He is not wrong about the CBC, though. They are a pretty moderate/conservative part of the Democratic party tent.
Hardly aligned with the left in most cases. Clyburn saved Biden. Lost of long serving Reps in VRA districts. Very comfy for a long time. No challenges. The longer you are in Congress the more the establishment & moderating forces tends to seep in.
There are some exceptions, of course. Some of the younger Reps (Frost). Pressley.
Really the issue was his inclusion of the word "white" referring to leftists, which was unnecessary and undermined his point, which I don't think is entirely wrong for the reasons you listed.
Also, there is no such thing as "the white left," and any attempt to create one or even suggest white liberals should act as a unified bloc is undeniably racist. Unlike other groups on the left, white people do not have legitimate unified interests that are unique to their circumstances. Many of them are part of the left specifically to help enable Black power and opportunity.
That is the best explanation ive read for why white people cannot and should not organize like other groups, races and nationalities, and I'm going to start using it.
They don't have legitimate, unified interests.
That's why they tend to organize along nationalist or religions lines, like for the Polish, the PRCUA
I've honestly wondered why some of the more progressive CBC members (Frost, Summer Lee, Pressley, etc.) haven't left the CBC (or, at a minimum, formed the Congressional Black Progressive Caucus or something with a similar name), given that a clear majority of the CBC's membership is from the moderate and establishment wings of the party.
The Squad contains both Black and non-Black members and is more similar in concept to a professional wrestling-style stable in politics (minus the staged fighting and violence, of course) like the Four Horsemen, the New World Order (the pro wrestling one, not the conspiracy theory), D-Generation X, etc., than a traditional Congressional non-party caucus like the CBC, CPC, etc..
Because the CBC is an identity-based caucus, not an ideological one (besides excluding Republicans), at the end of the day. They can disagree with the leadership on some issues, but what matters for the caucus is that they come together to represent African-Americans and advance their interests. Leaving it would alienate them from their colleagues (including non-Black ones), without making them any friends.
There are definitely good points to picking activist to run for office, but by their very nature and how deeply they care about their issues, they are much more likely to have quotes (usually om social media) that out of context look very bad or extremist (which of course is always in the eye of the beholder).
Wa-5 is a Trump +11 district that would be potentially competitive in a wave election. It looks as if a moderate independent is running a campaign similar to Dan Osborn and the GOP is trying to get Democrats to vote for the Democratic candidate rather than the independent because they would rather face a Democrat than an Osborn style independent in the general election.
I live in WA-5. I haven’t investigated Powell (but I’ve already voted). I voted for the candidate considered the “most progressive “ (at least, via internet searches) which is Bajun Mavalwalla. I will look into Powell.
I did some more checking and I’d probably prefer Powell as Bajun appears to be anti-choice. It’s a problem researching so early. I don’t think Powell was even running when I was looking.
I wonder how long it takes SMP to start cutting its Georgia ad buys. No reason they should be spending $20 million on a race where we're favored and the incumbent has a ginormous cash on hand advantage. I assume they'll spend something to show they support incumbents, but that $20 million could probably be cut in half and we'd still be fine.
If they have the money to spare, I'm fine with them keeping that $20M in Georgia. The more dominant Ossoff is, the more likely KLB is able to cross the finish line to become the state's next Governor.
Yeah, in a weird way, boosting Ossoff with additional funding *might* be more effective than directly funding KLB to an extent. Jackson has an infinite supply of money to pull from, nothing we can do will help KLB bridge that gap. Ossoff, on the other hand, has a huge financial and polling advantage over his opponent. Jackson can spend as much money as he wants on his own race but given the reduced frequency of split ticket voting, the larger Ossoff's margin of victory is, the more likely KLB is to win from straight ticket voting alone, even if she underperforms Ossoff/Jackson outperforms Collins.
I think if Ossoff gets atleast 52% of the vote (which might even be an underestimate given that Warnock garnered 51% in a much less favorable environment), KLB will win too. Jackson isn't an incumbent and, while I think all Republican candidates are just different flavors of slime, speaking objectively about Jackson... he's no Brian Kemp, and I don't think he has the clout to really outperform Collins by a significant amount, even with all that money.
If the spending can boost base turnout, it definitely helps all other races. If it only targets swing voters mentioning how bad Trump and Collins are, that may not have a huge impact on the statewide races.
Getting LG and maybe one legislative majority is important, too. Need to start building a deeper bench there (as blessed as we are to have Ossoff and Rev. Warnock in the fold, they can't carry all the water).
The focus should be on having a seat at the table in redistricting in 2030. With 14 House seats, post-Callais, we could be looking at a determinative swing in House seats in a close national environment.
We’d have to hold the governorship in 2030 for that. Republicans long realized that redistricting was a decade long project that they had to be prepared for well before the last election prior to redistricting.
In states that we control a trifecta after 2026, but there is a chance that we won’t even have a seat at the table after 2030 (WI, PA, and NV are definite possibilities), Dems need to put independent redistricting on the ballot so we don’t face another 2010 in those states after 2030 (like in PA and WI).
Possibly...and can't hurt to try given that we'll essentially have unlimited funds. That said, color me skeptical that ads supporting a Senate candidate help carry his Gubernatorial ticket mate across the line...maybe around the margins
I actually got a MMR booster several weeks ago since it wasn't on my record. I don't know if my Trumpy brother has vaccinated his two young sons (3 yr, 1 month), but if not, I'm not going to give it to them.
This type of stuff certainly isn't limited to MAHA, even if it is much more so now since COVID. A lot of vaccine resistance originated in super liberal areas.
I doubt my brother even got the Covid shot, since he was one of the folks who caught it in fall 2020. Bragging about how his antibodies were better than the shot.
I mean...that's true as far as it goes. Problem is, in order to get the antibodies, you have to get the disease. As long as it doesn't kill you, then yeah, that's a true statement.
Any of the troops who refused the Covid vaccine for religious reasons or the misguided belief that it was still "experimental" don't get to rejoin the military. What if they refused to get other vaccines?
Yep - this is one of those times when the far left and far right meet. It's almost like MAGA people looked at vaccine hesitancy and we're like "that's some stupid anti-science BS, why aren't we doing that too?!"
MT-Sen, CA-6, where are they now? - Former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) has launched an organization to boost independent candidates, with candidate Seth Bodnar and Rep. Kevin Kiley attending the announcement event.
Manchin has also endorsed Republicans this cycle such as Sen. Susan Collins, but not any Democrats as far as I know.
Neither he or Sinema wanted to carve out a filibuster exception or nuke it for DC statehood or the John Lewis VRA. And they should've voted the party line.
The only thing those two did right were confirming almost all of Biden's judges, including Kentanji Brown Jackson to the DC Court of Appeals and then to SCOTUS.
Completely agree. Manchin was far and away the best we could do in WV - I don't understand how anyone fails to see this. Sinema (and Fetterman), on the other hand, deserve all of our outrage.
I’m surprised he supported all the things he in fact did (like the IRA, for starters) considering the state he represented and era of politics he came up in
He’d likely get a distant third. His approvals with Democrats are abysmal and Republicans only like him because Democrats hate him, they’d never actually vote for him over a full fledged MAGAt
We need a Democratic movement independent of Manchin in West Virginia. He really did vote against his state's interests as in not helping coal miners and in forcing an end to the child tax credits. I'm surprised no populist movement began to bubble up.
I don't want to come across wrong, so I'll clarify up front that this will help Stevens. It is unambiguously positive for her, even if I am uncertain of how large that positive impact is.
That out of the way: there are a lot of ways to interpret the thinking behind this. It could be that Whitmer believes Stevens is going to lose and doesn't want to be "blamed" by the party establishment for Stevens' loss. It could be that she has no idea who will win and genuinely prefers Stevens. It could be that she thinks Stevens is going to win and wants to be on the winner's bandwagon. And so on.
