not the point I was making.
But being rude and insulting and nasty to commenters if they don’t agree with you is your style. The comments to your posts are closed so that no one can disagree with you. So engaging with you is rather pointless.
Geminid
The House district just north of me, the VA10th, just elected 38 year-old Suhas Subramanyam to the House. It was an open seat because Jennifer Wexton had to retire for health reasons. Subramanyam was in his first term as State Senator and served in the House of Delegstes before that. My district (VA07) elected Eugene Vindman who is in his mid-40s.
That reminds me: I need to work up the new Democratic House intake including the age distribution. Last cycle (2022) there were 31. I’ll probably post about them here if I ever get off my lazy ass. I think people should know avlbout Democratic Representatives as individuals, and about their districts as well.
Four or five of this year’s class were from California, including three who flipped districts: Adam Gray, George Whitesides and Derek Tran. The rest were mainly Dems winning seats opened through retirements, although Janelle Bynum flipped OR05.
Two new Reps won seats in Alabama and Louisiana that were redrawn on account of Voting Rights Act lawsuits. One of those, Shomari Figures (AL06) is 37 (I think).
cw moss
@WaterGirl: “move away from small dollar donors” is the advice from the consultant class that she’s criticizing
The return of Mo Salad
Frequently quoted friend of Balloon Juice and high school marching band mate of mine Dana Houle has landed on the other side of this. He lives in IL-9 and has been quite actively skeeting about this the last two days.
https://bsky.app/profile/danahoule.bsky.social/post/3ll7tgnb2522n
I can be found there agreeing with him.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@@heymistermix.com:
Are you talking about the Party when Biden and Pelosi were leading it? Or under Schumer?
WaterGirl
@Martin: I have no way of knowing whether you’re wrong or right, but I am curious why you drew that conclusion. I would love to hear more.
Jay
@TurnItOffAndOnAgain:
Of the 3 mentioned, only one primaried and won a Democratic Party seat. She won 4 terms, that says something about Democratic voters and the Party. The other two, ran as “Independents”. Nader may have been sincere, it was the days of the Blue Dogs, Greenspan, “Trickle Down Bothsiderism” and Austerity. Stein was just in it for the grift. Neither won a seat.
She has to win a primary, to be “relevant” as a splitter. Chicago doesn’t have “jungle primaries”.
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: I haven’t clicked all the links. Has she made statements about Gaza?
Betty Cracker
Not my district, not my candidates, but the way this challenge has played out on Bluesky is fascinating. People are swerving into their well-worn grooves all over the place. It’s somewhat counterintuitive, maybe, but I think the current internecine skirmishes within the party might be a good thing.
Geminid
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Sorry, I interpreted your complaint of a “machine candidate being given every advantage” in a primar someone else as an implicit endorsement of Ms. Abughazalah. I guess it was more of a general gripe.
But I don’t know enough about that area’s politics to know of there actually is such a machine and I suspect you don’t either.
I do expect that there will be a state legislator or three in the mix, and maybe a mayor or two. Their advantage will be that district voters know them and their records.
Jay
@PJ:
Dr. Oz ran as a Republican, in case you didn’t know that.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@The return of Mo Salad: Well, between that and the article interviewing her…great, now I’m suspicious.
Honestly, I thought shit like influencers going into politics for more clout and grift and turning the Democratic party into a clusterfuck would have happened in 2020. I guess COVID was a proper monkey wrench into those plans. Too bad it didn’t stick. Perhaps the next calamity will have more of a lasting effect.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Yeah. I’m not going to spend a lot of time worrying about a D+19. Primary voters can decide. My wild ass guess is that neither of these two will be the nominee.
Birdie
It’s now gone behind a subscriber / paywall but I read this article before the election: “If Harris loses, expect Democrats to move right”.
The thesis was that Biden’s presidency moved the party much further left on social and economic policy and successfully passed legislation reflecting these policies, and all he got for it was endless complaints about how he was doing it wrong. Losing in 2024 would be taken as evidence that the left is not a reliable base on which to build a winning coalition, because they do not reward politicians who advance their interests.
I think this take is right. The equivocation from elected Democrats is because they don’t think they can win by catering to the priorities of the left, because the left won’t vote for them anyway. They are struggling with figuring out what matters to a voting majority, not just the unreliable loudly online.
I’m sure we will see a lot of bomb thrower candidates and some will win primaries and get elected. But I’m also very aware of how AOC (for example), as soon as she expressed support for Biden’s agenda, started to be accused of “selling out” because Biden wasn’t doing the one weird trick or taking a maximalist approach. The fundamental problem is that critics get off on criticising, which makes them an unreliable constituency to build a majority.
So, good for this candidate, let’s see if she shakes things up locally. We will also see if there’s a coalition big enough and reliable enough to move the party vs. being spoilers and fracturing it.
WaterGirl
@The return of Mo Salad: Huh. I had always assumed that Dana Houle was female. I have never known a male Dana. Learn something new every day.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
This is my take too. If she wants to run, that’s fine. The primary voters will decide and things will get hashed out during the campaigns
MagdaInBlack
Thank you for posting about her, John. I saw a clip of her last night and thought “Yeah!”
( and yes, I’m in Illinois)
Geminid
@scav: I was interested to see that when Schakowsky ran for her seat after the Democratic incumbent retired, she beat some guy named Jay Pritzker in the primary. I wonder what became of him.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Geminid:
Don’t disagree with any of that.
The Dana Houle material is interesting. What this apparent child of massive privilege will need to do is essentially give up her life in order to run for this office because anything half-assed will show immediately.
