Democratic Leadership Elections

[Zaybay]

Wow, that was some master playing by Pelosi. Not only did she just secure her speakership position, she also just secured the loyalty of the Progressives, and threw the Moderate Dems that opposed her, such as Seth Moulton and Tim Ryan, to the curb.

Impressive. Not only does it dissuade rebellion, but it rewards loyalty. Sounds like something Genghis Khan would do.

[Zaybay]

Wow, that was some master playing by Pelosi. Not only did she just secure her speakership position, she also just secured the loyalty of the Progressives, and threw the Moderate Dems that opposed her, such as Seth Moulton and Tim Ryan, to the curb.

Impressive.

She did that in the best way too. I am enjoying Seth Moulton/Tim Ryan getting dunked on myself.

I actually think we should primary Seth Moulton, and maybe Tim Ryan (more apprehensive on that because Ryan’s district is trending Republican very fast)

It would be hard, but both are rather possible, though Seth is definitely more possible than Tim. But I am glad to see Pelosi keep her position, I may disagree with her on some positions, but she is clearly better than the Moderate alternative. Now that she is supporting the CPC fully, she has my full support!

[Zaybay]

Glad that Tim Ryan and Seth Moulton are likely to be relegated to the Democratic Dustbin at this point. Serves them right for such underhanded tactics.

[Zaybay]

Twitter has started some hashtags about this entire thing, none of which good for the userpers.

#ImwithPelosi/#TeamPelosi

and

#fivewhitemen
The five white men being:
Tim Ryan
Seth Moulton
Bill Foster
Kurt Schrader
Ed Perlmutter

[Zaybay]

Also, its kinda clear at this point that the New Dems and usurpers kinda screwed themselves. Their rebellion has easily been crushed, and the Left of the party has now been given even more power. Looks to me that the usurpers were playing checkers, while Pelosi and her Progressive allies were playing 500th dimension chess.

[Zaybay]

Twitter has started some hashtags about this entire thing, none of which good for the userpers.

#ImwithPelosi/#TeamPelosi

and

#fivewhitemen
The five white men being:
Tim Ryan
Seth Moulton
Bill Foster
Kurt Schrader
Ed Perlmutter

Is it really that big of an issue that Tim Ryan is a white male? Or am I too privileged? I hate the base of my party sometimes.

I think its mostly the fact that they share that trait, and how all 5 want to take the party backwards, towards the center. It also doesnt help that this has been Seth's arguement for replacing Pelosi:
https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/1063218621932015616

[Zaybay]

I think Tim Ryan and Seth are going to fail but I admire and appreciate the effort. We need to go back to the center.

No, we don't.

Oh I’m sure atlas takes issue with my stance but thankfully America agrees and has like a net negative 25 point disapproval of Pelosi. Atlas is a far left microcosm, at least for now....

Literally every single speaker has had a terrible approval, Pelosi is not special in this regard.

[Zaybay]

I think Tim Ryan and Seth are going to fail but I admire and appreciate the effort. We need to go back to the center.

You do realize that the vast majority of the Democratic candidates who flipped House seats this year were Proggresives who supported Medicare for all, Free College, 15 dollar minimum wage, Gun control, Comprehensive Immigration reform, etc, instead of mushy moderate “New Democrats” who obsess over balanced budgets and bipartisanship, right?

Yes, but I also legit want a government that can work together and get things done, and I want to see my party take steps towards that. I don’t want gridlock, I want DC to work.

It will start to "work" when we get the Presidency

[Zaybay]

https://twitter.com/TPM/status/1064520902241656832

Makes sense. Pelosi just signed a deal with the CPC to give them a lot of power.

[Zaybay]

https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1064695511964356608

What. The. F**K.

Two things:

Good News- Seth Moulton loses his seat

Bad News- The possibility of dealing with Seth Moulton as a Senator

[Zaybay]

https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1064695511964356608

What. The. F**K.

Two things:

Good News- Seth Moulton loses his seat

Bad News- The possibility of dealing with Seth Moulton as a Senator

umm.. isnt markey pretty popular?

Very, very popular. But even a 1% chance is too much. Way too much.

[Zaybay]

[Zaybay]

Moulton is simply challenging the status quoa I appreciate him stepping up because it's ridiculous all of leadership is pushing 80. This is necessary because it sends Pelosi and others a message that she can't be speaker for another decade or however long she wants.

The reason he's stepping up is not so noble, however. Its clear that he desires the power himself, and has been trying to push his associates into powerful positions. If he truly wanted new leadership, he would have ran for speaker, or he would have called for Clyburn or another one of the higher ups to be challenged. Instead, Seth has been using this as a means to boost his national profile, and possibly take out a speaker that he views as a threat to his view of the Democratic Party.

There is a reason many of the anti-Pelosi Dems on the forum, myself included, are backing her candidacy.

