Democrats

Democrats Pour Money Into Longshot Races

August 12, 2018 at 1:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “The November midterms are on pace to shatter records for political spending. While more than $1 billion raised so far nationally is helping finance battlegrounds that are poised to decide control of Congress, restless donors aren’t stopping there — they’re also putting cash into races and places they never have before to help underdog Democrats.”

“All are places where Democrats are outraising their Republicans opponents — a feat that while perhaps not changing the conventional wisdom about their chances, is succeeding in giving their campaigns unusual viability.”

Grassroots Upheaval Shaking Maryland Democrats

August 11, 2018 at 10:37 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A grass-roots upheaval in Maryland’s Democratic Party has made it an unexpected showcase for national efforts by liberal activists and unions seeking to revitalize the party and push it to the left,” the Washington Post reports.

“Primary victories by progressives in three premier races — governor and county executive in Montgomery and Baltimore counties — have created a prominent testing ground for a new brand of Democratic politics, featuring ambitious and potentially expensive policy proposals and greater outreach to the working class.”

“Fueled by anger at President Trump and a sense that Democrats have lost touch with their base, the insurgency is stirring strife within the party, with some moderates already abandoning ship.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

August 10, 2018 at 11:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“We must be a party that fights fire with fire. When they go low, I say hit back harder.”

— Michael Avenatti, quoted by the New York Times, speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in Iowa.

Who Democrats Are Nominating?

August 10, 2018 at 4:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

FiveThirtyEight: “Overall, Democratic primary voters in 2018 are jumping at the chance to nominate women and experienced politicians. Being an Obama alum seems to help too. No variable we looked at appeared to seriously harm a candidate’s chances in a primary (except maybe STEM training), although several — military service, race, LGBTQ status and self-funding — don’t appear to help.”

Democrats Warned Not to Use ZTE, Huawei Devices

August 4, 2018 at 8:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Democratic National Committee warned party candidates running in November elections not to use devices made by Chinese telecommunications companies ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies because they pose a security risk,” Reuters reports.

Steyer Will Spend $110 Million to Redefine Democrats

July 31, 2018 at 7:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Tom Steyer has set plans to spend at least $110 million in 2018, making the billionaire investor the largest single source of campaign cash on the left and placing him on a path to create a parallel party infrastructure with polling, analytics and staffing capabilities that stand to shape and define the issues the party runs on in November,” Politico reports.

“Steyer is building out an operation that’s bigger than anyone other than the Koch Brothers — and the billionaire and his aides believe the reservoir of non-traditional voters he’s already activated could become the overriding factor in House and other races across the country. Yet Steyer’s oversized role also stands to position him squarely against Democratic Party leadership, which has shown little appetite this fall for pursuing one of his signature causes: impeachment.”

No, Democrats Are Not In Disarray

July 25, 2018 at 12:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Walter Shapiro: “It’s hard to identify a Senate or House seat that is being lost because of excessive Democratic activism. Even if a Democratic incumbent like North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is troubled by calls to ax ICE, there is scant evidence that this makes her more vulnerable than before in a state that Donald Trump carried by better than a two-to-one margin.”

“For a party supposedly riven by unbridgeable chasms, the Democrats survived the primaries without major stumbles. This year, there are no Democratic challengers in winnable seats who have been forced to go on television to explain, ‘I am not a witch.’ And in California’s top-two ‘jungle primary,’ the Democrats avoided squandering any potential House pickups by making sure they got a candidate onto the ballot in all contested districts…”

“Nor are this year’s congressional races some overwrought struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party… No party is ever completely unified, not even the Republicans who are fearfully pledging their fealty to Trump. But the Democrats — for all their differences over economics and temperament — recognize the anti-Trump stakes in 2018. And so, for once in their turbulent history, they are more arrayed rather than disarrayed.”

What the Rise of Kamala Harris Says About Democrats

July 24, 2018 at 10:17 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Perry Bacon: “Sen. Kamala Harris has not officially said she is running in 2020, but she hasn’t denied it, either, and she’s showing many of the signs of someone who is preparing for a run, including campaigning for her Democratic colleagues in key races and signing a deal to write a book. The Californian ranks low in polls of the potential Democratic 2020 field, and she doesn’t have the name recognition of other contenders… But betting markets have her near the top, reflecting the view among political insiders that Harris could win the Democratic nomination with a coalition of well-educated whites and blacks, the way Obama did in 2008.”

“Whatever happens later, the rise of Harris and her viability for 2020 tell us something about American politics right now: We are in the midst of an intense partisan and ideological battle over culture and identity; the Democrats aren’t backing down or moving to the center on these issues; and politicians who want to lead in either party will probably have to take strong, clear stances on matters of gender and race.”

Democrats Brace for Pressure on the Left

July 22, 2018 at 1:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Energized to take on President Trump, these voters are also seeking to remake their own party as a ferocious — and ferociously liberal — opposition force. And many appear as focused on forcing progressive policies into the midterm debate as they are on defeating Republicans,” the New York Times reports.

“The impact of these activists in the 2018 election has been limited but revealing: Only about a sixth of Democratic congressional nominees so far have a formal affiliation with one of several important insurgent groups. Fifty-three of the 305 candidates have been endorsed by the Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party, the Progressive Change Campaign and Our Revolution, organizations that have helped propel challenges to Democratic incumbents.”

