Cheri-- burnin' down the House (but not in a good way)And the winners are... not the candidates being recruited to run for congressional seats next year. These 5 were elected to positions that haven't been well-defined yet:
• Madeline Dean (New Dem-PA)- the northeast• Charlie Crist (Blue Dog-FL)- the South• Gwen Moore (D-WI)- the Midwest• Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)- the West Coast• Marc Veasey (new Dem-TX)- everything else
Do you know the expression "Oy Veh?" Oy veh! Four New Dems-- Charlie's that too besides being a Blue Dog-- plus Gwen Moore. Gwen's cool and might be able to help some of the candidates. I don't know much about Madeline Dean, so I'll withhold judgement, although my immediate reaction is that for a freshman to seek out a job like this, she probably wants to do some good. Her comments on taking the job were fine: "Last election, the people sent a positive message to our leaders to say that we can and must do better-- ushering in the most beautifully diverse Congress in our nation’s history. We must build on this energy and remember that we are the party of progress; the party that values diversity, decency, and equality; the party of the people. As Regional Vice-Chair, I am dedicated to building our party’s strength by electing those who embody these ideals, listen to the public, and truly put the people first."The other 3 are bad news. Scott Peters is running for Mayor of San Diego and doesn't give a rat's ass about Congress and won't do anyone any good. He's also an entitled multimillionaire with a relatively reactionary agenda and a very strong "F" from ProgressivePunch. (Moore and Dean have "A" grades; the 3 others all have "F.") Great role models.Veasey's probably as bad a choice as Peters since he's going to be pre-occupied with his own primary battle this cycle and is likely to be worthless to any of the candidates running in his vast stretch of the country. Texas gets screwed again!And Crist is a complete joke. I doubt he'll pull himself away from the mirror he stares into for 15 hours a day. And even if he did, what good is a Republican pretending-- half-heartedly-- to be a Democrat going to do for any candidates. Bad news for new candidates: "I’m proud to serve as a Regional Vice-Chair at the DCCC because I’m committed to working with our Frontline Members and re-electing our Democratic Majority in 2020 so we can continue getting the job done for all Americans." Peters too seemed unaware and uninterested in working to help new candidates. "As chair of the New Democrat Political Action Committee last year, I helped find and support the candidates who enabled us to win the majority; many of these new members are from the west. Now, as a Regional Vice-Chair, it will be my honor, and I’ll do everything I can, to help these strong, energetic new members win re-election."The worst chair of the DCCC since her role model, Rahm Emanuel, left about a decade ago has something to say. It doesn't mean anything but not much she says ever does. Take it away, Cheri!
If we want to make meaningful progress on the kitchen table challenges facing families across America, we need to fortify and expand our Democratic majority. That’s why I’m so proud to announce the DCCC’s regional Vice-Chairs who will help lead our on the ground efforts to win in 2020. I want to thank Reps. Dean, Crist, Moore, Veasey and Peters for stepping up and taking a leading role to get it done. By working together to draw a clear contrast between our work to lower health care costs and the Washington Republicans failed agenda of stripping protections for people with pre-existing conditions, we’ll ensure a better future for all of our families.
The Next Special Election Is In Madeline Dean's Region-- And StatePennsylvania's 12th congressional district is humongous, the biggest in the state and it includes all of Porter, Tioga, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wyoming. Sullivan, Lycoming, Clinton, Union, Snyder, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry counties plus parts of Montour, Centre and Northumberland counties. I would guess that the largest city in the district is Williamsport, population 28,462. It's very rural, very small town... and very red. The PVI is R+17. Obama lost it both times-- badly-- and Trump pulverized Hillary 66.1% to 29.7%. I haven't seen any evidence of the DCCC lifting a finger to help the Democratic candidate.Last year Governor Tom Wolf (D) and Senator Bob Casey (D) each crushed their Republican opponent by double digits statewide. But neither of them took a single county in the 12th other than very blue Centre County (which includes State College), and most of that county lies outside the district (in PA-15). Also last year, incumbent far right Republican Tom Marino beat his challenger, progressive Democrat Marc Friedenberg-- 66-34%, Friedenberg also winning just the portion of Centre County in the district.And one month from today-- on May 21-- Friedenberg is running again. Marino abruptly resigned from Congress two weeks after being sworn in. Marino first said he wanted to serve the public by creating jobs in the public sector but then said he has been battling kidney cancer. He also seems angry and fed up with politics. Trump nominated him to be drug czar but a month later had Marino withdraw from the nomination after it came out that he had been the chief architect behind a bill that protected pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors and crippled the DEA's ability to combat the U.S. opioid epidemic, a bad look for a drug czar. (He also accepted $190,941 in legalistic bribes from Pharmaceutical companies and $92,000 from Pharmaceutical manufacturing firms.)Democrats in areas as red as PA-12, tend to identify with strong progressive policies and candidates. In 2016, Bernie won the district. He beat Hillary in Bradford, Centre, Clinton, Juniata, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Potter, Tioga and Wyoming counties-- and lost Snyder County to her by 55 votes, Sullivan County by 17 votes, Susquehanna by 78 votes and Union by 39 votes. Friedman is running on similar issues-- like Medicare-For-All. In fact he says that health care issues are what first inspired him to run. Unlike his opponent, he embraces the "scientific consensus that climate change poses a threat to our future on this planet."Friedenberg is a college professor who teaches cybersecurity. There was no primary for the special election and no other candidates came forward to run so he was given the Democratic nomination by default. His Trumpist opponent Fred Keller beat back 13 challengers to win the nomination on the 4th ballot at the GOP district convention.Last week he was endorsed by Lt Governor John Fetterman-- and has also been endorsed by former Congressman Joe Sestak and by Progressive Democrats of America, Our Revolution, the state AFL-CIO and the editorial board of the Scranton Times-Tribune, which noted that he is "far better aligned with the public interest" than his Republican opponent.This is going to be a very, very tough district to flip. I believe the reddest district won by a Democrat currently serving in Congress has a PVI of R+12, Collin Peterson and he really is a Democrat in name only. Friedenberg is actually running as a real Democrat in an even redder district. As of March 31, he had raised $83,514.43 and spent $769.66, while Keller had raised $175,074.14 and spent $11,409.47.
