Can I just say how much I hate that this thread needs to be a thing already? CA Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis is running for governor. Already. https://eleniforca.com/ Not that there’s any reason not to… Newsom is termed out… but 3 years out is kind of extreme.
It’s good for kids to run for office and try and shake things up but I would prefer she not go after one of the five most progressive Dems in the House. Go to Cali and run against Ro Kanna please.
Yeah, but if you are gonna be a carpetbagger (she doesn’t live in the district) don’t knock out a solid progressive just because it is a D+19 district you think you can win easier. Go find a solid D district with a squishy moderate.
But if she can put the fear into someone in a solid district, who’s been in office since the late 90s, she can scare a lot more.
But what does Jan Schakowsky need to be afraid of? She is literally one of our best House members. If the kid wants to try and to a Tik Tok stunt go after someone who deserves it. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/janice_schakowsky/400360
Yep. Kat's highly intelligent, empathetic, pro-LGBTQ+, Palestinian (which will work in favor with the younger generation), and while Schakowsky is by no means the worst Dem to sweat for her seat, she's also about to turn 81. The decisions she makes for the future generations will not affect her, and it's time to step aside. It would be even better if she endorsed Kat for the next election as she prepares to retire.
It’s interesting who gets tagged with ‘too old’. It was used to absolutely hound Biden until he withdrew but then vanished even though Trump is now the oldest elected president. Similarly I know a Senator with a history of multiple heart attacks, from a state with a Republican governor who would appoint his replacement, run for a new six year term when he was 83 but similarly not a peep about it. Interesting.
81 is too old to start a new term. What Republicans want to do to keep their favorite sexual predators in power has nothing to do with the fact that 81 is simply too old to start a new term.
“Similarly I know a Senator with a history of multiple heart attacks, from a state with a Republican governor who would appoint his replacement, run for a new six year term when he was 83 but similarly not a peep about it.” Pssst! I’ll give you hint. The 83 year old who ran for Senate last year, and won, that I am referring to’s first name is Bernard.
Your point? If Bernie Sanders ran now I wouldn't vote for him. 83 is too old to start a term. You seem to be under the impression I'll make exceptions, but I'm not. If you're 80+ and running for another term, you've done enough. Find someone you trust and promote them, don't grab onto your power for just a little longer so that you die while in office.
My point, which I stated in my first post of this tangent is that it is interesting who gets the ‘too old’ tag and who doesn’t. An 83 year old running for a six year term didn’t get it but an 81 year old running for a 2 year term does.
No, if you’ve said that Bernie was too old and shouldn’t run then I wasn’t talking to you. However search doesn’t seem to find any instances of it so maybe I was.
Well, search doesn't show any results of you saying you wouldn't eat a live dog on television, so I'm going to assume you wouldn't. For now.
I honestly had never heard of her until this but I find the choice of who to oppose… interesting. Again, she doesn’t live in the district so it really was a choice. Jan Schakowsky is not just one of the five most progressive members of the House but is a progressive in leadership (she led the House Dem budget negotiations and stood strong refusing to compromise on a clear CR with guarantees). She was one of 40 House Ds to sign a letter to Biden requesting suspending aid to Israel. She joined reps Tliab and Omar in protesting Netanyahu speaking to Congress. She is a vocal critic of AIPAC and its influence in the US. But she is also Jewish so none of that matters. This stunt which I suspect is being pushed by folks who hate the Dems more than they love their country will end up being a circus. She’ll get enough money and attention from her status as a YouTuber to possibly fuck up the ‘26 midterms. To be clear I don’t think she will win. But her race isn’t the point. It is to divide the Dems. We’ll all get to rehash 10/7 for months and it will be a nice ‘Look at how old the Dems are and how they are rallying around to exclude a young candidate!’ which the anti-Dem press will just gobble up and amplify. So yeah. Maybe she isn’t malicious, maybe she is just 26 and naive but not looking forward to the campaign and how it will be treated by the national media.
Then again, maybe the younger generation of Democrats is looking to someone like Kat to step up because so many of the Dem leadership has failed them miserably, and she is the chance, or at least symbolizes the chance, to recover the massive power loss the Dems have abdicated to a lethally fascist party. It really could be as simple as Jan being too old, and Gen Z getting tired of being told to wait while the planet burns and their friends get kidnapped in the middle of the night. Nothing suspicious about it, because Kat won't be the last one to start challenging comfortable Dems.
The nastiness has already started. While she is vocally anti-AIPAC the TRACK AIPAC group has put out this graphic: Now does anyone want to guess what the real number of AIPAC funds Jan has received is? I’ll give you a hint, there is debate over whether it is actually a number a not. She has received ~100k from J-Street (the liberal, pro-Palestinian statehood break off from AIPAC) and less from Jewish Voices for Peace but most of what TRACK AIPAC tries to portray as AIPAC funds comes from any Jewish person or person who works for a Jewish organization. Some might consider that a bit misleading. Even shitbaggery. But those are the folks lining up to go after Jan.
What kind of ‘progressive’ carpetbagger is looking at all the districts available in the country and thinks “I should primary the Medicare for All cosponsor, that will move the caucus forward”? https://acasignups.net/24/12/17/really-deep-dive-updated-medicare-america-bill
Kat lives in Chicago. Also, Jan is 80 years old and has served 14 terms. This is really not difficult.
Is Abughazaleh disavowing those attacks? Just also being attacked by shitbags doesn’t mean it’s not time to go.
Hell, she's already seeing attacks, too, with people claiming she's a HAMAS supporter (she's Palestinian), and claiming she's just trying to help the Republicans win. This is not uncommon on social media.
