To All: Should Dan Lipinski be Primaried?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Obviously and the fact that he endorsed Bernie for some unknown reason doesn't change that.

[Holmes]

Yeah.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

#KingDan
#CantFleetheLipinski

[Coraxion]

No, absolutely not. He is one of the best Democrats in Congress. His brave stand for life and his important voice against the Iran deal/foreign policy in general is a rarity nowadays in the Democratic Party.

This right here is reason enough to primary him.

[Zioneer]

Yes, but mostly because dynasty politicians make me roll my eyes when they aren't necessary to win a district.

[TheLeftwardTide]

Yes. As said in the Cuellar thread, any dem voting the way cuellar and Lipinski do in a D+5 district or more should be primaried.

I want to address the argument that the people in this district are "socially conservative Democrats". The fact of the matter is that Dan Lipinski isn't that economically left-wing, either. It would be very viable to primary him with a more fiscally egalitarian, socially moderate candidate than a fiscally moderate, socially conservative congressman like Lipinksi.

Obviously and the fact that he endorsed Bernie for some unknown reason doesn't change that.

It's not unknown. Lipinski and several other representatives made a pledge to back whichever primary candidate won their district. This meant that you had Collin Peterson of all people backing Sanders. But this really does show something; if the district's Democratic base backed Sanders, and the district is relatively Democratic (meaning that Lipinski doesn't need much crossover appeal), then shouldn't a more fiscally egalitarian candidate not only be viable, but represent the district better?

For this reason, I'd like to see Justice Democrats target this district with a left-populist Catholic or something.

[Santander]

No, he's one of the best Representatives, Democrat or Republican.

[McGovernForPrez]

Yes. As said in the Cuellar thread, any dem voting the way cuellar and Lipinski do in a D+5 district or more should be primaried.

I want to address the argument that the people in this district are "socially conservative Democrats". The fact of the matter is that Dan Lipinski isn't that economically left-wing, either. It would be very viable to primary him with a more fiscally egalitarian, socially moderate candidate than a fiscally moderate, socially conservative congressman like Lipinksi.

Obviously and the fact that he endorsed Bernie for some unknown reason doesn't change that.

It's not unknown. Lipinski and several other representatives made a pledge to back whichever primary candidate won their district. This meant that you had Collin Peterson of all people backing Sanders. But this really does show something; if the district's Democratic base backed Sanders, and the district is relatively Democratic (meaning that Lipinski doesn't need much crossover appeal), then shouldn't a more fiscally egalitarian candidate not only be viable, but represent the district better?

For this reason, I'd like to see Justice Democrats target this district with a left-populist Catholic or something.

Is there a way to view 2016 primary results by congressional district? I've been looking for them but to no success.

[smoltchanov]

I am in a "may be" cathegory here. The district is Democratic, but still with enough ethnics, who think and vote approximately the same way as Lipinski does, and among urban Chicago's districts - still relatively the least liberal. I will not weep for him if he loses, and will not regret if he stays..

[Donerail]

I will knock doors for Marie Newman, yes.

[VPH]

No, and I say this as somebody who knows a fair share about him thanks to my internship this summer. If you really think he deserves a primary, I urge you to consider his effectiveness in Congress.

Lipinski is one of the most important Democrats for transportation issues. He introduced major protections for airline consumers, and while that bill did not pass, some provisions from it ended up in the FAA bill being considered.  His work on manufacturing is big too. The National Manufacturing Strategy Act, his work on Buy American legislation, etc bring both parties together for American jobs. On the NDAA, he led the charge for greater collaboration with univesities on cybersecurity at the DoD. He's leading the effort for bipartisan tax reform and healthcare reform. Maybe he's not out there being a left wing Democrat, but Lipinski is incredibly effective in Congress. If you've ever lamented polarization and stymied progress in Washington, you ought to support Lipinski.

Also, he's not a right winger either. Maybe he is not a flaming liberal, but he voted against the Hartzler Amendment, against the sanctuary cities bill, for legislation to investigate Trump, for campaign finance reform, against TPP, against Obamacare repeal efforts. Lipinski gets things done for Chicagoland. His constituent services are incredibly well done, and he helps the district obtain important federal grants.

Add to that, his district is not liberal. He fits it quite well. With a high Polish, Irish, and Greek population, it's socially more to the right than most Democratic districts. Add to that about a third of it being Hispanic (not a very left wing population), and you have a district that fits its congressman like a glove. I know the national special interests ignore that, but it's the truth.

[TheLeftwardTide]

No, and I say this as somebody who knows a fair share about him thanks to my internship this summer. If you really think he deserves a primary, I urge you to consider his effectiveness in Congress.

