CNN did a story yesterday, The 10 Senate Seats Most Likely To Flip. Not mentioned or even taken into account: the perpetually failed DSCC forever strategy-- that the way to win is with a lesser of 2 evils/Republican-lite approach-- usually doesn't work.
The most recent election in North Carolina was a quintessential example. Schumer cleared the field for his hand-picked centrist schlemiel... and hoped for a Biden wave. No Biden wave and uninspiring, white, male, professed "moderate," champion of the status quo, Cal Cunningham lost by 2 points. By the time Schumer realized Cunningham is a dud, Cunningham had sucked up $51,076,028 to waste and the DSCC and it's allies had already spent $115,199,849 on a born loser, who Schumer later described as someone who didn't know how to keep his schmeckel in his pants.
Although there were no schmekels involved, Schumer pulled the same kind of crap in Maine, where Susan Collins was viewed as being vulnerable. As he had done in North Carolina, Schumer bad-mouthed the progressive in the primary and backed a dulled and uninspiring centrist, Sara Gideon who seemed like a carbon copy of Collins. Gideon lost by around 9 points, despite spending $62,939,062, inexplicably leaving $11,559,504 on the table. Meanwhile, the DSCC and its allies spent $60,864,662 bolstering their loser candidate.
Probably their worst mistake was getting behind another politically uninspiring centrist in Kentucky, Amy McGrath, to take on McConnell. McConnell creamed her 1,233,315 (57.8%) to 816,257 (38.2%) as he took 117 of Kentucky's 120 counties. McGrath raised $94,120,557 to McConnell's $71,351,350 and the DSCC and it's allies dumped over $16 million into the contest.
In Kansas, Schumer also had his dream candidate-- and actual Republican who "switched" to the Democratic Party, Barbara Bollier. She was also slaughter by over 10 points, although she spent 4 times more than the Republican ($28,499,933)-- with the DSCC and it's allies squandering another $15 million.
And speaking about Schumer getting behind Republicans pretending to be Democrats, 4 years earlier Schumer torpedoed Alan Grayson on behalf of one of the worst candidates he ever got behind, Patrick Murphy. Despite a massive effort by Schumer, Marco Rubio beat him 4,835,191 (52%) to 4,122,088 (44%)-- Murphy raising $19 million and the DSCC and its allies throwing in another $12 million.
CNN lists the 10 states in order of likelihood-- and I added the 2020 winner and result:
Pennsylvania- open (red to blue)-- Biden 50.0% - 48.8%
Georgia- Raphael Warnock (blue to red)-- Biden 49.5% - 49.2%
Wisconsin- Ron Johnson (red to blue)-- Biden 49.4% - 48.8%
Arizona- Mark Kelly (blue to red)-- Biden 49.4% - 49.1%
North Carolina- open (red to blue)-- Trump- 49.9% - 48.6%
New Hampshire- Maggie Hassan (blue to red)-- Biden 52.7% - 45.4%
Nevada- Catherine Cortez Mastro (blue to red)-- Biden 50.1% - 47.7%
Florida- Marco Rubio (red to blue)-- Trump 51.2% - 47.9%
Ohio- open (red to blue)-- Trump 53.3% - 45.2%
Missouri- open (red to blue)-- Trump 56.8% - 41.4%
The DSCC, to one extent or another is, once again, pushing largely, uninspiring, unelectable middle-of-the-road candidates, exactly the kind who stand for nothing much and prove incapable to turning out Democratic voters-- like conservative shitheads Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania, Tim Ryan in Ohio and meaningless nothing candidate Val Demings in Florida.
With two multimillionaire neoliberals, Sarah Godlewski and Alex Lasry, already running in Wisconsin, the DSCC is pretending to be neutral-- but is very studiously ignoring the most progressive contestant, Gillian Battino. Last night she told me that "The Democratic Party’s strategy for as long as I can remember is to 'not lose' elections rather than to take a strong position so we can have a 'big win.' You see it with established candidates all the time, their campaigns are built around the brand they’ve cultivated, but they are afraid to be decisive about their issues or take a stand on policy positions. There are 13 Democratic candidates in this race today, and we’re the only ones who display our positions proudly. The Democratic MO has been to try and not piss too many people off when running for office. I am fine with pissing some people off if it means I can motivate and inspire others to join the fight so we can make the changes that are essential for the future of American and people everywhere."
Alan Grayson, the Florida progressive, has a similar point of view. The DSCC has recruited and is supporting his opponent, dull centrist Democrat (corporate New Dem Val Demings). Grayson told me yesterday that "You can’t fight something with nothing, and you can’t fight somebody with nobodies. People know what they’re voting for when they vote GOP: white nationalism, tax cuts for the rich, keeping out the Muslims, the 'right to carry', for fetuses, corporate welfare, pollution, etc. People need to know that they’re voting for when they vote for Team Blue: Medicare for All, respect and equal rights for everyone, higher pay, clean air and water, etc. Sorry, but appointing a committee to study whether to have a platform just doesn’t cut it. Voters deserve more than that, they expect more than that, and they’re not going to accept anything less."
The reason a state as red as Missouri (R+11) is on the list is because there is a good chance the Republicans will nominate someone who would be great at a CPAC convention but unable to win a general election, either disgraced former Governor Eric Greitens-- who leads all polls in a 10 person primary-- or racist lawbreaker Mark McCloskey. There is one Democrat I could see Missourans turning out for: Lucas Kunce, a Marine vet and antitrust expert who has written that his "number one mission is to fundamentally change who has power in this country... Our values have won at the ballot box with wide margins for progressive referendums and go beyond what is possible in Washington-- an increased minimum wage, more health care, stronger labor rights, and government reforms. The last time this Senate seat was up, it was decided by just three points-- less than 80,000 votes. Together, we can stop printing money for Wall Street and start funding our schools. We can create a Marshall Plan for the Midwest to rebuild our forgotten towns and cities. We can fix our roads. We can make our communities safer and our homes and businesses more energy-efficient. We can address racial inequity by demanding an agenda that puts working people first, and that stops the Washington special interests from calling the shots."
Tim Ryan will be roadkill in Ohio. The Democrats might as write the state off to a crackpot Republican unless they manage to persuade Morgan Harper to run and set Democratic voters on fire-- instead of putting them to sleep the way a stands-for-nothing centrist like Ryan will do. Schumer and the DSCC, needless to say, are firmly behind Ryan.
When Erica Smith threw her hat into the Senate race in 2020, she was a state senator representing a sprawling rural district in the northeast part of the state, the kind of district Democrats tend to ignore. Schumer didn't ignore her, though. He did all he could to sabotage her campaign, only to give up a winnable seat to his clownish candidate. This year Schumer is once again downplaying Smith on behalf of two neoliberal candidates. But Erica is fighting harder than ever. I reached her yesterday in the midst of her 100 counties in 100 days tour. "Democrats," she told me, "have lost 10 of the last 12 Senate races in North Carolina. Every single one of those candidates has run away from a platform, not on one. If we’re going to reverse the trend of narrowly loosing this swing state time after time again, then we need to meet this moment with bold ideas and transformational policies that activate and energize a diverse working class coalition. Our people-powered campaign is breaking away from the 'say nothing, go nowhere' strategy, instead going everywhere and promoting a progressive platform that can transform our politics and ensure that our government truly works for all of us!"
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