Posts Tagged ‘Lis Smith’

The Case Against Talafreako: A Link Roundup

Monday, October 19th, 2026

With Texas early voting starting, here are a ton of links I’ve collected demonstrating why James Talarico is completely unfit to be a U.S. senator.

  • “Talarico Linked Capitalism to ‘White Supremacy‘ in 2020 Meeting, Said System Should Be ‘Dismantled.'”

    Speaking to members of the Sierra Club in 2020, James Talarico described capitalism as an “oppressive system” that contributes to “climate change” and “white supremacy” and must be dismantled.

    The Democratic U.S. Senate nominee from Texas made the comments during a private Zoom meeting with members of the club, a recording of which was obtained by CNN’s KFile.

    One meeting attendee asked the then-31-year-old state legislator whether he believed that “communities of color receive the most harm from impacts of climate change yet receive the least government support to deal with it.”

    “I am so thankful you asked this question and also thankful young activists have really drawn the link between climate change, white supremacy, and capitalism in our country, and I think only in the way that all three of those oppressive systems work together are we going to be able to begin the process of dismantling them,” Talarico responded.

    Add “communism” to the long, long list of stupid far left things Talarico believes in. No wonder the hard left loves Talarico so much. He believes in All The Things.

  • “Talarico Called Himself a ‘Christian Who Hates Christianity.'” I’m pretty sure he’s half right.

    U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico once described himself as a “Christian who hates Christianity” during a podcast appearance with a progressive theologian known for advocating transgender and queer theology.

    The comments were highlighted Tuesday in a report by The Federalist, which unearthed a March 2021 appearance by Talarico on the Activist Theology podcast.

    Talarico, an Austin Democrat now running against Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate, frequently speaks about his Christian faith on the campaign trail and has built a national profile as a progressive Christian voice within the Democrat Party.

    During the podcast, however, Talarico offered a striking description of his relationship with Christianity.

    “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity, right?” Talarico said.

    The podcast was hosted by Roberto Che Henderson-Espinoza, a theologian who identifies as transgender and nonbinary and whose work focuses on progressive and queer interpretations of Christianity.

    According to The Federalist, Talarico expressed admiration for Henderson-Espinoza’s work, saying he was a “BIG fan” and that the author’s book “Activist Theology” had been an inspiration to him.

    The discussion covered a range of topics, including race, gender identity, Christianity, and political activism.

    At another point in the interview, Talarico argued that Christianity could serve as a powerful vehicle for advancing political change because many Americans already identify with the faith tradition.

    “The reason I think Christianity can be powerful in our context in this country is because so many of our political opponents share that kind of, that tradition,” Talarico said.

    You known, I’m pretty sure “We believe also in only One, Universal, Holy Social Justice Democrat Party” isn’t part of the Nicene Creed…

  • “Watch Talarico squirm when his lies about the Bible got called out live on CNN.”

    Talafreako: We’re both Christians and the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion. It means you and I both have to look at different scriptures to try to come to a conclusion.

    Woman: Ahh, but the Bible is not silent on abortion. There is the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not kill, and as Catholics we take great insult sometimes when it’s spouted that way.

  • “Talarico Said Islamic Mystics Shaped His Faith as Much as Christians.”

    Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico said Islamic mystics influenced his faith as much as Christian authors.

    The remarks, made during an April 2024 appearance on The State of Belief podcast alongside Democrat State Rep. Salman Bhojani of Euless, have resurfaced in a new report from The Daily Wire as Talarico continues to emphasize his Christian faith on the campaign trail.

    In the interview, Talarico said his spiritual life had been shaped by writers outside the Christian tradition.

    “I know personally that I’ve learned as much about my faith from Salman’s tradition, from the Islamic mystics, from poets like Rumi, as much as I have from Christian authors and Christian writers,” said Talarico.

    He seems like someone who should be teaching Comparative Religion courses at some small liberal arts college, not representing Texas in the United States Senate.

  • “James Talarico Tries to Argue the Bible Calls for a Government-Run Healthcare System.”

    Talarico Says the Bible Demands Government-Run Health Insurance

    Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico said Scripture requires the government to guarantee health coverage, telling a Texas church crowd that the New Testament makes a public health insurance option a Christian obligation.

    Talarico made the argument at a town hall he held at a DeSoto church on July 20, footage of which his campaign posted Saturday under the title “James Talarico Unveils Plan For Black Voters.” The Austin Democrat argued the country should “finish the work of President Obama” and pass a public option, then grounded the pitch in the Gospels.

    “Because health care is a human right. It is not a privilege,” Talarico said.

    Talarico told the crowd he wanted to speak scripturally, given the setting, and pointed to how Jesus spent his ministry.

    “If you read our scriptures, if you read the New Testament, what does Jesus spend most of his time doing? It’s not preaching, it’s not teaching, it is healing. Healing the sick,” Talarico said. “And in Matthew 25, scripture says that’s how we will be judged and how we will be saved. By healing the sick, by feeding the hungry, by welcoming the stranger, by visiting the prisoner.”

    Somehow he failed to cite the passage where it’s the government’s obligation to do all these things…

  • Talafreako started backtracking from his radical woke beliefs right after he won the primary.

    James Talarico, the most insanely leftist candidate to ever run in a statewide election in Texas, has decided that it’s important to pretend to be a moderate Democrat in his face-off against Ken Paxton.

    The man who puts gay children’s books in his church library now says that trans surgery for kids is off the table.

    Now says he opposes transing the kids?

    And if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge for sale.

    But don’t trust what I’m saying, Talarico himself voted AGAINST a ban on taxpayer funding for trans surgeries on kids. He’s on the record.

    Talarico also seems to be a friend of the oil industry suddenly, despite being a climate cultist who has voted for laws that hurt the energy industry:

    • RNC Research posts a video of Texas Democrat James Talarico stating “We have to protect good paying oil and gas jobs,” while accusing him of hypocrisy for introducing HB 2206 in 2021.
    • The 2021 bill, known as the Texas Climate Action Act, proposed requiring the state to create a plan reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 10% of 1990 levels by 2050.
  • “James Talarico’s extremely woke posts are coming back to haunt him — said there are 6 sexes, ‘poverty is violence.’”

    Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico’s leftwing rhetoric on social media, which made him a darling of Lone Star state progressives, is coming back to haunt his campaign as he tries to win over Texans in the general election.

    Republicans have been unearthing clips and X posts from Talarico within just the past few years, showing him claiming “poverty is violence,” suggesting the Bible approves of abortion, insisting that there are six biological sexes, and other lefty ideas.

