If you read a lot of progressive blogs, you probably already know about this, since it was trumpeted last night as perhaps a bigger deal than the presidential primaries, but in any event: Donna Edwards decisively beat incumbent Democratic congressman Albert Wynn in a surburban DC district of Maryland.
Edwards came very close to upsetting Wynn two years ago. Her candidacy this time around probably drew more national attention and support from progressive netroots circles than any since the Lamont challenge to Joe Lieberman.
Wynn got the bullseye painted on his back for a variety of reasons, most notably his reliance on corporate contributions, and particularly his vote for bankruptcy “reform” legislation, a longstanding progressive cause celebre that’s gained new life thanks to the mortgage foreclosure crisis, which hit Wynn’s district disproportionately. This district, probably the wealthiest majority-African-American CD in the country, is centered in Prince George’s County, with a slice of Montgomery County as well.
There was some talk as recently as yesterday that Wynn might pull a Lieberman and run as an independent in the general election if he lost the primary. But he’s already endorsed Edwards, and this is a heavily Democratic district.
This primary will be treated as another object lesson in the willingness of progressives to “primary” wayward Dems, and also as part of a longer-range struggle within the African-American political community wherein membership in the Congressional Black Caucus no longer ensures perpetual re-election.
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Now, could someone bring up a certain Presidential candidate’s vote on bankruptcy reform again? Its a shame this is not a real national issue.
This year’s big media narrative has been the confirmation saga of Neera Tanden, Biden’s nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget. At New York I wrote about how over-heated the talk surrounding Tanden has become.
Okay, folks, this is getting ridiculous. When a vote in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the nomination of Neera Tanden was postponed earlier this week, you would have thought it presented an existential threat to the Biden presidency. “Scrutiny over Tanden’s selection has continued to build as the story over her uneven reception on Capitol Hill stretched through the week,” said one Washington Post story. Politico Playbook suggested that if Tanden didn’t recover, the brouhaha “has the potential to be what Biden might call a BFD.” There’sbeen all sorts of unintentionally funny speculation about whether the White House is playing some sort of “three-dimensional chess” in its handling of the confirmation, disguising a nefarious plan B or C.
Perhaps it reflects the law of supply and demand, which requires the inflation of any bit of trouble for Biden into a crisis. After all, his Cabinet nominees have been approved by the Senate with a minimum of 56 votes; the second-lowest level of support was 64 votes. One nominee who was the subject of all sorts of initial shrieking, Tom Vilsack, was confirmed with 92 Senate votes. Meanwhile, Congress is on track to approve the largest package of legislation moved by any president since at least the Reagan budget of 1981, with a lot of the work on it being conducted quietly in both chambers. Maybe if the bill hits some sort of roadblock, or if Republican fury at HHS nominee Xavier Becerra (whose confirmation has predictably become the big fundraising and mobilization vehicle for the GOP’s very loud anti-abortion constituency) reaches a certain decibel level, Tanden can get out of the spotlight for a bit.
But what’s really unfair — and beyond that, surreal — is the extent to which this confirmation is being treated as more important than all the others combined, or indeed, as a make-or-break moment for a presidency that has barely begun. It’s not. If Tanden cannot get confirmed, the Biden administration won’t miss a beat, and I am reasonably sure she will still have a distinguished future in public affairs (though perhaps one without much of a social-media presence). And if she is confirmed, we’ll all forget about the brouhaha and begin focusing on how she does the job, which she is, by all accounts, qualified to perform.
Now, could someone bring up a certain Presidential candidate’s vote on bankruptcy reform again? Its a shame this is not a real national issue.