? The protests correspond with urban density. The region with the least is the Plains, for obvious reasons. Looks to me like there happening in every significant Southern city,
There are noticeably less protests in highly populated Southern metros. This map represents it better. Texas' organizing seems to be the worst. Somehow that comment got deleted when my device lagged.
One race I'm interested in is MI-13. Shri Thanedar, the incumbent, is ineffective and highly disliked, and has a challenger in the form of State Rep. Donavan McKinney. McKinney is backed by the Justice Democrats and several progressives, as well as apparently some non-progressives from what I've heard.
My question is, does he have a realistic chance? Particularly if no one else runs? Note that Adam Hollier is also in the race.
If Michigan had run-off campaigns like the South does, he’d be gone and never existed. Interesting that the South has those to prevent black people from winning while Detroit could use that to help black people win.
He’s such an asshole for being a nobody who buys his seat at the expense of black people. If he really cared about doing what’s right, he’d take a step back.
I'm planning on attending the No Kings protest tomorrow, and my 98 year old Mom who lives at my house wants to go.
Plans are to attend the one in downtown LA, and stay only for a couple hours. Mom will be in a wheelchair, and I'm in no shape to parade all over downtown, so we'll stay as long as we're comfortable.
We got there about 9:45 and stayed for about an hour 20 minutes. It was packed for blocks around city hall. It was a really nice event and everybody was extremely well behaved. The organizers policed for misconduct, even littering.
On the way back to the subway, we marched with a group circling the area down the middle of Broadway, and it was hard to get into the station because of the mass of humanity exiting.
At the time I was there, police and metro were helpful, as were the organizers. I believe the police response later was an overreaction.
We got there on the A line from Long Beach which stops 2 blocks south of City Hall. It's a new station with double sets of elevators and impeccably clean.
Curfew for the downtown area was 8 pm. At about 4 pm, allegedly about 7 hooligans threw fireworks, bottles of water, and rocks at police. This happened on the fringed of downtown and quite a distance from city hall where I had been located. Police declared an unlawful assembly and immediately tear gassed completely peaceful protesters. They had skirmish lines that pushed many people away from where they parked and closed at least one metro station.
At one point it was reported that la sheriff fired rubber bullets that hit LAPD.
Actually, I would far prefer Michael Bloomberg himself as mayor than either Cuomo or Mamdani. (But as far as POTUS goes, I fully agree with PollJunkie. That was a beautiful thing to watch – and Elizabeth Warren would have made a wonderful president!)
He was the worst on violating Black and Hispanic people's basic rights by forcing them to submit to baseless searches. A former high school classmate lost count after the -12th time- in a year that police stopped her on the way home from her job as a schoolteacher and demanded to search her purse.
I think police can be more efficient in targeting New Yorkers without having to do racial profiling. I don’t see this happening much these days in Berkeley but I believe the police department already went away with this agenda a long time ago.
Yeah. And all it did was put fear in the people it targeted, namely black people.
Berkeley did have racial profiling decades ago and not just with the police (the Claremont community in particular has a history with this). However, since the early 90’s there’s greater awareness and social consciousness towards non-white residents. It’s also a game changer in the last several years white people only represent 50+% of the residents whereas decades ago it was 68%+.
If someone immigrated to *Missisippi* from *Denmark*, is full MAGA, homeschools their children, avoids vaccines, is being deported by Trump and blames Biden for it then I think it's not politically incorrect to say that he needs to get his head checked in Denmark where it would be free too. One of the most insane LAMF stories out there.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D) faces a 7.5 year stay in prison and a $2.5M fine, as he was sentenced for his crimes regarding wire fraud and bribery. This is a very steep fall from grace for the former Speaker who ruled the House for 36 years in 2 separate stints and also the Democratic Party of Illinois.
Two Democratic state legislators and their spouses in Minnesota were found shot early Saturday in what the state’s governor described as an apparent politically motivated assassination attempt.
One of the lawmakers, State Representative Melissa Hortman, died, as did her husband, Mark. State Senator John A. Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot multiple times, but remained alive as of Saturday morning.
