Yesterday was a good day for leftists

Just when you were ready to write off the progressive insurgency, yesterday happened.

The biggest headline victory was in Nebraska.

Bacon, who was unopposed in his own primary, spoke to reporters when he showed up to vote Tuesday morning. He described Eastman as genuine, but suggested her positions are too far to the left to be successful in November.

“I don’t think liberal works in this district,” Bacon said.

Eastman rejected the suggestion that her proposals, from Medicare for all to a minimum wage increase, are too “liberal.” Instead, she said, they are necessary, even pragmatic.

“People need health care,” she said. “They deserve health care. Income inequality is outrageous and we need to address it because there’s far too many people living in poverty and struggling.”

Republicans were cheering for Eastman because they think she'll be an easier target.
Why they think that beating someone who is "genuine" will be easier than beating someone who isn't genuine is beyond me.
It sounds like 11th dimensional chess to me.

Eastman wasn't the only shocker yesterday.
Pennsylvania is sending not one, but TWO socialists to the state house. Yes, actual socialists.

In the Pittsburgh area, Summer Lee and Sara Innamorato, Democrats who are both members of the DSA, won primaries for state House Districts 34 and 21.
Lee and Innamorato defeated state Reps. Paul Costa and Dom Costa, both Democrats. They do not have Republican opponents in the general election.

That means they've already won the general election as well. Two other DSA-backed candidates also won.

In Philadelphia, Democrats Elizabeth Fiedler and Kristin Seale won legislative primaries for House Districts 184 and 168. Fielder does not have a GOP opponent in the general election, while Seale will take on Rep. Christopher Quinn.
It was a great night for female candidates in the Keystone State in general, as all four women unseated male state representatives. Pennsylvania has an all-male delegation to the U.S. Congress, but several women won primaries for the House on Tuesday night and will be favorites in November.

Pennsylvania's boy's club just got broken up.
The DSA has just jumped onto the establishment's radar.

“There’s a lot of fear in the establishment wing of the party, because this is a movement they cannot control,” says Jim Burn, a former chair of Allegheny County’s Democratic committee who went on to run the state party until resigning in 2015. “The fearmongers on the other side are taking a page from the Trump playbook and trying to bash them and label them, because they see their power slipping away.”

There was another primary in Pennsylvania worth noting if only because of the name.

In the Philadelphia suburbs, centrist Rachel Reddick — a 33-year-old Navy veteran endorsed by Emily’s List — lost the Democratic primary to take on Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R) after “proud progressive” Scott Wallace ran ads attacking her for being a registered Republican until 2016. Wallace, 66, is the grandson of Henry Wallace, who was Franklin Roosevelt’s vice president for a term and then ran against Harry Truman, who FDR dumped him for, from the far left in 1948. In a victory speech to supporters in Bucks County last night, Wallace declared: “Together, we can make America sane again.”

I'm a big fan of Henry Wallace. As for Reddick, she wasn't just a former Republican, Reddick had made her conversion from the GOP a centerpiece of her campaign.

Another notable victory happened in deep-red Idaho.

In Idaho, state Rep. Paulette Jordan surprisingly cruised to the Democratic nomination for governor, 59 percent to 40 percent, over a more moderate, wealthier and better-known (he was the party’s nominee in 2014) rival. Jordan, who would become the first Native American governor in U.S. history if she pulls off the upset win, was endorsed by Democracy for America, Indivisible and Cher — three entities not usually known for their influence with Idaho voters.

Jordan built her campaign around protecting more public lands, promising to expand Medicaid, relax marijuana laws, reduce incarceration and limit corporate tax loopholes.

In Oregon incumbent Sen. Rod Monroe got crushed 62 percent to 25 percent by civil rights attorney Shemia Fagan. Monroe was heavily funded by the real estate industry.

I should also note that in North Carolina today, at least 29 North Carolina public school districts serving 865,000 students will close their doors as teachers walk out.
The progressive grassroots is not dead yet.

Share
up
0 users have voted.

Comments

There is one diary about Eastman.
But everything else is about Russiagate (Russians conspired with the NRA, donchaknow?) and how white people are racists.

What a wasteland.
This would explain why their relevance is declining in middle of primary season.
alexa_0.PNG

We can't lay all the blame on the Dems. The news media isn't helping.