    “I learned that violence is a problem that cages will never solve,” Talarico declared in April 2022, recounting his family’s struggles with his estranged father’s alcoholism.

    “We don’t always recognize the ways in which our systems hurt people every day. Poverty is violence. Pollution is violence. And yes, prison is violence,” he later added.

    “…We all recognize domestic abuse as violence, but we don’t always recognize the ways in which our systems hurt people every day. Poverty is violence. Pollution is violence. And yes, prison is violence.” pic.twitter.com/lb7cq0lsnC
    — James Talarico (@jamestalarico) April 11, 2022

    Plus that classic: “I want to acknowledge that our trans community needs abortion care too.”

  • “James Talarico’s Votes Against Income and Death Tax Bans Show a Clear Pattern of Fiscal Recklessness.”

    State Rep. James Talarico, now the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate after his March 2026 primary win, has shown time and again that he’s comfortable leaving the door open for higher taxes and bigger government.

    A prime example came during the 86th Legislature in 2019. House Joint Resolution 38 was a simple, common-sense constitutional amendment to ban any future personal income tax in Texas. While the law at the time allowed the Legislature to pass legislation imposing an income tax with a simple majority and then allowing a vote of the people, HJR 38 ensured an outright ban was solidified in the constitution, something that could only be changed with a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the legislature and a majority vote of the people….

    James Talarico voted NO, making it clear that he thinks it should be easier to impose a higher tax burden on Texans, not harder.

  • “Here are the megadonors and dark money groups boosting James Talarico’s anti-billionaire Senate bid.”

    The cast of contributors bankrolling Lone Star Rising PAC, a super PAC in his corner, features several billionaires, many of whom are prolific Democratic donors, and dark money nonprofit groups that do not have to disclose their funders.

    While donors are capped at giving $3,500 per election to individual candidates, no such contribution limits exist for super PACs, which can spend unlimited funds supporting or opposing candidates, including through advertising, voter mobilization efforts and polling, as long as they don’t coordinate with a candidate’s campaign.

    Lone Star Rising raised just under $9 million from its inception in September through the end of March, and spent almost all of it on ads supporting Talarico and attacking U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, his primary foe. The group’s treasurer is Alexander Clark, who overlapped with Talarico when both taught in public schools in San Antonio through Teach for America.

    Snip.

    Reid Hoffman
    Amount donated to LSR: $1.5 million

    Hoffman is the cofounder of LinkedIn and a billionaire venture capitalist, AI investor and Democratic megadonor. Since 2016, Hoffman has given roughly $77 million to numerous Democratic groups and campaigns in contributions reported to the FEC, including $10.3 million to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ main super PAC, Future Forward PAC.

    This cycle, Hoffman’s largest collective contribution so far has gone to Lone Star Rising PAC. He has also donated to other Democratic U.S. Senate candidates, including former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia.

    Hoffman recently drew scrutiny for his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — the sex abuser and financier who died in jail in 2019 — upon the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files. The documents show Hoffman was communicating and meeting with Epstein well after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution and was registered as a sex offender. Hoffman visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2014, gifted him a statue and offered to help with publicity after Epstein was accused of sex trafficking in 2014.

    Crockett nodded at the connection in the leadup to the March election, saying, “If one of the individuals who donated publicly is someone in the Epstein files, imagine who else has given anonymously” — a reference to Lone Star Rising’s dark money support.

    Talarico has advocated for the full release of the Epstein files and justice for the victims of Epstein’s circle. Most Republicans in Congress, including Cornyn, opposed releasing the files last fall before reversing and approving their disclosure.

    Hoffman said on social media that he went to Epstein’s island to help fundraise for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said the FBI under the Trump administration found no indication of wrongdoing, adding, “I regret ever interacting with Epstein.”

    The Bench
    Amount donated to LSR: $500,000

    The Bench is an organization that launched in January to develop the “next generation of Democratic leaders” — specifically, up and coming candidates with unusual political profiles that, in the eyes of the group’s leaders, reflect the states and districts they aim to represent. Lis Smith, a Democratic strategist who worked on Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, serves as a senior adviser to The Bench. Andrew Mamo, a consultant for Talarico’s campaign, is a spokesperson for the group.

    “Our candidates are community-rooted, values-driven, and ready to connect with voters across party lines,” the group’s website states.

    This cycle, The Bench has also endorsed Tejano music star Bobby Pulido in Texas’ 15th Congressional District and sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia in the 35th Congressional District. Its roster of Senate candidates also includes former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in Michigan.

    In the first three months of this year, The Bench received major donations including $2 million from billionaire hedge fund manager and Democratic donor Stephen Mandel; $500,000 from Better World Civic Trust; $395,000 from billionaire Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings; and $250,000 from billionaire crypto CEO and investor Michael Novogratz.

    Adam Pritzker
    Amount donated to LSR: $180,000

    Adam Pritzker is a scion of the billionaire family that derives much of its wealth from the Hyatt hotel empire. He is a cousin of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and a prolific Democratic donor, giving $926,000 to Kamala Harris’ campaign in 2024.

    Pritzker is a major supporter of state level Democrats around the country, contributing to state Democratic parties and cofounding and serving as president of PAC for America’s Future, formerly known as Future Now Fund. The group’s purpose, according to IRS filings, is to “elect the next generation of American leaders with a focus on state legislatures.” PAC for America’s Future helps fund the States Project, a group Pritzker cofounded that focuses on winning and defending blue majorities in state legislatures.

    PAC for America’s Future also maintains a Texas committee, which in 2024 received $2 million from investor Jonathan Soros, the son of billionaire financier and Democratic megadonor George Soros.

    Texas Justice Fund
    Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

    Texas Justice Fund is a group affiliated with the Lone Star Project, a Democratic political research and communications firm founded in 2005 by strategist Matt Angle. Texas Justice Fund donated $500,000 to the Texas House Democratic Caucus last year around the Texas House Democrats’ walkout over Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting effort. A group called Texas Justice Fund is also registered as a 501(c)(4) with the IRS, listing Angle as its president and Lisa Turner — a Democratic strategist and wife of state Rep. Chris Turner — as its director.

    Dark money groups

    Government That Works PAC
    Amount donated to LSR: $3.75 million

    Government That Works PAC is by far the biggest donor to Lone Star Rising PAC, but that money largely came from undisclosed sources. The group, according to its donation page, was “established to defeat ineffective and extreme incumbent candidates.”

