Katie Hill-- a target for right-wing Republicans AND right-wing DemocratsWhen I met Katie Hill for the first time-- a month or so before she officially decided to run for the seat occupied by generally unpopular GOP incumbent-- I was really excited. She said all the right things. Problem, of course, is that everybody has his or her own definition of what "progressive" means. Even Pelosi claims to be a progressive. And from life-long conservative Democrat Joe Biden-- "I'm the most progressive candidate in this race"-- to every slimy Blue Dog with a progressive opponent, it's easy enough to claim your'e a progressive without it even meaning anything substantive. Katie Hill, who presented herself to me as a progressive, was quick to join the Wall Street-backed New Dems; that's not what progressives do. Her ProgressivePunch crucial vote score is 70.0%, a solid "F."That said, she's been an effective member of Congress for the district, a hard worker and a good organizer. The district has turned blue-- even if none of the numbskulls at the DCCC or EMILY's List understand-- and if they stopped scaring her with there idiotic theories about how Democrats in swing districts have to vote GOP-light-- I suspect she'd be voting better.On Friday, Ryan Grim and Aída Chávez reporting for The Intercept that the nonpartisan-- but general very anti-progressive-- With Honor PAC, funded primarily by billionaires Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz-- through the For Country Caucus, is targeting Hill for political extinction. Fellow New Dems-- primarily co-chair Jimmy Panetta (CA), but also Seth Moulton (MA), vice-chair Chrissy Houlahan (PA), Gil Cisneros (CA), Jason Crow, (CO), Elaine Luria (VA), Max Rose (VA) and Mikie Sherrill (NJ)-- are members of the caucus, which is helping conservative Republican Mike Garcia run a campaign against her. Anyone hear a denunciation from Pelosi or Cheri Bustos yet?"House Democratic leadership," wrote Grim and Chávez, "crafts its entire political and legislative strategy around protecting front-liners like Hill, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently chastised the caucus for criticizing vulnerable front-liners, suggesting they hit her instead. Note-worthy is that all the Republicans in the caucus, particularly co-chair Don Bacon are through and through Trump enablers and Republican Party partisans helping the NRCC target a prime target (Hill). None of the Democrats in the caucus are savvy enough to figure that out. Last cycle the PAC contributed $5,000 to Hill's Republican opponent, Steve Knight. The caucus and its PAC are front groups for the NRCC and for the Republican wing of the Democratic Party and keeps Pelosi and Bustos out of their hair by contributing to the DCCC and directly to Pelosi as well, while they attack Democrats at will.
In 2018 primaries, Crow, Luria, and Cisneros faced progressive primary opponents and won with the weight of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee behind them. They are now linked up with a PAC working in direct opposition to the interests of the DCCC....In March, caucus members and the affiliated PACs repeatedly denied the two had anything to do with each other. In an email to The Intercept, the With Honor PAC said they hoped members have the “courage to collaborate across the aisle” and one of the ways they can do that is with a “cross partisan caucus,” adding, “we’re supportive of them doing that, but like I stated, there is no With Honor caucus.”“The caucus is folks that focus on, among other things, working on policy that promotes public service and just members of the caucus have agreed to a civility pledge to commit to working with integrity, honesty, and drive to find common ground across the aisle. But this is not, this doesn’t have to do with With Honor,” a Panetta spokesperson said at the time. “That’s separate.”They’re so separate, in fact, that the For Country Caucus is now featured prominently on the website of With Honor Action, which directs visitors to donate to the With Honor PACs.
They keep their membership list hidden from the public but these are the 2018 crucial vote scores for the members we have (along with their grades from ProgressivePunch):
• Michael Waltz (R-FL)- 0 (F)• Don Bacon (R-NE)- 2.50 (F)• Jared Golden (D-ME)- 32.50 (F)• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)- 35.00 (F)• Conor Lamb (D-PA)- 40.00 (F)• Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog, NJ)- 52.50 (F)• Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA)- 60.00 (F)• Max Rose (Blue Dog, NY)- 65.00 (F)• Jimmy Panetta (New Dem-CA)- 67.50 (F)• Jason Crow (New Dem-CO)- 67.50 (F)• Gil Cisneros (New Dem-CA)- 70.00 (F)• Seth Moulton (New Dem-MA)- 71.43 (F)