theintercept--2020-03-03--Bloomberg Spent Millions to Buy Alabama Voters. But in Selma, He Wouldn’t Talk to Them.

did not want to be in Selma on Sunday .
When the Rev .
Leodis Strong invited him to participate in the 55th anniversary of the 1965 civil rights march known as “ Bloody Sunday , ” the former mayor at first declined , saying that he was too busy running for president .
A week later , he changed his mind — or had it changed for him — and decided that attending the historic Brown Chapel the Sunday before Super Tuesday and crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge with ailing congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis wasn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but an important piece of it .
Bloomberg ’ s instinct to stay away was understandable .
He had already spent an unprecedented amount of money in a bid for Alabama ’ s 52 pledged delegates and was about to pull off an impressive political trick : the rapid financial orchestration of a strong position in the state ’ s minority-majority primary , including a main office facing a statue of Rosa Parks , without having drawn any local attention to his legacy as the mayor responsible for stop-and-frisk policing .
Being invited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ civil rights movement on its most hallowed day on the eve of this achievement may have felt like a trap .
Accepting and rejecting the invitation both risked highlighting the nettlesome legacy that he needs black voters — who made up 54 percent of the 2016 Alabama Democratic primary — to forget .
Bloomberg surprised many inside the church when he took a seat in the front row .
Adding further contrast between himself and former Vice President Joe Biden , who assumed a pride of place behind the altar , Strong pointedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the thousands more watching the service on the Jumbotron outside , that Bloomberg opposed the invitation before he supported it .
Bloomberg may have been expecting worse when it finally happened , toward the end of his boilerplate speech , and a dozen or so churchgoers in a center pew stood and turned their backs to him until he finished .
There was no plan to protest Bloomberg ’ s presence , said one of the dissenters , Ryan P. Haygood , a former NAACP lawyer who directs the New Jersey Institute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this sacred space means , I kept waiting for him to lean into it , to talk about what he presided over as mayor , ” he said .
“ When it became clear he wasn ’ t going to atone , we decided to do something .
Fifty-five years ago , nonviolent protesters assembled right here in this church and prepared to get brutalized by Alabama police half a mile away .
We channeled them .
We think it ’ s what they would have done.
” If Pete Buttigieg hadn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the silent protest against Bloomberg would have been the biggest story out of Selma about any of the five candidates in attendance .
This spurt of bad press landing so close to Super Tuesday left Bloomberg looking more displeased than usual during the Bridge Crossing Jubilee that followed the service .
Amid thousands of people holding hands and walking arm and arm , photographs capture Bloomberg looking like a handcuffed prisoner with a two-guard escort , his hands clasped anxiously across his sternum .
It was in Montgomery last November that Bloomberg filed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a three-month spending spree involving more money than Alabama had ever seen in a Democratic primary .
It was the same model he has used in Tuesday ’ s other small , Southern primary states : Soak the airwaves with ads and find out which nonattached local politicians and political groups are interested in a sugar daddy .
As in Arkansas and Tennessee , which don ’ t see much primary money , he flooded the zone with more than $ 8 million in TV and radio alone ( Sanders spent the second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) and opened four field offices staffed by 30 very well-paid full-timers .
“ In Alabama , the attitude is , You get what you can , when you can , because there will be no money spent here in the general , ” said Brandon Moseley , a veteran writer for the Alabama Political Reporter .
“ He spread the money all over the place .
We got some of it.
” By the time Bloomberg ’ s statewide operation was up and humming in December , Joe Biden had already locked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats ( namely Rep. Terri Sewell and Sen. Doug Jones ) .
But the campaign ’ s largesse produced a slate of allies claiming influence with black voters , notably state Senate Minority leader Anthony Daniels and Joe Reed of the Alabama Democratic Council , the state Democratic Party ’ s black caucus , which endorsed Bloomberg last month .
Whether the ADC endorsement and others like it will dig into Biden ’ s large advantage with black voters in Southern states will be a test of Bloomberg ’ s unorthodox gambit .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Sunday are representative , the mayor may be disappointed .
The council hasn ’ t been a fearsome Southern machine for a long time , said Pam Foster , a Tuscaloosa Medical School professor , while marching to the Pettus Bridge behind a banner of the Alabama chapter of the Rev .
Benjamin Barber ’ s Poor People ’ s Campaign .
“ Reed and the ADC endorsed Bloomberg because he bought off a lot of people , ” she said .
“ [ They want us ] to forget that in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American community .
I voted my conscience and voted Biden.
” notably absent on Sunday was Bernie Sanders , the only candidate with an arrest record related to civil rights protest .
( Biden ’ s make-believe arrest during a 1970s visit with Nelson Mandela in South Africa does not count . )
Sanders has attended multiple civil rights events in Alabama over the years , including the 50th anniversary Bridge Crossing Jubilee in in 2015 .
Unlike some candidates , he has nothing to prove on that front .
But according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he doesn ’ t have much to gain either .
The Sanders campaign has always conceded the primary and never opened an office or hired a single staffer in Montgomery .
In 2016 , Alabama gave Hillary Clinton her second-highest margin of victory against Sanders , nearly 78 percent of the vote , mirroring her win in neighboring Mississippi .
In 44 of Alabama ’ s 67 counties , Sanders lost by 50 points or more .
His closest contest was a 17-point loss in one of the whitest counties in the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ credible and demonstrated commitment to addressing poverty is so roundly rejected by Deep South communities scarred by endemic hardcore poverty is not a question easily or neatly answered .
There are enthusiastic black Sanders supporters in Alabama , but they become increasingly scarce the farther you get from a university campus .
It is an exception that proves the rule when you meet a black Sanders supporter as old as Al Lawson , a retired 75-year-old former “ Wilcox County Freedom Rider ” from Camden , Alabama , who marched in the original @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After dodging a bit , Lawson admitted to falling for Sanders in 2016 and supporting him again in 2020 .
“ I think he would have beat Trump last time , and they kicked him to the curb , ” he said .
“ He ’ s got guts .
I like him .
I think he ’ ll do a little better this year , but Alabama — here , we ’ re from the old school .
If people know the vice president , people are going to vote for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state ’ s politically engaged younger residents , a willingness to break from familiar patterns is just as likely to express itself in support for Sen. Elizabeth Warren as Sanders .
As the procession moved down Broad Street toward the bridge , it passed by a support center for transgender youth called the Knights and Orchids Society .
Standing in the storefront and holding a rainbow flag was Quentin Bell , a 22-year-old trans man , and the center ’ s director , and Tony Christon-Walker , 35 , who had driven down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AIDS service and prevention nonprofit , AIDSAlabama .
Both were voting Warren ; neither expected Sanders to compete for many black votes outside small urban pockets of millennials .
“ Black people have always accepted that you have to vote for the lesser of two evils , ” said Christon-Walker .
“ Even Obama gets flack for not doing enough and disappointing the black community .
So how can you expect this old white man to get hopes up in these communities and be hailed as this perfect candidate ?
Biden , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot of money and he talks shit .
He ’ ll go toe to toe with Trump .
People like that about him.
” “ Well , I don ’ t , ” said Bell .
“ I don ’ t like anyone who comes in here and tries to buy my city and my vote .
”

