“I am a marine who flew combat missions against the Taliban and Al Qaeda” is a pretty strong opening statement, yep. A scan through her Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/AmyMcGrathKY) shows that she is laser-focused on healthcare. There are occasional mentions of immigration or progressive tax reform, but very little on abortion/ guns/ diversity/ race/ gay rights.
She seems like the type of Democrat you would custom-design to win a red district in the south. The DNC may be onto something.
Hopefully she can get the support she needs and drown out the ridiculous group that thinks if a Democrat doesn’t lean left enough they’re not a real Democrats. She’s a Democrat with the flavor of her state and has a great background.It would be hard to claim she is not going to support the military is necessarily anti-gun with that kind of experience.
Well in a world where facts matter. I think they still matter locally.
Agreed. I’ve been saying this for a while now. They key to winning the tough district battles is going to be appealing to independent and even moderate Republican voters in those districts who are increasingly apprehensive about what they’ve seen out of Trump and the GOP thus far, and the key to that is to craft a candidate that appeals on healthcare, jobs and small business. These are the immediate concerns of the voters in most “red” districts where a Democrat could have a chance of winning. If they make the fight about those concerns, and mostly lay off the social rhetoric, there could be some surprises come 2018. Not all districts will be winnable, but we don’t need to win them all…
Also, in these districts, having the right “cultural background” which sadly means white, but also with some kind of “toughness cred” like being a veteran who can strip and reassemble a rifle in 30 seconds or being a fighter pilot, is pretty big. I don’t actually think a red state Dem candidate with the right “toughness credibility” needs to be a Blue Dog - I think they can be fairly populist economically as long as they are not considered a “coastal elitist Democrat”. In other words, I think the cultural signifiers are a bigger deal than the policy platform. In fact, I think tying a “tough not wimpy elitist” image to populist economic policies is probably a winning combination in many red districts.
So, Jason Kander. (He of the rifle stripping in 30 seconds but otherwise fairly left-aligning policy views.)
Corey Booker just introduced a bill to legalize marijuana for recreational usage nationwide.
Yep, that’s what I was getting at.
In fact, I believe a Dem with the right “toughness credibility” who ties that to a populist economic message is probably going to do better in a red district than a “tough Dem” who is also a Blue Dog, for the reason that there is not a ton of overt difference between a Blue Dog and a Republican (at least in terms of how they campaign/present themselves) whereas the “populist but tough” Dem is a meaningful choice for change that a red district can make. For example, Blue Dogs will often position themselves as protectors of “fiscal responsibility” but for voters who key on that, why vote for lesser fiscal conservative when they can vote for a full blown Republican? By contrast, a Dem who is able to convince red-leaning and weakly aligned voters that they are a credible choice, who also offers meaningful improvement (Better Jobs, Better Wages is a good example) is IMO going to do quite well.
Corey Booker 2020?
I could warm to that.
Maybe even get fired up about him? Like maybe even blazing? See what I did there?
No need to go off with half baked puns
he did come really close in a bad year for Dems lasst year.
Cory Booker has no chance in 2020- the Bernie wing really doesn’t like him one bit.
The Bernie Wing is working real hard to primary Joe Manchin so the ACA repeal will finally get one more vote and strip healthcare from millions. But at least the person they replace him with will support single payer before they are defeated in a a deep red state!
Really good profile of Amy here.
I’m damn impressed that an 11 year old would even know that how you get law change is to write to all the members of House and Senate armed service committee, much less actually take the time to do it.
Huge difference between a national race and a state race.
Hey Slater you fucking hippy! Gimme drugs man!
You’re going to have to nip these puns in the bud.
Great podcast with the Huffington Post political reporters and Missouri’s Jason Kander.
Towards the end of the podcast, he provides one of the best and most lucid explanations for something that seems to elude so many Democrats–including a lot of us (including myself) on this forum: “Why do rural voters so often vote against their own interests?” It’s an explanation that makes a ton of sense and it’s worth hearing.
Also, it’s a really entertaining, often very funny interview.
Whatever it takes, as long as I don’t have to apologize for being a latte-sipping coastal liberal who dislikes guns. Lattes are tasty, it’s nice to have beaches nearby, liberalism was good enough for FDR, and guns are dangerous.
I have bad news for you …
Joking aside. I’m a democrat and a gun owner. I understand it isn’t for everyone.
EDIT: By the way a kind of cool picture archive of those was reported here.
Was that pre-polio FDR? Well, he was Secretary of the Navy, right?
