…Flipping Congress Is Absolutely Essential To Keep MAGA In Check
There are 12 different versions of this ad and Spencer, the Blue America digital director— who made them— is testing them on Facebook and Instagram now. The one that people like the most is the one we’ll run. The idea is to raise campaign contributions for the Blue America candidates. There are nine congressional candidates now— take a look… and while you’re there, how about $1 to each? $20 to the one you like best?
I talk to the candidates frequently. Yesterday I asked the ones I talked to what the most important points are that they communicate to the voters in their district. Eric Wilson is running in the western Wisconsin swing district that abusive crackpot Derrick Van Orden won 2 years ago. It’s a district Trump won by 4.7 and that progressive Senator Tammy Baldwin won by almost 10. Eric is a millennial and he’s the only candidate in this race to support Medicare for All, the only candidate talking about completing student loan forgiveness, as well as about the Green New Deal and about gun reform. He’s also the only one of the 3 Democrats in the primary who’s calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. To win one of the top flippable districts in the whole country, a Democrat will need to drive turnout from the 7 colleges in WI-03, not by taking Republican-lie stances (which is how Van Orden beat the conservaDem who ran in 2022) but by talking a bold progressive approach.
New Jersey voters have reason to be skeptical of politicians from both parties, but in Sue Altman they have a tireless fighter and the best of anti-corruption, pro-democracy reformers who has taken on both party establishments again and again. Her opponent, Tom Kean, Jr. is an entrenched politician who has spent his career trading off his father’s name— even though his own extreme MAGA record couldn’t be further from his father’s. Junior ran as a moderate, but he is nothing but an empty suit and rubber-stamp for extremist Trump and MAGA Mike. He also made the mistake of opposing legislation that would have allowed expanded abortion access for female service members, while enabling the most extreme elements of his own party— a party that wants to ban abortion nationwide, gut Social Security, privatize Medicare, outlaw IVF and repeal the ACA. Has he ever worked a real job? He lives off a trust fund, and it shows. He has no idea what working families are facing which showed when he so blithely opposed efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Thomas Witkop, at 25, is the youngest candidate running anywhere in the country. His opponent, Brian Mast, literally called for the Israelis to flatten Gaza and turn it into a parking lot. He’s a genocidal maniac who’s taken over $600,000 from AIPAC. Mast is also aggressively opposed to women’s choice and with a super-popular reproductive rights ballot initiative being voted on in November, Witkop has a huge advantage. The Treasure Coast, as this district is known, is serious about a clean environment, even if their congressman isn’t. Witkop, however is and Mast hasn’t done anything about the district’s water issues that Witkop is talking with the voters about everyday. He also told that he’s “running on the front lines of fascism.” His district, right next door to the Mar-a-Lago swamp has seen book bannings, attacks on women’s rights, and an attempt to overturn the election from Trump and they’ve had enough of that.
If you follow along here at Blue America, you probably already know why Jerrad Christian is running for the Ohio seat held by do-nothing MAGA incumbent Troy Balderson. Jerrad supports women in their fight against erosion of their freedoms by Republican backed laws taking abortion rights and contraception. A former Navy meteorologist, he tells voters he “will fight to protect our environment so future generations can enjoy the same benefits we do, like clean water and safe food.” He also says he will work to protect us from price gouging and help slow inflation to expected levels while working to “protect our social safety nets like WIC, SNAP, and Social Security so children aren’t left hungry and the elderly aren’t left homeless.”
Derek Marshall whose district is mostly composed of the non-urban parts of San Bernardino County, including towns like Victorville, Hesperia, Adelanto, Apple Valley, Barstow, Yucaipa and Twentynine Palms. “Everyday,” he told me yesterday, “I work tirelessly doing what no candidate seems to want to do. Running a progressive campaign in rural America is not easy but I do it to give my constituents the representation they deserve; a working class candidate who understands the day to day struggles that Americans are facing. When I get into office, I will continue working tirelessly in order to ensure their voices are heard not only in my district but across the country.”
The most flippable seat in Arizona is one in northeastern Maricopa County (including Scottsdale and Paradise Valley) that Biden won by a point and a half. Conor O’Callaghan is easily the best candidate in a crowded field to take on MAGA extremist David Schweikert, the only Republican in a district Biden won who hasn’t moderated his far right positions. The district has changed— but Schweikert hasn’t. Conor is a lifelong Democrat who will protect abortion rights, work to boost the economy and to secure Arizona’s water future. His primary opponents are former Trump-Republicans who think Kyrsten Sinema is a good role model.
Jen Perelman is the South Florida progressive running to represent the 25th District (Broward County) to help end corporate influence in Washington and put power back in the hands of the people. To do that she needs to replace incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who’s been in office for 20 years. In those 20 years, she’s taken over $7 million from corporations and special interests and has voted in their interests, not her constituents. Jen told us that “The majority of our politicians on both sides are folding to pressure from powerful lobbying groups like AIPAC, which plans to spend $100 million this year against congressional candidates critical of Netanyahu’s Israel.” Wasserman Schultz, always at the front of the line has taken over $800K from AIPAC and its allies. Jen is the only Jewish anti-Zionist candidate challenging a Jewish Zionist incumbent across all Congressional races.
Do you like the music in the ad? It’s The Units, a synth-punk band that was based in San Francisco when their first album, Digital Stimulation was released (1980) by 415 Records. I have a few original vinyl copies of the album– still in shrink wrap– and I’m going to give 3 away. If you want one, just add 50 cents to whatever amount you contribute to any candidate. I’ll just pick 3 names at random and send the records.
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