Trump, Rapist by Chip ProserThe headline of the new Kaiser Family Foundation poll tells us a lot about America: Poll: Two-thirds of Americans Don’t Want the Supreme Court to Overturn Roe v. Wade. Two-thirds is a lot. But one third is the hard core Trumpist base.
Many outsiders tend to think of Nebraska as another hopeless red ink state. But it's not. The Omaha-based 2nd district is a nice normal all-American swing district. In 2012 Obama won narrowly; in 2012 Romney won narrowly and in 2016 Trump beat Hillary 48.2 to 46.0%. The PVI is R+4. The current congressman is Republican Don Bacon, who beat Blue Dog Democrat (an "ex"-Republican himself) Brad Ashford, in 2016.
Kara Eastman is the newest Blue America endorsee. She told us that when she was nine, she told her mother that she wanted to save the world; when she was 15, she told her best friend that she was going to a college that would best prepare her to help others (she told Kara that wasn’t smart because she would never make any money).
Ostensibly they're both Democrats-- similarly to the way Chicagoland Blue Dog Dan Lipinski and progressive reformer Marie Newman are both Democrats. By in this Omaha case there's an even starker contrast. As far as we know, Lipinski wasn't ever an actual Republican. Brad Ashford, on the other hand was a Republican . He served in the Legislature from 1987 to 1995 and again from 2007 to 2015. He was a registered Republican and opportunistically, he switched his registration to the Democratic Party when he was termed out of his seat in the legislature and decided to run for Congress.
After the odious Debbie Wasserman Schultz chaired the DCCC's Red-to-Blue program in 2008-- while endorsing 3 Republicans in seats neighboring on her own-- the program lost all credibility and the name faded.
As you probably know, the Blue Dogs, New Dems and DCCC are all furiously pushing Brad Ashford on Omaha voters again. Ashford, an opportunist who changes parties like normal people change underwear, was one of the 3 worst Democrats in the House for his one miserable term. Having been fired from his new job, he decided to jump into a race he can probably win in an anti-GOP wave, but not hold in a normal midterm.
Kara Eastman (Democrat) and Brad Ashford ("ex"-GOP Blue Dog)Alixandria Lapp, a poster child for the DC Dem's revolving door problem worked for New Dem Adam Smith (WA) from 1997-2005 and then went to work for the DCCC. In 2007 she became executive director of the New Dems, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.
If you've been following DWT for any length of time, you're aware this isn't exactly Blue Dog headquarters. The Republican wing of the Democratic Party is not something we celebrate here. The bullshit about how you need a reactionary Democrat to win in a "red" district isn't something we ascribe to-- because it isn't true; it's just an excuse for the establishment to run what they see when they look in the mirror.
