Jon Ossoff, the Democratic front runner in the 6th Congressional District of Georgia (Atlanta suburbs), fell just short of the 50 percent needed to win that seat in the House of Representatives, and avoid a runoff.
Now he will face Republican Karen Handel on June 20, and it will be more difficult to gain the seat, a traditionally GOP district in the past 38 years since Newt Gingrich won the seat in 1979, followed up by Tom Price, the Health and Human Services Secretary, who vacated the seat to become part of Donald Trump’s cabinet.
One can be assured massive amounts of money will be spent on both sides of this race, which, if Ossoff wins, would be a major blow to Donald Trump and his agenda.
The 24 point swing in Kansas’s special election for the House, and now the 10 point swing in Georgia, in the first round, are signs that the Democrats COULD regain the majority in the House of Representatives in 2018, after eight years in the “wilderness”.
It is simply a sign of the reality that the Democratic Party, at a low point, having lost so many seats in both houses of Congress in the Barack Obama era, along with governorships and state legislatures, have the urgency to work very hard to start their revival.
The average number of seats gained by the “out” party in the midterm elections is 23 in the House of Representatives, and right now, the Democrats need 24 seats to regain control, so it is within potential gains that one might expect.
The US Senate will be nearly impossible to win seats, however, as only 8 Republicans are up for reelection in 2018, as against 25 Democrats.
Looking at the GOP held seats, the only possible gains, and not easily, might be Jeff Flake’s seat in Arizona, and Dean Heller’s seat in Nevada. The only other possible hope would be if somehow Ted Cruz could be unseated in Texas, but that is highly unlikely. So at this point, the most that could be expected is a 50-50 tie in the Senate, with Vice President Mike Pence able to use his vote in a tied Senate.
One must realize that while many of the 25 Democratic seats are seen as safe, a large number are not so, including Claire McCaskill in Missouri, Jon Tester in Montana, Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, Joe Manchin in West Virginia, Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Bill Nelson in Florida, and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania. Note that Heitkamp, Manchin, and Donnelly tried to protect their flank by voting for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, but McCaskill, Tester, Nelson and Casey did not do so.
But beyond Congress, it is urgent that state governorships be gained, as well as control of more state legislatures, all in planning for the next census of 2020 and the redistricting of House seats and state legislative seats that will come after 2020, with the evil reality of gerrymandering affecting the next decade.
Excellent article in relation to this. http://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/04/20/can-democrats-be-hopeful/#.WPjZpSw-gkg.facebook
I think these votes are reflective of the angry town halls consisting of people being fed up with Republicans.
Bernie Sanders is backing an anti-abortion candidate. http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/23/politics/bernie-sanders-heath-mello/index.html
AÂ political platform that is willing to abandon the rights of women, people of color, LBGTQ people, etc. in favor of a narrow construction of economic justice is not my kind of leftism.
Barack Obama speaks at University of Chicago; god I miss this brilliant, articulate, honest, ultra-competent, great man as our president!
Ms. LeTourneau’s information about the Hillary book that has been getting news.
To sum up, the book is not balanced. While they focus on mistakes, they didn’t look at what she did right that can be built upon in the future.
http://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/04/24/why-im-not-interested-in-being-shattered/#.WP5MXdeo42A.facebook
Bernie is wrong that reproductive rights (or gay rights, for that matter) are separate from economic issues. The ability to control reproduction is central to women’s social, professional, and economic stability, and the women most likely to require abortion services and to be negatively affected by restrictions on access to reproductive health care are poor and low-income women, disproportionately women of color.
Exactly, Leia! Economic populism and what are commonly erroneously and dismissively referred to as “social issues†— such as reproductive rights, immigration reform and civil rights for people of color, those who have disabilities, people of all faiths, LGBT people and women — are indivisible. Sanders routinely demonstrates his own lack of progressive values by dividing them.
There is no economic populism without abortion rights and civil rights. No one can have economic justice if he or she doesn’t have fundamental rights.
I totally agree with you, Princess Leia and Pragmatic Progressive!
Very true, ladies. The future of the Democratic Party is not as lily-white as Bernie Sanders perceives it to be, but rather is a rich mosaic of cultures, religions, genders, and ideas. To ignore this is to ignore the massive coalition that elected Barack Obama twice and got Hillary Clinton more popular votes than any white man in history. The white working-class is not the entire Democratic base but instead is merely a small segment that makes up the big tent that has become the modern-day Democratic Party. To sacrifice the rest of the base for the sole reason of appealing to the only segment that Bernie Sanders can successfully communicate with is both dangerous and disingenuous. It would be the political equivalent of throwing out the baby with the bathwater and would set the party back at a time when it needs unity now more than ever.
A great comment, Rustbelt Democrat!
Tom Perriello has been endorsed by Elizabeth Warren.
http://bluevirginia.us/2017/04/video-sen-elizabeth-warren-endorses-tom-perriello-va-governor
Ronald writes, “One must realize that while many of the 25 Democratic seats are seen as safe, a large number are not so, including Claire McCaskill in Missouri, Jon Tester in Montana, Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, Joe Manchin in West Virginia, Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Bill Nelson in Florida, and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania. Note that Heitkamp, Manchin, and Donnelly tried to protect their flank by voting for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, but McCaskill, Tester, Nelson and Casey did not do so.”
Watch this video. And then imagine why, with this example of just one of the listed Democratic incumbents, I don’t want to see Missouri’s Claire McCaskill get a third term in the U.S. Senate.
http://youtu.be/4ek-ChVMeaY
Here is another example of an out of touch, may as well be a Republican, Democratic U.S. Senator who needs to go: California’s Dianne Feinstein.
http://youtu.be/FVR8SBXIG9s
Missouri is a difficult state, D, so you have to recognize that reality for McCaskill.
But California, and Feinstein, no excuse, but since she will be 85 next year, time to retire in any case!