ABC News is reporting that both legislators are in grave condition. Multiple sources are reporting that the attacker may have been impersonating law enforcement, although nothing else about the identity or motive of the attacker is known at this time.
I’m sure it’s politically motivated. I keep hearing conflicting stories about there being more than one suspect: one suspect in custody and other still at large.
It’s awful to hear that Hortman and Hoffman are in grave condition.
It's an act of terrorism. Full stop. Law enforcement needs to be held to higher standard and held accountable. It's bad enough that law enforcement itself is flooded with bad actors that are poorly vetted, but this is the tipping point.
Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) was assassinated in the politically-motivated shootings in Minnesota; her husband was also killed. State Sen. Hoffman and his wife underwent surgery and are still alive, although I'm assuming they're still in critical condition.
Republicans now hold a 67-66 majority in the Minnesota House because of the assassination.
RIP. The former speaker was only 55 and a Democratic stalwart. I pray that her fellow representative recovers. Political violence should never have a place in our country or be acceptable against anyone.
The suspect had extremist anti abortion views and wanted to target abortions clinics, Walz, Ellison, Smith etc. He also was an evangelical preacher and went to the Palestinian territories to convert militant Islamists and preach non violence. He ran a security company. He had No Kings flyers in his car too.
This is a scary and painful day. Just a reminder to everyone that when things like this happen, there's always a lot of misinformation and speculation. So please be extra cautious in what you share.
And for our Minnesota fam, we hope you are all safe, and we are thinking of you.
Friday night was one of the biannual big fundraising banquet dinners for the DFL. It’s pricey and filled with rich people and politicians. I love seeing the Kaplans, THE Kaplan from the legal field. His wife has the best haircut and they always look rich af.
I’m lucky enough to go bc my college bestie is an elected officer in the party and I get to be her plus one. Full access to everything including the coveted and expensive photo line with the keynote speaker. I got to meet Gov Pritzker and told him thanks for kicking ass the other day. He was a fantastic and bombastic keynote. When he first ran for Gov, I thought, oh a rich guy buying his way into office, story old as time. He walks the walk and talks the talk.
Tina Smith was also fantastic, as always. She said, “I’m not running for office anymore so I can say whatever I damn well please. This administration is a shit show!” Amy Klobuchar did 20 minutes of jokes, my friend timed her bc it’s its own joke that she goes way over time. But, she comes with zingers with her horrible rawr rawr voice. She’s so Minnesotan and it’s perfect.
To go from that to waking up the next day to a text from my bestie, who was going to come over for brunch, mimosas and tv shows, “I don’t want to go grocery shopping with you beforehand anymore bc there is a murderer on the loose killing state reps in that area.”
I pull up the news and see Hortman’s picture. What a gut punch. She’s one of the greats. She’s a polite seeming suburban mom with an iron fist. She lead the way with moms flipping GOP suburban seats. The state house was the Hortman house and it was going to be that way for as many years as she wanted.
NYT: Texas authorities have issued an alert saying there is a "credible threat toward state legislators attending today’s protest at the State Capitol."
Are Texas authorities believable at this point? Do they just want to clamp down on attendance? We’re at that point of questioning. No, we’re beyond that.
There are three Democratic candidates running in the primary to succeed termed out center-left Independent incumbent Ben Walsh for Syracuse mayor. His deputy mayor, Sharon Owens, is running to replace him and received the endorsement of the local paper. I'm voting for Pat Hogan, her main rival and longtime common councilor who has the endorsement of most of the local Democratic establishment. Chol Majok is an inspiring story, Sudanese Lost Boy, but he's basically just a poly sci major who got himself elected to the city council, it's pretty obvious he's not up to snuff.
John Fetterman is undermining our messaging on everything: Los Angeles, ICE, the Parade, No Kings, both siding Senator Padilla. Trump's lawyers are now using his statements in court, and Fox & compatriots are more than happy to give him the hot mic. No wonder why he got booed in Pittsburgh yesterday. Does he have an endgame?
