DCCC introduces No-More-AOCs rule
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a long history of being reactionary assholes who support the worst kind of corporate Democrats while libelling progressives and selling out to America's greediest and most rapacious corporate lobbies, so the latest move isn't much of a surprise, but it's still pretty fucking terrible.
The DCCC has announced that any vendor or consultant who works with a candidate mounting a primary challenge to an incumbent Democrat will be cut off from doing any business with the Democratic Party in 2020.
As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has pointed out, this is a policy aimed at neutralizing candidates like her, who challenge long-term incumbent Dems in safe seats who run as Democrats, but govern like Republicans -- see also, say, Dan Lipinski, who literally inherited his seat from his father and is anti-gun-control, anti-abortion-rights, pro-deregulation of dangerous industries, awash in corporate money, but still (technically) a "Democrat."
I donated to Bernie Sanders' campaign in 2016 and his current campaign (I'm also an Elizabeth Warren donor; I also donated to Hillary after she won the 2016 primary) and some friends of mine have asked me why Sanders doesn't just join the Democratic party? To me, stuff like this makes staying out of the party itself a no-brainer. As I tell party fundraisers when they call me, I won't give a dime to the Democratic party for so long as they're doing shit like this -- instead, I'll support Brand New Congress and Our Revolution and individual, progressive Democratic candidates.
But giving money to the DCCC so they can hand it over to the likes of Dan Lipinski?
Fuck that.
Sideways.
With a brick.
After their coordinated attack on Laura Moser in Texas's 7th District, she raised $86,000, got an endorsement from Our Revolution, and made it to a runoff. She eventually lost to current Rep. Lizzie Fletcher. But the episode gave fodder to progressive groups like the Working Families Party, Justice Democrats, and Collective PAC, which had formed for precisely that occasion - the party's increasing inability to make space for new voices, many of them progressive. D-trip proved their point, and Our Revolution and WFP stepped in instead.
And in Nebraska's 2nd District, the DCCC backed former Rep. Brad Ashford over Kara Eastman, who ended up winning the primary and losing the general election. Ashford was a former Republican who flip-flopped on access to abortion throughout his time in the state legislature and later as a Democrat in the U.S. House, and opposed single-payer health care. Eastman was a staunchly pro-choice progressive who supported Medicare for All. She was one of only two insurgents to beat DCCC-backed candidates last cycle. In the Democratic primary for Kentucky's 6th District, Amy McGrath beat Jim Gray and later lost to Republican Rep. Andy Barr. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is now recruiting her to run against Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2020.
Strategists and congressional staffers with knowledge of the change say it will disproportionately impact vendors and candidates who are women and people of color, as the consultants who work with incumbents are the ones who've come up through the party at a time when its commitment to diversity was even dimmer than it is today.
House Democratic Leadership Warns It Will Cut Off Any Firms That Challenge Incumbents [Akela Lacy/The Intercept]