Discussion: One Of The House's Least Reliable Democrats May Lose His Primary Tuesday

But ā€œBernieā€™s not a Democratā€
Hereā€™s a real Democrat for you.

In all seriousness though, I think itā€™s a mistake to run on social and not economic issues, but letā€™s hope Newman can oust this Republican-light in the primary anyway.

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The press is, of course, already spinning thisā€“lamenting the death of the moderate politician, and that it is an indication that the Democratic Party is ā€œlurchingā€ further to the left.

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It is why we hold primaries. If he has lost contact with his district he should lose. Newman sounds like a solid candidate

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Nice. Borrow some glory from the Obama whose signature provisions you voted against. Watch out for that doorknob, Dan.

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Good riddance to bad rubbish.

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Even Center Right voters are not voting Right this primary season, so it makes sense to dispose of our worst.

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Economic issues are social issues.

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I do not know this guy or his district. If he is taking positions against the Democratic party why doesnā€™t he just switch parties?

As a side note I have never understood why Democrats do not stress the Choice portion of their position. Everybody gets to decide what they want to do about themselves, nobody gets to decide for anybody else. Than you could welcome everybody in no judgement.

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I agree 100%, the party on the other hand never seems to understand that nuance.

Personally, Iā€™m not dragging the guy for being anti-choice; if his district agrees with his personal decision, thatā€™s on them.

BUT, - if heā€™s been consistently against Democratic political policy (i.e.,the ACA) and he wonā€™t support the head of the Dem Party (Obama) then he needed to be gone as of yesterday. This is one of the few times I would say that a Rep. with a ā€œDā€ after his name means nothing.

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Are you able to lunch today?

As to why he hasnā€™t switched parties, I think there are two possibilities and the reason is some mixture of them. First, he inherited the seat from his Daddy, who held the seat as a Democrat. Second, the district is gerrymandered ā€œDā€: I donā€™t think he could win an election in that district with an -R suffixed on the ballot.

I think the reason is more districting than family loyalty, but I could be wrong.

ETA: Inherited is exactly the right word. Lipinskiā€™s father won a primary in the district in the 1990s and stepped down, contingent on the Chicago Ward Democratic Committee appoint his son as his replacement. Lipinski fils had not lived in Illinois in years when he was nominated.

Daddy won the primary for him, and Sonnyboy got this nice Congressional seat as the result.

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Sorry I must respond to your first line. In all seriousness I did have a problem with Bernie not being a Dem. And if Bernie tries it again, I will still have a problem with him just using the Dem Party Primary process. Itā€™s the Dems or nothing. That is our only hope.

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The media needs to check out how the country has moved left.

Is it about filling out a form and sending a membership check? Or is it about common beliefs?

Lipinski is not an accurate reflection of this districtā€¦anymore. Heā€™s the result of years of Chicago machine politics and nepotism. Heā€™s never had a serious primary opponent from the Left because Democratic politics in Illinois is an old (white) boys club, still. (He has the endorsement of the two major newspapers, btw).

No more. Think Newman has the momentum and Lipinski made a huge error early on by ignoring her.

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Itā€™s about not taking pride in being the guy who bites the the hand that he expects to feed him.

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He has close ties with Chicagoā€™s still-powerful Democratic machine and its head, state party chairman and statehouse Majority Leader Mike Madigan (D). The well-organized building trade unions are firmly behind him as well, after a decades-long relationship with him and his father, former Rep. Bill Lipinski (D-IL), who installed his son in his old seat when he retired in 2004.

Blue dog Dems are one of the main reasons Democrats can never have nice things.

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Can TPM please stop using ā€œpro-lifeā€ when they mean ā€œanti-choiceā€ or ā€œpro-dead-womenā€? Or at least put scare quotes around this bullsh*t?

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Too bad for Danā€¦however, you should actually espouse the beliefs of your ā€˜safe Democratic districtā€™ if you want to stay in office. You ARE there to represent the peopleā€¦REMEMBER?

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