Michael Bloomberg did not want to be in Selma on Sunday. When the Rev. Leodis Strong invited him to participate in the 55th anniversary of the 1965 civil rights march known as “Bloody Sunday,” the former mayor at first declined, saying that he was too busy running for president. A week later, he changed his mind — or had it changed for him — and decided that attending the historic Brown Chapel the Sunday before Super Tuesday and crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge with ailing congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis wasn’t a distraction from his campaign, but an important piece of it.
Bloomberg’s instinct to stay away was understandable. He had already spent an unprecedented amount of money in a bid for Alabama’s 52 pledged delegates and was about to pull off an impressive political trick: the rapid financial orchestration of a strong position in the state’s minority-majority primary, including a main office facing a statue of Rosa Parks, without having drawn any local attention to his legacy as the mayor responsible for stop-and-frisk policing. Being invited onto the most hallowed ground of the civil rights movement on its most hallowed day on the eve of this achievement may have felt like a trap. Accepting and rejecting the invitation both risked highlighting the nettlesome legacy that he needs black voters — who made up 54 percent of the 2016 Alabama Democratic primary — to forget.
Bloomberg surprised many inside the church when he took a seat in the front row. Adding further contrast between himself and former Vice President Joe Biden, who assumed a pride of place behind the altar, Strong pointedly reminded his flock inside the church, and the thousands more watching the service on the Jumbotron outside, that Bloomberg opposed the invitation before he supported it.
Bloomberg may have been expecting worse when it finally happened, toward the end of his boilerplate speech, and a dozen or so churchgoers in a center pew stood and turned their backs to him until he finished.
There was no plan to protest Bloomberg’s presence, said one of the dissenters, Ryan P. Haygood, a former NAACP lawyer who directs the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “Given what this sacred space means, I kept waiting for him to lean into it, to talk about what he presided over as mayor,” he said. “When it became clear he wasn’t going to atone, we decided to do something. Fifty-five years ago, nonviolent protesters assembled right here in this church and prepared to get brutalized by Alabama police half a mile away. We channeled them. We think it’s what they would have done.”
If Pete Buttigieg hadn’t suspended his campaign hours later, the silent protest against Bloomberg would have been the biggest story out of Selma about any of the five candidates in attendance. This spurt of bad press landing so close to Super Tuesday left Bloomberg looking more displeased than usual during the Bridge Crossing Jubilee that followed the service. Amid thousands of people holding hands and walking arm and arm, photographs capture Bloomberg looking like a handcuffed prisoner with a two-guard escort, his hands clasped anxiously across his sternum.
It was in Montgomery last November that Bloomberg filed his first ballot papers, followed by a three-month spending spree involving more money than Alabama had ever seen in a Democratic primary. It was the same model he has used in Tuesday’s other small, Southern primary states: Soak the airwaves with ads and find out which nonattached local politicians and political groups are interested in a sugar daddy. As in Arkansas and Tennessee, which don’t see much primary money, he flooded the zone with more than $8 million in TV and radio alone (Sanders spent the second most, with less than $150,000) and opened four field offices staffed by 30 very well-paid full-timers. “In Alabama, the attitude is, You get what you can, when you can, because there will be no money spent here in the general,” said Brandon Moseley, a veteran writer for the Alabama Political Reporter. “He spread the money all over the place. We got some of it.”
Amid thousands of people holding hands and walking arm and arm, photographs capture Bloomberg looking like a handcuffed prisoner.
By the time Bloomberg’s statewide operation was up and humming in December, Joe Biden had already locked down endorsements from Alabama’s marquee Democrats (namely Rep. Terri Sewell and Sen. Doug Jones). But the campaign’s largesse produced a slate of allies claiming influence with black voters, notably state Senate Minority leader Anthony Daniels and Joe Reed of the Alabama Democratic Council, the state Democratic Party’s black caucus, which endorsed Bloomberg last month.
Whether the ADC endorsement and others like it will dig into Biden’s large advantage with black voters in Southern states will be a test of Bloomberg’s unorthodox gambit. If the black voters gathered in Selma on Sunday are representative, the mayor may be disappointed. The council hasn’t been a fearsome Southern machine for a long time, said Pam Foster, a Tuscaloosa Medical School professor, while marching to the Pettus Bridge behind a banner of the Alabama chapter of the Rev. William Barber’s Poor People’s Campaign. “Reed and the ADC endorsed Bloomberg because he bought off a lot of people,” she said. “[They want us] to forget that in New York, he ignored the African American community. I voted my conscience and voted Biden.”
Photo: Butch Dill/AP
One person notably absent on Sunday was Bernie Sanders, the only candidate with an arrest record related to civil rights protest. (Biden’s make-believe arrest during a 1970s visit with Nelson Mandela in South Africa does not count.) Sanders has attended multiple civil rights events in Alabama over the years, including the 50th anniversary Bridge Crossing Jubilee in in 2015. Unlike some candidates, he has nothing to prove on that front. But according to the math of the Alabama primary, he doesn’t have much to gain either. The Sanders campaign has always conceded the primary and never opened an office or hired a single staffer in Montgomery.
In 2016, Alabama gave Hillary Clinton her second-highest margin of victory against Sanders, nearly 78 percent of the vote, mirroring her win in neighboring Mississippi. In 44 of Alabama’s 67 counties, Sanders lost by 50 points or more. His closest contest was a 17-point loss in one of the whitest counties in the state. Why the candidate with the most credible and demonstrated commitment to addressing poverty is so roundly rejected by Deep South communities scarred by endemic hardcore poverty is not a question easily or neatly answered.
There are enthusiastic black Sanders supporters in Alabama, but they become increasingly scarce the farther you get from a university campus.
There are enthusiastic black Sanders supporters in Alabama, but they become increasingly scarce the farther you get from a university campus. It is an exception that proves the rule when you meet a black Sanders supporter as old as Al Lawson, a retired 75-year-old former “Wilcox County Freedom Rider” from Camden, Alabama, who marched in the original Bloody Sunday march with Lewis in 1965. After dodging a bit, Lawson admitted to falling for Sanders in 2016 and supporting him again in 2020. “I think he would have beat Trump last time, and they kicked him to the curb,” he said. “He’s got guts. I like him. I think he’ll do a little better this year, but Alabama — here, we’re from the old school. If people know the vice president, people are going to vote for the vice president.”
Even among the state’s politically engaged younger residents, a willingness to break from familiar patterns is just as likely to express itself in support for Sen. Elizabeth Warren as Sanders. As the procession moved down Broad Street toward the bridge, it passed by a support center for transgender youth called the Knights and Orchids Society. Standing in the storefront and holding a rainbow flag was Quentin Bell, a 22-year-old trans man, and the center’s director, and Tony Christon-Walker, 35, who had driven down from Birmingham, where he directs an AIDS service and prevention nonprofit, AIDSAlabama. Both were voting Warren; neither expected Sanders to compete for many black votes outside small urban pockets of millennials.
“Black people have always accepted that you have to vote for the lesser of two evils,” said Christon-Walker. “Even Obama gets flack for not doing enough and disappointing the black community. So how can you expect this old white man to get hopes up in these communities and be hailed as this perfect candidate? Biden, he’s just safe. Bloomberg has a lot of money and he talks shit. He’ll go toe to toe with Trump. People like that about him.”
“Well, I don’t,” said Bell. “I don’t like anyone who comes in here and tries to buy my city and my vote.”
Correction: March 4, 2020
A previous version of this article misstated the first name of Rev. Barber; his name is William, not Benjamin.


theintercept--2020-03-04--San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez Advances to General Election in Heated California R

San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez Advances to General Election in Heated California Race

Davis announced in September that she would not seek reelection after almost two decades in Congress .
At its height , the field of candidates to replace her numbered 15 and had shrunk to 11 by December .
Three Republicans and one unaffiliated candidate also ran .
Despite being members of the same party , both Gómez and Jacobs will appear on the November ballot under California ’ s top-two primary system , which allows the top-two vote getters to advance to the general election , even if they belong to the same party .
On Tuesday , Jacobs came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote , followed by Gómez with 18.6 percent .
San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez will face off against former Hillary Clinton adviser Sara Jacobs in the race to replace Democratic Rep. Susan Davis in California ’ s 53rd District in November .
Gómez has been endorsed by the most prominent progressive politics and groups in the country , while Jacobs has the backing of members of the centrist wing of the Democratic Party .
Gómez has served on San Diego ’ s City Council since 2016 .
She was twice elected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first time in 2018 and again last year .
She represented the council ’ s District 9 , including suburbs east of the city .
Gómez was previously chair of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and has worked as an organizer , as well as an advocate for domestic violence and sexual abuse survivors .
She ran on supporting Medicare for All , a Green New Deal , gun control , affordable housing , paid vacation , family and sick leave , reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sanders endorsed her in January , as did Justice Democrats .
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backed her last month with the launch of a political action committee supporting progressive candidates for Congress .
She ’ s also been endorsed by Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto ; California Reps. Ro Khanna , Juan Vargas , Mark Takano , Alan Lowenthal , Tony Cardenas , Salud Carbajal , Pete Aguilar , Lou Correa , and Nanette Barragán ; Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline ; Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal ; Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan ; and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also backed by the state and local Democratic parties .
Other endorsements included the California Federation of Teachers , SEIU California , and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee .
Gómez has raised $ 660,000 so far , including $ 2,000 of her own money .
She ’ s gotten $ 10,000 from the fundraising arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus , CHC Bold PAC , and $ 4,000 from Cicilline ’ s campaign committee .
CHC Bold PAC and Equality PAC , which supports LGBTQ candidates and allies for Congress , have spent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gómez .
Jacobs , a former Obama State Department official , led a San Diego Union Tribune/10News poll earlier this month , followed closely by Republicans Chris Stoddard , who had not been campaigning or fundraising .
Jacobs supports Medicare for All and expanding maternal Medicaid , a Green New Deal , a $ 15 minimum wage , federal red flag laws for gun buyers , expanding federal Pell grants , and ending the gender pay gap .
She had the backing of California Lt. Gov .
Eleni Kounalakis , Colorado Gov .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Porter , Eric Swalwell , Harley Rouda , Abby Finkenauer , Andy Kim , and Lois Frankel .
Jacobs ’ s grandparents , Irwin and Joan Jacobs , funded a Super PAC , Forward California , to support her second run for Congress ; she ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the 49th District in 2018 .
Irwin Jacobs is the co-founder of Qualcomm .
He and his wife are the PAC ’ s only donors , having given $ 1.5 million so far .
The PAC spent the bulk of that on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ads , Sludge reported .
Jacobs has raised $ 2 million so far this cycle , including $ 1.5 million of her own money .
During her 2018 run , Jacobs raised $ 2.9 million , including more than $ 2 million of her own money .
She lost to Republican Diane Harkey and now-Democratic Rep. Mike Levin .
Gómez last month filed a Federal Election Committee complaint alleging that Jacobs ’ s campaign or her grandparents ’ Super PAC produced mailers promoting Stoddard and sent them to San Diego residents .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which violates FEC requirements .
Gómez ’ s campaign suspects that Jacobs or her surrogates sent the mailers to boost Stoddard ’ s chances of facing off against her — rather than Gómez — in the general election .