I think that’s the crucible because being an online “influencer” and running for a Congressional seat are about as far apart as one can imagine. The skillset for one doesn’t translate into the other.
If she enters that crucible and works as if her life depended on it, because it’ll take that level of effort to have any chance, it’ll show a seriousness of purpose.
cw moss
@TurnItOffAndOnAgain: oldsters in office need to prove themselves too. Al “what have you done for us lately?” Ullman would attest to that if he were still alive
PJ
@Jay:
That’s part of my point. Apparently up until some time in college, Abuzagaleh was a die-hard Republican. No harm in seeing the light and coming over to the right side. But if she has a burning desire to run for office, why not from where she lived, DC, or where she was from, Texas? Why not try to reach all those Republicans she knows so well?
Now, like Dr. Oz, she’s going to run for office in a place where her connections are not very solid. She’ll have a lot of money behind her, like Oz, but money doesn’t equal votes. I don’t live in Chicagoland and don’t have a dog in the fight, but I’m curious to see how it plays out.
The return of Mo Salad
@WaterGirl: Dana Carvey, Dana White and Bill Dana would like a word with you.
Elizabelle
OT. At the showing of No Other Land at Richmond’s 1928 movie palace, the Byrd. Theatre is sold out. They’re planning a second showing Friday afternoon. Very happy to see the movie draw this level of support.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@Birdie:
And people wonder why I have such dim views about the Democratic base. How many times have we elected people who gave their all to serve our best interests, only for posers claiming to be a part of our own camp riling up and inspiring millions to take a giant, flaming dump on all of their works and legacies? It’s certainly been happening for longer since I’ve been alive – at the bare minimum, going back to Jimmy Carter.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
NP. I just copy pasted the quote into google and found it on the first page
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Yeah, it originated from some think tank in DC
hells littlest angel
Abughazelah is prime Squad material. She’s what the party needs!
Baud
The one thing I’ll say is that the DCCC always supports incumbents, so beware of people using that as a reason to hate Dems.
TurnItOffAndOnAgain
@Jay:
Sorry, is the argument here that someone can only be a problem from the left under those specific circumstances?
Or it’s Schumer’s problem writ large: lack of long term planning. That’s easier for the right than the left after all; not only does the right just want to break things, they have think tanks to write their strategies for them. Project 2025 and all that.
WaterGirl
It generally feels to me like there’s a fairly strong desire around here to shake up the old guard and add new blood, people who aren’t married to the ways of old, back when the senate was a “deliberative body” with gentlemen’s agreements.
I agree with Betty Cracker, who said something in the neighborhood of… right now the party is more split between fighting this bullshit and not making waves. While I think some of our awesome fighters are young pups, that’s not necessarily related to age or where you fall on the Democratic spectrum.
We’re all in a bad situation, though, with the democracy we had months ago is crumbling around us, so I iimagine it’s natural to be at least a little distrustful of people who are unknown.
But I don’t see how we can shake things up without adding a lot of unknowns, so I imagine we will get more comfortable with the shaking up as time goes on.
Eric S.
Jan Schakowsky is a good person and a reliable D vote. I’ve met with staffers from her office multiple times and they were all bright people. All kudos to her.
Here’s the but…
I don’t know if I would have a clue who Jan Schakowsky is if I didn’t live a couple districts to the south. I do think we, the Democratic Party, needs fresh blood at all levels of government. Is Kat Abughazeleh the answer? I don’t know. I’ve never heard of her before today. This is the kind of internal party challenges I think we need. People ready to fight.
I’ll be watching this one.
Baud
@Eric S.:
Most Dems will be obscure just like most Republicans are obscure.
Jay
@Interesting Name Goes Here:
“Influencers” have a built in grassroots. 3rd assistant Schumer Clerk does not.
Influencer is also a pejorative, unless you can define the gist of what she is “selling”. Is it quackery like Dr. Oz? Is it jade eggs for women’s hoo-hoo’s like Paltrow? Is it like the Tate Brothers or Jordan Peterson?
It takes a lot of work effort and technical skills to build a brand as an “influencer” and make any kind of income, (other than shit posting and getting amped by Felon Musk reshits on the Dead Bird Site). More to make a living off it and even more to be comfortable.
It ain’t your social media Granpaw. Only Zuck made bank off of The Book of Faces.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: Personally, I’m looking forward to next year’s Democratic primaries.* I expect there will be around 20 open seats due to retirements; that usually is the case. Those will be hotly contested with some strong candidates in the mix.
There will also be a lot of challenges to incumbents, probably more than usual. I have no problem with that. Democratic primary voters are as good an indicator as any of what “the Base” wants, so let’s see where the Base is at.
* I’m also looking forward to next year’s Republican primaries but that’s a different story.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
I agree
theturtlemoves
@Birdie: I’m not sure how much further to the right the party could move after the party convention featured such liberal stalwarts as Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
Jay
@PJ:
Wonder why someone would move from DC and Tex-Ass to Chi Town?
Wonder why everytime I got a chance, when working in Milwaukee, for years, I would weekend, better yet, long weekend in Chi Town.
Okay, O’Hare sucks, but,…………………….
Baud
@theturtlemoves:
That’s lame and cynical. Those people spoke about democracy, exactly what people are demanding Dems do now. We’ve been moving to the left for 20 years. Maybe we’ll stop, but that has nothing to do with Cheney and Kinzinger.
They’re only relevant as an excuse for people to support fascists.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@theturtlemoves:
The party convention also prominently featured labor leaders, for example. Remember the “Trump’s a scab!” chants?
