Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 193
The Magnificent Seven
“House Democrats are privately mulling whether to force a vote to expel Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) from Congress over domestic abuse allegations, which he denies,” Axios reports.
“While it is rare for a House member to be forcibly ousted, the mere threat of expulsion has been enough to precipitate multiple resignations this year.”
CNN: Trump allies push president to call on Max Miller to drop out amid abuse allegations, sources say.
New York Times: “Hundreds of members of the group, the country’s largest socialist organization, gathered here at a moment of surging political influence, some wearing bright red shirts, swapping labor-strike tips with their ‘comrades,’ sharing voter turnout strategies and admiring far-left merchandise (guillotine earrings, ‘Land Lords Suck’ pins and red roses, a symbol of the group). Many dismissed the notion that their positions could be a political problem and said they felt no need to moderate them. Electoral wins were proof, they reasoned, that Democratic voters were moving closer to them.”
“As an ardent socialist movement has encroached more deeply into the Democratic Party, with DSA-backed candidates ousting incumbent Democrats from New York to Colorado and notching other victories this year, the challenges associated with that often-fraught cohabitation are coming into sharper focus. Those include questions on each side about the utility of working with the other.”
“Michigan is ground zero for the Democratic Party’s ideological war,” Politico reports.
“Its marquee Senate race and two of its House primaries on Tuesday — in Michigan’s 7th and 13th Districts — will provide another crucial test of whether progressives can not only keep up their winning streak in safe-blue seats but also break through in battlegrounds crucial for control of Congress.”
“The stakes for the Democratic Party are huge: A strong progressive performance, especially a victory by Abdul El-Sayed in the high-profile Senate race, would significantly bolster the left’s argument that its message resonates widely — setting the stage for a bruising fight over the party’s ideological direction ahead of November.”
“And any Democrat eyeing a White House bid in 2028 will be watching closely for clues about what kind of message can win in Michigan, the perennial battleground that was recently selected as an early Democratic presidential primary state, giving it outsized influence on the nominating process.”
“After months of resistance, the Democratic National Committee finally relented this May and published a draft of its autopsy of what had gone wrong in the 2024 election, saying it was releasing the unfinished document ‘in its entirety’ in the interest of transparency,” the New York Times reports.
“But, according to the man who wrote the autopsy, there was a missing chapter.”
“The chapter raised pointed questions that were notably absent from the draft that the party put out, both about President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s ill-fated decision to run for re-election and the sway of an operative class that had become ‘generationally wealthy off politics’ while steering Democratic strategy.”
“Kamala Harris is studying artificial intelligence and strategizing with civil rights leaders on voting rights. She’s recasting her political operation. And she’s been exploring philanthropic work to cement her legacy — if she doesn’t run for president,” Politico reports.
”For the second consecutive summer, political insiders are parsing her every move for clues about the former vice president’s electoral intentions — and reaching vastly different conclusions. Her increased visibility in early primary states and reported meetings with pro-Palestinian activists suggest that she’s in. Her $8.15 million beach house in Malibu, not so much.”
“An increasing number of Democratic candidates are pledging to reject donations from business-linked political action committees in 2026 — a promise House Democrats say is easier said than done,” NOTUS reports.
Said one House Democrat: “I am deciding whether I’m going to committee or a meeting based on whether I have to meet with individual donors. That’s fucked up.'”
“Democrats who take funds from corporate super PACs ‘perform significantly worse’ against a Republican candidate compared to Democrats who reject outside PAC money, according to a recent analysis from the progressive think tank Data for Progress. That leaves candidates facing what is likely to be the most expensive midterm election in history with few good options: take money from corporations and alienate the base, or spend all day, every day, dialing individual donors for dollars.”
“The Democratic National Committee and a liberal organizing group have struck a first-of-its-kind deal among Democrats to seamlessly share voter data collected on the campaign trail, bolstering coordination between outside organizations, party committees and individual campaigns,” NOTUS reports.
“The agreement was reached between Swing Left, the Democratic Data Exchange (the Democratic entity that houses the party’s voter data), the DNC and the Association of State Democratic Committees. It is in part an effort to retrofit how the party conducts its field programs up and down the ballot. The goal is to allow Democrats to effectively pool their resources to most effectively and efficiently engage voters.”
“Democratic strategist James Carville pledged to leave the Democratic Party if far-left streamer Hasan Piker becomes a leading voice in it and argued that an ‘overwhelming majority’ of Democrats agree,” the New York Post reports.
Said Carville: “I am not going to be in the same party with Hasan Piker.”
“A divisive Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan on Tuesday, arguably the party’s most consequential contest so far this year, will reveal whether a progressive and socialist groundswell has spread to America’s heartland,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The race, in a state critical to the party’s prospects for winning a Senate majority, has featured months of infighting over what the party stands for.”
“The battle between Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former local public-health official, and Rep. Haley Stevens, a four-term congresswoman, encapsulates virtually everything dividing Democrats. There has been debate over who is to blame for 2024 election failures, the type of candidate best positioned to beat Republicans in November, the role of corporate and big-dollar campaign money, and the U.S. relationship with Israel.”