San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez will face off against former Hillary Clinton adviser Sara Jacobs in the race to replace Democratic Rep. Susan Davis in California’s 53rd District in November. Gómez has been endorsed by the most prominent progressive politics and groups in the country, while Jacobs has the backing of members of the centrist wing of the Democratic Party.
Despite being members of the same party, both Gómez and Jacobs will appear on the November ballot under California’s top-two primary system, which allows the top-two vote getters to advance to the general election, even if they belong to the same party. On Tuesday, Jacobs came in first with 29.5 percent of the vote, followed by Gómez with 18.6 percent.
Davis announced in September that she would not seek reelection after almost two decades in Congress. At its height, the field of candidates to replace her numbered 15 and had shrunk to 11 by December. Three Republicans and one unaffiliated candidate also ran.
Gómez has served on San Diego’s City Council since 2016. She was twice elected unanimously as city council president, for the first time in 2018 and again last year. She represented the council’s District 9, including suburbs east of the city. Gómez was previously chair of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and has worked as an organizer, as well as an advocate for domestic violence and sexual abuse survivors.
She ran on supporting Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, gun control, affordable housing, paid vacation, family and sick leave, reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and expanding Medicare. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed her in January, as did Justice Democrats. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backed her last month with the launch of a political action committee supporting progressive candidates for Congress. She’s also been endorsed by Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto; California Reps. Ro Khanna, Juan Vargas, Mark Takano, Alan Lowenthal, Tony Cardenas, Salud Carbajal, Pete Aguilar, Lou Correa, and Nanette Barragán; Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline; Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal; Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan; and Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin. Gómez was also backed by the state and local Democratic parties. Other endorsements included the California Federation of Teachers, SEIU California, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
Gómez has raised $660,000 so far, including $2,000 of her own money. She’s gotten $10,000 from the fundraising arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, CHC Bold PAC, and $4,000 from Cicilline’s campaign committee. CHC Bold PAC and Equality PAC, which supports LGBTQ candidates and allies for Congress, have spent a combined $277,000 on mailers for Gómez.
Jacobs, a former Obama State Department official, led a San Diego Union Tribune/10News poll earlier this month, followed closely by Republicans Chris Stoddard, who had not been campaigning or fundraising. Jacobs supports Medicare for All and expanding maternal Medicaid, a Green New Deal, a $15 minimum wage, federal red flag laws for gun buyers, expanding federal Pell grants, and ending the gender pay gap. She had the backing of California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, and California Reps. Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell, Harley Rouda, Abby Finkenauer, Andy Kim, and Lois Frankel.
Jacobs’s grandparents, Irwin and Joan Jacobs, funded a Super PAC, Forward California, to support her second run for Congress; she ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the 49th District in 2018. Irwin Jacobs is the co-founder of Qualcomm. He and his wife are the PAC’s only donors, having given $1.5 million so far. The PAC spent the bulk of that on television ads and the rest on digital ads, Sludge reported.
Jacobs has raised $2 million so far this cycle, including $1.5 million of her own money. During her 2018 run, Jacobs raised $2.9 million, including more than $2 million of her own money. She lost to Republican Diane Harkey and now-Democratic Rep. Mike Levin.
Gómez last month filed a Federal Election Committee complaint alleging that Jacobs’s campaign or her grandparents’ Super PAC produced mailers promoting Stoddard and sent them to San Diego residents. The mailers did not disclose who funded them, which violates FEC requirements. Gómez’s campaign suspects that Jacobs or her surrogates sent the mailers to boost Stoddard’s chances of facing off against her — rather than Gómez — in the general election.


theintercept--2020-03-04--Nancy Pelosi to Receive First Genuine Left-Wing Challenge in 30 Years

Buttar represents a unique , if unlikely challenge to Pelosi , the most powerful elected Democrat in the country and 33-year incumbent for San Francisco ’ s congressional seat .
On Tuesday , Pelosi took 72.5 percent of the vote in California ’ s 12th Congressional District .
Under the state ’ s unique primary system — where the top-two vote-getters in the primary make it to the general election , even if they belong to the same party — Buttar ’ s 12.7 percent was enough to get him on the November ballot .
Buttar is a constitutional lawyer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in American militarism and advancing causes relating to social justice .
As a part-time DJ , Buttar may appear at face value as just another reflexive left-wing activist , but he is well-credentialed with a track record in advocacy and community organizing .
A graduate of Stanford Law School , Buttar worked on court cases litigating marriage equality and defending the civil liberties of Muslims facing FBI surveillance , and has challenged the constitutionality of the USA PATRIOT Act .
Currently on leave from the Electronic Frontier Foundation , Buttar has waged an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to ensure that Pelosi faces bonafide electoral opposition from the left for the first time in modern history .
The seemingly quixotic bid has given Buttar the opportunity to elevate genuine concerns with Pelosi ’ s style of leadership , including her compromise bill on drug pricing , which would only impact a few select pharmaceutical products , her support for President Donald Trump ’ s increased spending on the Pentagon , and what Buttar describes as a failure to fight for federal financing to alleviate the housing crisis in San Francisco and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stalwart ally of the House Progressive Caucus , has moderated her positions over the years as she has ascended the leadership ranks .
Last month , she appeared with Rep. Henry Cuellar , D-Texas , one of the most Trump-supporting , right-wing Democrats in Congress , to shore up support for him as he faces a challenge from progressive Jessica Cisneros .
The unlikely challenge to Pelosi is made possible by Proposition 14 , a state constitution change originally opposed by Pelosi that shifted the state to a nonpartisan blanket primary .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party affiliation away from the primary process , allowing the two candidates with the most support on primary day to advance to the general election .
In 2018 , Buttar made his first bid for Congress , coming up only 1,174 votes short from making the top two .
That year , Pelosi faced a nominal Republican candidate , as she has done in almost every election .
This year will be different .
“ Pelosi knows that voters are dissatisfied , and before the primary began campaigning in San Francisco for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Jasper Wilde , campaign manager for the Buttar campaign , in a statement to The Intercept .
“ Shahid going 1-1 against Nancy will shine a spotlight on precisely how little she has done for the district in the midst of a housing crisis , an opioid crisis , and an out-of-control cost of living .
The election will also reveal her role in exacerbating these issues , that remain at the forefront of voters minds both today and in November .
”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will face a spirited challenge from activist and attorney Shahid Buttar in the November general election.
Buttar represents a unique, if unlikely challenge to Pelosi, the most powerful elected Democrat in the country and 33-year incumbent for San Francisco’s congressional seat. On Tuesday, Pelosi took 72.5 percent of the vote in California’s 12th Congressional District. Under the state’s unique primary system — where the top-two vote-getters in the primary make it to the general election, even if they belong to the same party — Buttar’s 12.7 percent was enough to get him on the November ballot.
Buttar is a constitutional lawyer who has dedicated his career on reining in American militarism and advancing causes relating to social justice. As a part-time DJ, Buttar may appear at face value as just another reflexive left-wing activist, but he is well-credentialed with a track record in advocacy and community organizing. A graduate of Stanford Law School, Buttar worked on court cases litigating marriage equality and defending the civil liberties of Muslims facing FBI surveillance, and has challenged the constitutionality of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Currently on leave from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Buttar has waged an insurgent effort, campaigning on a promise to ensure that Pelosi faces bonafide electoral opposition from the left for the first time in modern history. The seemingly quixotic bid has given Buttar the opportunity to elevate genuine concerns with Pelosi’s style of leadership, including her compromise bill on drug pricing, which would only impact a few select pharmaceutical products, her support for President Donald Trump’s increased spending on the Pentagon, and what Buttar describes as a failure to fight for federal financing to alleviate the housing crisis in San Francisco and other cities.
Pelosi, once a stalwart ally of the House Progressive Caucus, has moderated her positions over the years as she has ascended the leadership ranks. Last month, she appeared with Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, one of the most Trump-supporting, right-wing Democrats in Congress, to shore up support for him as he faces a challenge from progressive Jessica Cisneros.
The unlikely challenge to Pelosi is made possible by Proposition 14, a state constitution change originally opposed by Pelosi that shifted the state to a nonpartisan blanket primary. The referendum, passed in 2010, takes party affiliation away from the primary process, allowing the two candidates with the most support on primary day to advance to the general election.
In 2018, Buttar made his first bid for Congress, coming up only 1,174 votes short from making the top two. That year, Pelosi faced a nominal Republican candidate, as she has done in almost every election.
This year will be different.
“Pelosi knows that voters are dissatisfied, and before the primary began campaigning in San Francisco for the first time in 30 years,” said Jasper Wilde, campaign manager for the Buttar campaign, in a statement to The Intercept.
“Shahid going 1-1 against Nancy will shine a spotlight on precisely how little she has done for the district in the midst of a housing crisis, an opioid crisis, and an out-of-control cost of living. The election will also reveal her role in exacerbating these issues, that remain at the forefront of voters minds both today and in November.”


theintercept--2020-03-04--Outsider Lulu Seikaly Heads To a Runoff in Diversifying Red Texas District

