Bloomberg is not your guy.

"In total, 1,806 people were arrested during the [Republican] convention. Some were legal observers and members of the press. Some were mere bystanders who unwittingly encountered protesters while walking in the city and got swept up in indiscriminate mass arrests. 'I was just walking by –– I had a receipt from a store that I had bought something from on that street' V'epa Majamutar told Democracy Now some 12 hours after her arrest. 'All of a sudden the street basically just gets cordoned off and we cannot move. So before I was arrested I was just standing still because that's all we could really do. And then they just started putting handcuffs on people. They gave us no warning.'"

At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Michael Bloomberg presided over dubious arrests: What Bloomberg Did to Peaceful Protesters by Conor Friedersdorf (The Atlantic)

Iowa

Bernie Sanders is ahead in the tally of votes; the delegate count is arriverd at by an arcane counting methodology (think Electoral College). Pete Buttigieg benefited from Joe Biden's collapse; there is no foreseeable pathway for the mayor to the Oval Office, but it was good of him to stick a fork in Uncle Joe. Donald Trump had a good night ... and so did Michael Bloomberg. Nevada is undecided. New Hampshire is Sanders' to lose. Biden is up by only 10% in South Carolina. Sanders supporters need to double their efforts. In 2008, progressives put aside their differences to stop Clinton (John Edwards got out of the way by suspending his campaign); expect the party centrists to try the same thing on March 3 to stop Sanders. Get to work.

The fact that Bernie Sanders can succeed without the party machine enrages those who sacrificed their idealism to play the game

"Yes, our electoral system is in substantial ways anti-democratic, and the influence of money in politics is pernicious, and Republicans suppress the vote in earnest. But those things have been true forever. They are a given. The job of capitalizing on the enormous demographic disadvantage that the upper class faces in the class war falls to the Democratic party. The Democratic party, however, has never had any interest in really capitalizing on it.

"Now, Bernie Sanders is threatening to make the class war reality by winning the Democratic presidential nomination. His biggest obstacle is not the Republican candidate – a rich, evil cartoon man who is a perfect foil for Bernie’s analysis of what plagues us – but the Democratic establishment. In their eyes, he is an existential threat to their traditional approach of determining their stance on moral issues by finding a point halfway between 'What’s right' and 'What the Koch brothers are advocating via attack ads.'

"You can sense their panic, rising like tree sap. As time grows shorter and the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire trend in Bernie’s favor, the Third Way-style Democrats voice increasingly desperate warnings that a party that lost to Trump may be about to make a mistake. The Wall Street set throws more money at Joe Biden; the famous columnists who backed the Iraq war sound the alarm about unelectability; the candidate who lost to a reality television clown joins in the doomsaying. A Hollywood casting agency specializing in budget comedies could not assemble a less credible group of opponents. One of Bernie Sanders’ greatest advantages in the race is that many of the most unlikable hypocrites in America despise him."

The rest of the story:
Bernie Sanders' real obstacle is not Trump. It's the Democratic establishment. by Hamilton Nolan (The Guardian)

Where they stand: The Environment.

The CBD graded the 2020 Democratic candidates on four key environmental areas ("We evaluated every candidate polling above 1% in the latest national polls. We did not evaluate former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg because of his decision not to participate in any Democratic debate, build a grassroots network of supporters or compete in any of the early state caucuses or primaries"): Environmental Voter Guide (Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund)

Bernie Sanders is Not a Radical, He Has Mass Support for Positions on Healthcare & Taxes

From 2016. True then. True now.

Must see TV

The best political ad of the season.

Joe Biden is touchy but not feely.

Will a Californian make it to the White House in 2020?

Sen. Kamala Harris, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, megadonor Tom Steyer and Rep. Eric Swalwell certainly hope so.

Unless, of course, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can make it happen sooner.

Herding cats: Why being governor or mayor is good preparation for a president

Herding cats: An idiom denoting a futile attempt to control or organize a class of entities which are inherently uncontrollable, such as legislators or city councilors.

I hope the Democrats will look beyond Congress -- especially beyond the handful of self-anointed U.S. Senators banging around the Beltway like so many ego-filled hot air balloons -- at some of the mayors and governors who have expressed an interest in running or might be persuaded to get in the race. Governors and mayors deal with real issues with constrained resources. Mayors are typically very good at retail politics. They have experience handling legislative bodies. And neither is tainted by

association with the Beltway.

Many of the parishes mayors manage are not small-scale operations. For example, only seven states in the nation are bigger than L.A. County (Los Angeles, by far its largest city, is bigger than 23 of the states). The populations of 38 states are smaller than NYC's. Chicago, Houston: these places are huge. Being chief executive in any of theses hamlets is going to give you more relevant experience than you'd get as, say, governor of Arkansas.