I used to think that Fetterman was always an asshole and that those blaming the stroke we're giving him a little too much grace, but it does seem possible that (while he was definitely actually always an asshole) he's totally lost it and has not endgame or plan.
I think he's totally gone into the Twitter algorithm echo chamber and just says and shitposts whatever it feeds him. Also, I think he purposely made a play for Republican voters after Democrats lost all Pennsylvania statewide races.
Yeah, I think Casey's loss (which was easily foreseeable; he was never the political titan that he was often made out to be) combined with the Republican registration gains in PA are a factor on this.
But Fetterman has always been highly unorthodox, so who knows really.
He always has had a brash streak that—combined with his physical appearance—was a signature of sorts. It certainly made him stand out in Pennsylvania, where statewide politicians of both parties tend to be as dull as dishwater.
I get the sense that he was wholly unprepared for the increase in intensity of national politics. Before senator he was mayor of a small town and then a largely powerless lieutenant governor. The latter in particular sounds, on paper, like it's a good preparation for congress but there's barely any official duties that PA's LG has to actually do.
That immense increase in workload might grate on him, especially the partisan expectations. He's pushing back against it with the congressional equivalent of a tantrum. I wouldn't be surprised if his stroke exacerbated it all, too.
I also remember that while the national media gushed over him, he performed very poorly in the primary debates not able to clearly articulate policy like Kenyatta and Lamb, and his family has a long Republican tradition. His win was more due to his long progressive advocacy, name recognition and aesthetics.
Aesthetics. Correct. A big ole white straight man preaching about Democratic values was a big factor. I wasn’t aware they still did that. And now he doesn’t so bye.
He's also a rare politician with significant ties to both eastern and western Pennsylvania (and even more rare is that he moved from the former to the latter; it's almost always the other way around) which makes a difference in this state.
Respectfully disagree. Lieberman long had a reputation as a centrist to conservative Democrat. Lest we forget that the Buckley brothers, both Bill and Jim endorsed him in his 1988 Senate race against liberal Republican Lowell Weicker.
Well, I honestly don't know much about his career before 2000 which is why the question mark. I know that he was the running mate of Al Gore, cost him progressive support to Nader, stripped the public health insurance option out of Obamacare, was a neocon war hawk, ran as an independent Democrat in 2006 after losing the primary, endorsed McCain, was almost chosen instead of Palin and retired in 2012 when polls showed him losing to Chris Murphy.
Lowell Weicker was a great liberal Republican senator, and Lieberman defeated him from the right by assassinating his character with support from the Buckleys. He was an asshole from the very beginning of his first Senate campaign if not probably earlier.
No complaints about Weicker. He was a MAJOR proponent of the Americans with Disabilities Act - he had a son with Down’s Syndrome - and other pro disability laws during his tenure.
"Ever" is a long time. In the 19th century, who would have ever expected a Democratic president, let alone one from Texas, to spearhead the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts and for some notable Republicans to oppose them?
It seems like a very long time ago but there were some moderate repubs here in CA. I distinctly remember Sen Thomas Kuchel speaking out against nominating "the extremist Barry Goldwater" in 1964 fearing a right wing takeover. Kuchel is spinning rapidly in his grave.
Gee, I can’t imagine why.
? The protests correspond with urban density. The region with the least is the Plains, for obvious reasons. Looks to me like there happening in every significant Southern city,
https://www.axios.com/2025/06/07/no-kings-protest-trump-military-parade-june-14
There are noticeably less protests in highly populated Southern metros. This map represents it better. Texas' organizing seems to be the worst. Somehow that comment got deleted when my device lagged.
One race I'm interested in is MI-13. Shri Thanedar, the incumbent, is ineffective and highly disliked, and has a challenger in the form of State Rep. Donavan McKinney. McKinney is backed by the Justice Democrats and several progressives, as well as apparently some non-progressives from what I've heard.
My question is, does he have a realistic chance? Particularly if no one else runs? Note that Adam Hollier is also in the race.
