Who needs Collin Allred in Congress. The suburban district has been turning blue and he beat a really good progressive who could have been in that seat. Allred, who joined the New Dems, has earned an "F" from ProgressivePunch and he's earned himself a pretty putrid record already. There are 28 Democrats who still haven't signed on as a co-sponsor of the assault weapons sales ban. Nor is he one of the 117 Democrats backing Medicare-for-All/ Green New Deal? Expect to see Republican co-sponsors before Collin Allred. He stinks. And he's not the only freshman who does. In fact most of them do.They're cowards who worry more about keeping their miserable jobs and furthering their careers than they think about doing what's right for their own constituents. Allred's north Dallas area district is 53% urban, 47% suburban and 0% rural. His constituents-- especially the constituents who elected him and kicked out Pete Sessions last year-- want an assault weapons ban. Allred is too obtuse to even know what's good for himself!Last night, The Hill published a report by Cristina Marcos about how clowns like Allred, who are too cowardly to back impeachment, are handing Pelosi leverage in her crusade to not impeach Trump. Beltway reporters automatically assume that if a congressperson from a swing district is for impeachment, it makes them vulnerable to defeat. None ever assume that not backing impeachment for a criminal illegitimate and loathed president makes some of them vulnerable.
Only 13 of the 55 Democrats on the House GOP campaign arm’s 2020 target list publicly back an impeachment inquiry. And just two of the 31 House Democrats in districts carried by President Trump in 2016 back one: Reps. Chris Pappas (NH) and Lauren Underwood (IL).Impeachment advocates have been pressing Democratic [cowardly careerists] Reps. Conor Lamb (PA), Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Andy Kim (NJ), Colin Allred (Texas), Mikie Sherrill (NJ) and others representing swing districts at events in recent weeks, but so far none of them have come out in favor of impeachment.This opposition has handed Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) leverage as she argues within her caucus against impeachment.
Kim for example-- another hack too scared to co-sponsor the assault weapons ban in an all suburban district (0.2% rural)-- is being hammered by his constituents to back the ban and to back impeachment. I have to admit that when I first started talking with him last year, I almost threw up. This weak pusillanimous careerist is going to be a member of Congress, I asked myself? You'll probably recall Blue America didn't endorse him-- nor Allred, nor Mike Sherrill, Colin Lamb or Josh Gottheimer. If Gottheimer had an opponent who could get her shit together-- we'd be backing her now. But, luckily for him, she can't, much like Cheri Bustos' primary opponent.
Thirteen Democratic lawmakers in competitive races do back impeachment, but all but Underwood and Pappas represent districts that are marginally more left-leaning and were carried by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016: Reps. Tom Malinowski (NJ), Katie Porter (CA), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL), Sean Casten (IL), Harley Rouda (CA), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Peter DeFazio (OR), Jason Crow (CO), Mike Levin (CA), Jennifer Wexton (VA) and Kim Schrier (WA).Pappas became the first Democrat representing a Trump district to announce support for an impeachment inquiry on July 26. That came on the same day that Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee filed an application in court to obtain grand jury material underlying Mueller’s report, arguing it was necessary in order to determine whether to recommend articles of impeachment.Since then, Judiciary Committee Democrats have been framing their months-long investigations of the Trump administration as an effort to determine whether to recommend impeachment articles. They argue an impeachment inquiry is effectively underway without taking a formal vote calling it as such.Some vulnerable Democrats are now expressing support for the impeachment process by merely saying they back what the committee is already doing.Underwood, who had been targeted by impeachment activists, issued a statement on Aug. 20 saying that “I support this investigation.”Underwood acknowledged in an interview with MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell that she’s been getting asked about impeachment at town halls in her district in recent weeks.“I gotta tell you, the No. 1 issue that's been raised at my town halls this week: Medicare, the price of prescription drugs, what's going on with Social Security. These are the issues that are top of mind for so many folks. But during these conversations, I often do get asked about impeachment,” Underwood said.
Democratic incumbents urgently need more primaries. There is nothing like a primary from the left to make some of these cowards think a little more deeply about so consistently taking the base for granted. Did you know, for example, that Ben Ray Lujan pulled his head out of Pelosi's ass long enough to flip on virtually every single 2020 issue he opposed-- from the Green New Deal to Medicare-for-All right up to and suddenly including impeachment-- because he's so scared of his Senate primary opponent, Maggie Toulouse Oliver? Anyone ever remember Ben Ray ever breaking with Pelosi on anything before? Primaries-- so awesome!
