Kaniela Ing

How many hundreds of millions of dollars has the Koch network pumped into the Republican Party-- and continue pumping into the Republican Party ($400 million this cycle alone)? Their far-right "libertarian" ideas have become dominant inside GOP congressional circles, even if not among Republican voters. Now that Trump has taken over and is remaking the Party, the Kochs are understandably discomforted. And now...

The day after Alexandria Ocasio's political earthquake-- her "unlikely" victory over a hack politician who had first been elected to office before she was born-- Chris Hayes had her on his MSNBC show for an interview. She made sure to endorse Kaniela Saito Ing on the program. A week later she dispatched one of her most trusted staffers to Honolulu to give Kaniela a hand with his campaign. The political establishment in Hawaii isn't enamored of the populist agenda that has powered boh Alexandria's of Kaniela's underdog races.

My congressman, New Dem Adam Schiff, didn't join the new Medicare-For-All Caucus. I bet his constituents would freak out if they know. In fact, though I'm not a betting man, I'd bet a lot on that assertion. Some of the most progressive Democrats in the country live in Schiff's district-- West Hollywood, the Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, Hollywood, East Hollywood, Silverlake, Glendale, and Burbank.

After Blake Farenthold was forced out of Congress earlier in April for being a workplace perv, there was a vague hope Democrats could win his seat in a special election-- very vague. The DCCC gave the seat a thumbs down and refused to engage, especially after it was clear that the leading Democrat, Eric Holguin, is a progressive. The very gerrymandered district (TX-27) stretches along the Gulf from Corpus Christie and Port Aransas up through Victoria and Port Lavaca to Bay City and, incongruously, west through Shiner and Gonzales into the exurbs southeast of Austin.

The other day, I mentioned on Twitter how interesting it will be to see the next Congress' likely most progressive member, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, join the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Some of the most conservative Democrats in Congress are part of that caucus.

It was easy to back candidates Ted Lieu, Pramila Jayapal, Mark Pocan, Keith Ellison, Judy Chu, Jamie Raskin, Karen Bass... They had all been in state legislatures where they had created records that showed how awesome they would be in Congress. None of them have disappointed.

The best member of Congress from Hawaii was Patsy Mink-- a legendary FDR progressive-- served in Congress from 1965 2002, with a break to serve in the Carter administration. She was the first woman of color to be elected to Congress, as well as the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress. And a stalwart progressive.

Inspiring post by Aida Chavez at The Intercept over the weekend, Out Of Poverty And Onto The Ballot: The New Wave Of Woking-Class Candidates Trying To Take Congress. I loved the comparison she started with between David Trone, who spent $13,414,225 of his own money trying-- unsuccessfully-- to buy a House seat in Maryland.

Trying to figure out how someone is going to perform in Congress is the single most important factor in figuring out which candidate to support in a contested election. And as we saw earlier today, one of the easiest ways is to examine the voting records and leadership records of state legislators trying to make the jump.

Blue America endorsed Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed for many reasons and he reconfirmed our faith in him this week with a stunning and common-sense new policy proposal to create a state-level public internet service provider for Michigan, similar to the proposal sta