Yesterday we talked about why Beto O'Rouke spent two July 4th weekend days campaigning in deep red Lubbock and why that should serve as a model for Democrats everywhere. The Lubbock 4th of July parade is a big west Texas tradition.
Lubbock, Texas is the 11th biggest city in Texas, with a population of about a quarter million-- and over 325,000 in the metro area, one of the world's biggest cotton-growing areas. The mayor, Dan Pope, a Democrat, won his seat last year when far right Republican Glen Robertson retired. That part of Texas, though, is very red, very, very red.
Tulchin Research has long been best known as the Blue Dog polling firm. There aren't that many Blue Dogs left-- despite strenuous efforts by the DCCC-- and they've had to branch out and find clients among (slightly) less odious corporate Dems, like Gavin Newsom and Julia Brownley. Earlier in the week, the firm's two principals, Bens Tulchin and Krompak, penned an OpEd for the Sacramento Bee, Universal health care is the new litmus test for Democrats.
The thermometer on the right puts the strongest and most effective voices of congressional Resistance to Trumpism all on one page. The men and women on the page that opens if you tape the thermometer are the ones who have put a lot of effort into calling out Trump on his outrageous excesses. But look at the names on that page. None of them are just sitting around all day taking pot shots at Trump, the way, for example, Adam Schiff-- who wants to run for Feinstein's US Senate seat-- does.
There have been a lot of rumors lately that Jared Polis may be contemplating ditching his safe Boulder, Colorado congressional seat for a very iffy gubernatorial run in a crowded field for an open seat. I wish him well. But he was just elected Regional Vice Chair of the DCCC for a region that includes Texas, likely to be one of the hottest 2018 battlegrounds. Ummm... likely... likely...
Beto is 44 and Ted Cruz is 46-- but look what God did to CruzThis is a pretty easy one. Republican crackpot and extremist Diane Black (R-TN) introduced a bill to overturn a rule that prohibited states defunding Planned Parenthood.
Five years ago Blue America endorsed a long-shot candidate for Congress against an entrenched powerful congressman and we ran the video above. When he first ran we described his opponent, Sylvester Reyes as a moderate, garden variety Democrat-- except in matters of war-- where he was, in effect, really a Republican. Reyes' campaign, oddly, tried to paint the progressive O'Rourke as a Republican. He claimed that O'Rourke wanted to "change" Social Security.
The battle to take back America starts now-- in L.A. and Georgia-- Ossoff and GomezIn a Washingtron Post OpEd yesterday, Michael Gershon wrote "This is a pretty bad combination: empty, easily distracted, vindictive, shallow, impatient, incompetent and morally small. This is not the profile of a governing party…It is now dawning on Republicans what they have done to themselves.
According to CleanSlateNow.org, there are only six members of the House who don't take PAC money-- 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans:
