That’s the best time to bargain! It is like holding a winning hand in poker and acting indecisive about whether you want to call or raise. The Democrats give their votes away like little kids trading a single 5 dollar bill for 3 ones.
Now I think you’re a paid troll of the Republican Party because you act just like a Republican, you’re accusing me of what you yourself are guilty of. You’ve made no verifiable statements other than your pejorative statements about me, which by the way I refute.
Your position is that social issues are more important than economic ones, I wholeheartedly disagree. To a one I agree with the positions the Democrats take on social issues, I also recognize that we are on the brink of a Second Great Depression. An economy in which the top 1% takes 82% of wealth cannot be sustained, and social issue victories arent’ gonna mean jack shit when we’re all out in the streets trying to get food!
I can only assume that a seemingly intelligent person wouldn’t see that this is the priority but because you’ve been riled up on social issues and pissed off, that that is all you care about…believe me, this is exactly what moderate Democrats want , so you won’t pay too much attention to gutting bank regulations. I kinda get that, but the fact is the Democratic Party used to be the party of working people. It isn’t anymore.
“This is the Democratic Party. This is not a rubber-stamp party.”
said the Leader from California. And so the Internet First Bash of the Day Award of Nancy Pelosi goes to you. A fucking lot of good that endorsement did too.
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If Illinois was governed as well as California has been since the financial crisis, I think the midwest states that switched to Trumpp would have stayed blue.
There are a lot of reasons not to like term limits, but there are even more reasons not to like entrenched politicians and networks.
Madigan has been Illinois speaker of the House since 1983 except for a two-year period. Lipinski is a faithful soldier – faithful to Madigan and the machine, not to the district, the state, or the party’s values. Taking Lipinski down is a good step toward dismantling the machine, or, at the very least, getting 10-year term limits imposed on the legislative leadership positions.
When the machine stops looking invincible, it instantly becomes very vulnerable. Let’s hope that energized Democrats free Illinois from the grasp of the dinosaur holding power.
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And this is the “party” that’s going to “Wave” “bai-bai” to Republicans in 2018?
In a pig’s eye!
“democrats” are still “Fighting the last war” which is the main reason why They’ll wind up losing the fight that’s in front of them in 2018 and most likely in 2020 as well.
Lipinski is a pill, and I hope he loses, but not because of who supports him or not. I hope he gets tossed out for what he believes. I know it’s a “novelty” in some quarters, but I’d like to think his defeat might stem from a change in what the majority of Democrats BELIEVE, rather than who they supported in the last election.
Oh well. The one thing I take away from interaction with “democrats”: is: “Hope for the best, expect nothing much, and always be prepared for the worst when the other Party wins.”
Why are you here? You should know the country has moved left.
You sound like you are here by mistake.
The only positions I’ve actually mentioned in replying to you are, in fact, economic ones: I feel elections should be publicly funded, corporate interests need to have their ability to lobby as if they were human beings cut off at the neck, and I supported the TPP on economic as well as geopolitical grounds. I also don’t disagree with you regarding income inequality. That doesn’t mean I necessarily see a candidate as electable purely because of where their emphasis is on the campaign trail.
So please, do tell me where you see me saying social issues are more important than economic ones.
By the way?
The only positions I’ve actually mentioned in replying to you are, in fact, economic ones:
That’s a verifiable statement. So is the one about how the majority of this community doesn’t want to have to wade through rehashing the last election, where I asked you to take that bit to a private discussion.
Edit: Here, I’ll even give you another economic position, in case you don’t see how the others are, in fact, economic issues: I believe the marginal tax rate for the top income bracket should go right back to where it was under Truman and Eisenhower: 92% on everything over $200,000 dollars/yr single income. Cuz the 1950s really sucked for us, economically, right?
If he is so clueless as to think that he is immune to a challenge from the “left” he clearly as no business working in the political world.
I mean really, if the current climate doesn’t scream challenges and you have “no idea” you’re not paying attention. At least not to anything but your own stupid philosophy, and not the people you’re representing.
It’s a solid Dem district, and this is a primary. The opponent will be an actual Nazi. What the fuck are you afraid of? There is no comparison between the two. So why should he get the D?
Not the Democrats however…
Can I get the Second Bash of the Day Award, too? 
I hope Newman wins, and I hope she and other new Dems exercise the vision to support fresh face for Speaker.
I actually think Pelosi’s been a good leader and was a great Speaker. But she’s hanging on for too long. She’s been Democratic leader (or Speaker) for 17 years. That’s already six years longer than Tip O’Neill. The Dems’ top three leaders — Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn — will all turn 80 in their next term. Yes: 80. All three of them. Democrats have some really sharp mid-level members with serious skills (all of whom are much better than Pelosi in the messaging department); they deserve a chance to lead, too.
After Democrats retake the House easily in November (with the help of Pelosi’s fundraising), I hope that Pelosi declares victory and graciously steps aside. In fact, it be even better for her to raise a shitload of money through early October and then to announce that she’ll step down from the leader’s position, so that Democrats can elect a new Speaker and make a fresh start. That alone could make the difference in 10 or more districts.
I’m probably too idealistic in thinking that she’ll have the perspective to do the right thing.