If there’s not another candidate in the race, yes. But Thandear is going to be flush with AIPAC and crypto money.
Even without them, he is loaded and can self fund. One of the reasons he got in, in the first place.
If Michigan had run-off campaigns like the South does, he’d be gone and never existed. Interesting that the South has those to prevent black people from winning while Detroit could use that to help black people win.
He’s such an asshole for being a nobody who buys his seat at the expense of black people. If he really cared about doing what’s right, he’d take a step back.
I'm planning on attending the No Kings protest tomorrow, and my 98 year old Mom who lives at my house wants to go.
Plans are to attend the one in downtown LA, and stay only for a couple hours. Mom will be in a wheelchair, and I'm in no shape to parade all over downtown, so we'll stay as long as we're comfortable.
How did it go? Did the various forces refrain from abusing people? The NYPD behaved very professionally at the march as far as I could see.
We got there about 9:45 and stayed for about an hour 20 minutes. It was packed for blocks around city hall. It was a really nice event and everybody was extremely well behaved. The organizers policed for misconduct, even littering.
On the way back to the subway, we marched with a group circling the area down the middle of Broadway, and it was hard to get into the station because of the mass of humanity exiting.
At the time I was there, police and metro were helpful, as were the organizers. I believe the police response later was an overreaction.
We got there on the A line from Long Beach which stops 2 blocks south of City Hall. It's a new station with double sets of elevators and impeccably clean.
What did the police do later?
Curfew for the downtown area was 8 pm. At about 4 pm, allegedly about 7 hooligans threw fireworks, bottles of water, and rocks at police. This happened on the fringed of downtown and quite a distance from city hall where I had been located. Police declared an unlawful assembly and immediately tear gassed completely peaceful protesters. They had skirmish lines that pushed many people away from where they parked and closed at least one metro station.
At one point it was reported that la sheriff fired rubber bullets that hit LAPD.
Basically a police cluster fuck.
Bloomberg Opens His Wallet for Cuomo, with $5 million donation on Friday
https://politicalwire.com/2025/06/13/bloomberg-opens-his-wallet-for-cuomo/
Est. Cash on hand (as of May 23)
Cuomo $5.2M
Mamdani $4.5M
Just loved it when Warren ended his political ambitions and wasted his 1B$.
Actually, I would far prefer Michael Bloomberg himself as mayor than either Cuomo or Mamdani. (But as far as POTUS goes, I fully agree with PollJunkie. That was a beautiful thing to watch – and Elizabeth Warren would have made a wonderful president!)
He was the worst on violating Black and Hispanic people's basic rights by forcing them to submit to baseless searches. A former high school classmate lost count after the -12th time- in a year that police stopped her on the way home from her job as a schoolteacher and demanded to search her purse.
Yes, elsewhere I have pointed to Bloomberg’s "Stop and Frisk" policy. That was intolerable and can never be repeated.
Yes, agreed 100%.
I think police can be more efficient in targeting New Yorkers without having to do racial profiling. I don’t see this happening much these days in Berkeley but I believe the police department already went away with this agenda a long time ago.
Stop and frisk was very -inefficient-! A very small percent of the victims of that policy were ever guilty of anything.
Yeah. And all it did was put fear in the people it targeted, namely black people.
Berkeley did have racial profiling decades ago and not just with the police (the Claremont community in particular has a history with this). However, since the early 90’s there’s greater awareness and social consciousness towards non-white residents. It’s also a game changer in the last several years white people only represent 50+% of the residents whereas decades ago it was 68%+.
https://x.com/grantstern/status/1933650045003284562
If someone immigrated to *Missisippi* from *Denmark*, is full MAGA, homeschools their children, avoids vaccines, is being deported by Trump and blames Biden for it then I think it's not politically incorrect to say that he needs to get his head checked in Denmark where it would be free too. One of the most insane LAMF stories out there.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D) faces a 7.5 year stay in prison and a $2.5M fine, as he was sentenced for his crimes regarding wire fraud and bribery. This is a very steep fall from grace for the former Speaker who ruled the House for 36 years in 2 separate stints and also the Democratic Party of Illinois.
https://wgntv.com/news/illinois/ex-illinois-house-speaker-mike-madigan-to-be-sentenced-on-corruption-charges-friday/
https://bsky.app/profile/wgntv.com/post/3lrjljgoehq2i
Two Democratic state legislators and their spouses in Minnesota were found shot early Saturday in what the state’s governor described as an apparent politically motivated assassination attempt.