CaseyL
@The return of Mo Salad:
Oof. Brutal thread. Anyone supporting her should read it.
theturtlemoves
@Baud: I confess I was being glib. I actually kind of like Kinzinger. His politics suck, for the most part, but he seems a decent fellow. I’m just saying that I think too much time was spent in trying to court the never Trump Republican crowd and it didn’t seem to provide any return on investment.
Baud
@theturtlemoves:
That seems accurate, but the problem is you could say the same thing about every other crowd.
Another Scott
What matters to me is:
1. Democrats regaining the majority in the House.
2. My rep being able to work with leadership and colleagues to pass sensible legislation.
3. Being able to win re-election.
(Probably not in the top 50:) Age and health of my Representative – I generally trust them to be honest with voters about their ability to do the job. But if they’re hiding or missing dozens of votes, then I’ll reassess.
(Probably not in the top 100:) Having a good social-media game.
26 is very young. I would be nervous about voting anyone for Representative who has never held elective office, especially someone that young. Why? Because life in elected office means making choices and taking half a loaf if you want to make things even a little bit better. It means finding ways to continue to work with people that you disagree with, that you upset based on earlier decisions, etc., because one has to have a majority to make progress.
But that’s me. Voters there will do what they want, of course.
I just hope that they contribute toward the next Democratic majority.
My $0.02, FWIW.
Best wishes,
Scott.
eclare
@Betty Cracker:
Hey
Did you see Hacks is back April 10?
Avalune
Unrelated but this sounds fun:
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requiring people to provide documents proving they are citizens when they register to vote, a mandate that could prevent millions of Americans from voting. Election experts said Trump was claiming power he does not have and said lawsuits over the measure were all but guaranteed.
Under his order, voters could use passports or REAL IDs to prove citizenship but not birth certificates. Sure glad I got my passport renewed before this guy took office. But well aware how lucky I am to afford and be able to get one. (especially since they wouldn’t let me get a Real ID the first time I went because they didn’t like the way my legal marriage certificate worked and I took my husband’s stupid name).
eclare
Deleted
Baud
Via reddit, the heroes we need.
Armadillo
@The return of Mo Salad:
Yes. To summarize the points I took from Dana Houle and others on Bluesky:
1) She markets as “a young person without health insurance” but appears to live in a skyscraper by the lake with a lake view.
2) She appears to live in Danny Davis’ district. Davis is older than Schakowsky and has been in congress longer than Schakowsky. So not sure why she wants to move to another district to challenge a (comparatively younger) incumbent. To my understanding both Davis and Schakowsky are solid Dems.
3) I unfollowed her on Twitter/Bluesky for posting some anti-Dem stuff. I don’t want to make too much of that because I can’t even remember what it was at this point, but for me, I did remember choosing to unfollow her. And I generally follow all Democrats.
So those three items make me feel a little like this has some grifter vibes to it.
As other folks have said, it’s not my district, it’s a safe Dem district, and we will be fine with whoever wins. And if it’s Kat then hopefully she works hard like AOC, Crockett, and Frost, and isn’t in it for the grift.
theturtlemoves
@Baud: Agreed. It is pretty plain that the messaging failed across the board, at least at the presidential level, although it fit a pattern of incumbent parties getting hammered worldwide. Doesn’t help that American voters have attention spans that only a fruit fly could envy.
JoeyJoeJoe
@Geminid: Sidney Yates, who was born in 1909 I think, first elected in 1948, left his seat in 1962 to run for Senate, got it back in 1964, and stayed until 1998, when he was 89
MagdaInBlack
Just a little googling tells me she worked for Media Matters and lost her job when Musk sued them. She has also made video’s for Mother Jones.
This:
“Abughazaleh built her online audience through her work at Media Matters, where she became known for making videos decoding the rhetoric and inaccuracies of Fox News. But when Musk sued Media Matters over an article about how X placed advertisements alongside pro-Nazi content, the mounting legal costs led the nonprofit to lay off Abughazaleh and 12 others.”
https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/25/once-a-target-of-musks-ire-gen-z-creator-kat-abughazaleh-is-running-for-congress/
Marc
It’s showing all week at our local 1926 movie palace, The Grand Lake Theater in Oakland. They’ve had lines several nights.
Jay
@Baud:
Seen today:
“If you think that teaching the Bible in school will teach values,
Why doesn’t it work in Churches?”
Baud
@Jay:
Like
cw moss
@The return of Mo Salad: Dana Andrews on line 1
Jay
For those interested, Krugman has a substack up today on Canada, the DJTdiot ETTD effect, economics, etc that is interesting.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/worthwhile-canadian-observations
The return of Mo Salad
@cw moss: It was a toss up with him and Dana White for spot number two in that Rule of Threes joke.
BarcaChicago
I will follow her and get to know her as a politician through the primary process. I find her presentation irritating so far, but that’s just my personal take – and I vote for irritating people on the regular because they’re not my friends, they’re my rep. I’m in Jan’s district and feel no loyalty to her – I’m open any comers and new voices/strategies
ETA Kat A. running for Schakowski’s seat.
scav
@Geminid: Well, we’ll just have to hope he learned from the experience and put that knowledge to good use I guess.
Jay
@Armadillo:
RE #1, But what were the kitchen counters made of? What Ice Cream is in the Freezer?
We live in a 3/4 of a million dollar, (1 bedroom) apartment with a view of Burnaby Lake.
We rent for a reasonable rate, because we moved in during Covid, there are rent controls, and the owner lives in Canton, China, so he get’s a property tax break for renting it, rather than leaving it empty.
In other words: “You don’t know her life!”.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: Thank you
eta : ty for the Krugman too
eclare
@Jay:
That was good, thanks.