The district , which covers the suburbs north of Dallas and a large swath of Collin County leans 12 points Republican , but Democrats think they can harness the state ’ s flourishing progressive energy to flip the seat .
In Texas , if no candidate garners 50 percent of the vote , the top two candidates face off in a runoff election .
On Tuesday , with 84 percent reporting , Seikaly and McCaffity were in a virtual tie , with 44.4 and 44.5 percent of the vote , respectively .
Seikaly , who would be the first Arab @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this far despite running largely outside the party apparatus — signaling that a new brand of candidates is becoming viable in the state .
In Texas ’ s 3rd Congressional District , a steadily diversifying Republican district that Democrats are hoping to flip this year , employment attorney Lulu Seikaly and trial attorney Sean McCaffity are headed to a runoff on May 26 .
The winner of that election will face incumbent GOP Rep. Van Taylor on November 3 .
Both Seikaly and McCaffity entered the race in October .
By mid-February , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 1,635 of her own money , and McCaffity had raised $ 308,240 , including $ 6,293 in his own contributions .
An upset by Seikaly would signal that a new brand of candidates are becoming viable in Texas , even as the two candidates , on paper , are similar .
The seat has been GOP-controlled for years , but the district has been trending leftward as it has grown more diverse ( more than 30 percent of the district is South Asian and Arab ) .
Taylor ’ s 2018 opponent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , making a significant dent in the 26-point gulf between his predecessor and the Democratic candidate in the 2016 election .
The district went 64-34 for former Republican presidential candidate and current Utah Sen. Mitt Romney in 2012 , and 55-41 for President Donald Trump in 2016 .
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz only won reelection in 2018 against former Rep. Beto O ’ Rourke by 51 to 48 points .
O ’ Rourke got 46.5 percent of the vote in Collin County , the most any Democrat has won in the county since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The district is also the most highly educated one in the country currently held by a Republican — the kind of suburban district that has been trending Democratic across the country .
The average voter in the district is 37 years old .
Thirty percent of the eligible voting population has never been targeted by Democrats .
That ’ s likely because they are classified as white , a demographic that the party doesn ’ t typically expend major resources targeting in races for relatively safe red seats .
The Seikaly campaign ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the district ’ s diverse residents , who had been largely ignored by the party , in an effort to build on the new kind of progressivism that made a case for itself in O ’ Rourke ’ s historic race .
Seikaly is the daughter of parents who fled Lebanon ’ s civil war and is running to be Texas ’ s first Arab American congresswoman .
As is not infrequently the case in swing districts , neither candidate embraced Medicare for All or a Green New Deal , and both campaigned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more humane immigration policy , and gun control .
Seikaly , who was encouraged to run by Texas progressive activist and 2018 congressional candidate Lillian Salerno , distinguishes herself as a working Texan and managed a full-time job and student loan debt while fundraising for her campaign .
While Taylor tries to pitch himself as a less ideological conservative who is more willing to engage with Democrats across the aisle , his opponents note that he has still voted in line with Trump 96 percent of the time .

In Texas’s 3rd Congressional District, a steadily diversifying Republican district that Democrats are hoping to flip this year, employment attorney Lulu Seikaly and trial attorney Sean McCaffity are headed to a runoff on May 26. The winner of that election will face incumbent GOP Rep. Van Taylor on November 3.
The district, which covers the suburbs north of Dallas and a large swath of Collin County leans 12 points Republican, but Democrats think they can harness the state’s flourishing progressive energy to flip the seat. In Texas, if no candidate garners 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates face off in a runoff election. On Tuesday, with 84 percent reporting, Seikaly and McCaffity were in a virtual tie, with 44.4 and 44.5 percent of the vote, respectively. Seikaly, who would be the first Arab American congresswoman from Texas, made it this far despite running largely outside the party apparatus — signaling that a new brand of candidates is becoming viable in the state.
Both Seikaly and McCaffity entered the race in October. By mid-February, Seikaly had raised $173,031, including $1,635 of her own money, and McCaffity had raised $308,240, including $6,293 in his own contributions.
The Texas AFL-CIO in January announced a joint endorsement of both Seikaly and McCaffity. Seikaly has the backing of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, Democrats with Disabilities, and the Dallas Morning News.
An upset by Seikaly would signal that a new brand of candidates are becoming viable in Texas, even as the two candidates, on paper, are similar.
The seat has been GOP-controlled for years, but the district has been trending leftward as it has grown more diverse (more than 30 percent of the district is South Asian and Arab). Taylor’s 2018 opponent came within 10 points of beating him, making a significant dent in the 26-point gulf between his predecessor and the Democratic candidate in the 2016 election. The district went 64-34 for former Republican presidential candidate and current Utah Sen. Mitt Romney in 2012, and 55-41 for President Donald Trump in 2016. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz only won reelection in 2018 against former Rep. Beto O’Rourke by 51 to 48 points. O’Rourke got 46.5 percent of the vote in Collin County, the most any Democrat has won in the county since 1968, the Red Ledger reported. The district is also the most highly educated one in the country currently held by a Republican — the kind of suburban district that has been trending Democratic across the country.
The average voter in the district is 37 years old. Thirty percent of the eligible voting population has never been targeted by Democrats. That’s likely because they are classified as white, a demographic that the party doesn’t typically expend major resources targeting in races for relatively safe red seats. The Seikaly campaign’s efforts focused on reaching out to the district’s diverse residents, who had been largely ignored by the party, in an effort to build on the new kind of progressivism that made a case for itself in O’Rourke’s historic race.
Seikaly is the daughter of parents who fled Lebanon’s civil war and is running to be Texas’s first Arab American congresswoman. As is not infrequently the case in swing districts, neither candidate embraced Medicare for All or a Green New Deal, and both campaigned against privatization of public schools, a more humane immigration policy, and gun control. Seikaly, who was encouraged to run by Texas progressive activist and 2018 congressional candidate Lillian Salerno, distinguishes herself as a working Texan and managed a full-time job and student loan debt while fundraising for her campaign.
While Taylor tries to pitch himself as a less ideological conservative who is more willing to engage with Democrats across the aisle, his opponents note that he has still voted in line with Trump 96 percent of the time.


theintercept--2020-03-04--Mike Siegel, Progressive-Populist in Texas House Race, Qualifies for Runoff

performance in the early vote , Mike Siegel , a civil rights attorney running on a Texas progressive populist platform , has moved to a runoff in the state ’ s 10th congressional district .
Siegel won 47 percent of the roughly 40,000 early votes cast , according to a county-by-county assessment , and with nine percent of election day precincts reporting , was pulling in 39 percent .
Both totals put him on top of his two rivals , but short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff .
In 2018 , the 10th Congressional District — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Houston suburbs — was written off by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee , having gone to incumbent Michael McCaul in 2016 by 19 points .
But Siegel , with a focus on organizing a major field operation , closed it to within 5 points .
That drew the attention of deep-pocketed donors , who fielded corporate management lawyer Shannon Hutcheson to challenge Siegel for the nomination .
Pritesh Gandhi , a doctor who is running to the left of Hutcheson but to the right of Siegel , also jumped into the race @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could be a rerun of a knockdown , drag-out primary in California that followed a similar trajectory .
In 2016 , Doug Applegate ran a lonely progressive campaign against Republican Darrell Issa and lost a surprisingly close race by just 1,600 votes .
The blood in the water brought in a school of candidates in 2018 ; Issa stepped aside , making the seat that much more winnable for Democrats .
Applegate ran again , but finished behind the eventual Democratic nominee , Mike Levin , as well as Sara Jacobs , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( Levin won the general election , and Jacobs switched districts , now running for the seat that was vacated by Susan Davis . )
If the 10th District had gone the way of the California primary , Siegel would have been nudged , and the carcass devoured by larger prey .
But Siegel ’ s grassroots operation , which has hardly let up since the last election , powered its way to a TK finish .
On Sunday , after The Intercept suggested that Siegel ’ s main challenge was to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the runoff , Siegel called me to respectfully object .
We ’ re going to win , he forecast .
( That ’ s a paraphrase ; I was at the playground and not taking notes . )
The two other candidates spent the final weeks of the race attacking each other .
A hybrid Super PAC backing Gandhi spent big attacking Hutcheson .
Hutcheson , meanwhile , was the clear Washington favorite .
She has been dogged in the primary by her corporate law work , particularly her defense of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among other controversial cases .
She voted in the 2010 Republican primary , the year of the tea party backlash to President Barack Obama , and has the strong support of her husband ’ s law firm , which is connected to the Texas GOP machinery .

With a commanding performance in the early vote, Mike Siegel, a civil rights attorney running on a Texas progressive populist platform, has moved to a runoff in the state’s 10th congressional district. Siegel won 47 percent of the roughly 40,000 early votes cast, according to a county-by-county assessment, and with nine percent of election day precincts reporting, was pulling in 39 percent. Both totals put him on top of his two rivals, but short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.
In 2018, the 10th Congressional District — which stretches from the Austin suburbs to the Houston suburbs — was written off by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, having gone to incumbent Michael McCaul in 2016 by 19 points. But Siegel, with a focus on organizing a major field operation, closed it to within 5 points. That drew the attention of deep-pocketed donors, who fielded corporate management lawyer Shannon Hutcheson to challenge Siegel for the nomination. Pritesh Gandhi, a doctor who is running to the left of Hutcheson but to the right of Siegel, also jumped into the race, setting up what looked like it could be a rerun of a knockdown, drag-out primary in California that followed a similar trajectory.
In 2016, Doug Applegate ran a lonely progressive campaign against Republican Darrell Issa and lost a surprisingly close race by just 1,600 votes. The blood in the water brought in a school of candidates in 2018; Issa stepped aside, making the seat that much more winnable for Democrats. Applegate ran again, but finished behind the eventual Democratic nominee, Mike Levin, as well as Sara Jacobs, the well-financed granddaughter of Qualcomm billionaire Irwin Jacobs. (Levin won the general election, and Jacobs switched districts, now running for the seat that was vacated by Susan Davis.)
If the 10th District had gone the way of the California primary, Siegel would have been nudged, and the carcass devoured by larger prey. But Siegel’s grassroots operation, which has hardly let up since the last election, powered its way to a strong finish.
On Sunday, after The Intercept suggested that Siegel’s main challenge was to finish in the top two and get to the runoff, Siegel called me to respectfully object. We’re going to win, he forecast. (That’s a paraphrase; I was at the playground and not taking notes.)
The two other candidates spent the final weeks of the race attacking each other. A hybrid Super PAC backing Gandhi spent big attacking Hutcheson.
Hutcheson, meanwhile, was the clear Washington favorite. She has been dogged in the primary by her corporate law work, particularly her defense of a prison guard accused of assaulting migrants, among other controversial cases. She voted in the 2010 Republican primary, the year of the tea party backlash to President Barack Obama, and has the strong support of her husband’s law firm, which is connected to the Texas GOP machinery.


theintercept--2020-03-05--Can Biden Still Be Stopped?

Can Biden Still Be Stopped?