Lipinski is one of the most important Democrats for transportation issues. He introduced major protections for airline consumers, and while that bill did not pass, some provisions from it ended up in the FAA bill being considered.  His work on manufacturing is big too. The National Manufacturing Strategy Act, his work on Buy American legislation, etc bring both parties together for American jobs. On the NDAA, he led the charge for greater collaboration with univesities on cybersecurity at the DoD. He's leading the effort for bipartisan tax reform and healthcare reform. Maybe he's not out there being a left wing Democrat, but Lipinski is incredibly effective in Congress. If you've ever lamented polarization and stymied progress in Washington, you ought to support Lipinski.

Also, he's not a right winger either. Maybe he is not a flaming liberal, but he voted against the Hartzler Amendment, against the sanctuary cities bill, for legislation to investigate Trump, for campaign finance reform, against TPP, against Obamacare repeal efforts. Lipinski gets things done for Chicagoland. His constituent services are incredibly well done, and he helps the district obtain important federal grants.

Add to that, his district is not liberal. He fits it quite well. With a high Polish, Irish, and Greek population, it's socially more to the right than most Democratic districts. Add to that about a third of it being Hispanic (not a very left wing population), and you have a district that fits its congressman like a glove. I know the national special interests ignore that, but it's the truth.

I still stand by what I said, but this is a really, really good argument. I tend to only know the general profile of out-of-state (non-Maryland) congressmen.

Something that I use for a litmus test for almost all D+5 or more districts is whether the congressman in question supports any form of nationalized health care; i.e. single-payer, Medicare-for-All, etc. You had people like Sanford Bishop co-sponsoring HR676, but Lipinski did not. If Democrats ever get a trifecta back, which they almost certainly will by the mid-2020s, I'm worried that congressmen like Lipinski, who also holds a leadership role on the Blue Dog Coalition, would lead the Democratic opposition to a single-payer bill.

Obviously HR676 isn't suitable to pass in it's current form, but the general idea is what matters; iirc Medicare was originally supposed to cover everyone before it got gutted to only covering the elderly. It's approval ratings are in the high 70s, which is why Republicans will never get rid of it. Conservatives have realized that the only way to keep a privatized healthcare system is to stop a public sector one from ever coming to fruition.

I don't think Lipinski should be a high priority target. Take people like Feinstein, Cantwell, and especially Menendez out first, or if you want representatives, Jim Cooper and Mike Thompson are clearly too conservative for their districts, more so than Lipinski.

[_]

Now ima give my personal take.  Though I have VAST disagreements with Lipinski socially, I recognize he's a pretty damn good fit for the district. I don't think he'd be a good person to primary, primarying someone like Feinstein would be a much better use of resources for Progressives to get rid of.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Yes. As said in the Cuellar thread, any dem voting the way cuellar and Lipinski do in a D+5 district or more should be primaried.

I want to address the argument that the people in this district are "socially conservative Democrats". The fact of the matter is that Dan Lipinski isn't that economically left-wing, either. It would be very viable to primary him with a more fiscally egalitarian, socially moderate candidate than a fiscally moderate, socially conservative congressman like Lipinksi.

Obviously and the fact that he endorsed Bernie for some unknown reason doesn't change that.

It's not unknown. Lipinski and several other representatives made a pledge to back whichever primary candidate won their district. This meant that you had Collin Peterson of all people backing Sanders. But this really does show something; if the district's Democratic base backed Sanders, and the district is relatively Democratic (meaning that Lipinski doesn't need much crossover appeal), then shouldn't a more fiscally egalitarian candidate not only be viable, but represent the district better?

For this reason, I'd like to see Justice Democrats target this district with a left-populist Catholic or something.

Is there a way to view 2016 primary results by congressional district? I've been looking for them but to no success.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=137677.msg5436704#msg5436704

(and one for Republicans in the last post in that thread)

[smoltchanov]

I don't think Lipinski should be a high priority target. Take people like Feinstein, Cantwell, and especially Menendez out first, or if you want representatives, Jim Cooper and Mike Thompson are clearly too conservative for their districts, more so than Lipinski.

I absolutely don't see either of them as "too conservative for their districts". Thompson is simply a solid liberal, Feinstein, Cantwell and Menendez are liberals in at least 9 cases out of 10, and so on. A left-wing tea party raises it ugly head and still wants to rule? God forbid, in such case even Trump may turn to be better, as idiot as he is..

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I don't think Lipinski should be a high priority target. Take people like Feinstein, Cantwell, and especially Menendez out first, or if you want representatives, Jim Cooper and Mike Thompson are clearly too conservative for their districts, more so than Lipinski.

I absolutely don't see either of them as "too conservative for their districts". Thompson is simply a solid liberal, Feinstein, Cantwell and Menendez are liberals in at least 9 cases out of 10, and so on. A left-wing tea party raises it ugly head and still wants to rule? God forbid, in such case even Trump may turn to be better, as idiot as he is..

Surely you'd be supportive of primarying all the generic party line drones and replacing them with mavericks, as per your signature?

[smoltchanov]

I don't think Lipinski should be a high priority target. Take people like Feinstein, Cantwell, and especially Menendez out first, or if you want representatives, Jim Cooper and Mike Thompson are clearly too conservative for their districts, more so than Lipinski.