Even in smaller cities, mayors are dealing with issues like poverty, housing, immigration, schools, medical services, police and fire protection, infrastructure, utilities, transportation, even massive problems like global warming and international trade, while senators spend most of their time raising campaign dollars and whining that the other side won't let them get anything done.

Several mayors are considering runs, most seriously Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (a small city with big problems) and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Also being talked up are New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a progressive favorite, and Boston Mayor and former labor leader Marty Walsh.

Only 7 states are bigger than L.A.

Parenthetically, Sens. Booker and Sanders are former mayors.

Governors, too, who deal with political problems at the granular level, need a closer look, although in the wake of the calamitous Obama years, the ranks of experienced Democratic governors are thin. California ex-Gov. Jerry Brown is probably too old (although nowhere has he said he'd turn it down). CA Gov. Gavin Newsom, IL Gov. JB Pritzker, WI Gov. Tony Evers, MI Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and CO Gov. Jared Polis are all too new, and NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken himself out of the 2020 competition. But MT Gov. Steve Bullock and former MA Gov. Deval Patrick are exploring runs; MD ex-Gov. Martin O'Malley will want another shot; WA Gov. Jay Inslee gets high marks from all sectors of the party, especially on climate change; and the party ought to take at least cursory looks at other governors like LA's John Bel Edwards, NC's Roy Cooper and RI's Gina Raimundo, as well as ex-govs like VA's Terry McAuliffe and CO's progressive John Hickenlooper.

Reading list:
✓ Why Democrats should take mayors seriously as presidential candidates: From City Hall to the White House by Alex Shephard (The New Republic)
✓ The bloom has come off the gubernatorial rose in presidential politics and that might be good news for Democrats: Maybe a Democratic mayor should be president by Jamal Simmons (The Hill)
✓ Democrats might need a straight white man from the middle of the country, like Steve Bullock, to win the 2020 election. But do they want one?: Could This Unknown Montana Governor Be Our Next President? by Anne Helen Petersen (BuzzFeed)
✓ As mayor, he has helped usher in Los Angeles's renaissance, most recently by bringing George Lucas's Museum of Narrative Art to the city. Can he work the same magic in a possible 2020 challenge to Trump?: Eric Garcetti Is the Anti-Trump, Pro–Star Wars Man We Need by Chanan Tigay (GQ)
✓ Democratic insiders can’t stand the progressive New York mayor and want him to pipe down, despite his record of real accomplishment back home. What gives?: What’s Bill de Blasio’s Problem? by Edward-Isaac Dovere (Politico)
✓ Can an Obama acolyte be elected after Trump?: Deval Patrick’s Presidential Prospects by Jeffrey Toobin (The New Yorker)
✓ Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is gearing up for an unconventional 2020 presidential run: ‘He’s going to do it … He’s got a theory’ by David Siders (Politico)

Extra credit:
✓ Top party donors and operatives are eager to see the Texas congressman jump into the presidential race: Beto O’Rourke blows up the 2020 Democratic primary by David Siders (Politico)

Mob Rule

In 2016, the Republican primaries were a joke not just because so many who ran were ridiculous, but because so many ran. For the Democrats, 2020 looks even worse, with by one account nearly 50 infected with the presidential bug.

But what if all the Democratic senators were to get together in pre-primary caucuses to pick one from their ranks to run? (Sen. Gillibrand estimates, perhaps over-optimistically, only eight senators will finally do so.)

And what if all the independent senators (there are currently two, both affiliated with the Democrats); all the members of the House (like Seth Moulton, John Delaney and Sean Patrick Maloney); all the governors (like John Hickenlooper, Steve Bullock and Terry McAuliffe); all the mayors (like Bill de Blasio and Pete Buttigieg); all the former office-holders (like Julián Castro, Martin O’Malley, Al Franken, Eric Holder and Mitch Landrieu); all the former losing presidential candidates (you know who they are); all the celebrities (like Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry, Alec Baldwin, Chris Rock and The Rock); and all the gazillionaires (like Mark Cuban, Mark Zuckerberg, Howard Schultz and Tom Steyer); what if each of these factions gathers in caucus to pick one each to represent them?

Thus, instead of being absurdly overcrowded, the debates will be manageable and informative. We might reasonably expect to end up with something on the order of this: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Ind. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Gov. Jay Inslee, Mayor Eric Garcetti, former Gov. Deval Patrick, former senator and presidential candidate John Kerry, celebrity Will Smith and billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

Nine candidates on the debate stage. That'd work.

Better than 50, anyway.

Noted

Bernie Sanders ran; Hillary Clinton moved left. Cynthia Nixon ran; Andrew Cuomo moved left.

It takes an existential threat to their power to make establishment Democrats do the right thing.

Good to know.

When you hear the word "reform"...

...reach for your gun.

