Gorgeous weather here in Copenhagen. I have been walking home from school with my 4 year old granddaughter (rather than taking the bus or Metro) and it is just so much fun. She wanders home with numerous detours so it takes forever but I was always in such a rush with my own kids that I love how tranquil it is to take our time. Plus, she lives in this beautiful city so we walk thru a part of the former royal Danish estate on our way -
On to crass political talk. Some disgruntled Dems are blabbing about Schumer to media:
Mills’ exit has intensified criticism of Schumer’s intervention in primaries, with some Democratic senators calling his support for her a 'miscalculation' driven by political inertia. Lawmakers and candidates in other battleground states, including Michigan and Minnesota, are openly rejecting his leadership. The episode has become a cautionary tale about the risks of backing establishment figures in an anti-establishment climate
Haley Stevens | Michigan | Preferred candidate of Schumer | Faced anti-Schumer sentiment; challenged by progressive Abdul El-Sayed and Mallory McMorrow |
Mallory McMorrow is running an overtly anti Schumer race and Haley Stevens (like Mills) is collapsing, so that’s another Schumer miss BUT Schumer also pushed Sherrod Brown into a Senate run.
Reading online (primarily Bluesky but also Tik Tok and Huffington Post – I try to read all kinds of liberals) there seems to be this myth that “populism” is both a brand new (and scary!) idea in the Democratic Party.
This may be a regional thing – maybe NY, New England and California Dems were never populists but there have always been Great Lakes populists. Sherrod Brown is one. So is Marcy Kaptur. Hell, OBAMA ran as a raving populist in Ohio in 2012 and no one complained that the rabble were taking over the Party.
As Joe has noted on this on this very blog, Jon Ossoff is running an overtly populist campaign, as is Talarico in Texas. It ain’t just El Sayed in Michigan and Platner in Maine.
I think the “scary populist takeover!” theme is just another way for centrists who refuse to admit they are centrists to punch Left, because it isn’t an accurate depiction of the history OR the existing Democratic Party, let alone some brand new “insurgency” that must be quashed.