    The group received $4 million from Sixteen Thirty Fund in January, around the time it gave $3.75 million to the pro-Talarico super PAC. Sixteen Thirty Fund is a top Democratic dark money hub that does not have to report its donors. It has previously been associated with Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and Democratic megadonor George Soros.

    Government That Works PAC previously received $2.9 million from Contours Inc., which was recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit in October 2025, meaning it does not have to disclose its donors. Contours Inc., according to its website, “educates voters and advocates for changes that give greater voice and choice to voters from coast to coast.”

    Government That Works PAC also received $300,000 from America Votes and $250,000 from Global Impact Social Welfare Fund — both of which are also dark money groups.
    Lone Star Forward Fund Inc.Lone Star Forward Fund Inc.
    Amount donated to LSR: $250,000

    Lone Star Forward Fund Inc., according to its website, is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. The group calls itself a “Texas policy advocacy organization dedicated to educating, engaging and mobilizing communities in support of progressive policies.”

    Sufam Advisors Corp
    Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

    Sufam Advisors Corp is a corporation first registered in Florida in 1992 by Neil Subin, an investment manager at MILFAM, a firm managing the assets of the descendents of industrialist Lloyd I. Miller Jr.

    Stephen Mandel
    Amount donated to LSR: $500,000

    Mandel is a Connecticut billionaire hedge fund manager and major Democratic donor. He sits on the board of directors for Teach for America — through which Talarico taught middle school in San Antonio for two years — and is a supporter of charter schools. Mandel previously sat on the board of trustees of the Environmental Defense Fund. He established the Zoom Foundation in 2001, a nonprofit that funds environmental, education and democracy-based causes.

    Mark Jacobsen
    Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

    Jacobsen is the Maryland-based cofounder and CEO of the financial services firm IntraFi. He previously served as the chief of staff at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. He has contributed to a number of Democrats running for Congress.

    Mark Heising
    Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

    Heising is the founder of Medley Partners, a San Francisco-based private investment firm. A major Democratic donor, Heising holds six U.S. patents in cryptography, compression and data communications.

    Heising serves as chair of the Environmental Defense Fund and as a board member of the Heising-Simons Foundation, which works to “advance sustainable solutions in climate and clean energy, enable groundbreaking research in science, enhance the education of our youngest learners, and support human rights for all people,” according to its website.

    Heising and his wife, Liz Simons, pledged to commit most of their wealth to philanthropy in 2016. According to their pledge letter, Heising worked as a chip designer before entering finance.

    David Gochman
    Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

    Gochman is the president and founder of Inclenberg Investments, a private investment firm focused on real estate with offices in Florida and Texas. Gochman previously led Academy Sports & Outdoors, a sporting goods company his grandfather founded in San Antonio in 1938. Based in Florida, he has contributed to numerous Democratic campaigns, groups and state parties in recent election cycles…

    Lisa Primus
    Amount donated to LSR: $500,000

    Primus is a New York physician, philanthropist and active Democratic donor who has given $7.7 million largely to Democratic groups and candidates over the years. She funds the Livelihood Impact Fund, which “invests funding and expertise into data driven early stage organizations that strive to meaningfully and durably improve the lives of the global poor,” and served on the boards of the Center for Voter Information, the League of Conservation Voters and the Pipeline Initiative, which recruits and supports progressive political candidates.

    Simone Coxe
    Amount donated to LSR: $500,000

    Coxe is an Austin philanthropist married to Tench Coxe, a billionaire venture capitalist and longtime board member of Nvidia. Simone Coxe cofounded a public relations firm for the tech industry, and she was the cofounder of CalMatters, a nonprofit news site covering California politics and policy. The couple donated $100 million to the University of Texas at Austin’s academic medical center this year. They are part owners of Austin FC.

    Don Henley
    Amount donated to LSR: $150,000

    Henley is a Grammy award-winning musician and founding member of The Eagles, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. He is an East Texas native who has supported numerous Democratic groups and candidates this cycle. Henley founded the Walden Woods Project in 1990, which “preserves the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility,” and the Caddo Lake Institute in East Texas, which focuses on protecting the wetlands area that straddles the Texas-Louisiana border.

    Susan Sarofim
    Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

    Sarofim is a Houston businesswoman, philanthropist and widow of billionaire investment manager Fayez Sarofim. She founded a temp agency in 1989, owns New Orleans Auction Galleries, and cofounded To Educate All Children, a nonprofit that offers class management programming to Houston and Aldine Independent School District educators.

    I know that’s a big old list of names, but I think it’s important to capture and map Democrat donor networks whenever possible.

  • Here’s an anti-Talarico site covering many of the topics addressed here.
  • Here’s another post covering Talarico’s many stupid ideas, including “shutting down a power plant that provides 10% of Austin’s power” because it uses that sinful coal.
  • “Republicans for Talarico Disbands After We Learned It Was Really Just a Bunch of Democrats.” “Leftist outlet MS NOW aired a segment featuring three Texas women who identified themselves as Republicans and vowed to cross over for James Talarico — but records show at least some of them have voted in Democratic primaries and donated to liberal candidates and causes.”
  • You know who vanquished primary foe Jasmine Crockett isn’t going to campaign for? James Talarico.

    It’s been clear for a few weeks that Crockett has no interest in helping Democrats with campaigning for the US Senate seat. Both she and Colin Allred refused to show up to the Democrats’ state convention last month after James Talarico had the nerve to run against Crockett and had allegedly insulted Allred as a “mediocre black man,” an allegation Talarico denies. Both Crockett and Allred fumed at the time that the party had insulted them in more ways than one too, but hadn’t explicitly made a claim of racism.

    Well, wait no longer. At a forum yesterday afternoon, Crockett went even further in refusing to “hold his hand” in reference to suggestions she should help Talarico win against Ken Paxton, and hinted that black voters should perhaps not turn out for that race at all. Crockett also blamed her primary loss on the Democrat primary being a “racist race,” which is a much clearer signal to black voters for disengagement…

    That, of course, is the nightmare scenario for Texas Democrats, and not just among black voters. In the 2024 election, black voters were 11% of the overall electorate, but Hispanic voters were 26% of the turnout. Having Crockett cast the party as racist in its execution in its US Senate primary sends a message of disengagement to both demos, although clearly more to black voters than Hispanics. Crockett has been one of the more notable figures in the party, and certainly its most visible black woman even up to today – and her claims that she got shafted over race will resonate, especially on the Left where activists are particularly sensitive to such allegations.

    (Hat tip: Director Blue.)