One of the lawmakers, State Representative Melissa Hortman, died, as did her husband, Mark. State Senator John A. Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot multiple times, but remained alive as of Saturday morning.
The Hoffmans were out of surgery, he said. Doctors were “cautiously optimistic that they will improve” another official said.
Two DFL MN lawmakers were shot at their homes last night, their condition and identity of attacker unknown.
https://bnonews.com/index.php/2025/06/minnesota-hoffman-hortman-shooting/
ABC News is reporting that both legislators are in grave condition. Multiple sources are reporting that the attacker may have been impersonating law enforcement, although nothing else about the identity or motive of the attacker is known at this time.
I’m sure it’s politically motivated. I keep hearing conflicting stories about there being more than one suspect: one suspect in custody and other still at large.
It’s awful to hear that Hortman and Hoffman are in grave condition.
BBC confirmed that Hortman and her husband died from injuries sustained in the shooting last night. Just awful.
The Hoffmans were out of surgery, he said. Doctors were “cautiously optimistic that they will improve” another official said.
It's an act of terrorism. Full stop. Law enforcement needs to be held to higher standard and held accountable. It's bad enough that law enforcement itself is flooded with bad actors that are poorly vetted, but this is the tipping point.
Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) was assassinated in the politically-motivated shootings in Minnesota; her husband was also killed. State Sen. Hoffman and his wife underwent surgery and are still alive, although I'm assuming they're still in critical condition.
Republicans now hold a 67-66 majority in the Minnesota House because of the assassination.
Has Lisa Demuth denounced the assassination? She’s awfully quiet.
The legislative session just ended so there will be no practical effect of the 67-66 majority.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/2-minnesota-lawmakers-shot-targeted-incident-officials/story?id=122840751&cid=social_twitter_abcn
https://x.com/jimstewartson/status/1933933347543343132
https://x.com/CNN/status/1933939507914588454
https://x.com/VermilViathan/status/1933945035629932836
https://x.com/adamscochran/status/1933945661256257865
RIP. The former speaker was only 55 and a Democratic stalwart. I pray that her fellow representative recovers. Political violence should never have a place in our country or be acceptable against anyone.
The suspect had extremist anti abortion views and wanted to target abortions clinics, Walz, Ellison, Smith etc. He also was an evangelical preacher and went to the Palestinian territories to convert militant Islamists and preach non violence. He ran a security company. He had No Kings flyers in his car too.
Glad they caught him swiftly before he could harm anyone else
He hasn’t been caught yet.
I wouldn't be shocked if (assuming this involves federal jurisdiction in the first place), Trump jumps in with a pardon in the next couple of days.
I’m pretty sure only Walz can pardon him.
Which is why I said assuming-I'm not certain about whether this would be a federal case or not.
Mangione was charged federally for murder. (There’s a dispute over that).
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/17/us/luigi-mangione-indicted-federal-charges#:~:text=The%20first%2Ddegree%20murder%20charge,as%20a%20crime%20of%20terrorism.”
But this administration may not care enough to charge it in this instance because the victims were Democratic officials.
He was also charged at the state level too. I’m certain so will the MN killer.
I'm assuming the Trump Administration will send the Military to shelter this guy (or arrest/kill any Minnesota official who charges him- or both).
Lander and Mamdani ad:
https://x.com/sunraysunray/status/1933665746866868563
Cute. I'm still not ranking Mamdani 2nd, though.
This is a scary and painful day. Just a reminder to everyone that when things like this happen, there's always a lot of misinformation and speculation. So please be extra cautious in what you share.
And for our Minnesota fam, we hope you are all safe, and we are thinking of you.