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Before you go on about your day , ask yourself : How likely is it that the story @ @ @ @ @ been produced by a different news outlet if The Intercept hadn ’ t done it @ @ @ @ @ of media would look like without The Intercept .
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How many covert wars , miscarriages of justice , and dystopian technologies @ @ @ @ @ reporters weren ’ t on the beat ?
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Joining is simple and doesn ’ t need to @ @ @ @ @ can become a sustaining member for as little as $ 3 or $ 5 a @ @ @ @ @ all it takes to support the journalism you rely on .

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It’s being described as one of the biggest turnarounds in presidential primary history. After disappointing results in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Joe Biden appeared to be fading in Bernie Sanders’ rearview mirror. Then came his crushing win in South Carolina, after which Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg all dropped out of the race. Klobuchar and Buttigieg, along with former candidate Beto O’Rourke, then endorsed Biden, cementing the growing consensus among establishment Democrats that the former Vice President is the best positioned candidate to stop Bernie. Where does all this leave the Democratic race? Mehdi talks to Intercept DC bureau chief Ryan Grim and to Larry Cohen of Our Revolution about Biden’s big night and about Bernie’s path forward.
Joe Biden: Just a few days ago, the press and the pundits declared the campaign dead. We were told well, when he got to Super Tuesday, it’d be over. Well it may be over for the other guy.
[Music interlude.]
Mehdi Hasan: It may be over for the other guy. The other guy, of course, being Bernie Sanders, for whom Super Tuesday was not so super.
So, welcome to the always super podcast that is Deconstructed, I’m Mehdi Hasan. What a night it was on Tuesday where Joe Biden took the lead in the Democratic primary race and took back his frontrunner spot from fellow septuagenarian Bernie Sanders.
It’s now a two-horse race.
Larry Cohen: We have to figure out how to build the progressive campaign that can win delegates next week particularly in Michigan and Washington and then going forward in Illinois, Florida and the other key states.
MH: That’s my guest today Larry Cohen, chair of the pro-Sanders group Our Revolution, and a former campaign adviser to Bernie back during the 2016 election. I’m also joined by The Intercept’s DC bureau chief Ryan Grim, to chew the fat and deconstruct all the results.
How bad were they for Bernie? What happens next? And is Joe Biden — Joe Biden! — really the safe option to take on Trump in November?
Newscaster: It was, in a word, shocking.
Newscaster: Former Vice President Joe Biden making a remarkable political come back from the brink.
Brian Williams: Joe-mentum is real tonight. So we’ve established that.
Pundit: This is the most blindingly fast political comeback at the presidential level that I’ve seen in my lifetime.
MH:What a turnaround. Joe Biden, declared politically dead and buried by many of us just last week, is now the frontrunner again in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. He won 10 states to Bernie Sanders’ four on Super Tuesday, and now leads in both popular vote and the number of pledged delegates.
On the one hand, an amazing change of fortunes. A comeback, if you will. He won Texas, which many thought Sanders had in the bag. He won blowout victories not just in places like Alabama but also in the swing state of Virginia, where he was outspent by Michael Bloomberg and out-organized by Bernie Sanders.
On the other hand, though, as I often say on this show: context matters: this is the guy who was the front runner for much of the past year, he’s the former vice president of the United States. He was leading in Texas until just a couple of weeks ago. And the only reason he had to pull off a comeback in the first place is because he performed disastrously in the first few contests, coming fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire. But he’s now back in the lead, though it’s a narrow lead in terms of delegates, Bernie Sanders is still in this, and it would be as mad to write him off this week as it was to write off Biden last week.
But here’s a question that may affect things: What will Elizabeth Warren do now? She was humiliated in her home state of Massachusetts, coming third, behind Biden who won it, and Bernie who came second. What’s her plan now? We don’t know. By time you listen to this show, she may have dropped out and endorsed Bernie Sanders. Or, God help us all, Joe Biden. I think if she does endorse Biden, someone she’s been politically opposed to for so long, it will destroy, it will destroy her progressive legacy, it will. This is a moment of truth for her and what she stands for.
But let me say two things about Warren: 1) it’s wrong for some Bernie supporters to blame her for his disappointing results on Tuesday. It’s not Warren’s fault that so many African American voters went for Biden over Bernie, and if you’re going to argue that Bernie was undermined by her presence in the race, then you also have to acknowledge that Biden was undermined by Bloomberg’s presence in the race. And 2) Warren did a major service in this 2020 race by almost single-handedly taking down Michael Bloomberg’s oligarchic attempt to buy the presidency and we should be eternally grateful to her for that.
Elizabeth Warren: I’d like to talk about who we’re running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.
MH: A quick word on Mike Bloomberg. Bloomberg and I and Bloomberg and all of you have something in common: none of us won a state on Super Tuesday. The difference is that you and I didn’t spend 500 million dollars trying and failing to win a state on Super Tuesday. To be fair to the billionaire from New York, he did pick up five delegates in the tiny US territory of American Samoa, which means he spent around 100 million dollars per delegate. As Axios put it, never has a candidate spent so much for so little in return. 500 million dollars is only a little bit less than the entire GDP of American Samoa, which apparently is based around tuna canning, FYI.
Seriously, though, what a criminal waste of money. As I said to his fellow failed billionaire candidate Tom Steyer on this show a few weeks ago, he might as well have just piled up his cash in his backyard and set it all on fire. Imagine how many kids with cancer in the US he could have helped with that money? Or kids with malaria in sub-saharan Africa? How many schools he could have built? He could have single handedly fixed the water problem in Flint with that money. Or invested it in key Senate races that the Democrats need to win in November. 500 million dollars!
Anyways, rant over — back to Biden vs Bernie.
Personally, I do not get why it is so many Democrats have bought into this idea that Biden is the electable one, Biden is the safe pair of hands, Biden is the guy we can rely on to beat Trump in November. Are they just watching a different guy on the debate stage? To the guy I’ve been watching? To the guy we’ve been discussing on this show the last few months? Have they forgotten the 2016 race, where the Democrats nominated a pro-Iraq war, pro-big business, centrist candidate, with a long history of dodgy dealings and dodgy claims, and who yes, won the black vote in the primaries but then got destroyed over their support for mass incarceration during the general election and saw depressed levels of black turnout in the election against Trump? Are they really repeating 2016? I mean, isn’t the definition of madness doing the same thing over again and expecting different results?
I’m not saying Bernie Sanders doesn’t have problems going into an election, he does. But even if you hate Bernie Sanders, why would you think Biden is your savior? The former vice president has a problem, not just with gaffes:
Joe Biden: We hold these truths to be self evident. All men and women are created
by oh, you know the, you know the thing.
MH: But also with straight up lies.
JB: I came back from South Africa trying to see Nelson Mandela and getting arrested for trying to see him on Robben’s Island. He was in prison.
MH: He didn’t get arrested in South Africa, for the record, and he’s had to walk that back.
People say to me, well, the Bernie Bros hurt Hillary in 2016 and now they’ll hurt Biden. Which is ridiculous. You know who hurt Hillary, apart from Hillary herself who ran an awful campaign? A ruthless Republican Party machine, Fox News too, which attacked her from the left on Iraq and on mass incarceration which hurt her with African Americans, and they’ll do all of that again this time with Biden, a candidate who has all of Hillary’s weaknesses and very few of her strengths. You’re gonna hear a lot more about Hunter Biden and Burisma and Ukraine in next few months. Ukraine, Burisma will be Biden’s emails. I mean, Republicans in the Senate have already got going:
Lindsey Graham: If you’re gonna run for president, and you were in charge of the Ukrainian anti-corruption campaign as vice president and your son is sitting on the most corrupt company in the country while you’re trying to clean up the country, yeah, that’d come up.
MH: But look, if Bernie Sanders wants to beat Joe Biden and get the nomination for himself, he’s gonna have to up his game. The entire Bernie strategy was based on upping turnout, especially youth turnout. On Super Tuesday, in most of the states he won and lost, youth turnout wasn’t up on 2016, it was down. The youth surge outside of parts of California perhaps didn’t happen and in places like Virginia, the increase in turnout benefited Biden not Bernie. That’s a huge problem for the Sanders campaign which they’re going to have to try and fix before the next crucial primary in Michigan next week.
And then there’s his overall approach to the Democratic Party. Bernie, the insurgent, went after the Democratic establishment by name. And guess what, the Democratic establishment got together and finally hit back hard – with all those big names coming out and endorsing Biden on the eve of Super Tuesday. You can’t be surprised that happened. That was always going to happen. So Bernie has to expand his support inside of the party, with ordinary Democrats, with people who aren’t his natural supporters, or he can’t win. It’s that simple. As Ezra Klein of Vox wrote on Wednesday morning: “To win the Democratic primary and govern as a Democratic president, you need to win over Democrats who aren’t your natural allies, who didn’t start out in your corner. Biden knows that and acts accordingly. The Sanders campaign is going to have to learn the same lesson, and fast.”
Yep, really fast.
[Music interlude.]
MH: Later in the show, I’ll be speaking to Larry Cohen, a former Bernie Sanders campaign advisor, who now is chair of the Our Revolution group. But first Joining me to discuss the fallout from Super Tuesday and what Bernie and Biden do now and what happened with Elizabeth Warren is the intercept’s DC bureau chief Ryan Grim, a friend of and regular guest on the show. Ryan, thanks for coming back on Deconstructed.
Ryan Grim: Good to be here, friend.
MH: You caught up on sleep?
RG: I slept this morning, after taking my kids to school.
MH: And when you went to sleep, what were you thinking in your head? What was your kind of final thoughts about the night that just went on? How amazed were you by the “Biden comeback?”
RG: So, I was trying to think back to whether there’s been a historical period where a swing has happened that quickly and that far. I hesitate to call it organic, you know, the, the party leadership and the media, you know, kind of push people, but it was not the result of some on the ground organizing effort by Joe Biden or television ads that were being run by Biden’s super PAC or by him. So in that sense, it was organic. And I was thinking back to 1988. There have been so many parallels with the 1988 Democratic primary where Jesse Jackson —