  • More on the same subject: “Black Democrats Express Doubts About Talarico, U.S. Senate Primary at Houston Town Hall.”

    A town hall in Houston on Sunday highlighted a factional divide within the Democratic Party as their U.S. Senate nominee, state Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin), was questioned and at times rebuked about his appeal, or lack thereof, to black voters.

    Republicans have emphasized “unity” as their goal moving forward into the general election battle of November, but they are not the only ones finding it difficult to switch off from intra-party conflict. The Democrats will need a strong showing from all the members of their base to give Talarico a fighting chance in a state where no Democrat has won statewide office in three decades, especially after the strong showing of the Republican nominee, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in his May primary runoff with incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

    Prior to Talarico’s introduction to the crowd for his opening statement and Q&A session, elected officials expressed disappointment that he had defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30) in the Democratic primary, while appealing to the audience to hear Talarico out.

    Talarico defeated her in March with over 53 percent of the vote, while Crockett received nearly 46 percent. In Harris and Dallas counties, Crockett did receive the majority of the vote — 52 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

  • “James Talarico says the violent hierarchies of the heteropatriarchy have colonized white minds.” “We have to understand especially for white educators that these violent hierarchies, these systems, white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, economic exploitation, those things have colonized our own minds.”
  • “Totally Normal Heterosexual Christian James Talarico Wants You to Know He Has a Favorite Drag Queen and He’d Like to Know Your Favorite Too.” “Alyssa Edwards — who has described himself as ‘a drag performer that works with children.'” Always with the creepy interest in turning your kids gay…
  • Speaking of communism: “James Talarico Voted Against Bills Targeting CCP Influence in Texas, Including Popular Measure Barring Chinese Nationals From Buying Farmland.”
  • Mr. Hypocrisy strikes again: “James Talarico has campaigned against the influence of billionaires in politics. Yet facing a must-win Senate race that could shatter spending records in one of the country’s biggest states, he’s turning to wealthy tech donors for help. Talarico attended at least four Bay Area fundraisers with prominent Democratic Party donors with ties to the tech industry in mid-April.” He really does want to California your Texas.
  • I may have used this one before: “Democrat Strategists Remove James Talarico From Campaign Trail To Hide The Fact That He’s James Talarico.”

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    Posted in Austin, Communism, Democrats, Elections, Global Warming, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 5 Comments »

    Democratic Presidential Clown Car Update for February 17, 2020

    Monday, February 17th, 2020

    Bloomberg channels Barney, Yang, Bennet and Patrick are Out, enjoy the Buttigieg Platitude Generator, Bernie bros break out the blacklist for Bloomberg hires, and Mayor Pete has a fake Nigerian problem. It’s your Democratic Presidential clown car update!

    The Nevada caucus looms, but not until Saturday.

    There are now six candidates left in the race with a theoretical chance to earn the nomination (Sanders Buttigieg, Bloomberg, Klobuchar, Biden, and Warren), plus Gabbard and Steyer. I don’t see Warren getting any traction, but I do see the DNC working desperately behind the scenes to make sure she keeps siphoning votes away from Sanders…

    Delegates
    After New Hampshire, the actual delegate count stands at:

    1. Buttigieg 22
    2. Sanders 21
    3. Elizabeth Warren 8
    4. Amy Klobuchar 7
    5. Joe Biden 6

    It’s a neat trick, Buttigieg leading the delegate count after coming in second in the first two states…

    Polls

  • Las Vegas Review Journal (Nevada): Sanders 25, Biden 18, Warren 13, Steyer 11, Buttigieg 10, Klobuchar 10.
  • East Carolina University (South Carolina): Biden 28, Sanders 20, Steyer 14, Buttigieg 8, Klobuchar 7, Warren 7, Bloomberg 6, Gabbard 1.
  • Texas Tribune/University of Texas (Texas): Sanders 24, Biden 22, Warren 15, Bloomberg 10, Buttigieg 7, Yang 6, Klobuchar 3, Steyer 3, Gabbard 2.
  • WBS-TV (Georgia): Biden 32.1, Sanders 14.2, Bloomberg 14, Buttigieg 4.9, Warren 3.7, Klobuchar 3, Steyer 1.5, Gabbard .8.
  • St. Pete Polls (Florida): Bloomberg 27.3, Biden 25.9, Buttigieg 10.5, Sanders 10.4, Klobuchar 8.6, Steyer 1.3. First state with a poll lead for Bloomberg. Sample size of 3,047, which should be excellent for a state poll.
  • High Point (North Carolina) (likely voters): Biden 24, Sanders 20, Bloomberg 16, Warren 11, Buttigieg 8, Steyer 4, Yang 3, Klobuchar 3, Gabbard 2.
  • Economist/YouGov (page 198): Sanders 22, Biden 18, Warren 15, Bloomberg 12, Klobuchar 7, Gabbard 4, Yang 2, Steyer 1.
  • Monmouth: Sanders 26, Biden 16, Buttigieg 13, Warren 13, Bloomberg 11, Klobuchar 6, Yang 4, Gabbard 1, Steyer 1.
  • Morning Consult: Sanders 25, Biden 22, Bloomberg 17, Buttigieg 11, Warren 11, Yang 4, Klobuchar 3, Steyer 3, Gabbard 1.
  • Talk Business/Hendrix College: Bloomberg 19.6, Biden 18.5, Sanders 16.4, Buttigieg 15.5, Warren 8.9, Klobuchar 4.8, Yang 2.
  • Real Clear Politics polls.
  • 538 poll average.
  • Election betting markets.

    • Pundits, etc.

  • 538 is now predicting that it’s slightly more likely that no one will win a majority of delegates.

    A brokered convention would be a lot of fun to watch but devastating for Democrats. The chances of Bernie Sanders coming out on top in a brokered convention seem slim to me—and if Bernie goes into the convention with the most delegates but doesn’t leave the convention as the nominee, Bernie supporters are going to be livid. Whoever the candidate is, if the Democrats have to wait until mid-July to know for sure who their nominee is going be, it puts their party at a significant disadvantage.

  • “Majority of Americans would vote against socialist candidate for president.” Ruh-Roh, Rernie! (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
  • The problem for Democrats is that Sanders leads, but most Democrats are voting against him:

    While the far-left or more liberal candidates — including Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — collectively earned 35 percent of the New Hampshire vote, the center-left and more moderate candidates — including Biden, former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) — collectively earned more than one-half of the vote, with 53 percent between the three of them.

    Indeed, while Sanders may have eked out a victory, a majority of the New Hampshire voters aligned with the moderate bloc of the party.

