Democratic (Party) Direction

Her long thread about ICE last week was really good and succeeded at putting the Trump admin abuses in the larger historical context in a way a lot of people tried but hadn’t been as successful. Maybe The visibility will get her a role in national politics if she still doesn’t win the race.

That's the reason I followed her in the first place. She was the first candidate I saw to publicly use the words "abolish ICE."

From that ballotpedia link:

Both candidates expressed support for $15 minimum wage and Medicare for All policies; Ocasio-Cortez credited her campaign with pushing Crowley to the left on these issues

OLD DELAWARE WHITE GUY 2020 seems INESCAPABLE that’s for sure

If Biden is the only candidate Democrats can agree on, I'll vote for him, but his being the candidate would be otherwise inexcusable. The party needs to attract and keep young voters. Biden is not the candidate to bind those voters to the party for the future. He'd have to pick one helluva great veep to even get their attention.

has he heard of this fella tim kaine bc that guy riled up the millennials for sure

I'd vote for Tim Kaine's son.

I liked when people got so mad about Tim Kaine they pretended he wasn’t pro-choice.

no fights about weightless nonentity tim kaine in 2018

Fair enough

very interesting hypothesis here, though I fear literally only Sanders and/or Warren would have the stones to actually do some of these things. even someone like Gillenbrand, who I feel relatively good about as a potential nominee, probably lacks the political courage.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/06/trump-is-paving-the-way-for-an-imperial-socialist-presidency.html

Wow, I'd thought Ocasio-Cortez had more oomph behind her campaign, but maybe that's just because I've been following her on fb for months and don't follow Crowley. But goddamn...Moms Demand Action, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, labor unions, etc are all in Crowley's camp. That's fucking disappointing.

https://ballotpedia.org/New_York%27s_14th_Congressional_District_election_(June_26,_2018_Democratic_primary)

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 4 June 2018 04:32 (nine hours ago) Permalink

Right, I mean what you have to understand is that Crowley is the chair of the Queens Democratic Party, he is like Mr Queens Politics, not to mention likely successor to Pelosi if he wins. However her campaign is kind hard to defend against -- attack her too directly and you look bad. She's a working class latinx woman who represents the new face of Queens, her district is half immigrant, she's incredibly charismatic and well-liked, she's kind of a force. He's an old white guy from the old machine at a time when Berniecrats are on the rise. Unlikely any of the usual players jump camps and get behind her but they are probably going to be wary of smearing her too.

Also like a month or two ago people didn't even think she would get on the ballot, so they're probably still not sure how to respond. I think he didn't have a challenger for like 14 or 16 years.

Speaking of progressive challengers to establishment dinosaurs, Kevin de Leon vs. Dianne Feinstein

De Leόn harshly criticized Feinstein’s career voting record during our conversation. “There are a lot of votes she took that I wouldn’t have,” he said. “I wouldn’t have voted for the war in Iraq, which has cost us trillions we could have been spending on a carbon-free economy, affordable college and single-payer healthcare. I wouldn’t have voted to prosecute thirteen years as adults. I wouldn’t have supported invoking Taft-Hartley to help George Bush end a strike. I wouldn’t have voted for the wall. You know, Feinstein supported the wall before Trump did,” he said, referencing 2006 Secure Fence Act that authorized a wall on the southern border.

De Leόn expressed deep concerns about surveillance and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process, which Feinstein recently voted to reauthorize. “I worry about civil rights activists being targeted as black identity extremists,” he said. “I worry about the government saying ‘I don’t like this progressive blogger’ and subjecting them to scrutiny.” And indeed, between our conversation and the publication of this piece, his nightmare became reality: it was recently revealed a black activist had been detained for five months under suspicion of being a “black identity extremist.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/kevin-de-le%E1%BD%B9n-wants-lead-new-democratic-party/

I voted for him, he's great

granted legislation he sponsored basically gave me job security for 5 years, so I'm a little biased

I voted for him too. Feinstein needs a kick in the ass regardless.

Wow, I'd thought Ocasio-Cortez had more oomph behind her campaign, but maybe that's just because I've been following her on fb for months and don't follow Crowley. But goddamn...Moms Demand Action, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, labor unions, etc are all in Crowley's camp. That's fucking disappointing.

― Johnny Fever

how do democratic voters in the 14th feel about her? (that's a serious question)

she's great, and she's better than the alternative, but honestly fuck this policy

Because these developers don’t seem to support expanded municipal parking (like some of the ones found in Astoria), it causes the community to fight over scraps.

We can make moves that increase local parking while still having safe bike lanes. /4

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) June 5, 2018

to her credit she seems interested to engage in that thread

no parking should be built anywhere

No free public parking should be built anywhere. It can be private property or it can be a revenue source for the government that built the road but that’s it.