I wouldn't feel confident in assuming any of those options, including the perfectly valid option that you listed.
There's alot of bad blood between Whitmer & El Sayed from the 2018 primary where they ran against each other. She has never liked him so this may be more personal for her.
MI-Sen - Term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has already angered progressives in recent months by vetoing legislation passed by a previous Democratic-controlled legislature and supporting controversial data center proposals, endorsed Haley Stevens.
I find it interesting that what would ordinarily be a very major endorsement gets rolled out in the mid-afternoon on a Friday.
Correction: William Lawrence is running for MI-07, not MI-13.
He is not wrong about the CBC, though. They are a pretty moderate/conservative part of the Democratic party tent.
Hardly aligned with the left in most cases. Clyburn saved Biden. Lost of long serving Reps in VRA districts. Very comfy for a long time. No challenges. The longer you are in Congress the more the establishment & moderating forces tends to seep in.
There are some exceptions, of course. Some of the younger Reps (Frost). Pressley.
Agreed he is correct in his assessment…. But it’s still something you have to word very carefully when saying out loud
Really the issue was his inclusion of the word "white" referring to leftists, which was unnecessary and undermined his point, which I don't think is entirely wrong for the reasons you listed.
Also, there is no such thing as "the white left," and any attempt to create one or even suggest white liberals should act as a unified bloc is undeniably racist. Unlike other groups on the left, white people do not have legitimate unified interests that are unique to their circumstances. Many of them are part of the left specifically to help enable Black power and opportunity.
Bingo.
That's a good point.
That is the best explanation ive read for why white people cannot and should not organize like other groups, races and nationalities, and I'm going to start using it.
They don't have legitimate, unified interests.
That's why they tend to organize along nationalist or religions lines, like for the Polish, the PRCUA
I've honestly wondered why some of the more progressive CBC members (Frost, Summer Lee, Pressley, etc.) haven't left the CBC (or, at a minimum, formed the Congressional Black Progressive Caucus or something with a similar name), given that a clear majority of the CBC's membership is from the moderate and establishment wings of the party.
that's basically what the squad is.
The Squad contains both Black and non-Black members and is more similar in concept to a professional wrestling-style stable in politics (minus the staged fighting and violence, of course) like the Four Horsemen, the New World Order (the pro wrestling one, not the conspiracy theory), D-Generation X, etc., than a traditional Congressional non-party caucus like the CBC, CPC, etc..
Because the CBC is an identity-based caucus, not an ideological one (besides excluding Republicans), at the end of the day. They can disagree with the leadership on some issues, but what matters for the caucus is that they come together to represent African-Americans and advance their interests. Leaving it would alienate them from their colleagues (including non-Black ones), without making them any friends.
There are definitely good points to picking activist to run for office, but by their very nature and how deeply they care about their issues, they are much more likely to have quotes (usually om social media) that out of context look very bad or extremist (which of course is always in the eye of the beholder).
Or they have quotes that are just bad and extremist, regardless of context...
Conroy certainly hasn’t emphasized any progressive agenda, including wealth tax or universal healthcare.
Wa-5 is a Trump +11 district that would be potentially competitive in a wave election. It looks as if a moderate independent is running a campaign similar to Dan Osborn and the GOP is trying to get Democrats to vote for the Democratic candidate rather than the independent because they would rather face a Democrat than an Osborn style independent in the general election.
I live in WA-5. I haven’t investigated Powell (but I’ve already voted). I voted for the candidate considered the “most progressive “ (at least, via internet searches) which is Bajun Mavalwalla. I will look into Powell.
One thing that be said with near 100% certainty is the second General Election spot will not be filled by Mavalwalla
I did some more checking and I’d probably prefer Powell as Bajun appears to be anti-choice. It’s a problem researching so early. I don’t think Powell was even running when I was looking.