MH: Was the insurgent.
RG: — Was the insurgent and won this caucus in Michigan to become the delegate kind of leader along with Michael Dukakis. And he was polling well ahead in Wisconsin, which was supposed to vote 10 days later. And there was an absolute meltdown in Washington over that 10 days. And we saw that same meltdown happened in the 10 days from Nevada to Super Tuesday.
MH: It was really the 72 hours between South Carolina voting and Super Tuesday. The momentum after his big win in South Carolina and then you have this one after another people pulling out and endorsing him Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and then good old Beto and he won Texas.
RG: It was but I think it’s a mistake to overlook the Democratic Party freakout that happened from Saturday to Saturday, from Nevada to South Carolina, because I think that that seeded the ground like that paved the way or that created the ability for things to move so quickly.
MH: To give credit to Biden, it didn’t have to move to him. There was also Bloomberg, I mean, it was only a few days ago on the show we were talking about Bloomberg. And the two things that destroyed Bloomberg were one, Elizabeth Warren in that debate and two, the fact that Biden one South Carolina big and reminded everyone, I still got African American support. I still got old people support.
RG: Right yes, there’s because electability is such a prime if perhaps unique driver in this primary, that winning begets winning. So losing begets losing.
MH: Indeed and it’s funny you mentioned good old electability, which we discussed so much on the show, in almost all of the states that Biden won on Tuesday, majorities or pluralities of Democratic voters in the state said they support a Medicare for All system in which all private insurance is abolished. A complete hardline, left-wing Bernie Sanders position, but they didn’t vote for Bernie Sanders, because they put “beating Trump” up higher than having a kind of ideological ally in the White House. My problem with that argument is you can hate Bernie Sanders or you can love him and love his positions, I just don’t get what calculation people are making in thinking Joe Biden is the electable candidate? I just don’t see it. I’d love to be proved wrong, but I don’t see it. How is he the safe option?
RG: You know, I think the media has done a similar thing with him that they’ve done with Donald Trump, which is that they squeeze coherence out of incoherence. If you read the lead of any Washington Post or New York Times story about something that Trump has said about foreign policy or even domestic policy, for that matter, it will be written in the classic article format, you know, the Trump admin, you know, President Trump on Mondays — It will sound coherent. You won’t necessarily agree with his positions and then you go back and look at the tweet and the video from which they’re drawing this article. Like no, this is just complete and utter nonsense and the media papers that over with Biden, and so it becomes —
MH: I think hours before Super Tuesday, he was unable to complete a basic sentence from the Declaration of Independence. People say oh, he’s got a stammer. Okay, but how does the stammer explain the fact that he spent much of February lying about being arrested in South Africa trying to meet with Nelson Mandela? Things that would disqualify normal candidates in normal election years. But we don’t live in a normal political era anymore on either side of the political divide, and therefore he gets this pass from Democratic voters because they’re told, and they’ve come to believe that he’s the electable person. I just see 2016 happening all over again, sorry.
RG: Right, and ’88 happening all over again. Dukakis was said to be the electable person.
MH: And John Kerry 2004.
RG: Right, and so everything bottomed out for Jesse Jackson, Dukakis won Wisconsin, and he kind of stumbled into the convention with less than majority and was given the nomination on the first ballot which — And I think Bernie Sanders needs to recognize that that there’s no scenario in which Sanders kind of walks into the convention with 40% and then walks out with the nomination, unless that scenario involves other candidates handing him delegates that they’ve earned but I don’t know if Elizabeth Warren for instance has even earned enough to make that possible.
MH: Just you mentioned Warren, I was gonna come to her later but since you brought her up, by the time people at home hear this chat of ours Ryan, she may have pulled out of the race. She’s having discussions with her team as we speak. Is it fair to say that for Elizabeth Warren, the question now is does she want to be an insider or an outsider?
RG: I mean, I suppose that she could kind of shed her image of the last 10-15 years and just go whole hog and endorse the Democratic Party establishment and try to become treasury secretary or something under a Biden administration but a, I think she is —
MH: Joe Biden is not gonna make her treasury secretary. That won’t work for him and his Wall Street friends.
RG: That’s A. B, I don’t think she thinks that Joe Biden would win the election. So it’s, you know, that’s fool’s gold that you’re being offered at that point. But yeah, more importantly, is that like she — The party establishment had every opportunity to anoint her as the alternative to Bernie Sanders as Joe Biden completely bottomed out through January and February. The party establishment chose not to do that. And so you know, it must be very clear to her that whether she wants to be an insider or not, insiders don’t want her to be one.
MH: Yeah, so you’ve followed her for years. You’ve interviewed her many times. You’ve followed her career. You know her pretty well. Gun to your head if you had to decide and, and this might all be resolved by the people at home hear Deconstructed this week. Do you think she’ll come out and endorse Bernie Sanders?
RG: You know, I’m in a place where I really don’t know.
MH: Yeah, same. I have no clue.
RG: I could go either way. And I would —
MH: If she does endorse Biden, I think she basically destroys any progressive legacy record that she’s built up because I just —
RG: I can’t imagine that happening. She came into public life and we reported this on Monday — The Working Families Party did an on the record interview with us pointing out she came into public life to battle Joe Biden over bankruptcy.
MH: And yet she and Bernie Sanders have not battled Joe Biden over bankruptcy over the last year. Regular listeners of the show know, I’ve been tearing my hair out that in these debates, he gets a pass partly because there are so many people on the damn stage, but partly because people just won’t touch him on obvious weaknesses like the bankruptcy bill, like his relationships with Wall Street, like his relationship with Big Pharma, like his support for mass incarceration. I mean, it gets touched on occasionally. I don’t believe the bankruptcy bill was even touched on. And then there’s this argument, well, you know, we shouldn’t attack each other. What do you think the Republicans and Donald Trump are gonna do? They’re gonna come after him on the bankruptcy bill. They’re gonna come after him on Iraq. They’re gonna come after him on mass incarceration. Trump attacked Hillary from the left on super predators in 2016. He attacked Hillary on the left on Goldman Sachs and on the Iraq war. Why would he not do the same thing again? It’s the same candidate. Why wouldn’t he operate the same playbook?
RG: Of course he will.
MH: And God forbid the same damn result.
RG: Of course he will. And that was Warren’s key mistake when Bernie Sanders was down in the polls and in the hospital in Las Vegas recovering from his heart attack. You know, she was in the catbird seat. If she had that moment had taken on Joe Biden directly, gone after him over bankruptcy over Wall Street, over corruption, etc, all the things that she’s been going after him for 20 years on, you could see big elements of the left saying, okay, now there’s a fight between the Wall Street wing of the party and progressives —
MH: Now Sanders is putting out anti-Biden ads on Social Security might be too little, too late. And just before we wrap up, let me ask you about that. You know, what Bernie does now going forward. I’m about to speak to Larry Cohen from Our Revolution, former Sanders 2016 advisor. What do they do the Sanders campaign about the fact that their entire strategy was built around mobilizing young people, people of color, people who don’t normally vote, they did amazingly well with Latinos, especially in California, no doubt about that. But Biden cleaned up with African Americans again, especially in the southern states on Tuesday, and in South Carolina on the weekend and the youth turnout in places like North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, they were actually down on 2016. How does that fit with the vote for Bernie Sanders, he’ll get the young people to come out and start a revolution?
RG: It doesn’t and you know, he has one of those theories of the case that can actually be tested, which is nice. Like you don’t have to just take his word for whether or not it’s going to work. Now, he still has a chance to make it work, you know, Michigan surprised in 2016. It could surprise again this time. They’re going to Washington State which will have a lot of delegates. Also has coronavirus ripping through it which raises the question of how you continue to have elections in the midst of a pandemic. But you’re right —
MH: And how do you support a candidate who doesn’t guarantee health care for everyone in a country with a pandemic.
RG: Right, so Bernie Sanders either needed to convince suburbanite Democrats that he was the most electable candidate and that whether or not they wanted political revolution, he was the best shot of beating Trump.
MH: He clearly hasn’t.
RG: Which he hasn’t done or he had to transform the demographics of the party which he hasn’t done yet, either.
MH: And he’s running out of time.
RG: He’s running out of time. He’s got a couple weeks left to do it.
MH: Ryan, on that note, thank you for joining me after a very long night.
RG: My pleasure.
[Music interlude.]
MH: That was Ryan Grim, The Intercept’s DC bureau chief. And I’m joined now to talk more about the Bernie Sanders campaign specifically and where it goes next after Super Tuesday by Larry Cohen, chair of the pro-Sanders group, Our Revolution and a former campaign adviser to Bernie during the 2016 race. Larry Cohen, thanks for joining me on Deconstructed.
Larry Cohen: Pleasure.
MH: How disappointed are you the morning after not so Super Tuesday for Bernie Sanders?
LC: Well, actually Bernie hit his marks. The key difference meaning the percentage of the popular vote that he got in virtually all of those states particularly the biggest one California. The number of delegates elected around 600. The difference is, you know, no one expected two of the other major candidates to drop out, endorse Biden and create the sense of, you know, we’re uniting against Bernie which is what I would accuse them of even if no one else says it that way.
MH: Clearly they are uniting against Bernie. But isn’t that part of politics? Shouldn’t the Sanders campaign have expected this would happen? Also, what does it say about your campaign? What does it say about the campaign of Bernie Sanders that they need other candidates in the race to kind of blunt Joe Biden? And once those other candidates go, Biden suddenly pulls off this pretty impressive victory, 10 states to Bernie’s four states, including Texas, which a lot of us thought this was going to be Sander’s turn take Texas this time around.
