Randy Bryce

Trumpty Dumpty by Nancy OhanianOn Wednesday Axios posted a fascinating chart about the blue vs red primary surge in swing districts this cycle.

Macau/Vegas Mob-affiliated right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson continues to fund McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund and Ryan's Congressional Leadership Fund to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. He is, by far, the biggest contributor to right-wing politics in America, around $60 million so far this year... with plenty more coming. Among House races, the biggest Adelson cash dump has been in Wisconsin, against Randy Bryce, where hundreds of hours of vicious smear attacks have seriously changed the complexion of the race.

Yesterday, USA Today published an OpEd that someone wrote for Señor Trumpanzee: Democrats Medicare for All plan will demolish promises to seniors. It's an absurd and misleading way to look at Medicare For All... and it's exactly what Republican candidates are saying about it from coast to coast.

When politicians don't have anything to say about issues that will appeal to voters they go negative in the hope that they will disgust voters enough to discourage election day participation. That's what the GOP is doing now. They read the same polls the rest of us do and they know the only way to win is to keep Democrats and independents away from the voting booth next month.

I talk to congressional candidates all day. Sometimes I am amazed that I can get any posts done for my blog at all. One question candidates are always asking me is if I can get Bernie (or Elizabeth Warren) to campaign for them in their districts. Invariably the answer is no. It's not like Bernie calls me up and says, "Hey dude, remember PS 197 in Brooklyn?

In the last few weeks, I've been complaining that the elites who control both parties recruit elites like themselves to recruit and to support. When someone from the working class self-selects and manages to win a primary, those elites are more likely to turn up their nose at them than to support them. After Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her primary about a member of the House elite club in New York, I sensed that the House Democrats were more vicious in their reaction than even the House Republicans were. I remember thinking to myself, self, I sure hope she has a thick skin!

Trump has an historically low approval ranking among likely voters, particularly likely voters in battleground districts. (Who cares what people think of him in New York City or L.A. or in Alabama or Wyoming?) Last week's Quinnipiac poll shows him a heavy albatross around the necks of Republican candidates in swing districts.

Campaign videos don't have to be expensive to be effective. I asked Mike Siegel what this one cost him. I caught up with him just as he was headed out the door to meet Beto for a rally in Elgin. He told me the video was part of a package that includes 12 clips and some mailers, but that if you break down the package, you could say the video cost around $1,500. "This is what a resistance campaign in 2018 looks like," he told me. "Focused messages targeted at specific segments of voters.

Not sure what it refers to, but it looks goodThe NY Times/Siena poll showed good news for one of the Blue America candidates. They had Katie Porter with a substantial lead over Trump rubber stamp Mimi Walters, 48% to 43%. Unfortunately, the Times/Siena poll is the least credible polling operation I've seen since Rasumussen and their data is virtually worthless. Still...

This afternoon, USA Today reported that Ted Lieu, a member of the House Judiciary Committee and a former prosecutor, is calling for an impeachment investigation for Brett Kavanaugh, pertaining to his DC Circuit Court position. Ted: