Lisa Blunt Rochester Outed – In Need of a Primary Challenge
The report released by RootsAction.org, titled “Meet The PINOs: “Progressive In Name Only,” targets Democratic Reps. Madeleine Dean (Pa.), Donald Norcross (N.J.), Jimmy Panetta (Calif.), Joseph Morelle (N.Y.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.) and Brenda Lawrence (Mich.).
(snip)
The group accused the six lawmakers named in the report of often acting “more like corporate centrists” on issues like “Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, cutting military spending, [and] robust civil liberties.”
“Our research shows that many caucus members don’t actually legislate like progressives,” said Christopher Cook, the report’s author.
The report comes less than a year before the 2022 midterm elections, when progressives are expected to participate in a number of Democratic primaries. The report calls on progressives to primary the lawmakers in question.
“How can we achieve these critical reforms when some so-called ‘progressives’ refuse to challenge the status quo? Some of these folks in strongly Democratic districts seem ripe for a serious progressive primary challenge, if not this coming year then certainly in 2024,” Cook wrote.
She’ll be out of that seat soon…. carper is gonna will her his senate seat.
Sadly, true. Although, it is lovely to dream a challenge prior to Carper’s cold dead hand giving up the scepter this March.
In fact, the inevitability of LBR being elevated this March is so inevitable that it would be a great thing for a progressive to have a running start at that seat. Just sayin’
Why March?
Bird Omens. Necromancy. Astral auguries. I make my predictions like all predictors and like all predictors, when they come to past I announce it from the rooftop. When they fail to come to pass, they silently disappear into the memory hole.
That said – at 99 years old, I am 100% sure Carper has seen his last New Year’s Eve.
She’s an opportunist serving monied interests. DE is a sad state
Has there ever been a truly liberal politician to hold office here? They all seem to stay in office forever ( a la Carper) and all seem to be at the beck and call of big business and Wall St. Call them “centrists” or whatever they are all Republican Lite at best. And It Sucks.
Joe Biden wasn’t entirely centrist in the Senate when he was in it, compared to the party. CC – Robert Bork,
Mr. “war on drug/tough in crime” was a left of center? I must have missed that vote.
He helped put more Black folks in jail with his crime bill than Carper ever did. He was proud to be the Cops’ Best Friend.
LBR is really more a ‘brand’ than an elected official. Kinda Obama-esque, in terms of how she likes to portray herself. With less substance.
Preferable to Carper or Coons, though.
We could see a legit progressive statewide and/or congressional breakthrough as early as 2024, though. We’re inching closer…
Russ Peterson
He or Bert Carvel would be the only two I would consider. Peterson was truly progressive on environmental issues, but I’d have to go back and check what his record was like in other areas.
On prison reform (in the 1960s)….
“(Peterson) organized an effort at prison reform known as the “Three-S Citizen’s Campaign,” salvage people, save dollars, and shrink the crime rate.”
“Peterson appointed the first person of color, Arva Jackson, to the University of Delaware’s board of trustees, insisted on the hiring of black people to the State Police, pressed for the state’s open housing law and relaxed abortion laws. In 1972, Delaware became the last state to outlaw flogging as a form of punishment, removing Red Hannah, America’s last whipping post.”
John Kowalko deserves at least an honorable mention.
Russell Peterson was a Republican, way back when the GOP tolerated sanity.
Kowalko’s a state rep. Were talking statewide or congressional spots.
JK would still be upgrade over LBR.
It wouldn’t hurt if you paid some attention to how little JK has gotten done in his time in Dover. Seriously, go back in the archives (it’s easy), and try to find more than a bill or two of any significance he’s enacted. Not counting the bill he ran on behalf of his wife, reducing oversight over day cares. THIS one:
https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?legislationId=26328
He’s long since been bypassed by newer legislators who have gotten important legislation enacted into law. He has rendered himself totally ineffective.
Fair enough. The “newer legislators” would be an upgrade over LBR. I’m good with Pinkney, Anton-Wilson to float a couple names. Who do you endorse?
I think the most likely to run for Federal office, which is an undertaking that few state legislators would even consider, is Sarah McBride.
I’ve kinda thought that, if LBR runs for Carper’s Senate seat, Sarah would quite possibly run for Lisa’s seat. She has national fundraising capacity and a national profile.
I agree. A large part of being successful in politics is having a sense of timing. Carper had it for years, but hasn’t had to use that muscle for a long time so it has withered. I think Sarah has it, but we’ll know more this March when Carper kicks the bucket.
A lot of “everyday folks” vote based not on a Senator’s or Representative’s policy positions but his office’s constituent services. How did the Senator or Representative do in resolving my problem with some federal agency? The constituent services office ran by Bill Roth kept him in office longer than any policy position he did or did not take, He probably had helped everyone in this State in getting something from a federal agency,
How do Carper, Coons, and Blunt Rochester rank in their office’s constituent services? If Blunt Rochester’s office has been weak in solving voters’ every day federal bureaucratic problems, I think that is an issue that a challenger can latch onto.
Anything to get McBride out of Delaware Senate would be an improvement but it would embarrass Delaware