Bobby Thomson
If she really wanted to go after the go-along caucus, she would be trying to primary Durbin. This has all the hallmarks of a Republican op, including laying the groundwork for a nationalized race that attracts the “genocide Joe” dipshits.
Birdie
@theturtlemoves: This comment proves my point. Let’s ignore ending the forever war, investing in the energy transition, and trying something different from trickle down economics (as well as saying Jan 6 was unacceptable) to focus on who was at the convention.
If you are the median left voter, this response is good reason to ignore you. If I was trying to win I would see the group you represent as “will never be satisfied so can’t be counted on”. So I’d be going out to look for someone else to vote for me.
MagdaInBlack
@Bobby Thomson: O.F.F.S.
schrodingers_cat
@Bobby Thomson: Exactly the point I was trying to make in my earlier comment.
Bill Arnold
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
With some more effort, with desktop google:
Tools -> Any time (pulldown) -> Custom range
and change the “To” field to sometime in the past. If no hits, change to midway between the previous date and the current date, etc. If multiple hits, go further into the past. You can often find the first instance indexed by google. (Though sometimes old pages will show newer material in a sidebar.)
Baud
@Bobby Thomson:
Senate is a much bigger lift, especially in IL.
Another Scott
@Baud: Have to be 30 to take office in the Senate. She’s too young (26), at the moment.
[ probably the 35th person to note this on this thread by the time I hit Post Comment… ]
Best wishes,
Scott.
MagdaInBlack
@Martin: I like her too, and looks like you were right.
Jay
@MagdaInBlack:
@eclare:
Back, decades ago, for a brief period, I dated a vegan. She didn’t work, was developing Vegan Pat’e, (it was not) and lived in a large Gastown Loft Condo with a view of the Harbour, Probably worth $2 million at the time, probably $10 million now.
Turned out her parents were in Europe for the year, so she was living rent free on EI, (Unemployment Insurance).
eclare
Great photo WaterGirl, I love purple.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: A senate seat or flipping a red seat would take more work than mouthing off in front of a camera.
Baud
@Another Scott:
That too.
eclare
@Jay:
OK. I was referring to the article you linked to about Canada by Krugman.
Geminid
@Geminid: I guess the midterm primaries I’ll follow most closely will be for the districts held by Republicans who won by 7 points or less last year. There are only three districts* that Republicans won despite Biden carrying them, but Republicans won a dozen or so others that could be flippable and strong Democratic candidates could make the difference.
* One these was Don Bacon’s Omaha-based Nebraska district. I read that Bacon has grown a mustache and when a reporter asked him how people liked it, Bacon replied “it’s 50-50, like my elections.”
Jay
@eclare:
Ah,………………
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
I regard red state and district Dems as heroes.
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: Yep. According to her tweets she doesn’t sound like a fan of Joe Biden.
She is Palestinian American and Jan S’s parents were Jewish immigrants.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I do too. Lauren Underwood who flipped a red seat in 2018 is my hero.
different-church-lady
@Scout211: We could try shitting on Republicans.
[Steve Martin pause…]
Nahhhhhhhh….
Salty Sam
And yet, you did.
Geminid
WTOP Radio tells me that Russell Wilson just signed a one-year contract to play for the New York Giants.
Harrison Wesley
From where I live in a red county in a red state, this discussion of politics in a D+19 district reads like a confab about a new moon of Jupiter. If she goes all in, I hope she’s serious.
Betty Cracker
@eclare: I did not, but woo-hoo! Thanks for sharing he heads-up! Something to look forward to! :-)
@Geminid: Yep! I’ll be in the peanut gallery with my bag of kettle corn as usual. Can’t express how much I envy folks who get to participate in meaningful Democratic primaries!
Steve LaBonne
@Avalune: On the other hand, both educated and Hispanic voters have passports, and Cletus… doesn’t. They might want to think this one through a little better. (Not that even this Supreme Court is likely to let this nonsense stand.)
They Call Me Noni
@twbrandt:
I’m 66 and right there with you. I welcome all the pissed off, smart, gen whichever letter of the alphabet you are making their voices and ideas heard. We desperately need young people who are concerned about the environment and guns and education and child care and housing. All the things!!
Geminid
@Salty Sam: MM pushed her, so she pushed back. I’d have done the same and I suspect you would have too, even if you generally avoided a particular commenter.
Glory b
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Ask black people what trashing identity politics means.
karen gail
@WaterGirl: No male named Dana? How about Dana Carvey from SNL?
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Ha!
Nukular Biskits
My $.02?
Sounds like a good thing. We need more young people in Congress (and state and local offices as well).
Marc
An amusing factoid or is she automatically Anti-Semitic for running against Schakowsky at all? I don’t see any other reasons to bring that up.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: This is one of many drawbacks of gerrymandering. There will always be solid D or R districts but now the number is artifically high.
I try to learn about politics from following competitive House districts, primaries and general elections alike. It’s become like a hobby. Beats bridge or pickleball, that’s for sure.
Martin
@WaterGirl: Kat is very strongly pro-Gaza, critical of Democratic policies that favor the wealthy, critical of Democratic tactics.
I don’t agree with her on all of her criticisms, but I think most are valid. Note the fate of front pagers who are critical of democrats.
schrodingers_cat
@Marc: Don’t put words in my mouth. The divisive issue of Gaza will be at the forefront again. Instead of what the Rs are doing.
Betty
@WaterGirl: It sounds like a Rahm Emmanuel idea. He was always criticizing activists. Dems like him look at Act Blue donors as activists who are not always happy with the Old Guard. One possible interpretation.
Marc
@schrodingers_cat: I was curious. You could just answer the question, it wasn’t a gotcha. What you did say was interesting, but it does seem a bit on the stereotypical side to me.