    This discrepancy poses a serious problem for Democrats as the primary season continues. In order to build a broad-based coalition of voters to defeat Trump, there needs to be an understanding within the party that the message will be inclusive, will encourage unity and will eventually focus on supporting the nominee.

  • Where everybody stands on everything.
  • There are no moderates, only Zuul. (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)
  • Master Troll Trump at work.
  • “Trashing America as racist won’t help Democrats beat Trump.”
  • No bounce for anyone out of New Hampshire?
  • Stephen Green drunkblogged the New Hampshire primaries.

    • Now on to the clown car itself:

  • Update: Colorado Senator Michael Bennet: Dropped Out. He dropped out February 11, 2020, after a dismal rounding-error showing in New Hampshire. Not really seeing any post mortem pieces out there, but here’s a piece on his last few days on the campaign trail. The most interesting part is finding out his New Hampshire office is in the same building as Buttigieg and Steyer’s state offices. He’s perhaps the most forgettable politician making a serious run for President this century. If you stuck a gun to the head of each Democratic Party voter and demanded they pick Bennet out of a list of candidates, 99% of those people would be dead.
  • Former Vice President Joe Biden: In. Twitter. Facebook. South Carolina or bust? The Bidenberg may still be leaking hydrogen, but I think he stays in until Super Tuesday. Cracks in the firewall? He blames his poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire on being outspent. Well, does he think that’s going to get any better with Bloomberg in the race? The benefits of being Joe Biden’s brother:

    It was not the first time — or the last — during his long career that Jim Biden turned to Joe’s political network for the kind of assistance that would have been almost unimaginable for someone with a different last name. Campaign donors helped him face a series of financial problems, including a series of IRS liens totaling more than $1 million that made it harder to get bank financing. Jim Biden took out two more loans from WashingtonFirst before its sale in 2018.

    These transactions illuminate the well-synchronized tango that the Biden brothers have danced for half a century. They have pursued overlapping careers — one a presidential aspirant with an expansive network of well-heeled Democratic donors; the other an entrepreneur who helped his brother raise political money and cultivated the same network to help finance his own business deals.

    Jim Biden, 70, has cycled over the years from nightclub owner to insurance broker to political consultant and fundraiser to startup investor and construction company executive. But the through line of his resume was his bond with his brother, a Democratic Party stalwart in a position to push legislation or make government contracts happen.

  • Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg: In. Twitter. Facebook. Inside his outreach to black voters.

    A meeting with nearly 80 black pastors in Detroit. A speech before a black Democratic organization in Montgomery. A rally at a historically black university. A tour of Martin Luther King Jr.’s church. An early voting kickoff at an African American museum. All in the past two weeks.

    While Mike Bloomberg’s rivals battled it out in majority-white Iowa and New Hampshire, the billionaire presidential candidate aggressively courted the black voters critical to any Democrat’s chance of winning of the nomination. The effort, backed by millions of dollars in ads, has taken him across Southern states that vote on March 3, from Montgomery, Alabama, and this week Raleigh, North Carolina, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, states where African American voters can decide a Democratic primary.

    His pitch is one of electability and competence — hoping to capitalize on black Democrats’ hunger to oust President Donald Trump. But as he courts black voters he’ll also have to reconcile his own record as mayor of New York and past remarks on criminal justice.

    Bloomberg’s outreach aims squarely at former Vice President Joe Biden, who is banking on loyal black voters to resuscitate his bid after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.

    “Who can beat Donald Trump? That’s what people care about,” said former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who is among the black leaders endorsing Bloomberg. Nutter says Bloomberg’s record of accomplishments outweighs the damage of flawed policing.

    Bloomberg has no doubt been helped by his limitless financial resources and his strategy to focus on states conducting primaries on Super Tuesday. One of the world’s richest men thanks to a net worth of roughly $60 billion, Bloomberg has spent more than $300 million of his own money on advertising, including spots on black radio stations, a Super Bowl ad that featured an African American mother who lost her son to gun violence and a national ad touting his work with President Barack Obama on gun legislation and a teen jobs program.

    (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.) “The Complete List of Everything Banned by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Is Bloomberg the common enemy?

    The Democratic presidential candidates raced on Sunday to make the most of their final weekend day before the Nevada caucuses, selling their messages and tearing into their opponents.

    But the rival they focused on most intently was one who isn’t even competing in the state.

    “I got news for Mr. Bloomberg,” Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont said at an event in Carson City, Nev., taking aim at the former New York City mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, within five minutes of opening his remarks. “The American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections.”

    In a rarity, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. echoed his progressive counterpart. “Sixty billion dollars can buy you a lot of advertising, but it can’t erase your record,” he said of Mr. Bloomberg in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired on Sunday.

    Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, another moderate, had similar thoughts. “I’m here getting votes,” Ms. Klobuchar said in an interview on Sunday. “It’s not something where I can just — what would be the word — transport in a bunch of ads.” She called on Mr. Bloomberg to “go on the shows that every other candidate goes on, on the Sunday shows and the like.”

    She added: “I don’t think I’m going to beat him on the airwaves, but I can beat him on the debate stage.” At a forum on Sunday focused on infrastructure, Ms. Klobuchar, who won the endorsement of The Las Vegas Sun last week, mentioned Mr. Bloomberg early on, referring to President Trump’s comments about his height as she stood to speak. “I am the only candidate that is 5-foot-4,” she joked. “I want that out there now.”

    The fixation on Mr. Bloomberg, the free-spending multibillionaire, reflected his rising prominence in the Democratic race, even though he is skipping the first four nominating contests and focusing on the 14 Super Tuesday states that will vote on March 3.

    As early voting continued in Nevada on Sunday, some of the criticism seemed to be sticking.

    “Bloomberg just has bad connotations that come along with him,” Leah Garwood said as she waited in line with her husband on Sunday in Las Vegas for roughly 45 minutes to vote for a different billionaire, Tom Steyer of California. “It’s just at the back of my mind. It makes me uncomfortable, uneasy.”

    Don’t believe it; Most of the people backing Biden, Buttigieg and Klobuchar (i.e., the Corrupt Wing) would choose Bloomberg over Sanders without hesitation. The meme machine. Bloomy can buy memes, but can he buy good memes? (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.) Tolerant Bernie Bros want to Blacklist Bloomberg staffers:

    (Tweet has since been deleted, but there’s plenty of reference to it on Twitter.) Are you an old person with cancer? Bloomberg just wants to let you die:

    He also thinks that any idiot can be a farmer. Bloomberg, the Big Purple Dinosaur:

    Don’t worry: It gets worse:

    (Hat tip: Daddy Warpig.)

