Aaron Price used to be a Republican political consultant. In January he wrote about why he had decided to leave the GOP and become, more or less, a Democrat. He admits, though, he hasn't changed any of his core political beliefs. He's still a Republican-- just wearing a "D" next to his name until Trump is gone...
When I was growing up in Brooklyn-- same neighborhood (and schools) as Bernie-- there were no Republicans anywhere in site. They were all in tony, upscale Westchester north of the City. That's all changed. My old neighborhood is filled with incredibly bigoted and savage Russian immigrants who gave Trump big majorities over Hillary in 2016 and Westchester...
The DCCC had been trying to recruit Jeff Van Drew for years. He was the perfect candidate for them-- a South Jersey machine-backed hack in the state legislature who tended to vote with the GOP more frequently than any of his colleagues.
If you're a regular DWT reader, the Washington Post and NY Times pieces from earlier today should come as no surprise: Blue Dog and fake-Democrat Jefferson Van Drew is jumping the fence and becoming a Republican instead of just voting like one.
John Yudichak just guaranteed that the GOP will hold power in the Pennsylvania state SenateThe Republican Party tent is way too small-- a virtually pup tent filled with racists and xenophobes with increasingly less room for anyone else. But the Democratic Party tent is way too big-- everyone is welcome no matter what they believe in.
When you woke up yesterday, Democrats were still sweating how to win back the state House of Representatives in 2020. There were 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats in the body so the Dems have to win 5 seats. That changed before everyone went beddie-bye. Now there are 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats in the House. One Republican switched parties-- and not just any Republican. Andy McKean is was the longest serving Republican in the state legislature-- 40 years. He re-registered as a Democrat. Why? Señor Trumpanzee, of course.
Everybody does it... except those who don't. Yesterday PhilosophRob, a vegetarian, ran two Open Secrets-based lists of how much money some of the presidential candidates in Congress took from hedge fund managers and from lobbyists so far this cycle. It's easy to talk about cleaning up the corruption in Congress at the root of all the county's problems. But who is willing to walk the walk?
Not the real Adam Levine, obviouslyMel Levine was an over-achiever. A graduate of Beverly Hills High, he was elected student body president of UC Berkely in 1963 before heading off first to Princeton and then to Harvard. He was elected to the state Assembly in 1983 and ten years later became a congressman. He voted for the Iraq war in 1991 and was defeated in the Democratic Senate primary by Barbara Boxer the following year.
Joe Baca was one of the worst members of Congress when he was in Congress-- a corrupt, conservative Blue Dog and NRA shill. Although he voted with the Republicans against core progressive values and principles virtually all the time, there is such an utter lack of party discipline that he was able to cross the aisle with complete impunity.
You may have heard that McCain, in preparation for his reelection run in 2016-- if he wins, he'd be 86 when his term expires-- is trying to purge the Arizona GOP of extremists. Aside from "who would be left?" we might wonder what McCain is afraid of. And, of course it's a primary challenge by a teabagger like Dave Schweikert or Matt Salmon.