The most pointed irony of the DCCC/DNC interventions in California, specifically, is that here the party leadership is being hoist on its

Drew Shebeman—Tribune Media

own petard. They colluded in a "reform" effort led by then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to lock insurgents and independents out of general elections by limiting the final contestants to the top two vote getters in open primaries, assuming they would be the establishment picks from each party. Now the party bosses are forced to intervene to protect their pre-washed, pre-shrunk, pre-approved, corporate-friendly choices from an army of progressive challengers and angry Democratic voters.

"The approach is laced with peril for a party divided over matters of ideology and political strategy, and increasingly dominated by activists who tend to resent what they see as meddling from Washington. A Democratic effort to undercut a liberal insurgent in a Houston-area congressional primary in March stirred an outcry on the left and may have inadvertently helped drive support to that candidate, Laura Moser, who qualified for the runoff election next month."

The same thing is happening across CA where the party establishment's chronic distrust of voters is leading them to make the same mistakes that have cost them countless seats in local, state and congressional races (not to mention Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton) since the 1990s.

The rest of the story:
✓ Fearing Chaos, National Democrats Plunge Into Midterm Primary Fights by Alexander Burns (New York Times).
✓ Democrats consider attacking their own California candidates to win back Congress by Emily Cadei (Sacramento Bee).

Reading list:
✓ Unintended consequences of California’s open primary by Martin Wiskol (Orange County Register).
✓ California GOP should embrace open primary system: Orange County Register editorial 2017/10/22.
✓ The political parties would like voters to kill California's top-two primary system in 2018 by John Myers (Los Angeles Times).
✓ The defining characteristic of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for too many years has been its well-honed ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory: Texas Progressive Laura Moser Is Beating Democratic Insiders by John Nichols (The Nation).
✓ While this article is mostly true, it would be fairer to say that, after 30 years of Democratic missteps, the chickens came home to roost during Obama's stay in office: The Democratic Party Got Crushed During The Obama Presidency. Here's Why by Mara Kiasson (NPR).
✓ Instead of campaigning on issues that reform-minded voters care about, the DCCC is going after a GOP “culture of corruption.” Once again, elect us because we're not them. It worked then. But not since. Will it work now?: Democrats Look To Their Successful 2006 Messaging In Bid To Retake The House by Amanda Terkel (Huffington Post).

Extra credit:
✓ Maybe they can hire the lawyers who won the Citizens United case: DNC Lawyers Argue ‘Primary Rigging’ Is Protected by 1st Amendment (Liberty Headlines).

Must read: The Left ascendant

"With his primary election victory last week, Illinois Congressman Dan Lipinski -- a Blue Dog and cultural conservative -- won the first major 2018 battle between the Democratic Party's establishment and progressive wings. But don't be confused about what it means. The war is already over, and the establishment lost.

"Even though only two states have actually voted so far this primary election season -- Texas, a red-state redoubt, and Illinois, a blue-state stronghold -- the battle for supremacy this primary season is all but complete. In state after state, the left is proving to be the animating force in Democratic primaries, producing a surge of candidates who are forcefully driving the party toward a more liberal orientation on nearly every issue.

"These candidates are running on an agenda that moves the party beyond its recent comfort zone and toward single-payer health care, stricter gun control, a $15 minimum wage, more expansive LGBT rights and greater protections for immigrants. In the surest sign of the reoriented issue landscape, they're joined by some of the most prominent prospects in the 2020 Democratic presidential field -- Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris among them -- who are embracing the same agenda."

The rest of the story:
Forget about Conor Lamb and Dan Lipinski. The progressive wing has already beaten the establishment in 2018: How the Bernie Wing Won the Democratic Primaries by Charlie Mahtesuian (Politico).

Issues matter

Stalking Horse?

I don't have an opinion yet on the campaign for governor between Gavin Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa, John Chiang and Delaine Eastin, but the entry into the race of Amanda Renteria, a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer, is suspicious at the go. Who enters a major race 30 days before the filing deadline with no campaign infrastructure, no staff, no website, no endorsements, and no cash? It's not a stretch to think that Renteria will be on the ballot to suppress support of Newsom's chief rival Villaraigosa among Latinos. Is this another attempt by the party poobahs to rig a primary outcome? Shouldn't the voters get to hear from the candidates before the fix is in?

California Democrats to Dianne Feinstein: "Good work on Trump. Now come home."

Okay. I'm one who applauded: "Dianne Feinstein is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore."

But the thundering hosannas for her releasing of the Fusion GPS testimony have begun to drown out reality.

Sen. Feinstein's action was admirable. If she had not done it, she would have been complicit in the blatant lying of Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham. But she is far from being the Second Coming of FDR.