WaterGirl
@karen gail: @The return of Mo Salad: well, I’ve never known one in real life, at least, so it just didn’t click.
tobie
I’m suspicious of populists. I don’t trust anyone who claims to speak for the people, and my experience with populists has been that power corrupts them. Exhibit 1: John Fetterman. Exhibit 2: Ruben Gallego. Jan Schakowsky is getting on in years and I can imagine age affects how well she broadcasts her message. Heck I’m a few decades younger than her and I have no savvy when it comes to social media. What I do appreciate about Schakowsky, and DeLauro with whom she often partners, is that she’s figured out how to craft policies which, if enacted, would really work. DeLauro and Schakowsky’s Medicare for America plan remains the best plan for transitioning to medicare for all because it ensures that no one’s coverage will be interrupted. It’s a really smart piece of legislation. Maybe not great for bumper stickers but we need policy hounds in the caucus too.
WaterGirl
@Betty: Ugh on Rahm Emmanuel. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
schrodingers_cat
@Marc: She has been an outspoken opponent of Biden’s handling of Gaza.
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: I’m not sure Gaza or the more general Israel/Palestine issue will be much of a factor going forward even if some people will try to make it one. I may be proven wrong, but for now I look at last year’s intra-party fight as a one-off even though it definitely did damage and left some scars and grudges.
leeleeFL
I need a front-pager to put up an open thread, and I will repost this. Seems the Republican wretches here in FLOR-I-DUH are trying to bork the child labor laws so that kids as young as 14 can do jobs that immigrants used to do! Work overnight, be scheduled at any time, no mandatory meal breaks!
HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!
Will Florida Parents and Grand-Parents stand up and tell these ASSHOLES to go pound sand?
Thoughts?
Marc
@schrodingers_cat: I’m an outspoken critic of Biden’s Gaza policy (as you may have noticed) and I’m not Palestinian-American. If an outspoken 26 yo Jewish-American critic of Gaza policy was running, do you think you would respond the same way? Again, a question, I’m really still trying to understand how this is supposed to work.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@schrodingers_cat:
Is that automatically disqualifying in your eyes?
rekoob
@JoeyJoeJoe: @BarcaChicago: Yup, I voted for Sidney Yates (Go Maroons!) in his last term in Congress (1996) when I lived in the 9th (Rogers Park). Jan Schakowsky was the up-and-comer and won the primary. I believe Ms. Abughazaleh will have her work cut out for her. Good luck!
By the way, the USDA Forest Service headquarters is in the Sidney Yates Building (for the time being, at least).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_R._Yates_Federal_Building
tobie
@leeleeFL: Do you have a link? I don’t live in Florida but my elderly mother does and she hasn’t been doing well the past few weeks, so I will be down there soon. I might be able to start a letter campaign in her senior home about this issue. 70% of the residents are Democrats, so they’d be outraged by any green light being given to child labor.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@leeleeFL:
That’s disgusting. People in FL need to speak out about this to the FL ledge
Birdie
@Martin: I agree with those policy takes, but I don’t think critics should be protected from criticism – their feelings aren’t more valid than anyone else’s.
I’m happy this candidate is putting herself out there and hope that, if she wins power, she would use it for something more than playing the “outsider” from the inside. There’s always another circle of influence you haven’t reached yet, and farming outrage is so much easier than trying to fix things, that I think choosing to actually lead is the much harder path. (And this is why people like Warren and AOC are so impressive to me, while Sanders and Tlaib are not.)
schrodingers_cat
@Marc: If I were in that district I would vote for Jan S. not a TikToker from Texas.
Birdie
@tobie: Your view is close to mine.
leeleeFL
@tobie: I will look for the article. It was on a TV station post, I think!
BarcaChicago
Reading Kat A. state that she doesn’t have health insurance and is “only a renter”, and then seeing her posts from her Loop skyscraper condo and sharing how wonderful her upscale vets office is – that’s a little off. Hence the Chicago BlueSky thread theme that she is promoting a version of herself that ain’t true. We’ll see how it goes.
Marc
@leeleeFL: My grandfather was pounding spikes into railroad ties when he was 12 years old, but he was black. I assume the thinking is similar here, this is not an issue for respectable white people in Florida.
Glory b
@schrodingers_cat: Its pretty cowardly, to shut off comments but then want to engage elsewhere.
Armadillo
@Jay:
Granite countertops! Jeni’s ice cream!
That’s a fair point. And I’m not saying her living there (or anywhere in particular, except maybe Mar-a-Lago) is disqualifying.
The decision to run as the youth candidate in Schakowsky’s district when your current representative is even older is a little odd though. Is Davis notably more of a firebreather than Schakowsky? I’m not overly familiar with either one.
Anyhow. Hopefully she is not a grifter. See how this goes.
leeleeFL
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Damn Skippy! I have heard about other states pulling BS about child labor, but this takes the flippin cake. It’s a new Legislator, Monique Miller sponsoring it! She’s from my area! I am furious!
Glory b
@Marc: Mine did the same, but at an older age, it was considered an upgrade from picking cotton.
Was yours in northetn Florida or southetn Georgia by any chance?
Marc
@schrodingers_cat: OK, as always I’m still confused about what really matters.
Armadillo
@different-church-lady:
One of the points that Marcy Wheeler (Emptywheel) makes is that Republicans succeed in influencing the media environment because they consistently repeat their attacks on Democrats, whereas Democrats more frequently show message discipline and repetition against other Democrats.
frosty
Thanks for the heads-up. I see far too much of that here. One change though, I believe I heard a rumor that Baud was wearing pants.
stacib
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: One name, two words – Barack Obama. He not only bucked the machine, he beat it back. Look at the backstory of his race for the Illinois Senate. It’s possible, but she’ll need one hell of a team behind her.