I wonder how long it takes SMP to start cutting its Georgia ad buys. No reason they should be spending $20 million on a race where we're favored and the incumbent has a ginormous cash on hand advantage. I assume they'll spend something to show they support incumbents, but that $20 million could probably be cut in half and we'd still be fine.
If they have the money to spare, I'm fine with them keeping that $20M in Georgia. The more dominant Ossoff is, the more likely KLB is able to cross the finish line to become the state's next Governor.
Yeah, in a weird way, boosting Ossoff with additional funding *might* be more effective than directly funding KLB to an extent. Jackson has an infinite supply of money to pull from, nothing we can do will help KLB bridge that gap. Ossoff, on the other hand, has a huge financial and polling advantage over his opponent. Jackson can spend as much money as he wants on his own race but given the reduced frequency of split ticket voting, the larger Ossoff's margin of victory is, the more likely KLB is to win from straight ticket voting alone, even if she underperforms Ossoff/Jackson outperforms Collins.
I think if Ossoff gets atleast 52% of the vote (which might even be an underestimate given that Warnock garnered 51% in a much less favorable environment), KLB will win too. Jackson isn't an incumbent and, while I think all Republican candidates are just different flavors of slime, speaking objectively about Jackson... he's no Brian Kemp, and I don't think he has the clout to really outperform Collins by a significant amount, even with all that money.
Not 100% sure.
If the spending can boost base turnout, it definitely helps all other races. If it only targets swing voters mentioning how bad Trump and Collins are, that may not have a huge impact on the statewide races.
Getting LG and maybe one legislative majority is important, too. Need to start building a deeper bench there (as blessed as we are to have Ossoff and Rev. Warnock in the fold, they can't carry all the water).
AG and SoS too!
Also far more important than LG, too.
The focus should be on having a seat at the table in redistricting in 2030. With 14 House seats, post-Callais, we could be looking at a determinative swing in House seats in a close national environment.
We’d have to hold the governorship in 2030 for that. Republicans long realized that redistricting was a decade long project that they had to be prepared for well before the last election prior to redistricting.
In states that we control a trifecta after 2026, but there is a chance that we won’t even have a seat at the table after 2030 (WI, PA, and NV are definite possibilities), Dems need to put independent redistricting on the ballot so we don’t face another 2010 in those states after 2030 (like in PA and WI).
Possibly...and can't hurt to try given that we'll essentially have unlimited funds. That said, color me skeptical that ads supporting a Senate candidate help carry his Gubernatorial ticket mate across the line...maybe around the margins
More measles cases have been reported in the United States in the last two years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/well/measles-record-united-states-numbers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0FA.C51u.MBLaQu90li6P&smid=url-share
I actually got a MMR booster several weeks ago since it wasn't on my record. I don't know if my Trumpy brother has vaccinated his two young sons (3 yr, 1 month), but if not, I'm not going to give it to them.
Fucking hate RFK Jr. and his MAHA bullshit.
This type of stuff certainly isn't limited to MAHA, even if it is much more so now since COVID. A lot of vaccine resistance originated in super liberal areas.
I doubt my brother even got the Covid shot, since he was one of the folks who caught it in fall 2020. Bragging about how his antibodies were better than the shot.
I mean...that's true as far as it goes. Problem is, in order to get the antibodies, you have to get the disease. As long as it doesn't kill you, then yeah, that's a true statement.
I found this interesting, since your post was related to vaccines.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/07/23/trump-promised-redemption-for-troops-who-refused-covid-shots-a-year-later-many-are-still-waiting/
Any of the troops who refused the Covid vaccine for religious reasons or the misguided belief that it was still "experimental" don't get to rejoin the military. What if they refused to get other vaccines?
Yep - this is one of those times when the far left and far right meet. It's almost like MAGA people looked at vaccine hesitancy and we're like "that's some stupid anti-science BS, why aren't we doing that too?!"
If only there was a way to prevent this.