Thank you.
Friday night was one of the biannual big fundraising banquet dinners for the DFL. It’s pricey and filled with rich people and politicians. I love seeing the Kaplans, THE Kaplan from the legal field. His wife has the best haircut and they always look rich af.
I’m lucky enough to go bc my college bestie is an elected officer in the party and I get to be her plus one. Full access to everything including the coveted and expensive photo line with the keynote speaker. I got to meet Gov Pritzker and told him thanks for kicking ass the other day. He was a fantastic and bombastic keynote. When he first ran for Gov, I thought, oh a rich guy buying his way into office, story old as time. He walks the walk and talks the talk.
Tina Smith was also fantastic, as always. She said, “I’m not running for office anymore so I can say whatever I damn well please. This administration is a shit show!” Amy Klobuchar did 20 minutes of jokes, my friend timed her bc it’s its own joke that she goes way over time. But, she comes with zingers with her horrible rawr rawr voice. She’s so Minnesotan and it’s perfect.
To go from that to waking up the next day to a text from my bestie, who was going to come over for brunch, mimosas and tv shows, “I don’t want to go grocery shopping with you beforehand anymore bc there is a murderer on the loose killing state reps in that area.”
I pull up the news and see Hortman’s picture. What a gut punch. She’s one of the greats. She’s a polite seeming suburban mom with an iron fist. She lead the way with moms flipping GOP suburban seats. The state house was the Hortman house and it was going to be that way for as many years as she wanted.
Thanks for sharing.
My heart is broken for every Minnesotan (and especially for the Hortmans' children...I can't even begin to imagine what they're going through).
NYT: Texas authorities have issued an alert saying there is a "credible threat toward state legislators attending today’s protest at the State Capitol."
Are those Texas authorities going to actually do something about that credible threat?
Are Texas authorities believable at this point? Do they just want to clamp down on attendance? We’re at that point of questioning. No, we’re beyond that.
For anyone voting in NYC looking for an alternative to Andrew Cuomo & Zohran Mamdani, I have 2:
*Brad Lander.
*Adrienne Adams*
💙🇺🇲
Rank Mamdani last but don't rank Cuomo!
That's my opinion. One of our chants at the No Kings march in New York yesterday was "Don't rank Cuomo!"
I still for the life of me don't understand why Cuomo even wants this job. Prior to this year, had he ever even lived in the city?
He used to. I don't know what his residence history is, but he grew up in Queens, I do believe.
There are three Democratic candidates running in the primary to succeed termed out center-left Independent incumbent Ben Walsh for Syracuse mayor. His deputy mayor, Sharon Owens, is running to replace him and received the endorsement of the local paper. I'm voting for Pat Hogan, her main rival and longtime common councilor who has the endorsement of most of the local Democratic establishment. Chol Majok is an inspiring story, Sudanese Lost Boy, but he's basically just a poly sci major who got himself elected to the city council, it's pretty obvious he's not up to snuff.
For anybody who wants some schadenfreude today the parade in DC is the cringiest, lamest thing I’ve ever seen
didn't watch...can you give specifics?
Barely any spectators, awkward silence as tanks squeak past, all the Army guys marching look like they’d literally rather be anywhere else
thanks, why am I not surprised....continuing his streak: everything he touches dies! was Melania with him...poor thing!
Dunno about "poor thing". I don't care; do you? Or was that Ivanka?
Hell no! I was trying my best to be nasty!
Didn't come across to me.
Oh, I knew you were being very arch!
Not surprising that real soldiers weren't that enthused to dance like monkeys for some draft dodger's birthday party.
The words “malicious compliance” comes
To
Mind
Don't rain on Trump's parade!
John Fetterman is undermining our messaging on everything: Los Angeles, ICE, the Parade, No Kings, both siding Senator Padilla. Trump's lawyers are now using his statements in court, and Fox & compatriots are more than happy to give him the hot mic. No wonder why he got booed in Pittsburgh yesterday. Does he have an endgame?