CNN: The fight for Michigan: how a marquee Senate primary became the Democrats’ latest proxy war.
“In her concession speech after losing the Democratic primary in 2024, then-Rep. Cori Bush delivered stern words to Aipac, a pro-Israel group that poured millions into defeating her: ‘I’m coming to tear your kingdom down,’” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Two years later, Bush is staging a comeback attempt to reclaim the deep-blue Missouri seat she lost to Democratic Rep. Wesley Bell, a former prosecutor running as a more-centrist candidate to represent St. Louis and some of its inner suburbs.”
“The rematch Tuesday marks a high-profile test of which direction Democratic voters want to go: a pragmatic, moderate path personified by Bell, or the more-energetic, leftward direction sought by Bush, a onetime member of the ‘Squad’ of prominent progressive lawmakers.”
“Tony Evers is trying to play kingmaker in Wisconsin’s pivotal governor’s race. So far, it’s not working,” Politico reports.
”Instead of cutting through the chaos of a messy Democratic primary, the sitting governor’s endorsement of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has so far only further inflamed what has become a major ideological battle between party factions. But with just nine days to go, Evers isn’t giving up. In fact, he’s digging in on the legacy project to hand-pick his successor.”
“Evers, who returned from a nearly two-week trade mission to Africa earlier this week, is now hitting the campaign trail with Crowley in one final push as they try to head off democratic socialist Francesca Hong — who is leading Crowley by a wide margin.”
New York Post: Socialist Wisconsin Dem Francesca Hong in hot seat after “Cancel Thanksgiving” post emerges online.
“Ken Martin is in survival mode,” the Associated Press reports.
“Desperate to save his job as chair of the Democratic National Committee, he is avoiding media appearances, monitoring his critics’ social media posts and refusing — at least so far — to make any substantive changes at his troubled organization.”
“A half dozen state leaders and other committee members, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations, described Martin as defensive and extremely distrustful of others, even some people on his own team, as calls for his resignation grow louder among Democratic operatives who lament his leadership decisions, lackluster fundraising and even his tendency to lash out in anger.”
NOTUS: “Rank-and-file Democratic voters who once naturally inclined toward establishment-backed candidates are instead supporting — or at least showing an openness to — lefty candidates they would have previously believed to be outside the political mainstream. They’re driven by disappointment in old-guard Democrats’ inability to beat Trump in 2024 and a growing sense that the country’s politics need a fresh direction.”
“It’s that change in the electorate that, more than anything this year, explains why El-Sayed is now favored to beat Rep. Haley Stevens in Tuesday’s Senate primary in Michigan. Stevens is running the type of campaign — backed by key party endorsements, support in the Black community and plenty of money — that has helped centrist Democrats like her defeat progressive challengers for years. That pattern held for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.”
“But the voters on the receiving end of that effort are in a much different place than they were in 2024, much less 2018 or 2016.”
Wall Street Journal: “While many Democratic elites still feel bullish about taking back the House and are willing to throw big money at their favorite candidates, institutional fatigue—and in some cases, full-on drama—has set in among a number of the party’s biggest donors. Like voters, donors say they feel disillusioned with Washington and the party establishment they have long supported.”
“The DNC isn’t the only problem spot for Democrats—other Democratic committees and super PACs lag behind Republicans across the board. It is common for a party that is out of power in Washington to struggle, but Democrats are increasingly concerned it will hurt their chances of winning this fall as Republicans stack up significantly more money in committees and PACs that can organize door-knocking efforts and air TV ads.”
“Democratic Socialists of America revamped its platform ahead of a national summit this weekend in Chicago, shifting some official positions on immigration and democracy, as Republicans try to cast the entire Democratic Party in its mold ahead of the midterms,” Semafor reports.
“Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that the United States should consider expanding the Supreme Court to be made up of 13 justices, a popular idea among Democrats who have increasingly pushed for court reform,” CNN reports.
Said Harris: “We need to revisit the point of expanding the court to 13 justices like we have 13 district courts.”
“Major Democratic donors are getting really anxious about 2028,” Politico reports.
“The Democratic National Committee has a massive cash deficit heading into November, and Chair Ken Martin is facing a growing onslaught of criticism for failing to build up reserves in the crucial years ahead of the presidential race. But the issue goes beyond his leadership.”
“More than half a dozen donors, bundlers and donor advisers, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said they’ve lost trust in the party’s top organization.”
“A new independent poll shows progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed leading by double digits in Michigan’s heated Democratic Senate primary, as Democrats stare down the possibility that the party won’t unify behind him in the general,” Semafor reports.
Said Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI): “I will not stand beside someone who has allowed distinctly anti-American sentiment to enter our public dialogue.”
She added: “I think that he has not done enough to hold his supporters in check for some of the rampant sexist things that have come out against Haley Stevens — and even his own words.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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