2020 congressional elections

Cook is usually a lagging indicator. They do not move on a dime. If they move a race from "leans Republican" to "toss up," it probably means you should expect a big loss for the GOP.

Some of the best members of Congress are freshmen who were elected in 2018-- AOC (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Ayanna Pressley (MA), Andy Levin (MI), Joe Neguse (CO), Chuy Garcia (IL), Veronica Escobar (TX), Sylvia Garcia, Debra Haaland. Those 10 are the only freshmen whose voting records have earned them "A" grades from ProgressivePunch.Last cycle, Democrats netted 41 House seats but none of those 10 listed above are included in that count. Each of them won a blue seat that had already been occupied by a Democrat.

Over the weekend, Blue America launched a last-minute fundraising drive for the one progressive challenger running for Congress in Arizona, Eva Putzova. 24 hours later, 61 contributors had raised $1,567 for her last minute push-- an average of around $26 a person.

Cone of Shame by Nancy OhanianSince Trump took over the White, U.S. influence abroad has tanked-- and just a year into his presidency U.S. leadership approval had already hit an all-time low. It's taken a while, but most Americans have now caught on.

New Jersey has 12 congressional districts but, unfortunately, not all of them have primary battles. Primaries are healthy and in many districts the only way to hold entrenched incumbents even vaguely accountable. The only New Jersey incumbents with ProgressivePunch "A" scores are Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and Donald Payne (NJ-10).

You probably heard about the assertion MSNBC founder Tom Rogers and former Colorado Senator Timothy Wirth have been putting out there about how Trump and Barr are planning to steal the election after Trump loses so that they can retain power.

For Blue America, primary season is rapidly coming to a close-- there are just a few left. We helped with some spectacular wins this cycle-- Kara Eastman in Omaha, Marie Newman in Chicago, Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones in New York, Liam O'Mara and Audrey Denney in California... Mike Siegel (TX-10) and Lisa Ring (GA-01) came in first in their primaries and Mike's runoff is next week (July 14) and Lisa's is August 11th.

"I Can't Breathe" by Nancy OhanianOne of the themes here at DWT this cycle has been about the dangers of getting too chummy with conservative Republican #NeverTrumpers. They are, after all conservatives and oppose Trump because-- among other things-- he isn't. Many don't have to hold their noses to vote for Biden. He's just what they're looking for.

Two COVID records for one-day case increases were broken Wednesday: the U.S. hit its highest number ever-- 51,097, it's first day over 50,000 (although yesterday that mark was topped again, this time with 57,236 new cases)-- and Texas increased by 8,240 cases, more than any country in the world other than the U.S., Brazil or India. Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and Lt. Gov.

Diane Mitsch Bush (D)The Democrats lost Colorado's 6th district in the 2010 anti-blue wave. It was a Blue Dog-extinction election and Blue Dog John Salazar lost the seat to conservative state Rep. Scott Tipton, who he had beaten a few years earlier. The 6th makes up almost half a the state-- the whole western part of Colorado and most of the southern part.