Gosh go figure
https://thenationaldesk.com/news/americas-news-now/ex-democrat-senator-joe-manchin-launches-campaign-backing-independent-candidates-congress-house-senate
MT-Sen, CA-6, where are they now? - Former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) has launched an organization to boost independent candidates, with candidate Seth Bodnar and Rep. Kevin Kiley attending the announcement event.
Manchin has also endorsed Republicans this cycle such as Sen. Susan Collins, but not any Democrats as far as I know.
Sigh. At least he’s helping Bodnar.
Manchin just needs to step out of politics entirely. He and Bag Lady Sinema did so much damage to Biden's agenda between 2021-2022.
I don't think Manchin was determinative on anything. Plus he was in a Trump +40 state. 100% of my animosity is for Sinema.
Neither he or Sinema wanted to carve out a filibuster exception or nuke it for DC statehood or the John Lewis VRA. And they should've voted the party line.
The only thing those two did right were confirming almost all of Biden's judges, including Kentanji Brown Jackson to the DC Court of Appeals and then to SCOTUS.
Completely agree. Manchin was far and away the best we could do in WV - I don't understand how anyone fails to see this. Sinema (and Fetterman), on the other hand, deserve all of our outrage.
I’m surprised he supported all the things he in fact did (like the IRA, for starters) considering the state he represented and era of politics he came up in
I'd be shocked if he endorses any Democrat this cycle. Maybe Fetterman in 2028.
Manchin has encouraged Fetterman to run for re-election as an independent (or at least switch his party affiliation from Democratic to independent).
Which may be the only way that Fetterman can win reelection, if he even wants to try. I don't see him winning either major party's primary by now.
The only way he wins reelection is if he switches to the repugs, no ones abandoning their party for Fetterman, even republicans who cheer him on.
He’d likely get a distant third. His approvals with Democrats are abysmal and Republicans only like him because Democrats hate him, they’d never actually vote for him over a full fledged MAGAt
If Manchin helps elect Independents to the Senate if Democrats are not running, fine.
Otherwise, no thank you.
We need a Democratic movement independent of Manchin in West Virginia. He really did vote against his state's interests as in not helping coal miners and in forcing an end to the child tax credits. I'm surprised no populist movement began to bubble up.
Yeah, as a native West Virginian I really wish we had stronger populists and progressives in the state.
https://x.com/PollTracker2024/status/2080731574513909876
Whitmer makes endorsement in Michigan Senate primary.
Seems likely she only would've done this if she thought Stevens gets across the line with her endorsement.
I don't think it will.
We will see. Progressives have never won a primary that is this prominent outside of deep blue enclaves.
I think AES could win a general if he tacks to the center. But if Black MI voters turn out for Stevens, he's done.
I don't want to come across wrong, so I'll clarify up front that this will help Stevens. It is unambiguously positive for her, even if I am uncertain of how large that positive impact is.
That out of the way: there are a lot of ways to interpret the thinking behind this. It could be that Whitmer believes Stevens is going to lose and doesn't want to be "blamed" by the party establishment for Stevens' loss. It could be that she has no idea who will win and genuinely prefers Stevens. It could be that she thinks Stevens is going to win and wants to be on the winner's bandwagon. And so on.
I wouldn't feel confident in assuming any of those options, including the perfectly valid option that you listed.
There's alot of bad blood between Whitmer & El Sayed from the 2018 primary where they ran against each other. She has never liked him so this may be more personal for her.
MI-Sen - Term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has already angered progressives in recent months by vetoing legislation passed by a previous Democratic-controlled legislature and supporting controversial data center proposals, endorsed Haley Stevens.
I find it interesting that what would ordinarily be a very major endorsement gets rolled out in the mid-afternoon on a Friday.
The establishment is going to have egg on their face if AES wins the primary.
She has been terrible all 2nd term. Ever since the kidnap plot.
They didn't do much except fix the roads with their trifecta. Way less than Minny, for instance.
Backtracking on the pipeline under the Great Lakes. Pro data center? Lordy. I wish she'd go hike the Appalachian Trail.