I understand the argument that reducing free public parking in areas that are gentrifying can make it difficult for people who already live in the neighborhood and drive everywhere. But giving those folks better transportation options and improved walkability has to be part of the trade off or else it’s just status quo forever and in 10-15 years the parking becomes a surplus, wasted pavement.

Meanwhile your giant office park parking garages can be used for sports

http://wjla.com//features/abc7-stories/radical-racers-four-stories-underground

Once there were parking lots
Now it's a peaceful oasis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068AFYvd58E

That ad of hers I posted to the main politics

one of my school friends and her kids are in this!

http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/06/bungle-in-the-jungle

Ranked choice voting, among a bunch of other reforms I blather about endlessly on these threads, would go a long way to improving shit. It’s part of why I hate, despise and loathe all the pusillanimous “I give up on humanity, this is what we deserve” bullshit. Yes, people are pack animals, but with language powers. Let us make a better system for ourselves and we will produce better results.

lots of good news from last night's primary results, here's some: https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/primary-elections-california-alabama-iowa-new-jersey-montana/2018/06/04/5a4946c4-6764-11e8-bea7-c8eb28bc52b1_story.html?utm_term=.473aadc65cef

In general Dem turnout continues to way outperform projections, and more and more Districts look competitive/flippable

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/06/2018-biggest-primary-takeaways-628596

Check this out: Democrats also flipped a state Senate district in Missouri in a landslide, swinging it by more than 20 points

Dems picking up a Trump +5 state senate seat in MO by a landslide tonight - currently 60%-40% w/ 82% counted. https://t.co/yqHWyY4UGv

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 6, 2018

A Missouri Republican consultant, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly, said in a text message that "Every suburban Republican should be petrified tonight. This devastating loss signals they could lose this fall."

run scared, motherfucker

Higher Democratic turnout in special(!) and primary(!!) elections in a midterm year(!!!) all buck long-held trends/cw so yay let’s hear it.

Re the politico takeaways - bernie totally abandoning our revolution is nagl

and De Leon made the number two spot in the CA Senate race, meaning there won't even be a fucking GOP candidate for Senate in CA in the fall: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Kevin-de-Le-n-to-face-U-S-Sen-Dianne-Feinstein-12971926.php

Re the politico takeaways - bernie totally abandoning our revolution is nagl

― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 6 June 2018 16:08 (five minutes ago) Permalink

Not sure what you mean by this. Bernie was never actually affiliated with OR, it was more like a group that branched out from his campaign and was inspired by him.

a cult of personality without the personality

in other news, this is why Pelosi is good at her job: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/05/house-democrats-republican-spending-plans-598146

The longtime appropriator pointed out that $15 billion within his own bill goes toward nuclear weapons and security. “To vote against that would be crazy,” he said

non sequitur if I ever heard one

As of pre-yesterday, OR had more wins than losses in 2018 endorsements, so I wouldn't write them off, just yet. Skewed a bit toward lower level races but part of the idea is to build a bench.

https://ourrevolution.com/results/

Re the politico takeaways - bernie totally abandoning our revolution is nagl

― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 6 June 2018 16:08 (five minutes ago) Permalink

Not sure what you mean by this. Bernie was never actually affiliated with OR, it was more like a group that branched out from his campaign and was inspired by him.

― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Wednesday, June 6, 2018 4:16 PM (forty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its a small point to argue but if some organization runs off in your name you should maybe try to reign them in somehow? an example on my mind was on the this week in atrocity podcast.. some rich guy in CA basically started his own chapter and endorsed himself.

maybe im just having flashbacks to OFA starting off with promise then turning into a dumpster fire

Skewed a bit toward lower level races but part of the idea is to build a bench.

Which is a damn solid idea and will yield solid benefits up and down the ballot.

Nice formulation here:

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is seeking another six-year term at age 84 and is expected to cruise into November when her likely opponent will be fellow Democrat Kevin de Leon, the former state Senate leader. There are 11 unknown Republicans in the race and none was backed by the party.

http://time.com/5302723/democrat-gavin-newsom-california-governor-primary-john-cox/

Indeed, why would the Republican party want to oppose Feinstein?

I don't think Feinstein's ever faced a Dem challenger so this will be interesting (she will still win, most likely)

Newsom is a dick but A+ trolling here
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democratic-gubernatorial-candidate-in-calif-urges-trump-to-campaign-for-gop-opponent-as-much-as-possible/2018/06/06/0f5c2e06-69ad-11e8-9e38-24e693b38637_story.html?utm_term=.49725020a386

Intercept roundup of election results:

https://theintercept.com/2018/06/06/california-primary-election-results-2018/

I kinda gathered Rohrabacher's race was worth watching partly because there was a fear that no Democrat would advance (do I have that right?). Which didn't happen, right?

correct

District 48 - Huntington Beach
Dana Rohrabacher GOP 30.3%
Harley Rouda Dem 17.3%

https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/california-house-district-48-primary-election