Democratic Establishment Tries To Keep Progressives Off Congressional Ballots

Dims are trying to rig another election? Oh say it isn’t so.

Wait...what?

Democratic Establishment Tries To Keep Progressives Off Congressional Ballots

Several grassroots and progressive congressional candidates are facing expensive lawsuits from the Democratic establishment, which is challenging their ballot petitions in hopes of clearing the primary field.

Anthony Clark was one of the first congressional candidates to receive the backing of Brand New Congress, an organization founded in late 2016 by former Bernie Sanders staffers aimed at replacing current members of Congress, Republican and Democrat. Clark is running as a Democrat against Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL), who has held the seat of Illinois’ 7th Congressional District since 1997. Davis’ campaign has tried to file several legal complaints to remove Clark and another primary opponent, Ahmed Salim.

On January 22, a judge overruled several objections filed by incumbent Rep. Davis’ surrogates, former State Senator Ricky Hendon and his staffer Cherita Logan, that alleged Clark’s signatures to get on the ballot were fraudulently obtained. This week, the board of elections will decide on whether to accept the judge’s recommendations.

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Challenging ballot signatures has been a frequent tactic used by establishment Democrats and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In the 2016 election, the DCCC handpicked Mike Parrish, a former Republican and CEO of an oil company, to challenge Republican incumbent Congressman Ryan Costello in Pennsylvania’s sixth district. Leaked documents first obtained by The Hill revealed the DCCC was coordinating with Parrish’s campaign before he formally announced his candidacy.

Lindy Li, a 25 year old Princeton graduate, emerged as a surging progressive opponent against Parrish. She secured endorsements from Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), and Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), but dropped out of the race after Parrish challenged Li’s signatures on her nominating petitions, because the notary who stamped the petitions made a mistake in not signing them or keeping a log. “He made technical complaints, like people not using their full first names or middle initials or not spelling out cardinal directions (eg, s street as opposed to south street),” said Li in an email to The Real News Network. Parrish lost by over 14 percentage points even though Hillary Clinton won the district in the 2016 presidential election.

http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21008:Democratic-Establishment-Tries-To-...

Everything I type here I have to take right back out because I can’t be even remotely civil.

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New Party here we come!

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On to Biden since 1973

Big Al's picture

believe will turn the democratic party around? Are they "progressives"? Ask any of these BNC or Justice democrat politicians if they will oppose U.S. imperialism and see what they say. I've tried it here in WA-03, it's kind of humorous.

Looks like Ivy League Li would fit right in with the dems.

lindy li.png

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WaterLily's picture

Establishment "Democrats" would rather collude with establishment "Republicans" than to give a non-establishment candidate a chance?

But, but, but ... RESIST and all that shit!

(Aside: Why be civil, when civility is unwarranted?)

Edit: Never mind; as per Big Al, Li isn't exactly non-establishment. So what is it these "Dems" fear? Youth?

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@WaterLily

Establishment "Democrats" would rather collude with establishment "Republicans" than to give a non-establishment candidate a chance?

Precisement, mon ami. The establishment pols in both parties answer to the same donors.

(Aside: Why be civil, when civility is unwarranted?)

Indeed. The only civility required here is to each other! Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

I used to think, and still sometimes really do, that all that hype about a Trump dictatorship is just that - bullshit meant to terrify. Today I am in a particularly negative mood but I cannot help but feel these Democrats are not only going to let it happen but outright encourage it by fielding the same shit they always do. And then the Rump and his security state can just get it done and remove all pretense of any functioning government besides a Corporate one featuring more war, more cops, more austerity and punishment however they can figure out how to punish.

Like I said, I'm negative nelly today. It'll pass, but it does seem to take longer and longer to pass as time goes on. That said though, my negative thoughts about party politics and the duopoly, well those never go away now.

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

snoopydawg's picture

@lizzyh7

Democrats screech about Trump being a dictator and then vote to give him more power to illegally spy on us. This should have ripped the mask off of what they saying, but since the media doesn't report it, it never happened. They are working on rolling back to weak legislation on banks and payday loans and even voting for some of his horrible regulatory picks.

Yay, let's here it for the resistance! I'm guessing that they are going to march again next January since the last two have gotten so many results. I don't even know what they are marching for.

And they gave him $54 billion more than he asked for the military. Yay resistance! Again

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

The people can't be trusted with actual democracy. If they want to be represented they should buy a representative

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have made no secret of their desire to run candidates that are more and more rightist. From every election win and victory, they seem to take away a single message: "Leftist candidates cannot win elections. (Look at McGovern.) We hear you voters loud and clear: You vote us out out because you want us to be more like Republicans, and not because you are disappointed that we did not behave more like the Democrats you thought you were electing."

In fact, no one, from Barry Goldwater to Ted Kennedy, was going to unseat war-time incumbent Richard Nixon (the reason ambitious Ted Kennedy did not run in '72). In fact, the liberalism of the New Deal and the Fair Deal gave FDR four Presidential election wins and gave Democrats enough wins for decades to control either the House or the Senate or both. That winning streak did not end until the first New Democrat President, Clinton, took office. And Republicans did not return to their pre-FDR strength until after the second New Democrat President, Obama, took office.

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I'll bet I'd have loved and echoed every uncivil sentiment expressed. They aren't even trying to hide the corruption, which has its advantages, even if the censorship blocks this from many. It's still obvious.

Can people registered as Dem still vote Indie in General elections in all States, or do some have registered party voters trademarked somehow to eliminate choice among dem dere voters?

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.