  • South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg: In. Twitter. Facebook. The Master of the Platitude:

    Pete Buttigieg really speaks in platitudes a lot. Last night brought, “[You’re] ready to vote for a politics defined by how many we call in, instead of by who we push out . . . So many of you chose to meet a new era of challenge with a new generation of leadership . . . A fresh outlook is what makes new beginnings possible. It is how we build a new majority . . . The answers, they lie in a vision that brings Americans together not only in the knowledge of what we must stand against, but in the confidence of knowing what we are for.”

    Plus a handy link to the Mayor Pete Platitude Generator:

    Why gays think he’s not gay enough.

    Buttigieg is the ultimate candidate of the country’s post-2016 trauma. He is not a woman. He is not a socialist. He is decidedly not a revolutionary. He does not make big, sweeping promises, except one: that nothing much will change, only Donald Trump won’t be President. “What I like about Mayor Pete is that he is not a strong ideologue,” Tod Sedgwick, a volunteer who had gone to New Hampshire to canvass for Buttigieg, told me. Sedgwick, who is seventy-one and the former U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, was canvassing with his girlfriend, Christina Brown, a seventy-three-year-old community activist from Louisville, Kentucky. Sedgwick lives in Washington, D.C.

    Left out of this reassuring portrait is the fact he’s embraced most of the crazy ideas floated by his fellow candidates this year, and that his father is a hardcore Marxist scholar of Antonio Gramsci. Top Buttigieg advisor Lis Smith has a fake Nigerian burner account named Chinedu that’s a huge Mayor Pete fan. Because of course a Nigerian is going to be a huge fan of a gay Midwestern American politician. If Lis Smith’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she was carrying out an affair with disgraced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer while working for him.

  • Former First Lady, New York Senator, Secretary of State and losing 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: Probably not? Drudge floated a trial balloon suggesting Bloomberg would tap her as his veep pick. Which presents the tiny problem that it violates Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution, since both are from New York. Plus:

  • Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard: In. Twitter. Facebook. Says U.S. military should scale back overseas operations. She blames a total media blackout for her faltering campaign. Eh, she has a point, the Democratic Media Complex does hate her, but her failure to break through that barrier is on her. I mean, if you’re a youngish, attractive woman, how do you lose the Outsider Excitement Race to a 79-year old socialist?
  • Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar: In. Twitter. Facebook. Says that Obama was just too much of an immigration hawk for deporting non-felon illegal aliens, part of her desperate, unconvincing hispandering for Nevada votes, along with saying that English should not be the national language. Gets endorsed by the Houston Chronicle. Thirty years ago that would have meant something. Enjoy her one stump joke:

    “What Klobuchar’s Tater Tot Recipe Says About Her Candidacy.” File that one under “attempted humor”…

  • Update: Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick: Dropped Out. He dropped out February 12, 2020.

    Patrick focused his campaign entirely on New Hampshire, hoping the familiarity of a neighboring state would help boost his chances in the race. He offered what aides felt was a unique message in a field that ultimately boiled down largely to career politicians with little executive or private sector experience: that he had the track record as governor and through years of business experience to deliver on Democratic priorities like fighting climate change and reforming health care.

    You would think the failure of several other governors to run viable campaigns might have deterred him, but no. Patrick got into the race in November, made no impression whatsoever, and sank without a trace. Mike Gravel and Wayne Messam had more compelling reasons to run…

  • Vermont Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders: In. Twitter. Facebook. Democrats fear Sanders could cost them the House. “‘Doomsday Scenario’: Washington Moves To Crush The Sanders Revolution“:

    We have previously discussed the efforts of the Democratic establishment and some in the media to (again) derail the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, including the raw bias against Sanders shown by CNN reporter Abby Phillip in a prior presidential debate. Now, with Sanders’ victory in New Hampshire and rising polls, figures from both politics and media are putting on a full-court press to stop Sanders. Everyone from James Carville to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews are sounding alarms over Sanders. His victory last night was called the “doomsday scenario” by a Democratic Super PAC. The most shocking was MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd who used a quote form a columnist to compare Sanders supporters to Nazi brown-shirted thugs. It is a technique used before by Todd who reads letters or quotes from others to preserve the patina of neutrality like his recent attack on Trump supporters.

    Longtime Texas Democrats fear Sanders getting the nomination.

    “There is overall uncertainty which is growing. The real fear for Texas D’s remains Sanders,” Bill Miller, a longtime Austin lobbyist who has worked with both Democrats and Republicans, said of a Sanders ticket. “’We’d be fucked’ — that’s what they’re saying. The drain at the top goes down to the bottom.”

    Texas may not be a presidential battleground, but a wave of GOP retirements in Congress, shifting demographics and Donald Trump’s lightning-rod presidency offer Democrats a shot at real power after two decades of Republican dominance. And to insiders like Miller, plans to nationalize the health care and electricity sectors will spook voters and weigh down local Democrats who are trying to thread a needle in this still deeply conservative state.

    “Sure you can see my medical records! And by ‘sure’ I mean ‘no way.'” Topless PETA protestors interupt his speech.

  • Billionaire Tom Steyer: In. Twitter. Facebook. He and Klobuchar can’t name the President of Mexico. Steyer is spending a lot of time on the ground in Nevada and South Carolina.
  • Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren: In. Twitter. Facebook. The Warren campaign continues its controlled flight into terrain:

    Elizabeth Warren’s straggling campaign is cutting ad buys worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in key early states after bruising losses in Iowa and New Hampshire.

    The retrenchment follows a dismal fourth-place finish in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, down from third place in Iowa.

    “We were hoping for a better result in New Hampshire,” Warren’s campaign conceded in an email to supporters Wednesday. “It hurts to care so much, work so hard, and still fall a little short.”

    The campaign has cut more than $300,000 worth of ads in Nevada and South Carolina, according to two advertising trackers. The Massachusetts U.S. senator appears to be shifting her focus to Maine, with ad buys worth tens of thousands of dollars there on Wednesday, according to FCC filings.

    Her New Hampshire finish behind U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has also raised concerns about whether Warren can sustain the national organizing effort her campaign is relying on for success on Super Tuesday on March 3.

