Progressives are challenging TPTB

The total number of votes cast in Democratic House primaries so far this year is 84% higher than the total for the equivalent point in 2014. One reason: There have been a lot more contested primaries, which tend to attract more voters.
Republican turnout in House primaries also has increased, from a combined 8.6 million votes at this point in 2014 (7% of registered voters) to 10.7 million (7.9%) so far this year. But the increase is much smaller (24%) than on the Democratic side, and the total number of votes cast in Democratic House primaries is considerably higher. Overall turnout in U.S. Senate and gubernatorial primaries also is above 2014 levels.
So far this year, 340 House primaries have been contested by at least two candidates, versus 251 in 2014. Most of that increase has been on the Democratic side, with 81 more contested Democratic House primaries this year (203) than in 2014 (122). By contrast, there have been only eight more contested Republican House primaries so far this year (137) than at this point in 2014 (129).

There will be blood

Asked Wednesday whether Crowley's exit could create an opening for someone to challenge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Cleaver said that opening was already there.

“There will be an insurgency. I just don’t know who’s leading it. But I assure you, I’m as certain of that as I am that today is Wednesday," he told reporters.

4 out of 5 Repubs are bonkers

Four out of the five Republican candidates running for state superintendent of public instruction said they believe Arizona students should be taught creationism and intelligent design as part of science learning requirements.

Neo-nazis on the rise in Germany

The ARD DeutschlandTrend survey put support for Merkel’s conservative alliance - her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU) - at 29 percent, down one point from the beginning of July.

Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005, only narrowly averted the collapse of her coalition government last month after a row between the CDU and the CSU over immigration policy.
The conservative sister parties rule in a grand coalition with the left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD).
The anti-immigration AfD gained one point in the ARD DeutschlandTrend survey, conducted by pollster Infratest Dimap, to a record high of 17 percent.
In last September’s federal election, the CDU/CSU bloc won 32.9 percent of the vote and the AfD surged into the national parliament for the first time with 12.6 percent, making it the third largest party. The SPD came second with 20.5 percent.

far-right on the rise in Sweden

In the latest opinion poll, the nationalist party yet again built on its meteoric rise, placing ahead of the conservative Moderate Party making it look increasingly likely they will become country’s second largest party.

The Sweden Democrats has gained support in the polls as it focuses its campaign on refugees and migrants ahead of the September election.

It scored 22 percent in the latest poll – only two points behind the leftist Social Democrats and three percent ahead of the Moderates – as establishment parties continue to lose ground.

The poll by Novus, carried out between June 25 and July 22, found Stefan Löfven’s Social Democrats topped the list with 24 percent. The party is plummeting in popularity compared to four years ago when they entered into a left-wing coalition with the Green Party with 31 percent of the vote.