Professor Bigfoot
“The Dems have to move right.”
“The Dems are moving to the right.”
I want someone to explain to me exactly what this means in terms of policy prescriptions that they recommend.
Marc
@Glory b: Just north of Boston circa 1915.
leeleeFL
@Marc: My Dad was working in my Grandfather’s machine shop at that age, but that was in 19 f’in 20! And their reasoning proves our point about immigrants doing jobs no one wants! No worries, let’s take our kids out of school and have them pick the produce! They don’t need no education! Jeebus wept!
Not sure this matters, but my family is whiter than white Irish Catholics.
tobie
@leeleeFL: I think I found something on the bill. It just passed a committee vote in the Florida state house. One Republican from Sarasota voted against it. Any Republican defections means the bill stinks to high heaven.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Glory b:
Oh, believe me, my quoting that passage wasn’t an endorsement of what Third Way was saying. I know what they really mean by “identity politics”
Glory b
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Oh, that was for some of the other folks here.
leeleeFL
@tobie: There was something about paying less as well, but the age limits and the screw school hours BS took all my attention!
I really hate these people!
Jay
@leeleeFL:
Not Rethugican Jesus.
tobie
@leeleeFL: The bill sounds absolutely odious. If one Republican voted against it in committee, it must be beyond despicable. I really hope word gets out.
Martin
@Birdie: I never suggested that they should be protected from criticism. But we have a sizable cohort of commenters here that have argued repeatedly that any criticism of Biden and party leadership is disqualifying. See 141 and 162, for example.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Glory b:
Oh ok. Got ya
Trivia Man
As a former nuisance candidate, I approve 100%. I ram against an entrenched evil incumbent and got SMOKED (73-27). But 0 regrets because WHAT IF the stars aligned just right and… ??? For damn sure 27% of voters had a chance to vote their mind instead of another unopposed line on the ballot. I even had a website hoping I could go viral and catch the fancy of a fickle nation. But 25 years ago was a different time and I never got any traction.
Marc
@leeleeFL: white Irish Catholics
Well, there’s the problem right there, were the Irish really “white” in the south during the 20s? Let’s just say, my grandfather had red hair and green eyes, he probably looked more Irish than black as a kid, which may well have been why he could get that job.
leeleeFL
@Jay: That entity doesn’t really exist! The phony Christians act like they have the inside track with him, but I remember what I learned when I was young, and none of the crap they peddle has anything to do with the Jesus I learned about and still believe in on occasion.
Princess
Honestly all sides of these debates (dump Schumer— Schumer is great-/ Jeffries sucks — no he doesn’t— all will be saved if we get rid of Shakowsky — Kat is a carpetbagger) feel besides the point and seem like a straw in the wind that the people who oppose Trump have no clue how serious things are. I feel like you’re all rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic because you have no idea how to deal with the iceberg that is actually going to kill you. It’s depressing.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@Martin: Because it’s stopped being criticism and started being destructive…and trendy, at that. People think they’re being enlightened and intelligent when they’re really just doing the Republicans’ work for them, free of charge.
Old School
@Martin:
If you think 141 and 162 are saying criticism is disqualifying, you need to take a class in reading comprehension.
leeleeFL
@Marc: Sadly, that’s probably true! My Dad was in NY and NJ. White, but barely.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@tobie:
I’m familiar with John Fetterman’s fall from grace, but what’s the deal with Gallego?
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … Phys.org:
While every situation is different, my truthiness detector finds great value in this. Modern societies need institutions and we need to protect them. In opposition, we always need to be thinking more than one step ahead…
Best wishes,
Scott.
Geminid
@Trivia Man: Rep. Schakowsky may be entrenched, but very few people besides Republicans would describe her as evil. Although, I guess being 80 years old makes her a target for generic anti-Dem estsblishment animus.
schrodingers_cat
Besides being old what has Jan S done to deserve a primary challenger?
tobie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Gallego was a co-sponsor of the Laken Riley Bill that made being accused of a crime sufficient grounds for deportation and he has voted for a lot of Trump’s nominees. This past weekend he held a fundraiser with Marc Andreessen. I didn’t think he would go that far to burnish his bipartisan creds.
sentient ai from the future
@leeleeFL: yeah, i’m sure that will work well in conjunction with all the lack of tourism from other countries.
because just what domestic travelers want is to be handled by a bunch of snot nosed kids. that will work out extremely well, and those kids will absolutely get great tips (florida still has the tipped-worker-exemption) for being competent and mature, and will in no way otherwise be petty vindictive little shits to the old people they are serving.
prostratedragon
@schrodingers_cat:
Population (2023)
742,949
Median household income
$90,087
Ethnicity:
59.2% White
14.9% Asian
13.0% Hispanic
8.6% Black
3.6% Two or more races
0.7% other
Marc
I guess Andreessen has now purchased his own senator. Isn’t that the point behind getting rich?
The return of Mo Salad
@Trivia Man: So you got the exact John Rogers / Alan Keyes crazification factor vote percentage?
That’s awesome.
prostratedragon
@Geminid: Is there still a “Chicago machine?” (Keep in mind, I grew up here in the days when there clearly was such, and on the couple-few-several-many scale, have been back many years.)