I used to think that Fetterman was always an asshole and that those blaming the stroke we're giving him a little too much grace, but it does seem possible that (while he was definitely actually always an asshole) he's totally lost it and has not endgame or plan.
I think he's totally gone into the Twitter algorithm echo chamber and just says and shitposts whatever it feeds him. Also, I think he purposely made a play for Republican voters after Democrats lost all Pennsylvania statewide races.
Connor Lamb will get his redemption. Period. Let’s fucking go.
AOC already blessed it.
Yeah, I think Casey's loss (which was easily foreseeable; he was never the political titan that he was often made out to be) combined with the Republican registration gains in PA are a factor on this.
But Fetterman has always been highly unorthodox, so who knows really.
Casey tied himself too closely to Biden till the day he dropped out. McCormick presented himself as the change candidate.
I don't think he was always an asshole. Why do you think he was?
You didn’t think the incident with the African American jogger was a warning sign?
Might have been.
He always has had a brash streak that—combined with his physical appearance—was a signature of sorts. It certainly made him stand out in Pennsylvania, where statewide politicians of both parties tend to be as dull as dishwater.
I get the sense that he was wholly unprepared for the increase in intensity of national politics. Before senator he was mayor of a small town and then a largely powerless lieutenant governor. The latter in particular sounds, on paper, like it's a good preparation for congress but there's barely any official duties that PA's LG has to actually do.
That immense increase in workload might grate on him, especially the partisan expectations. He's pushing back against it with the congressional equivalent of a tantrum. I wouldn't be surprised if his stroke exacerbated it all, too.
I also remember that while the national media gushed over him, he performed very poorly in the primary debates not able to clearly articulate policy like Kenyatta and Lamb, and his family has a long Republican tradition. His win was more due to his long progressive advocacy, name recognition and aesthetics.
And attacks on him calling him a socialist backfired. Such attacks simply don’t work unless you call yourself one.
Aesthetics. Correct. A big ole white straight man preaching about Democratic values was a big factor. I wasn’t aware they still did that. And now he doesn’t so bye.
He's also a rare politician with significant ties to both eastern and western Pennsylvania (and even more rare is that he moved from the former to the latter; it's almost always the other way around) which makes a difference in this state.
A show on Fox.
He’ll probably pull a Zell Miller, speak at the 2028 Republican Convention, retire, and cash in as a lobbyist. More money for less work.
Joe Lieberman also did the same right? In many ways, Fetterman is the ideological successor to Lieberman.
Respectfully disagree. Lieberman long had a reputation as a centrist to conservative Democrat. Lest we forget that the Buckley brothers, both Bill and Jim endorsed him in his 1988 Senate race against liberal Republican Lowell Weicker.
Well, I honestly don't know much about his career before 2000 which is why the question mark. I know that he was the running mate of Al Gore, cost him progressive support to Nader, stripped the public health insurance option out of Obamacare, was a neocon war hawk, ran as an independent Democrat in 2006 after losing the primary, endorsed McCain, was almost chosen instead of Palin and retired in 2012 when polls showed him losing to Chris Murphy.
Lowell Weicker was a great liberal Republican senator, and Lieberman defeated him from the right by assassinating his character with support from the Buckleys. He was an asshole from the very beginning of his first Senate campaign if not probably earlier.
Yes, I remember rooting for Weicker.
No complaints about Weicker. He was a MAJOR proponent of the Americans with Disabilities Act - he had a son with Down’s Syndrome - and other pro disability laws during his tenure.
will we ever see Republicans like him again?
No.
"Ever" is a long time. In the 19th century, who would have ever expected a Democratic president, let alone one from Texas, to spearhead the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts and for some notable Republicans to oppose them?
The places that were once amenable to electing Republicans like him (e.g., New England) mostly elect Democrats now.
It seems like a very long time ago but there were some moderate repubs here in CA. I distinctly remember Sen Thomas Kuchel speaking out against nominating "the extremist Barry Goldwater" in 1964 fearing a right wing takeover. Kuchel is spinning rapidly in his grave.