    “She put her eggs in a New Hampshire basket. That was the right thing to do, but it didn’t pan out,” said Democratic strategist Scott Ferson. “She’s entering a period of darkness and belt tightening and hard choices about options.”…

    Warren’s much-lauded ground game has now failed her twice, making it harder to generate the millions of dollars needed to sustain her massive operation, strategists say. Warren entered 2020 with $13.7 million in the bank and raised more than $5 million after Iowa. But her campaign also spent $12 million more than it took in at the end of 2019, FEC reports show.

    Maybe Warren had a great ground game, and she just sucks too hard as a candidate to take advantage of it… (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)

  • Update: Venture capitalist Andrew Yang: Dropped Out. He dropped out February 11, 2020. One of the more interesting and least pandering of the candidates, Yang ran much better than anyone (myself included) expected, but never broke out of single digits. He gets an exit interview in the New York Times. Might run for New York City mayor. It would be nearly impossible for him to do a worse job than Di Blasio…

    • Out of the Running

    These are people who were formerly in the roundup who have announced they’re not running, for which I’ve seen no recent signs they’re running, or who declared then dropped out:

  • Creepy Porn Lawyer Michael Avenatti. Gonna be hard to run for the White House when you’re facing up to 42 years in the big house.
  • Losing Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams
  • Actor Alec Baldwin
  • New Jersey Senator Cory Booker (Dropped out January 11, 2020)
  • Former California Governor Jerry Brown
  • Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown
  • Montana Governor Steve Bullock (Dropped out December 2, 2019)
  • Former one-term President Jimmy Carter
  • Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, Jr.
  • Former San Antonio Mayor and Obama HUD Secretary Julian Castro (Dropped out January 2, 2020)
  • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (Dropped out September 20, 2019)
  • Former Maryland Representative John Delaney (Dropped Out January 31, 2020)
  • Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
  • New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out August 29, 2019)
  • Former Tallahassee Mayor and failed Florida Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum
  • Former Vice President Al Gore
  • Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (Dropped out August 2, 2019)
  • California Senator Kamala Harris (Dropped out December 3, 2019)
  • Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (Dropped out August 15, 2019; running for Senate instead)
  • Former Attorney General Eric Holder
  • Washington Governor Jay Inslee: Dropped Out (Dropped out August 21, 2019; running for a third gubernatorial term)
  • Virginia Senator and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Vice Presidential running mate Tim Kaine
  • Former Obama Secretary of State and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.
  • New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu
  • Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe
  • Oregon senator Jeff Merkley
  • Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton (Dropped out August 23, 2019)
  • Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam: (Dropped out November 20, 2019)
  • Former First Lady Michelle Obama
  • Former West Virginia State Senator Richard Ojeda (Dropped out January 29, 2019)
  • Former Texas Representative and failed Senatorial candidate Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke (Dropped out November 1, 2019)
  • New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (constitutionally ineligible)
  • Ohio Representative Tim Ryan (Dropped out October 24, 2019)
  • Former Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak (Dropped out December 1, 2019)
  • California Representative Eric Swalwell (Dropped out July 8, 2019)
  • Author and spiritual advisor Marianne Williamson (Dropped out January 10, 2020)
  • Talk show host Oprah Winfrey

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    Disgusting Democratic Dirtbags Duck Discipline

    Saturday, December 2nd, 2017

    There’s so much news about Democrats acting like complete pervs that I decided a separate roundup was in order:

  • Disgraced ex-New York Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer is in the news again. Might not want to read this one right before eating…

    Disgraced “Luv Gov” Eliot Spitzer likes to take long romantic walks — at the end of a leash, new court papers claim.

    The hooker-happy former governor’s fetishes include a penchant for paying “young girls” to lead him around “on all fours” like a dog — and use kinky sex toys on him, former escort Svetlana Travis Zakharova alleged.

    Zhakharova, who last month struck a misdemeanor plea bargain after being charged with extorting $400,000 from Spitzer, filed the stunningly revealing papers in Manhattan Supreme Court, seeking to lift a gag order imposed as part of her prosecution.

    The 27-year-old Russian native says she has a First Amendment right to “discuss any and all actions or events that she participated in with Spitzer.”

    “Moreover, the fact that Spitzer was paying young girls to insert sex toys into his anal cavity and walk him around the floor on all fours with a leash is conduct that he made a conscious choice to engage in,” wrote her lawyer, Joseph Murray.

    Zakharova also accused Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark — who served as special prosecutor in her case — of seeking the Feb. 15 gag order as part of a “desperate” bid to protect Spitzer because he’s a “rich, powerful man.”

    This court appearance follows police being sent to the hotel room because Spitzer allegedly attacked and choked Zhakharova.

    Did New York police arrest Democratic bigwig Spitzer over his alleged assault? Yeah, right:

    Spitzer’s then-wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, grimly stood by her cheating hubby during that scandal.

    But she finally gave him the heave-ho in 2013 after The Post exclusively revealed his since-ended affair with Democratic political consultant Lis Smith, who at the time was a spokeswoman for Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio.

    In addition to lifting the gag order, Zakharova’s post-conviction motion seeks to disqualify Clark, with her lawyer noting that he believes “there is evidence of corruption we want to make public.”

    Clark was special prosecutor in Zakharova’s case after Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance bowed out over his close ties to Spitzer.

    Both men are Democrats and former political allies, and some of Vance’s top aides formerly worked for Spitzer, who was New York attorney general before being elected governor.

    Zakharova claims that Spitzer “was required, under New York law, to be arrested” following the Plaza Hotel incident, and notes that Spitzer’s lawyer, Adam Kaufmann, is a former high-ranking Manhattan prosecutor.

    She also alleges that “for some unknown reasons,” the case was transferred from Manhattan’s Midtown North Precinct — where detectives “were postured to arrest Spitzer” — and transferred to the Bronx Homicide Squad.

    The Bronx DA’s Office now “has no intention [of] arresting or prosecuting Spitzer,” her filing says.

    I’m a live-and-let-live sort of guy, and my libertarian self says that if one old dude wants to pay a young woman to consensually shove a dildo up his ass and walk him around on a leash in the privacy of his expensive New York hotel room, the state shouldn’t get involved. But in addition to the (alleged) assault, remember that this is a guy who not only broke the law by hiring prostitutes while he was attorney general and governor, but also chastised Americans for not having being willing to sacrifice for the common good, so yeah, I have no problem further exposing this hypocrite’s freak fetish.

  • Even Vox says that Democrats have a sexual harassment problem.

    Al Franken (D-MN) currently stands accused of groping multiple women before and after becoming a US senator. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has stepped down as the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee after reports surfaced that he’d paid a former staffer $27,000 to settle a 2014 sexual misconduct complaint.