Scout211
I’m not familiar with either candidate so I don’t really know if I were in that district which one I would be supporting. But I do feel strongly that anyone can and should run for office if they think they can be a good representative for their district. Competition is not a negative and may even force an incumbent to up their game. And voters can choose to vote for whomever they want to for whatever reasons. Incumbents are often voted out, even if they have good records voting with their caucus. It isn’t a matter of deserving, but who will be best at serving their district.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@tobie:
Thanks. That’s pretty damn disappointing.
Speaking of Andreesen:
I’m not happy with Gallego raising money with such a man with the level of involvement he apparently has with DOGE, an entity so despised by much of the public that is doing immense damage, particularly to constituencies apart of the Dem base
Marc
If she’s still doing fine by her constituents, then the primary voters will give her the nomination. Otherwise, I think complaints about young upstarts challenging Democratic politicians stuck in the past has always been kind of stupid. Maybe it’s time for every Democratic politician to have primary challengers, something has to change.
RevRick
Healthy political parties are like amoebas. They send out feelers/pseudopods to discover where food/voters may be and to avoid dangers.
In political parties, these pseudopods are often described as gadflies or rebels. They make loud noises about where they believe the principles of the party should take it. Slightly behind them are those we might call “early adopters “, the ones who are responsive to the demands/urgings while remaining attached to the body. Then you come to the mass of the party, wanting to move forward while not wanting to get too far ahead of the general electorate. And finally, you come to the wary, those who hear the promptings, but are leery of the political consequences, often found hanging on in what may be enemy territory. They are, by nature of temperament and territory, those who are inclined to go, “whoa, whoa,” but not at the cost of being detached from the body as a whole.
It may look like an amorphous blob with no purpose, but if watched over time shows clear signs of ongoing evolution.
LeftCoastYankee
JFC this is a simple basic hat tip to young people to step and participate and compete with the existing elders in the party. It is a basic good thing and part of democracy.
It’s not a union job, there’s no right to continue because you’re not dead and don’t suck. If someone younger can come in and fill the same role and expand the base, great. If they fall flat on their face, Schakowsky can work for a more appropriate successor in 2-4 years.
That district will decide. Micro-spelunking old social media posts for anti-semitism or perceived slights against Uncle Joe Biden or whatever is absurd if you don’t live in that district.
This thread: “Well the hole fucking neighborhood’s on fire, I wonder if I should weed the front beds or the back ones first.”
Birdie
@Professor Bigfoot: If you are referring to me, I’m not making a recommendation. The article I referenced was descriptive (what is likely to happen) not normative (what should happen). And I think it has proved correct.
We are seeing lots of examples of politicians trying to expand their appeal: Schumer, Fetterman, Newsom, … I dislike it, but their behaviour is a rational response to what happened. Democracy and equal protection for all were on the ballot and on balance, Americans voted against them. They were not important or urgent enough causes (compared to everything else) to win.
We are also seeing the AOC / Sanders rally strategy, which I personally wish would win out, but I am not optimistic about the voting population buying it. Too many voters equate progressive policy to handouts and have a moral objection to poor people being helped.
In any case, to answer your question, whichever path it is, I expect we will see much stronger emphasis on class and issues like national security, and much weaker emphasis on defending minorities and immigrants.
YY_Sima Qian
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: WTF? Marc Andreessen has been one of the SV VC types all in on the Trumpian/Muskian agenda. Why is he then hosting an event for Gallego? Or more pertinently, why is Gallego associating w/ Andreessen?
Matt Yglasias has also been aligning w/ nationalists right on the need to wage a new Cold War & arms racing w/ the PRC, seeing it as a national project that can give “national purpose”, foster bipartisan “unity”, & promote industrial policy & economic nationalism.
Redshift
I find it interesting that it seems impossible to endorse the idea of more primary challengers without the response immediately getting down on the weeds on the merits of the particular would-be challenger. I read JC’s post as just cheering the idea, and I agree with that.
Chris Hayes made a similar post on Bluesky, and got a stream of responses complaining about him “endorsing” her without vetting.
Marc
Sorry I keep bringing this shit up, but there was no more “democracy” in Venezuela before the 90s than there was in the US before the 60s. Well over half the population was poor and indigenous or black, with no access to healthcare or education. The rich “white” folks controlled the government and made it essentially impossible for a lot of people to vote. Everyone likes to pretend that Chavez just grabbed power without a constituency, when in fact, poor people very much supported him, at least at first. Venezuela was much like Cuba, before Castro.
pajaro
So, I’ve read two posts about this today, with several hundred comments, without anyone making an argument that JS is wrong on some important policy issue or is doing a poor job of representing her district. KA’s quoted stuff is all about Democrats generally, rather than specifically about JS. I’ll note that KA’s stuff, at least so far, doesn’t explain how she will do a better job of representing the actual constituents in her new district, which might be of some importance to the people who are going to be voting in the primary. But it’s hard to argue against having choices; the only way it would be a bad thing is if someone to the right of JS also entered the primary field, JS ended up getting pinned in the middle, and someone funded with millions of AIPAC dollars to her right, particularly on Israel/Palestine, won the primary.
Another Scott
@Marc: I think she was making a similar point.
Popular and democratically elected people can destroy democracies too. That seems to be the most common path these days.
:-(
We have to think carefully about how we defeat MAGA, and how we move forward after it has been defeated.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
Meh, it’s a matter for the voters in the district. JS and KA can both make their cases and we will see what happens come Election Day.
Professor Bigfoot
@Birdie: That is, white people willing to throw the rights of not-white-not-straight-not-Christian people over the side to pursue the “white working class.”
Bernie’s turf.
Good luck.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@YY_Sima Qian:
And yet, there are plenty of Dems and self-professed progressives here, who buy into the Yglesias (and others like Little Ezra, Noah Smith and a host of Atlantic writers) ‘vision’ of how Democrats move forward.
