Rahm Emanuel was chairman of the DCCC in 2006, the last time there was a huge Blue Wave. He had as little to do with creating it as Ben Ray Lujan has in creating the 2018 huge Blue Wave (i.e., nothing whatsoever). Infact, Lujan, like Rahm (who consults him), is keeping the wave from growing even bigger. In 2006, the Democrats picked up 30 seats from the GOP. That's good, right?Well... kinda/sorta.
Jeff Van Drew, the personification of a 2018 DCCC recruitIt's hard to say which DCCC recruit will likely be the worst POS if he gets into Congress. But it's impossible to draw up a short list without including New Jersey Blue Dog/New Dem Jeff Van Drew. Van Drew has a record as a state legislature so we already know absolutely what a total turd he's going to be in Congress. And it's the reason why the DCCC selected him.
Republican John Katko isn't worried-- DCCC bungling keeps him in his blue seatWhy is Republican John Katko, the congressman in NY-24-- the Syracuse-based district that includes all of Onondaga County and Syracuse plus all of Cayuga County plus parts of Oswego and Wayne counties. The PVI was D+5 in 2015 and D+3 now. Obama won the district both times he ran, 56-42 against McCain and 57-41% against Romney.
The DCCC has been driving state and county Democratic Party officers crazy with their interference, often on behalf of corrupt conservative, candidates far to the right of local Democrats, self-funders and “ex”-Republicans. All over the country I hear party officials telling me the DCCC tactics are frustrating the Democratic grassroots and tamping down enthusiasm.
If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you’re probably aware that one of the (many) bones of contention we have with the DCCC, is over platforms. They urge their candidates to hide their positions, either not including issues pages on their websites at all or, if they must, to avoid all controversial topics. Their strive for bland reiterations of mom-and-apple pie, bio-oriented statements.
WI-01, Paul Ryan’s district was never a solid red district. Obama even won it the first time he ran. It was always a swing district that Pelosi and the DCCC allowed-- aggressively allowed-- Ryan to retain… and retain unchallenged. It’s been driving me nut for a decade and Blue America had been looking for candidates to runnfor many years.
Dan Sena-- lucky for all of us there's a wave comingOver the weekend, a quartet of Washington Post reporters tried writing about some congressional races in America.
That means recruiting more Blue Dogs and New Dems for the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- and blocking progressivesThere was a time when I felt I was the only one who hated the DCCC and thought the organization should be abolished. That was a long time ago and I'm not alone any longer. From coast to coast, almost every state Democratic Party organization despises them.