She has been the strongest Democratic proponent in the Senate of the security state, she has dependably supported the Long War, and she has carried water for corporate and financial interests throughout her career, as when she voted for the bill that repealed Glass-Steagall’s banking reforms (California's other U.S. Senator, Barbara Boxer, voted nay). After decades in office, she is out of step. left behind by her increasingly liberal constituency; even with the advantages of incumbency in a blue state, she is only getting about 40% in support of her reelection campaign.

You have to ask yourself why at 84 she is running at all. My guess is that the party poobahs, realizing that if she retires the seat will almost certainly fall into the hands of a progressive, have decided that she remains their best hope to hold the seat for the donors; she will almost certainly be one of the two standing candidates after the primary (out-of-staters may not know that in California the general election is a run-off between the top two primary vote-getters, even if they are from the same party or no party at all), and Democratic leaders are betting she will get enough Democratic and all Republican votes to win (the other candidate will be a Democrat to her left -- there is no other kind; the GOP is not a factor at the state level in California); then, after a year or two, she will step down and the new governor, presumably Gavin Newsom, a Democrat in any case, will appoint a reliable supporter of business-as-usual.

Sen. Feinstein deserves all credit for unilaterally releasing the transcript of Glenn Simpson's testimony before her committee, and I hope she continues to hold Grassley's and Graham's feet to the fire.

When you think about it, though, this would be a perfect moment to retire. The primary will be bitter and divisive, and since experience suggests there is every likelihood that the poobahs have it wrong anyway, possibly pointless:

Instead, for the good of the nation, she could go out as Fighting Dianne Feinstein, spending her final days of service battling the criminalized GOP (as she is doing in taking a lead in rejecting Trump's off-shore drilling scam and supporting the Dreamers). What an honorable way to go.

Extra credit:
> The Republicans Fake Investigation by Glenn R. Simpson and Peter Fritsch (New York Times)
> Sen. Dianne Feinstein Releases Full Testimony From Co-Founder of Firm Behind Russia Dossier by Molly Olmstead (Slate)
> The full text of Glenn Simpson's interview before the Senate Judiciary Committee on 2017/08/22 (PDF)
> Dianne Feinstein survived childhood abuse, assassination attempts, and a brutal fight with the CIA. Now it’s time to take on Trump: The Lioness in Winter by Gail Sheehy (Mother Jones)
> In a rare meeting, the Democratic senator finds little common ground with hometown activists: Dianne Feinstein Town Hall Shows Why She’s a Conservative by San Francisco Standards by Matt Tinoco (Mother Jones)
> California's feverish political moment creates opportunity for a Feinstein challenge — or a few by Seema Mehta and Melanie Mason (Los Angeles Times)
> Kevin de León, president of the California Senate, is challenging the longtime senator next year, creating a dilemma for the party's 2020 hopefuls: The Democrats’ Dianne Feinstein Problem by David Dayen (New Republic)<br />
> Alison Hartson announced she's running for U.S. Senate: New liberal challenger to Sen. Dianne Feinstein launches bid on 'The Young Turks' by Sarah D. Wire (Los Angeles Times)

It was a good night,...

...but let's not lose sight of the road ahead. To come out on top in 2018, the Democrats must still agree on a raison d'être more compelling than "Stronger Together" and "A Better Deal," suffer expensive, divisive primaries that may or may not settle their differences or produce electable candidates, be outspent by $ millions, and for many House and local legislative races overcome a decade of GOP gerrymandering. Voters can be unhappy with Trump and still not see the Democrats as the antidote.

After five decades, change for California

"Rather than a harbinger of a purge, Feinstein is a special case because her politics have become so out of step with her constituents and even Democrats nationally. 'I support Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris, and I don’t support Dianne Feinstein,' said Congressman Ro Khanna, a fellow California Democrat who has been advocating for a Feinstein challenge. 'I think there are very specific reasons that a primary challenge to Diane Feinstein in California is called for.'”

The rest of the story:
Kevin de León, the California Senate president, is taking on the U.S. senator in next year's Democratic primary. The reward is much greater than the risk.: The Win-or-Lose Case for Challenging Dianne Feinstein by Graham Vyse (New Republic).
Many Calif. Dems silent on backing Feinstein by Mike Lillis (The Hill)
Kevin de León announces run against Dianne Feinstein, setting up Democratic clash in Senate race by Casey Tolan (Bay Area News Group)

From the Money-Talks-Bullshit-Walks Desk:

“No district is off the table." -- Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, the House Democratic campaign chairman.

Except, so far, for Kansas and Montana. In other words, except for two out of three.

It's not over 'til it's over.

There's more to the primaries than picking the nominee. The delegates to the convention will write, amend and approve the party platform. Speeches will be made to the nation in prime time. The party chair will be chosen and DNC positions filled. Whether the nominee is Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, the more progressives that are elected to the convention, the more likely that the Democratic Party will return to its historic role as the champion of social and economic equality.