LC: Yeah, well, as we go from Bernie 2016, you know, one candidate edging out another is not really what’s important here. What’s important is the popular vote because that shows the mandate. Secondly, the number of delegates elected. So you know, again, Texas, if we went back three or four months ago, no one would have expected Bernie to win Texas. And he almost did. So I think, you know, going forward which is I think where you’re leading me is that, you know, yes, we have to figure out how to build the progressive campaign that can win delegates next week, particularly in Michigan and Washington and then going forward, or Illinois, Florida and you know, the other key states.
MH: I’ve had Bernie surrogates on the show before. I’ve had Bernie Sanders himself, was on the show a few months ago. And of course, the argument always is that we are going to build this coalition to change politics. We’re going to get the enthusiasm, the energy, we’re going to turn people out, youth turnout is going to be a huge boost for our campaign. That was the argument and yet on Super Tuesday, and in the first four states, young people didn’t turn out in the numbers that they were supposed to turn out. In fact, in a lot of states Bernie won and in the ones he lost, there was lower levels of youth turnout on Tuesday than there were in 2016. That’s bad, isn’t it?
LC: Well, again, you may know those numbers now from yesterday better than I do, but I certainly know from our folks in Austin, you know, people waited in line for hours in LA, the young people in LA, they waited in line for hours. So and they’re almost all young people in both those cases.
MH: I mean, there’s a USA Today piece out that goes through to the state of South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, the youth share of the electorate was lower in almost all of those states on Super Tuesday 2020 than in Super Tuesday 2016. And I just don’t see how that works. If the Sanders campaign is all about juicing turnout especially young people turnout, that’s just not happening. And that’s got to be a worry going forward to Michigan and other states.
lC: Absolutely. I mean, a key element in this campaign, and for groups like ours, Our Revolution is, you know, building with young leaders and young members and so I think that is a fair benchmark to look at. But I also think it’s important to look at the percentage of those young voters that vote for Bernie Sanders compared to Joe Biden, and no matter what happens in these next three months, how is the party going to reconstruct itself, so that it isn’t just well unite to beat Trump but we united a party that now represents these kinds of views and issues, whether it’s Bernie, or Biden, frankly, that there’s got to be a transformational aspect of this not just a binary, you know, who won the foot race?
MH: Yep, I mean, aside from the turnout discussion, one of the other criticisms that Senator Sanders is facing is, you know, he went after the “Democratic establishment” and you know, the establishment got together and hit back hard in the form of the Monday night endorsements, etc. Does he need to be more of a team player? Does he need to reach out to other Democrats and be nicer to them if he wants to lead them? You advised him in 2016. Can someone with his nature, someone of his age and his background, is he really going to change his style and demeanor now? Does he have to?
LC: Well, I think but so first of all, it’s very important to reach out to Elizabeth Warren. You know, I have total respect for her and her candidacy and her campaign and, more importantly, her life. And yeah, I think it’s really important to reach out to her for Bernie, but also for all of us to reach across to our counterparts and to broaden this. So that it doesn’t look like the, you know, the foot race of Bernie versus everybody else. And secondly, to your bigger point. I do think those debates were horrible, the recent ones. And some of that is because of Bloomberg showing up. But the frame that we’re in, right, it’s got to be, this is the Democratic progressive vision of America, that will enable us to beat Trump and transform our lives.
MH: There was this argument that if it’s a two-person race which it now seems to be, and if there’s only two people on the debate stage next time round, it’ll be a much clearer choice between two competing visions of the future, two candidates and their effectiveness and their ability. I mean, for me, I find it bizarre Joe Biden can’t string a sentence together and he gets away with it. In a two-person debate, he might struggle a bit more, but of course, that two-person debate is still a couple of weeks away. It’s not going to be before Michigan.
LC: Correct, it’s March 15th. It’s two days before a bunch of other key states, including Illinois, Ohio, Florida. But it’s not before Michigan, Michigan is absolutely important, not only number of delegates but to look and see, you know, can we get a glimpse here of how we build turnout in Detroit, and beat Donald Trump? So I agree with you that I also agree with you that the debate needs to be sort of a different tone and on both candidates’ parts, and Senator Warren, if he’s still in and be much more constructive, rather than destructive, really debate healthcare, really debate climate crisis and not throw out ridiculous numbers like Bernie, you want to spend $60 million, that’s three times the GDP. Yeah, well, first of all, they’re talking about 10 years. They know those numbers are BS and they do it anyway. So we’ve got to get this to be an objective discussion of what we’re going to do in this nation.
MH: But others would also, I mean, there’s one school of thought that says Bernie needs to reach out to other Democrats, you know, do addition, not subtraction as the cliche goes. But on the other hand, there’s a lot of us, including me, who would say, go after Biden. He hasn’t been vetted. I’m amazed that we’ve got nearly a year into this race, no discussion of the bankruptcy bill, and what he did to kind of screw over working class and middle class Americans. And that’s partly because Bernie Sanders actually does kind of pull his punches on the debate stage when it comes to Joe Biden, he always prefaces it with “He’s my friend. Oh, yes, we disagreed on Iraq.” Some would argue now, actually, he needs to get much tougher on Joe Biden in order to hold him to account not just for himself, but for the sake of the party because if Biden’s not vetted now, you know, Donald Trump and the Republicans are definitely going to bring up all of his greatest hits.
LC: Yeah, absolutely. So I think it’s a difference between, you know, trying to get people on that debate platform to stick to the facts and the issues and say, okay, we disagreed on Iraq. We disagreed on almost every trade bill. We disagree now that, you know, we believe strongly that Medicare for All works. Economically, it’s a slam dunk, and we can’t distort that as Donald Trump would do if he was up on the stage. And similarly, you know, Joe Biden is going to give his arguments that, you know, you’re talking about a revolution, people want evolution. And Bernie comes back and says, we’re talking about a political revolution. We have the worst voting rights of any democracy. We have money polluting our system. That’s the revolution I’m talking about, Joe. So, I think it does have to sound more like that. Not walk away from the differences, but at the same time, try to make the differences objective.
MH: And if you were advising him again, now, as you did in 2016, he went into Super Tuesday as the front runner, he’s come out not as the front runner, what one thing would you say he needs to do differently? Or does he not need to do anything differently going forward?
LC: That’s a very good question. For an off the top of my head answer, I would probably say that in that debate on March 15th, and in his rallies between now and then, to really focus in on “I can lead this party. We can do both things. We can beat Donald Trump and we can create a much happier life for working people in this country.”
MH: And if he loses Michigan which is before the debate, which is the state he won in 2016 against Hillary Clinton. It’s where a lot of white working class voters are which he says he’s strongest with although, Joe Biden claims he has those connections too. He loses Michigan. Is that over? Is it done, finished?
LC: No, I think it’s again, similar to the comment I made about Texas. It’s a question of how many delegates if they basically split it, it’s very different than —
MH: It’s not winner take all indeed.
LC: Yeah, we don’t have a winner take all. Republicans do. And so I think it’s much more about that. The key to Michigan is going to be Wayne County. Can we boost the turnout there? And can we get young people as you said, you know to in fact turnout in much bigger numbers black, brown and white, can show that a different America is really possible and Michigan is going to help lead the way.
MH: As someone who was involved back in 2016 in terms of the rules on the convention and how a candidate gets nominated you were intimately involved in that Democratic Party commission, in changing the rules, putting the Bernie Sanders’ team’s view forward in terms of caucuses and primaries and pledged delegates and second rounds and super delegates. We had a big discussion over the last few weeks about Bernie Sanders being the only candidate who said actually the candidate who turns up at the convention in Milwaukee with the most number of pledged delegates, even if it’s only a plurality, not a majority should be the candidate. Do you think he’ll regret making that pledge, given he may not be the candidate who turns up with the most pledged delegates? At the moment, it looks like it’d be Joe Biden.
LC: I think that, but I am on the Rules Committee convention as well, whether that’s a blessing or a curse. But I think that you will see a candidate nominated on one ballot, it’s especially clear now, and candidates can drop out and their delegates are then free to do what they want. That candidate endorses somebody, most of those delegates will go in that direction. So 1,991 is the magic number. You know, Biden, or Bernie have to hit it. There’s not going to be another —
MH: But Bernie won’t switch positions you don’t think and do what he did in 2016 where he started telling super delegates actually, doesn’t matter if Hillary has a lead vote for me. I’m the better guy to beat Donald Trump. He will stick to his pledge on the debate stage which says whoever turns up at the convention with the most delegates is the candidate.
LC: Well, the reason I’m saying this is you only need 1,991 on the first ballot. There’s not going to be a second ballot. I would tell you the chances of a second, so the non-elected delegates as I call myself and the other 750, we will not be voting on that nomination. So making a pitch to them, it’s not going to make any difference. It’s going to only be the elected delegates, and my opinion is you will see 1,991 or more of them vote for one candidate on the first ballot. And I’m going to do everything I can in these hundred days to make sure that’s Bernie Sanders.
MH: Larry Cohen, thanks for joining me on Deconstructed.
LC: Great show, thank you.
MH: That was Larry Cohen, chair of the pro-Sanders group, Our Revolution and a former campaign advisor to Bernie Sanders, making a very strong case for his candidate saying why he wants Bernie Sanders to win. You may or may not agree with him but this is a fascinating race to watch nevertheless.
That’s our show! Deconstructed is a production of First Look Media and The Intercept. Our producer is Zach Young. The show was mixed by Bryan Pugh. Our theme music was composed by Bart Warshaw. Betsy Reed is The Intercept’s editor in chief.
And I’m Mehdi Hasan. You can follow me on Twitter @mehdirhasan. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the show so you can hear it every week. Go to theintercept.com/deconstructed to subscribe from your podcast platform of choice, iPhone, Android, whatever. If you’re subscribed already, please do leave us a rating or review – it helps new people find the show. And if you want to give us feedback, email us at Podcasts@theintercept.com. Thanks so much! See you next week.