[Zaybay]

The two were rather close ideologically, and both were a part of the CPC, so it seems that the fight was between age(Jeffries being much younger) and loyalty(Lee was a leader of the CPC and is an influential D).

Both are fine in my opinion.

[Zaybay]

I was hoping Pelosi wouldnt bother with the Problem Solvers, but oh well.

And also I get the anger, Barbara was more to the Left than Jeffries, especially on stuff like Charter Schools and War, but I really dont see anything to get angered about. It was a Progressive vs a slightly more Progressive.

[Zaybay]

Okay so this is basically worthless since House Dems usually don’t break with the GOP as often as they do in the Senate.

Another Day for The Problem Solver Caucus

[Zaybay]

He used to be a corporate lawyer ffs

Anyone who actually wants any progressive change in the Democratic Party cannot be happy with this.

Eh, I wouldnt be too worried about it. The guy is on the Left of the party(except for Charter Schools and War), so its still a Leftward shift, its just not a larger shift than it could have been.

Besides, the CPC clearly won 2018, and even the Blue Dogs and New Dems are moving Left. Perhaps all the leadership will be CPC in 2 years. Overall, still a positive step(remember, Crowley was the one to occupy it beforehand).

[Zaybay]

1 and 3 are fine, I hate 2.

[Zaybay]

Geez guys, settle down. We didnt get Barbara Lee, that sucks, but Jeffries is still the 30th Most Progressive D in the Caucus, and he will be replacing Joe Crowley, a really Centrist Dem. A New Dem, nor a Blue Dog took the seat. We shouldnt be getting ourselves too upset about this.in come the angry comments

[Zaybay]

Geez guys, settle down. We didnt get Barbara Lee, that sucks, but Jeffries is still the 30th Most Progressive D in the Caucus, and he will be replacing Joe Crowley, a really Centrist Dem. A New Dem, nor a Blue Dog took the seat. We shouldnt be getting ourselves too upset about this.in come the angry comments

I'm not too upset, given the position. But I'm not going to say I am all that enthused about a guy who spent years as a corporate lawyer rising in the ranks, and who in some respects talks like a conservative about the free market / healthcare. Relying on wealthy donors to finance campaigns and the charter school support is also another turnoff but I won't hold the CF against him too much for now, since not every candidate can command a small donor army.

I agree, its just that I think its still a net positive for us. And if we really dont like him, the DSA can just primary him. Its not like hes well entrenched or popular anyway, and it is NY. So far, his voter record is good, and so are his stances, not perfect, but still good.

[Zaybay]

Im sorry, this was really bothering me, but you guys should really differentiate WWC city and WWC rural area, because those areas went in two separate directions.

When it comes to WWC rural areas, you guys would be correct, there was a clear trend away from the Democrats, in states like WV, PA, in the MN-08 district, and so on.

But in WWC cities, there was the opposite effect, a small, but clear trend towards the Ds. This would be places like Erie County, PA, Kenosha county WI, and Scranton, PA. These areas fell hard for Trump and Republicans, but have trended D in 2018. Bustos benefited from these areas going D, which countered some of the rural areas that trended R in her district.

Just wanted to clarify.

[Zaybay]

I stand by that Bustos should not be dccc chair as she in a fast trending Trump district

Its not really trending anymore so to the Republicans, and it only voted for Trump by 1.

[Zaybay]

Sean Maloney has dropped out of the DCCC chair race.

well, now its going to be boring

[Zaybay]

Too lazy to find the thread asking about primary challengers for the Pelosi dissenters looking to advance their own interests by challenging her:

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1068168062174724097

As expected. Funny, we may be seeing DSA and Progressives run Pro-Pelosi campaigns to unseat the centrist dissenters.


If I were to guess, I would say a challenge to Seth Moulton. Hes kinda been the poster child of this rebellion.

[Zaybay]

"Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) beat Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) for the caucus representative post, a job reserved for a member who has served five terms or less. Sewell's loss, combined with Lee's defeat Wednesday, leaves Democrats without an African-American woman in their leadership ranks."

Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/29/busto-house-democrats-campaign-arm-1027901

That's kinda crazy considering how important Black women are to Democratic electoral success.

Here's a full list of leadership for the next two years:

Speaker: Nancy Pelosi
Majority Leader: Steny Hoyer
Majority Whip: Jim Clyburn
Caucus Chair: Hakeem Jeffries
Assistant Majority Leader: Ben Ray Lujan
Caucus Vice Chair: Katherine Clark
DPCC Chair (a new, separate position from the DPCC Co-Chairs, apparently): David Cicilline
DPCC Co-Chairs: Ted Lieu, Debbie Dingell, and Matt Cartwright
Caucus Representative: Jamie Raskin

Wow.

With the defeat of Sewall to Raskin, the CPC controls every leadership position besides the big three(though Pelosi was a former member). Thats insane.