And yet, when people like me push back, we’re told to stfu because we’re “toxic” or “purity ponies” or “don’t understand ‘coalition’ politics”.
Again, ‘internecine’ Democratic battles are important for these very reasons. Many of us were too quiet for too long.
schrodingers_cat
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I don’t like MattY and Ezra nor do I like BS or the purity left.
Omnes Omnibus
Funny. I haven’t seen such an animal.
Birdie
@Professor Bigfoot: FYI I’m not white, not straight and an immigrant in an interracial relationship. I’m threatened in multiple ways by this administration, enough that I can’t afford fantasies about what should happen and need to plan for what is.
You can take your dismissive attitude and shove it somewhere painful, at least as it pertains to me.
YY_Sima Qian
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Yes, Noah Smith (& Matt Stoller) is another that has been flirting w/ the reactionaries & pining a return to the Cold War condition “when the country had purpose & was unified”. Seriously, the Cold War was disastrous for civil rights, human rights, democracy, economic equality (at least in the late Cold War) & peace.
Ezra Klein at least hasn’t gone that far, but his is definitely that of the Silicon Valley TechBro (at least those who are not reactionaries) mindset, a different ivory tower.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@YY_Sima Qian:
Funny how they point to the Cold War era and not say WW2 when we were fighting the fascist Axis powers
The postwar era was one of immense prosperity for many but a lot were left out too, especially Black Americans and others.
The Great Depression and WW2, with FDR’s New Deal policies, laid the foundation for postwar prosperity and unity that these guys say they want back so much
PatD
@narya: When people say this they almost always mean elected Dem politicians and failed Dem political strategies. This is a party that has controlled the House for only 2 of the last 15 years. We shouldn’t be losing elections to fascists.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Yes, well, if one thing’s been made clear twice in the last eight years, it’s that people like you certainly know when to pick fights and start shit. Nothing like arguing over who gets to hold the hose while the fire burns into the foundation.
I can’t answer what the right way to go about things is, but I can absolutely see what the wrong way was, and frankly, watching many of my so-called allies fall into the same stupid social media-driven traps as 2016 has made it clear to me that the only thing that gets today’s progressives to do the right thing is when not doing so hurts too goddamn much to mask with a smile and a little bravado.
PatD
@schrodingers_cat: No one is entitled to a seat in Congress. No one should get comfortable thinking they have a lifetime job because they won an election.
PatD
@CaseyL: Nonsense. Progressive is another word for liberal. The fringe of the Democratic Party are leftists, not liberals. And, no, they are not the reason we are in this mess.
PatD
@Birdie: That poster repeatedly pulls the same tired shit. If you disagree with him you must be white and serving “whiteness”. Weirdly, also not white.
PatD
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: What we actually have is a third class who are defenders of Democratic Party institutionalism. They detest anyone who is a threat to the institutional party and blame them for the failures of the institution. It’s never the leaders, who’ve been amongst leadership for years, who are fault. That’s how they can hate both the Ezra/Matt Y crowd and also anyone associated with Bernie. Anyone that is critical of the broader party whether its leaders or strategy.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@PatD: Tell you what. When Bernie Sanders gets me stable health care and a decent income, maybe I’ll think a little more highly of him.
Until then, I have people like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and those institutions you’d rather
destroycriticize to thank for getting me one of those things and on a road to another, not a crotchety old bomb-thrower who’s somehow managed to convince people he’s the One True Savior.PatD
@Interesting Name Goes Here: I don’t care about Bernie Sanders so why would I care what you think of him? He should retire too.
What institutions are you talking about? People are not institutions. Pelosi was great… in 2009. Obama was great.. from 2009-2016. They are not particular relevant in 2025.
Not everyone who just might happen to disagree with you on some things is a Bernie supporter.
Ramalama
@Avalune: there is a reparations group on Facebook run by black women seeking funds by non black allies to pay for various things, including a special category just for passports for black people. This was before the 2020 election.
My goofball siblings have a daily chat on msgr and don’t seem inclined to run a chat anywhere else. But I haven’t looked at that reparations group in a while, or anything non-sibling in a while.
Gonna have a look.
The Audacity of Krope
It was on the OP. Old age bigotry has been increasingly accepted in the party since July. Especially here, hasn’t it Mistermix and Cole?
Aussie Sheila
@PatD:
Bravo!
Professor Bigfoot
@Birdie: Nonetheless, that’s what’s being called the way forward for Democrats, to abandon people who are not straight white or Christian.
I don’t know you from Adam, and I don’t’ give a fuck, about you personally, but I see exactly where this is going— to abandon the rights of everyone who is not straight white or Christian.
If you’re not in agreement with that, great, we are cool.
If you are, you can kiss my fat hairy Black ass.
Professor Bigfoot
@PatD: Do you agree that the way for Democrats to win is to throw the rights of not white not straight not Christian people over the sider?
Y’all love to do the same goddamn thing all the time, but the answer is always to throw somebody’s rights away.
And ultimately you will get to us.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl:
Dana is one of those names that used to be exclusively male and has now drifted towards the distaff side – primarily, I think, because it ends in “a” which is generally coded female for names.
Dana Andrews comes to mind as an example of male Danas, for me, but I’m into old movies.
PatD
@Professor Bigfoot: no, that’s stupid. Stop putting words in people’s mouths that they never said or implied. It’s lazy and wrong. It’s ok to disagree with people without saying all that nonsense you said.
dnfree
@Bobby Thomson: Durbin is a senator. She might have the qualifications to become a Republican senator based on her lack of experience, but most Democratic senators have more experience.