Once again the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is attempting to neuter the Democratic Party’s return to its preferred roots, grassroots progressivism. They attempted this by using Right Wing tactics against Progressive candidates during the 2018 primaries.
Recall that is what the DCCC did to Laura Moser in the Texas 7th Congressional District and Levi Tillemann in the Colorado 6th Congressional District. I interviewed both Moser and Tillemann on the blatantly undemocratic tactics the DCCC used.
On the Standards for DCCC Political Vendors page they wrote the following.
The core mission of the DCCC is electing House Democrats, which includes supporting and protecting incumbents. To that end, the DCCC will not conduct business with, nor recommend to any of its targeted campaigns, any consultant that works with an opponent of a sitting Member of the House Democratic Caucus.
According to Common Dreams,
According to National Journal, which first reported the policy change, “Democrats involved in crafting the standards intend for them to bolster members across the ideological spectrum, from the fiscally conservative Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas to the progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota—both of whom could be subject to contested primaries.”
But progressives argued that the ostensibly neutral rule will disproportionately harm grassroots organizations looking to replace right-wing Democrats with bold figures like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who both ousted incumbent Democrats in primaries last year.“Make no mistake—they are sending a signal that they are more afraid of Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez winning primary challenges than Henry Cuellar who votes with Trump nearly 70 percent of the time,” Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, told The Intercept.
As Common Dreams reported in January, the progressive advocacy group, Justice Democrats, is recruiting a 2020 primary challenger to take on Cuellar, who has backed anti-abortion legislation and raised money for the GOP.
The DCCC fundraises from big-dollar donors who presumably would like to reject Progressive candidates as well as from small-dollar donors many of whom want vibrant democratic primaries. As such, it is incumbent on small-dollar donors to withhold any contributions to the DCCC and instead donate to your candidate of choice whether an incumbent or a primary challenger.
This DCCC move has not gone unnoticed.
The DCCC is using financial leverage to try and stop progressive primaries from happening in the Democratic Party.
— Waleed Shahid
The DCCC says they will stop conducting business with anyone who supports a primary challenge to an incumbent Democrat — just like @AyannaPressley and @AOC did. pic.twitter.com/bvMRUQplOH(@_waleedshahid) March 22, 2019
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