In truth, the Democratic Party is quite focused on promoting a progressive critique of the GOP’s positions on taxes, health care, and social spending, because it knows that Republicans are deeply vulnerable on those issues. MSNBC, CNN, and the broader mainstream media, however, are obsessed with the White House’s myriad scandals – because they know that a federal investigation into the American president’s potential ties to the Kremlin (and/or porn stars and/or white-collar crime) is ratings gold — while daily broadcasts reiterating the regressive implications of the GOP’s tax law and health-care plans would be anything but.
But if you get your news from cable television — or secondhand from friends and family who watch cable news — then you will think that “Russia-gate” is the Democratic Party’s central concern; because that is just about the only thing that cable news channels invite Democratic officeholders to go on television to discuss. As the Daily Beast reports:

Eager to move a message that focuses on things like minimum wage hikes and health care premiums, [Democrats] have been overtaken by a steady stream of stories of Russian meddling, porn star payoffs, and shady Trump-world figures. Ultimately, many offices and aides have come to the conclusion that they should simply give up on trying to break through on cable news at all.

“It’s impossible,” said one Senate aide, “unless you want to talk about Russia.”

… [N]umerous other aides echoed this point, sharing stories of fruitless calls and emails to bookers and abrupt cancellations on pre-existing bookings. Jessica Post, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said she was bumped three times from a prime-time MSNBC show due to Trump scandals.

up
0 users have voted.
Wink's picture

die by the sword.
@gjohnsit
The Dim party hoisted by their own petard.

up
0 users have voted.

the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@gjohnsit

Just looked at TOP There is one diary about Eastman.
But everything else is about Russiagate (Russians conspired with the NRA, donchaknow?) and how white people are racists.

What a wasteland.
This would explain why their relevance is declining in middle of primary season.

Here's a nice anthem for that site these days:

[video:https://youtu.be/K028J7AFJAc]

To be relevant, DK would have to be willing to entertain progressives. And they're very much not willing to do that, as the continued existence and expansion of c99 evidences.

up
0 users have voted.

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

mhagle's picture

I plan to vote in the primaries for progressive Jana Lynne Sanchez for the spot being vacated by asshole Joe Barton. Her opponent is a nothing burger corporate dem.

However, I am urging my husband, who has historically voted republican but thinks many of them are insane now, to vote for Cody Harris for state representative. Cody is a farmer who supports lowering property taxes (which around here could save a senior citizen from losing the home they own), supporting senior citizens, and properly funding public schools. His opponent, heir to the Collin Street Bakery, is endorsed by Gov. Abbott and Ted Cruz. Cody is endorsed by the Texas AFT.

It will be interesting to see if the teachers here come out in mass to vote for Cody, as they did in West Virginia.

up
0 users have voted.

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

edg's picture

Why they think that beating someone who is "genuine" will be easier than beating someone who isn't genuine is beyond me.
It sounds like 11th dimensional chess to me.

They don't want to run against the genuine person. They want to run against someone they can beat. It's the same logic they used to help Democrats elevate Hillary over Bernie. They knew Trump could beat Hillary.

up
0 users have voted.
JekyllnHyde's picture

@edg

Corporate, centrist Democrats think that just like many in the GOP, mouthing platitudes can get them past the finish line. Moving forward, and unlike 2016, I believe more voters will reward authenticity and policies that positively impact the have-nots.

up
0 users have voted.

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

this should be all over the web.

up
0 users have voted.

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

While it will be a long time before actual progressives control the party, we may reach the point sooner than later that democrats voting against progressive policies will face serious electoral backlash. Much like the gay rights movement where democrats who opposed gay rights realized it was bad for their careers to go against it.

up
0 users have voted.

Just wow!

But those who did vote overwhelmingly cast their ballot for the Sairoun Alliance, a coalition of supporters of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP), as well as the smaller Iraqi Republican Party.

Not many could have predicted the formation of such an alliance a few years ago, much less anticipated that it would end up resonating with so many Iraqis.
...
One of those who appears to best typify the new politics is Suhad al-Khateeb, a communist who won a parliamentary seat for the religious city of Najaf - one of the most important hubs of Shia Islamic theology.
Khateeb, who is a teacher, anti-poverty activist and womens rights activist, had not considered running in previous parliamentary elections.

up
0 users have voted.

CorpaDems must be twisting in their graves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8-k_Qsf4vA

Progressives And Socialists Surprise D.C. With Big Primary Upsets
The Rational National

Published on 16 May 2018

Progressives earned big wins in Democratic primary races all across the country.

up
0 users have voted.

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.

from In These Times:

http://inthesetimes.com/article/21149/socialism_dsa_pennsylvania_electio...

The Fetterman win is particularly interesting. It begins to look like the area around Pittsburg is becoming a hotbed for leftist insurgency.

up
0 users have voted.

Mary Bennett