DL Open Thread: Tuesday, August 4, 2026

AIPAC–Tonight’s Biggest Loser?:

In less than five years, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has become one of the biggest spenders in American elections, flooding the airwaves in congressional races across the country.

Since its first involvement in elections, the amount of money AIPAC-affiliated political action committees have spent on campaign advertising and outreach to voters has more than doubled, from $29.3 million to $67.2 million, with much of it spent in Democratic primaries.

The group’s biggest test yet will come in Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary election in Michigan. AIPAC has spent more than $30 million on ads and outreach promoting Representative Haley Stevens over her opponent, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, according to the Federal Election Commission. Dr. El-Sayed, who has run a sharply anti-Israel campaign, has made the group’s involvement a key part of his criticism of Ms. Haley’s candidacy.

Some of the campaign advertisements produced for AIPAC are aimed at supporting candidates the group sees as pro-Israel. Others are designed to defeat candidates the group views as out of step with its policy agenda.

But one factor unites them: Almost none of the ads mention Israel.

Because recent polling has shown that genocide is unpopular.  This is really quite a comprehensive article.  As to tonight:

In all, AIPAC-affiliated groups have spent more than $67 million so far this year. In Michigan, United Democracy Project has spent more than $10 million supporting Ms. Stevens’s Senate bid and more than $20 million attacking her opponent, Dr. El-Sayed, through ads and voter outreach, according to F.E.C. filings. Only one outside group has spent more on television, radio and digital ads in a primary race so far this year: a political action committee formed to oppose Tom Steyer’s unsuccessful run for California governor.

I predict that’s $30 mill down the drain.  Sad.

The Phony Rethug Opposition To Todd Blanche:

For a brief moment late last week, it looked like acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s bid to get the word “acting” removed from his job title was in serious trouble. But that moment appears to have passed, as two key Republican senators just signalled that they will vote to move his nomination forward.

Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) halted Blanche’s nomination because of concerns about a $1.8 billion slush fund that Blanche helped create as the Justice Department’s acting leader, as well as some objections to a collusive deal between President Donald Trump and the IRS that could have shut down tax investigations into Trump, his family, and his businesses. Both senators announced on Monday that they will no longer block the nomination.

Cornyn and Tillis’ objections to Blanche were quite narrow in scope. They demanded a written order from Blanche “terminating the anti-weaponization fund,” a reference to the $1.8 billion slush fund that could be paid out to Trump’s allies, including participants in the January 6 attack on the US capitol. Blanche originally established this fund in a May 18 order. On Sunday night, he tweeted out a new document terminating his May 18th order.

For the most part, however, the two senators did not object to Blanche’s broader efforts to weaponize the Justice Department against people who’ve displeased Trump, including the use of law enforcement to cow Trump’s critics. As both DAG and as acting AG Blanche oversaw several highly dubious prosecutions brought against Trump’s perceived enemies and prominent Democrats.

A video introduced in federal court, for example, indicated that Blanche personally instructed law enforcement officers to arrest Newark’s Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka — an arrest that led a federal magistrate judge to scold DOJ for “using the immense power of the government to pursue weak cases or to make examples without sufficient cause.” Under Blanche’s oversight, the DOJ’s also brought flimsy charges against individuals like FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who investigated Trump for potential wrongdoing. (One minor exception: Tillis did previously pressure Blanche to drop an investigation into former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.)

So, while Cornyn and Tillis did successfully push Blanche to make some small concessions in order to secure their votes in the Judiciary Committee, neither senator appeared interested in a confrontation over Trump and Blanche’s broader efforts to transform the Department of Justice into a revenge-seeking agency. And now, it appears likely that Blanche will be confirmed — and that those efforts will continue.

So there you have it.  This totally-unfit guy will be AG.  Democrats should be using this in every single Senate campaign.  They probably won’t.  Because, you know, ‘affordability’.

Which reminds me, you know how we’re always told that we have to appeal to the sensible center?  We’re told that by ‘centrists’, aka those who stand for nothing but the status quo.  Don’t think tonight will be a good night for centrists.  Meaning, it should be a good night for candidates willing to fight.

Musk Joins AIPAC As Bete Noir This Campaign Cycle:

Elon Musk, a year after voicing deep frustration with the Republican Party and threatening to start a third party, appears to be back in the fold and prepared to spend big in the midterms to help G.O.P. candidates.

Mr. Musk, the world’s richest person, has authorized his super PAC to spend $100 million to $120 million on a new field program in at least eight states to help elect Republicans in November, according to two people briefed on the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.

The planned injection of cash from Mr. Musk, the biggest donor in the 2024 presidential election, would only add to Republicans’ yawning advantage over Democrats in funding from super PACs and party groups. While Democratic candidates in key Senate races are raising more than their Republican rivals, many in the Democratic Party have begun to worry about being badly outspent overall in the midterms.

Officials from Mr. Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, have communicated their nine-figure budget to other Republicans in recent weeks as part of an aggressive spending plan that is set to begin next month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Kids, just remember that the Delaware Way sellouts in Dover sullied the national reputation of Chancery Court because Musk threw a shit-fit.  Then vote for their challengers.

Still Unsure About A Data Center Backlash?  This should disabuse you of that notion:

Amid growing public backlash to the rapid buildout of data centers across Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced a moratorium on the approval of data centers until regulatory agencies can audit proposed data centers seeking connection to the state’s electric grid. 

It is unclear how long the audit will take, but the effort is Abbott’s strongest effort yet to slow the development of these data centers statewide and underscores how little information members of the public, including state leaders, know about the facilities.

Abbott is asking the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to ensure data center developers provide information on tax breaks they will receive; power use and generation; water use and cooling operations; efforts to reduce impacts on local communities; and ownership of the facility. Any projects that fail Abbott’s ordered “comprehensive verification and audit” should be denied connection to the grid, the governor said.

“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” Abbott wrote in a statement. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first.”

Yes, he’s up for reelection.

What do you want to talk about?