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That’s great, but the moderates you back and are fighting for do not agree.
If you truly believe what you’re saying, you really should be on my side. I’m older than you, and I’m tired of the same flim flam. For me, there’s no point in voting for a moderate Democrat again, I’ve been doing my whole life and hearing the same goddamn bullshit about pragmatism and purity police.
Everything the GOP has done to destroy this country has been helped by moderate Dems especially Iraq and financial deregulation. Now they’re back at it. They double down on gun regulations and #metoo because they know that shit gets Dems good and pissed.
Both sides are using the culture war to get people to vote against their own interests, it’s not just the GOP. Anyone who votes for a moderate Democrat who is in favor of bank deregulation is voting against their interests. We like to make fun of hillbillies who do so, but a lot of Dems do the same thing.
I’m fortunate to live in a very blue area (Silicon Valley). So much less to do here to change Congress*. So I can mostly do that with my $$ donations. Choosing candidates I don’t know from districts I don’t live in is tricky.
avatars should include whether we are from a red state or a blue state
Great idea! DONE!
*well, there is Prop 13 & ed funding which previously absorbed my time! More recently marching for immigrants & BLM is still vital.
Are you? And pray, how do you know my age?
As for the moderates in the party… they have their uses and their necessary place. If we go for ideological purity, we will fail. We will, as the saying goes, let the perfect become the enemy of the good. Incremental progress is better than none at all, and none at all is what we get when we push for purity. Or do you think we should send a liberal firebrand to Missouri to try to do better than Claire McCaskill can?
We need the moderates so we can set the agenda in the House and the Senate. Full stop. We don’t have that, we have nothing. We can make no progress while we insist on purity, because if we insist on purity, we will not hold onto the voters we need to win in places like Alabama, no matter how much you like the candidate.
That’s not ‘cultural issues’ talking, that’s politics. It’s how this shit gets done, and it’s been how this shit’s been done since about the first day two people agreed on what words meant.
Edit to add: If you’re basing your guess on my age on the fact that I earlier linked a story on a computer game, you should probably do more research and make fewer assumptions. Yes, when I log in, I deal with college and high-school kids. Some as young as 14. And yet, for all that, the average user age for EVE Online when that story was written five and change years ago was 35. These days, it’s edging toward 40. Average.
Just to highlight the dangers of assumption: in 1976, for the bicentennial Fleet Week, I was on the deck of USS Forrestal, about 20m from President Ford. Which only gives you a lower bound. Was I an officer? A newborn? You don’t know.
Don’t make assumptions. They make an ass out of u and umption, and umption don’t deserve that shit. 
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I saw Newman interviewed by Kasie Hunt yesterday on MSNBC and was impressed by her smarts (although frankly she needs to learn to smile more when she’s interviewed on TV).
One thing that impressed me was that she pushed back on Hunt in exactly the right way regarding the predictable media question about “tolerance” for Democrats with opposing views on abortion. That’s not the issue, she pointed out: It’s all about who’s in line with the district, and she argues — correctly I’m sure — that the district’s closer to her on guns, health insurance and, yes, abortion.
Tim Ryan (who’s more conservative than Newman) said precisely same thing in regards to Connor Lamb and other working class midwest districts, like the Ohio-12 special election in August. This is a point that the mainstream media and newby activists seem pretty obtuse about: Good politicians seek to be in-line with their constituents. Sometimes that means they’re out of the mainstream of their party, but if Connor Lamb’s a bit more conservative on guns, the important thing is that he’s in line on core values (especially economics and fairness), and supports the party overall.
Lipinski, however, seems to be neither in line with his district nor with the party. He’s relying on the Madigan machine, a lot of special interest money, and the power of incumbency (which he inherited from his dad in a sleazy entitlement move in the first place). Fuck that guy. He’s bad news.
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First tell me who’ll replace her as Minority Leader who could do what’s she’s done as leader during her term. Including fund raising. She’s become a convenient punching bag as well as punch line for all the stuff Democrats get wrong. She led drives for legislation that got passed with no R votes including ACA and Obama had no better ally during her brief term as Speaker.
So, no she hasn’t got a “fresh face” but in our society we don’t like worn out faces especially if they’re on women.
But I’ll grant you 19 bashes, and as many as 30 if you wish.
Yes, women smiling on TV will carry the day for the party.
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That’s my biggest question when the ‘dump Pelosi’ line starts: who have we groomed to replace her? Who is there in the leadership who’s a ‘fresh face’ that has the chops she had 10 years ago? Schiff maybe? Maybe… but I’m sure there’s plenty there people’d gripe about, too. After all, at 57, he’s hardly ‘fresh’ himself. Swalwell’s got potential, but I dunno how his leadership mojo is. So, you know, before we go rushing to give Nancy the hook, let’s see what we’ve actually got in the bullpen, hey?
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The more I come to her support for all the reasons I state very time out the more I hear she has to go. I’ve concluded it’s unacknowledged sexism and ageism. Which then leads me to think we’ll never elect a woman president because not enough men in this country want to be led by a women who surely won’t be of sex kitten age by the time she’s gained enough experience to qualify.
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