Just One Party Is Committed to Democracy

July 12, 2018 at 1:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Paul Glastris: “There was a time when divided government didn’t have to mean bad government. That time has passed. If the Obama years showed anything, it is that, when in opposition, the modern Republican Party has no goal beyond blocking the Democratic agenda, whatever that may be, and will transgress hitherto undisputed democratic norms to do so. Operationally, the GOP’s governing objectives have devolved to two base goals: transferring wealth upward, and staying in power. Because the former goal is unpopular, achieving the latter increasingly requires the party to rely on anti-democratic means: voter ID laws and voter roll purges designed to suppress minority and youth turnout; hyper-partisan gerrymandering; filling the federal judiciary with ideological conservatives committed to weakening the power of unions and enhancing that of corporations; and so on. (That’s all on top of constitutional features, like the Electoral College and the Senate, that give the GOP representation that is out of proportion to its votes.)”

“The election of Donald Trump has pushed the Republican Party even further in this direction, to the point where it is now openly enabling corruption and autocracy.”

“The fact that America now has only one party committed to small-d democracy changes everything. It’s no longer acceptable for Democrats to look at politics as a way to win the next election so as to jam through a bunch of their preferred policies before the Republicans inevitably take back power. They must instead see the purpose of politics as building sustained power for Democrats, period—but, unlike the other side, they must do this in part by strengthening the democratic process, not by undermining it.”

Democrats Are Much More Fired Up

July 3, 2018 at 7:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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Change Is Coming to the Democratic Party

July 2, 2018 at 12:56 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “Across the country, a new generation is making its way to Washington. It’s not just that some of the Democrats, like 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are young and progressive. They are. Or that many are women entering politics who want to fight President Donald Trump. They do. Or even that some of them live in Trump country.”

“They also come to politics steeped in an era of resistance and revolt, like the tea party Republicans who rose against President Barack Obama and the so-called Watergate babies elected after President Richard Nixon.”

“If the newcomers provide the numbers to give Democrats control of the House, or even fall short and end up in the ranks of the minority, they will be a force to be reckoned with upon arrival. That holds especially true for Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the longtime House Democratic leader.”

Will a Supreme Court Fight Get Democrats to Vote?

July 2, 2018 at 11:47 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Weigel: “No hyperbole here: The retirement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy fulfills a conservative dream and a liberal nightmare. By October, Republican senators fully intend to have replaced Kennedy with one of the conservative judges on President Trump’s list. For the next few months, money will pour into red and purple states, urging Democratic senators to confirm whomever Trump nominates and condemning them if they don’t. It’s the most important story in America, and the most predictable.”

“What’s not predictable is the effect this will have on the midterms. As soon as the Kennedy news broke, the hot takes began cooking, and most of them scored for the Republicans. The most commonly cited data was the 2016 exit poll, which found 21 percent of voters citing the Supreme Court’s open seat — held open, by Republicans, to deny Barack Obama his final appointment — as their top issue. Fifty-six percent of those voters backed Trump over Clinton. There you go: Republicans get excited by Supreme Court fights, and liberals go to sleep.”

“But is that true?”

Outrage Could Become Obstacle for Democrats

July 1, 2018 at 11:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Growing liberal agitation over a pivotal Supreme Court retirement and a simmering crisis about immigrant child separation have left Democratic leaders scrambling to keep the political outrage they’d counted on to fuel midterm election wins from becoming a liability for the party,” the Washington Post reports.

“Internal party debates have broken into public view over maintaining civility and the usefulness of liberal slogans like ‘abolish ICE,’ which some Republicans have embraced to argue falsely that Democrats oppose immigration enforcement. At the same time, liberal activists have begun to argue for more radical measures to counter President Trump, who they assert presents an immediate threat to the republic.”

New Leadership Needed for House Democrats

July 1, 2018 at 4:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A New York Times editorial calls for new House Democratic leadership:

For too long, this regime has clung to power at the expense of future leaders. Neither of Ms. Pelosi’s two chief deputies, Steny Hoyer, the party whip, and Jim Clyburn, the assistant leader, is a remotely viable successor. Like Ms. Pelosi, both men are just shy of 80 and have occupied top-tier posts for over a decade. At this point, the caucus leadership has gone from stale to downright ossified.

Playbook: “Don’t underestimate the power of an editorial like that. The Times is frequently called ‘the donor paper’ on Capitol Hill. Calling for wholesale change in Democratic leadership from a megaphone like the Times editorial page is big. Also, ouch: the Times said neither Clyburn and Hoyer are viable successors.”

NBC News: House Democratic leadership may be up for grabs after Crowley’s loss.

Democrats Confront a Rebellion

June 30, 2018 at 11:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The pitched battle looming over the Supreme Court, along with a jolt to the Democratic leadership at the ballot box last Tuesday, is threatening to shatter the already fragile architecture of the Democratic Party, as an activist rebellion on the left and a lurch to the right in Washington propels the party toward a moment of extraordinary conflict and forced reinvention,” the New York Times reports.

“For Democrats, the transformation could prove as consequential as President Trump’s consolidation of power in his own party and the conservative movement’s tightening grip on the federal government.”

Said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): “The Trump presidency has changed the dynamics in our party.”