I absolutely don't see either of them as "too conservative for their districts". Thompson is simply a solid liberal, Feinstein, Cantwell and Menendez are liberals in at least 9 cases out of 10, and so on. A left-wing tea party raises it ugly head and still wants to rule? God forbid, in such case even Trump may turn to be better, as idiot as he is..

Surely you'd be supportive of primarying all the generic party line drones and replacing them with mavericks, as per your signature?

Mostly. Except very liberal and very conservative districts, which drones fill excellently...

[Figueira]

I don't really get the "He's a good fit for Democrats in his district" line. If Democrats in his district love him so much, then they won't primary him. If he is successfully primaried, then I guess he wasn't a good fit for his district's Democrats after all, was he?

Also they voted for Clinton and Obama, so a real Democrat should have no trouble in the GE.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I don't think Lipinski should be a high priority target. Take people like Feinstein, Cantwell, and especially Menendez out first, or if you want representatives, Jim Cooper and Mike Thompson are clearly too conservative for their districts, more so than Lipinski.

I absolutely don't see either of them as "too conservative for their districts". Thompson is simply a solid liberal, Feinstein, Cantwell and Menendez are liberals in at least 9 cases out of 10, and so on. A left-wing tea party raises it ugly head and still wants to rule? God forbid, in such case even Trump may turn to be better, as idiot as he is..

Surely you'd be supportive of primarying all the generic party line drones and replacing them with mavericks, as per your signature?

Mostly. Except very liberal and very conservative districts, which drones fill excellently...

But by and large the most liberal and conservative members - whatever their flaws - are not party drones for the most part? It's largely "moderates" that stick behind rehearsed party lines, while the relative extremists do their own oddball thing. That's what I've never got about you - you simultaneously claim to dislike party fillers and like "mavericks", whilst also disliking the only actual source of "mavericks" in congress (the idealogical fringe).

[VPH]

I don't really get the "He's a good fit for Democrats in his district" line. If Democrats in his district love him so much, then they won't primary him. If he is successfully primaried, then I guess he wasn't a good fit for his district's Democrats after all, was he?

Also they voted for Clinton and Obama, so a real Democrat should have no trouble in the GE.

People in his district writ large=/=the small but vocal left wing base trying to take him out. Look at his previous primaries-he turned them back handily.

[smoltchanov]

I don't think Lipinski should be a high priority target. Take people like Feinstein, Cantwell, and especially Menendez out first, or if you want representatives, Jim Cooper and Mike Thompson are clearly too conservative for their districts, more so than Lipinski.

I absolutely don't see either of them as "too conservative for their districts". Thompson is simply a solid liberal, Feinstein, Cantwell and Menendez are liberals in at least 9 cases out of 10, and so on. A left-wing tea party raises it ugly head and still wants to rule? God forbid, in such case even Trump may turn to be better, as idiot as he is..

Surely you'd be supportive of primarying all the generic party line drones and replacing them with mavericks, as per your signature?

Mostly. Except very liberal and very conservative districts, which drones fill excellently...

But by and large the most liberal and conservative members - whatever their flaws - are not party drones for the most part? It's largely "moderates" that stick behind rehearsed party lines, while the relative extremists do their own oddball thing. That's what I've never got about you - you simultaneously claim to dislike party fillers and like "mavericks", whilst also disliking the only actual source of "mavericks" in congress (the idealogical fringe).

For me - mavericks are people like Collins and Manchin in Senate, Peterson, Cuellar, Ros-Lehtinen in the House  (there are no better examples now). In the past "mavericks" were conservative Democrats (like Gramm and Stump) in mostly liberal since FDR time Democratic party, and liberal Republicans (Javits, Case. Mathias) in generally conservative Republican. People like Flake and Paul Sr. were never "mavericks" to me - being solid conservatives in conservative party. Yes, they really belong to Libertarian party, but no conservative in conservative party and no liberal in liberal party is a "maverick" to me... They (Flake, Paul, Amash, Jones) have their own "cockroaches in the head" (as Russians say), but no more then that..

[Donerail]

so you don't like "mavericks," you just like centrists.

[TheLeftwardTide]

so you don't like "mavericks," you just like centrists.

[Maxwell]

I actually agree with Siren - all public officials should be challenged to do a better job.

[Figueira]

I don't really get the "He's a good fit for Democrats in his district" line. If Democrats in his district love him so much, then they won't primary him. If he is successfully primaried, then I guess he wasn't a good fit for his district's Democrats after all, was he?

Also they voted for Clinton and Obama, so a real Democrat should have no trouble in the GE.

People in his district writ large=/=the small but vocal left wing base trying to take him out. Look at his previous primaries-he turned them back handily.

Reread the bolded part of my post. No one is advocating that the "small but vocal left wing base" forcibly remove bigots like Lipinski from office. The people who decide whether he will be primaried are...the Democratic voters in his district. So we don't have to worry about dastardly liberal activists negating the will of the people.