theintercept--2020-03-04--In Wake of AIPAC, Israeli Health Ministry Orders Self-Quarantine of Residents Returning From Confere

In Wake of AIPAC, Israeli Health Ministry Orders Self-Quarantine of Residents Returning From Conferences Abroad

on Wednesday instituted new guidelines on the novel coronavirus specifically for residents returning to the country from “ international conferences abroad.
” A ministry update , pushed out on its Telegram account today , advises that attendees of conferences “ will be charged with home isolation for 14 days.
” Tuesday marked the end of the annual conference in Washington put on by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee , also known as AIPAC , which drew more than 18,000 people from all 50 states , more than 275 synagogue delegations , thousands of students from 630 campuses , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress , according to AIPAC .
On Tuesday , thousands of conference attendees fanned out across Capitol Hill , meeting with senators , House members , and their staff .
Among those at the conference were students from Yeshiva University , whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrated Tuesday from the stage for a recent basketball triumph .
The Israeli health ministry ’ s new guideline does not specifically name the AIPAC conference as triggering the new policy , though it has circulated among AIPAC attendees , on whom its meaning is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the connection between the confirmed cases in New York and the conference goers , have pressed AIPAC for more information , but the organization had said little until Wednesday afternoon .
On Wednesday , Yeshiva University closed its campus , citing a confirmed case of the coronavirus among a student there , who contracted it from his father , a Westchester man who is himself in serious condition .
The student is quarantined at home , and hasn ’ t been to the school since Thursday , February 27 , when his father @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sunday , March 1 .
Three Jewish day schools — SAR Academy in Riverdale , Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck , and Westchester Torah Academy — all announced coronavirus-related closures on Tuesday .
The sickened attorney ’ s 14-year-old daughter attends SAR , and all three sent delegations to AIPAC .
Leaders at AIPAC distributed hand sanitizer and urged people not to touch their noses or hug .
The wife , son , daughter , and neighbor have since been confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus .
The Westchester man has had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who was living on campus , is reported to have been symptomatic before his father was hospitalized .
This morning , New York Mayor Bill de Blasio put out a statement saying two of the son ’ s classmates were being taken to Bellevue Hospital for testing .
Also on Wednesday , New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo said that Temple Young Israel in New Rochelle is being ordered to stop holding services immediately , and congregants , as well as those who attended events there , are required to self-quarantine .

The Israeli Health Ministry on Wednesday instituted new guidelines on the novel coronavirus specifically for residents returning to the country from “international conferences abroad.” A ministry update, pushed out on its Telegram account today, advises that attendees of conferences “will be charged with home isolation for 14 days.”
Tuesday marked the end of the annual conference in Washington put on by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, also known as AIPAC, which drew more than 18,000 people from all 50 states, more than 275 synagogue delegations, thousands of students from 630 campuses, and more than two-thirds of the members of Congress, according to AIPAC.
On Tuesday, thousands of conference attendees fanned out across Capitol Hill, meeting with senators, House members, and their staff.
Among those at the conference were students from Yeshiva University, whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrated Tuesday from the stage for a recent basketball triumph.
What a proud moment at #AIPAC2020 when @SenSchumer gave the @YUathletics Macs men’s basketball team a shout out for winning the Skyline Conference #d3hoops championship in front of a crowd of 20,000 people! pic.twitter.com/waT7wKIT7y — Yeshiva University (@YUNews) March 3, 2020
The Israeli health ministry’s new guideline does not specifically name the AIPAC conference as triggering the new policy, though it has circulated among AIPAC attendees, on whom its meaning is not lost. Members of Congress, making the connection between the confirmed cases in New York and the conference goers, have pressed AIPAC for more information, but the organization had said little until Wednesday afternoon.
Important Health Note emailed to Policy Conference attendees, participants, speakers, and administration and Hill offices. pic.twitter.com/QzEKXajJBX — AIPAC – text ISRAEL to 24722 (@AIPAC) March 4, 2020
On Wednesday, Yeshiva University closed its campus, citing a confirmed case of the coronavirus among a student there, who contracted it from his father, a Westchester man who is himself in serious condition. The student is quarantined at home, and hasn’t been to the school since Thursday, February 27, when his father was hospitalized. The conference began on Sunday, March 1.
Three Jewish day schools — SAR Academy in Riverdale, Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, and Westchester Torah Academy — all announced coronavirus-related closures on Tuesday. The sickened attorney’s 14-year-old daughter attends SAR, and all three sent delegations to AIPAC. Leaders at AIPAC distributed hand sanitizer and urged people not to touch their noses or hug.
The wife, son, daughter, and neighbor have since been confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus. The Westchester man has had symptoms since late February. The son, who was living on campus, is reported to have been symptomatic before his father was hospitalized. This morning, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio put out a statement saying two of the son’s classmates were being taken to Bellevue Hospital for testing.
Also on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that Temple Young Israel in New Rochelle is being ordered to stop holding services immediately, and congregants, as well as those who attended events there, are required to self-quarantine.


theintercept--2020-03-04--Jessica Cisneros, a Progressive Favorite, Loses to Incumbent Henry Cuellar

Rep. Henry Cuellar , challenged in one of the most watched and most expensive primary contests in the country , emerged victorious , beating back a left-wing challenge from Jessica Cisneros .
The race was close ; Cuellar ended up with just 51.8 percent of the vote to Cisneros ’ s 48.2 percent .
The Laredo lawmaker is one of the most conservative Democratic House members in the country , a record that attracted a spirited challenge from Cisneros , a 26-year-old attorney who waged an insurgent campaign that presented a sharp contrast with Cuellar .
Cisneros touted support for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Deal , and opposition to draconian immigration enforcement measures .
Despite representing a relatively safe Democratic seat in south Texas , Cuellar votes consistently with the Republican Party .
He sided with the GOP in some 75 percent of his recent votes , including on measures against expanding worker access to labor unions and in support of repealing restrictions on predatory lending .
Cuellar previously served in the cabinet of Republican Gov .
Rick Perry and has been outspoken in his defense of President Donald Trump on contentious issues , including the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gen. Qassim Suleimani .
Many in the press compared the race to the 2018 bid by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2018 to unseat Rep. Joe Crowley , D-N.Y. , the third-ranking House Democrat and one of the most business-friendly Democrats in leadership .
Cisneros also had the endorsement of Ocasio-Cortez , as well as the backing of Justice Democrats .

Incumbent Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar, challenged in one of the most watched and most expensive primary contests in the country, emerged victorious, beating back a left-wing challenge from Jessica Cisneros. The race was close; Cuellar ended up with just 51.8 percent of the vote to Cisneros’s 48.2 percent.
The Laredo lawmaker is one of the most conservative Democratic House members in the country, a record that attracted a spirited challenge from Cisneros, a 26-year-old attorney who waged an insurgent campaign that presented a sharp contrast with Cuellar. Cisneros touted support for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and opposition to draconian immigration enforcement measures.
Despite representing a relatively safe Democratic seat in south Texas, Cuellar votes consistently with the Republican Party. He sided with the GOP in some 75 percent of his recent votes, including on measures against expanding worker access to labor unions and in support of repealing restrictions on predatory lending. Cuellar previously served in the cabinet of Republican Gov. Rick Perry and has been outspoken in his defense of President Donald Trump on contentious issues, including the president’s decision to assassinate Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani.
Many in the press compared the race to the 2018 bid by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2018 to unseat Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., the third-ranking House Democrat and one of the most business-friendly Democrats in leadership. Cisneros also had the endorsement of Ocasio-Cortez, as well as the backing of Justice Democrats.
Photo: Delcia Lopez/The Monitor via AP
But there were important differences. Crowley, in many ways, was caught flatfooted and did not spend significant amounts of money until late in the New York primary. Cuellar prepared for this election for months, with allies flooding the district with attack ads accusing Cisneros of being as an outsider unfamiliar with the concerns of Texans and in favor of abortions. Cuellar’s campaign raised $1.7 million, almost half of which came from corporate political action committees.
Dark money flooded the district, with undisclosed cash from the American Bankers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a new group called American Workers for Progress, used to boost Cuellar over the last month. Cuellar is a favorite among the business lobbying community. Emails obtained by The Intercept show the lawmaker routinely providing favors for a border security company seeking contracts with the government after providing Cuellar with campaign contributions.
That’s not to say Cisneros did not also receive significant support. In the last fundraising period before the election, she out-raised Cuellar largely from small donors and through publicity she received via endorsements from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ocasio-Cortez, and EMILY’s List. In the final days of the campaign, Working Families Party, the Texas AFL-CIO, and the SEIU helped Cisneros counter Cuellar’s advertising.
But the race provided a vivid display of the power of entrenched political interests from across the political aisle. Americans for Prosperity Action, the Super PAC founded and funded by right-wing billionaire Charles Koch, intervened in the race to support Cuellar, the very first time the group has supported a Democrat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus both worked to raise money for Cuellar over the last month.