    The problem is not, obviously, unique to Democrats.

    Over the past six weeks, it’s become clear that many of America’s most powerful and most respected institutions have housed and protected repeat sexual harassers and predators, while shutting up or shutting out their victims.

    “Has a sexual harassment problem” is a dubious distinction that the Democratic Party shares with Hollywood, Fox News, prestige television shows and networks, the restaurant industry, America’s most successful massage chain — and, of course, the Republican Party, which is currently running a Senate candidate who stands accused of assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

    But the ubiquity of the problem doesn’t make it any less real. The Democratic Party — which has for years positioned itself as the defender of gender equality and women’s rights against Republican attacks — hasn’t taken a stand by pushing out the alleged offenders. There are open ethics committee investigations in both houses, but there’s no expectation that the allegations already voiced against Franken and Conyers should be firing offenses.

    There are, as many reporters have pointed out, institutional imperatives at play here. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was reportedly wary of pushing out Conyers because she feared blowback from the Congressional Black Caucus. Democrats in both chambers are reportedly deferring to the ethics committees in part because they want to set an established pattern for how these allegations are addressed — because they know that such allegations, against Democrats and Republicans alike, are going to keep coming.

    But if the Democratic Party chooses to continue to protect its members against harassment allegations, it needs to be honest about the choice it’s not making: the choice to be an institution that actually reflects the better world it says it wants to create.

    For months, Democrats have identified themselves with the diffuse cultural energy known as “the resistance.” Now that public outrage is actually beginning to create change, by pushing serial predators out of positions of power, the Democrats — and other progressive political institutions — are facing a moment of reckoning. It can be an ally of the emergent social movement against a culture of serial harassment and “open secrets,” or it can be a partner of convenience.

    Actually, I expect the Democratic Party to do what it’s always done: Claim to be the party of reform while actually being the party of sleaze and corruption.

  • Democratic Rep. John Conyers allegedly sexually harassed a woman when she was 57.
  • More Conyers details from yet another accuser:

    Marion Brown, a former staffer under Rep. John Conyers, detailed the Michigan congressman’s alleged sexual misconduct in an exclusive interview with TODAY Thursday, saying the longtime civil rights icon “violated my body” and frequently propositioned her for sex.

    Brown is one of multiple women who have alleged of sexual harassment by Conyers, which she said occurred regularly during her 11 years working on his staff.

    It was sexual harassment, violating my body, propositioning me, inviting me to hotels with the guise of discussing business and propositioning for sex,” Brown told Savannah Guthrie. “He just violated my body, he’s touched me in different ways. It was very uncomfortable and very unprofessional.”

    She described a specific disturbing encounter with Conyers, 88, who has denied any wrongdoing, in a Chicago hotel room in 2005.

    “He was undressed down to his underwear,” she said. “He asked me to satisfy to him sexually. He pointed to genital areas of his body and asked me to touch him.

    “I was frozen shocked. I didn’t want to lose my job, I didn’t want to upset him. Also, he asked me to find other people that would satisfy him,” she said. “I just tried to escape. I did tell him that I was not going to do that and I did not feel comfortable.”

  • So now Conyers is hospitalized and, several days too late and several dollars short, Nancy Pelosi and other congressional Democrats call on him to resign.

    Conyers’ attorney, however, defiantly rejected Pelosi’s calls for his client to resign.

    “It is not up to Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi did not elect Mr. Conyers,” the attorney, Arnold Reed, said at a press conference Thursday in Detroit. “And she sure as hell won’t be the one to tell the congressman to leave.”

    Reed also criticized Pelosi for demanding the lawmaker quit while not doing the same for Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., who is facing a growing number of accusations of sexual misconduct. The Senate Ethics Committee announced on Thursday it had opened an investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Franken.

    Reed held another press conference Friday, saying that Conyers would “continue to defend himself until the cows come home” and added that he and the lawmaker would “discuss in the next day or so” what Conyers “plans to do.”

  • “Nancy Pelosi — Roy Moore’s Accidental Wingman.” “Nancy Pelosi’s defense of John Conyers framed the race exactly the way Moore wants it. Her belated change of heart will not erase the memory: The issue is party, not principle. ”
  • Another accuser comes forward to accuse Al Franken of groping her…and this one is an army veteran.
  • While Franken is avoiding resigning over sexual harassment charges, fellow Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon is holding up a bipartisan sex trafficking bill:

    More than 100 sex trafficking victims and advocacy groups are asking Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) to stop trying to block a bipartisan bill that would give families of victims and states the ability to sue websites that allow advertisements selling sex with minors on their platforms.

  • Any other House Democrats accused harassing women in the last 24 hours? Rep. Ruben Kihuen of Nevada, come on down!

    Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has joined the chairman of the House Democrats’ campaign committee in calling on a first-term Democratic Nevada congressman to resign, following a report that he sexually harassed an aide during his 2016 congressional campaign.

    In an article published by BuzzFeed Friday afternoon, Rep. Ruben Kihuen was accused of making repeated sexual advances toward his then-campaign finance director by a woman identified as “Samantha.” BuzzFeed said it is withholding her surname at her request. Samantha alleges that Kihuen propositioned her for dates and sex, and twice touched her thighs without consent.

  • “How a House Dem accused of drunken shenanigans revealed another secret ‘hush fund.'”

    Rep. Raul M. Grijalva quietly arranged a “severance package” in 2015 for one of his top staffers who threatened a lawsuit claiming the Arizona Democrat was frequently drunk and created a hostile workplace environment, revealing yet another way that lawmakers can use taxpayer dollars to hide their misbehavior on Capitol Hill.

    While the Office of Compliance has been the focus of outrage on Capitol Hill for hush-money payouts in sexual harassment cases, the Grijalva payout points to another office that lawmakers can use to sweep accusations under the rug with taxpayer-funded settlements negotiated by the House Employment Counsel, which acts as the attorney for all House offices.

    The employment counsel negotiated a deal for taxpayers to give $48,395 — five additional months’ salary — to the female aide, who left her job after three months. She didn’t pursue the hostile workplace complaint further.

  • Meanwhile, Weird Al Yankovic would like the media to stop using the name “Weird Al” in relation to Al Franken, or anyone else. So let’s just call Al Franken “Perv Al.” Or maybe Gropenfuhrer Franken.

    • I apologize if I’ve left out any Democrats behaving badly out of this roundup. There’s just so much sexual harassment news to keep up with…

    (And no, I’m not giving a couple of U.S. Representatives from Texas in the news a pass. I might be able to get to them Monday…)

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