Day: October 16, 2015

Joan Walsh says Progressives won the Democratic Debate, hands down:

Courtesy of a Democratic Party that’s shifted left thanks to its base, for the first time in American history a national television audience was exposed to a serious discussion about capitalism vs. socialism, expanding Social Security, providing debt-free college, protecting reproductive rights, and jailing bankers. Early reporting tells us it was the most watched Democratic debate in history. What happened in Las Vegas Tuesday night surely won’t stay in Las Vegas. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley all had good nights, with debate performances strong enough to let each candidate’s supporters legitimately spin the night as a “win,” as they did. Progressives had a good night, too. The differences between Clinton and Sanders were made clearer, but not bitter. [Hillary] defended her shift left on many issues as coming to terms with reality. When CNN’s Anderson Cooper confronted her with a statement she made recently about being a “moderate,” Clinton retorted: “I’m a progressive, but a progressive who likes to gets things done.” That sums up Clinton’s pitch.

And there you go. It is a divide that I have spoken about for years. The Purists vs. the Pragmatists. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are no doubt pragmatists. For that, they are denounced as evil corporatist whores by some in the purist camp, which leads to the tonnage of disrespect and loathing the pragmatists feel for the purists. All of this is over tactics and incremental progress. Both sides pretty much agree on policy and the issues. It is the when and how that sets these two camps apart. Bernie Sanders is very much in the purist camp, and has been for years. He is so pure he cannot even be a Democrat. Hillary is very much in the pragmatist camp. And there is your primary.

Someone not named a variant of Brian to make it a three way.

Rep. John Carney’s decision last month to run for governor has opened up his at-large seat to Delaware Democrats hoping to make it to Washington. The day after the three-term member made his announcement, state Sen. Bryan Townsend, a corporate lawyer in Wilmington, got into the race. A week later, state Rep. Bryon Short, a small business owner and former aide to Sen. Thomas R. Carper, followed suit. Now a third Democrat is expected to get into the race. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who served as Delaware’s first African-American female secretary of Labor, is likely to announce her campaign in the coming weeks, a source who is familiar with her thinking told CQ Roll Call Thursday. In a safe Democratic district that President Barack Obama carried twice, the winner of the primary will almost surely win the seat. EMILY’s List has met with Rochester, and is encouraging her to run. “Lisa Blunt Rochester has been a fierce advocate for Delaware families,” EMILY’s List Communications Director Marcy Stech told CQ Roll Call. “We are excited to see that she’s taking a serious look at this race — she would be a strong leader in Washington who knows how to create opportunity for all.”

Via Roll Call