Category Archives: Democrat

Angle: The Lies of the Left

They are trying to reward the elites, fight to kill the unborn and demonizing your fellow Americans thats one hell of a national strategy.

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Laura Ingraham sounded off on U.S. Senate candidate Tim Ryan portraying himself as a "moderate Democrat" against "real populist" J.D. Vance on "The Ingraham Angle."

LAURA INGRAHAM: Here's an Angle: rule of thumb. Whenever a Democrat in an election year claims to be a sensible moderate or claims that he's going to challenge his party's orthodoxy, he's lying. National Review's headline today made me howl. Moderate Democrats come out against Biden's out-of-touch student loan forgiveness.

LAURA INGRAHAM: OUR FREEDOM TO TRAVEL AS FAR AS WE WANT, WHENEVER WE WANT, IS UNDER ATTACK

They go on to quote Ohio Democrat and Senate candidate Tim Ryan, who claimed yesterday that the Biden debt cancelation sends the wrong message to the millions of Ohioans without a degree working just as hard to make ends meet. Now, Ryan thinks voters are really stupid. He voted with Pelosi and Biden 100% of the time this Congress. Yeah. And yet now, because he's running against a real populist in J.D. Vance, he's trying to morph into being one himself. It's all lies.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The truth is, if he's elected, Ryan, just like all the other pretend moderates out there, will be another sure vote for the Biden agenda. And Biden's doddering demeanor is so bad these days that Democrats who are up for re-election are saying, "Thanks, but no thanks, Joe," to any personal appearances by the leader of their own party, if you can believe it. Mark Kelly in Arizona couldn't bring himself to tell the truth when asked about Biden joining him on the campaign trail.

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Laura Ingraham: Whenever a Democrat claims to be a moderate, they are lying - Fox News

Its a sweltering morning in early August, and a hazy Narragansett Bay is visible from Sarah Morgenthaus Saunderstown home. Past the oyster cages off Fox Island, a sailboat idly tacks back and forth. In an ordinary summer, Morgenthau and her family might be out there on their Hobie Cat, or swimming from the sandy beach that sits at the bottom of their sprawling property.

Morgenthau hasn't hadtime for any of that lately: Shes vying to succeed U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin in Congress. Over the weekend, amid a crushing heat wave, she went from shaking hands at the Dominican parade in Providence to singing karaoke at the Charlestown Seafood Festival to chatting up voters at a meet-and-greet in a Johnston backyard.

Now, as the humidity bears down, shes giving a tour to a nosy reporter who has far too many questions about the sheep that are grazing near the tennis court. (There are four of them, and 13 more on the way but thats her husbands domain.)

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Its hard not to wonder why shes putting herself through this. The front-runner in the Democratic primary, state General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, seems poised to cruise to victory on Sept. 13. Hes raised the most money, maintained a roughly 30-point lead in polls, and collected the most endorsements including one from Langevin, who said in June that it was time to "unite behind the strongest candidate in the race.

Yet despite the steep odds, rival Democrats have steadfastly refused to bow out.

More: Where Democrats in RI's 2nd District race stand on housing, health care, Green New Deal

Along with Morgenthau, whos held high-powered jobs in Washington, D.C., but only recently registered to vote at her familys home in Rhode Island, the field includes David Segal, a cerebral populist focused on reining in corporate special interests; Joy Fox, who has served as communications director for both Langevin and Gov. Gina Raimondo and claims the deepest ties to the district; and Omar Bah, an African refugee with a compelling personal story.

Until recently, Spencer Dickinson, a former lawmaker with conservative views, was also in the race. HisfriendJohn Carlevalesaid on Tuesday that Dickinson was experiencing serious health issues and was "suspending the active part of his campaign."

If youre just tuning in, a quick recap: Back in February, Langevin unexpectedly announced that he would not seek reelection. It briefly felt like every politician whod ever set foot in Rhode Islands 2nd Congressional District, which covers the western half of the state, was floating the idea of running for the open seat. One week later, Magaziner announced that he would be exiting the crowded governors race in order to run for Congress.

Political Scene: A rare opportunity crowds the race for Congress

To observers, it seemed clear that Democratic insiders were worried about losing the seatand wanted a nominee who was already a known quantity with strong name recognition. But if the goal was to clear the field, that didnt happen: After Magaziner entered the race, other candidates continued to join.

Political forecasters believe that Republicans have a chance ofwinningthe seat in November's general electionfor the first time in decades. While Magaziner has focused on campaigning against Allan Fung, the Republican nominee, his rivals within his own party are trying to make the case that theyre better-positioned to keep the seat in Democratic hands.

More: 'A great time to be running as a Republican': Optimism runs high at RI GOP convention

More: Allan Fung opens up about fundraising visit by GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy

I think Im the strongest candidate to go against Allan Fung, Morgenthau says. I think I draw the greatest contrast.

Says Fox: Im only in this race. Its not like I was running for governor and decided to jump in because it looked easier, and maybe the powers that be convinced me to change my mind. … Im in this because I believe that I can make a difference.

The first time that Seth Magaziners name appeared in The Providence Journal, he was 12 weeks old. His father, Ira Magaziner a campus radical turned wildly successful management consultant had proposed an ambitious plan to revive Rhode Islands economy.

When my son grows up," the elder Magaziner told The Journal, "and when he's 15 or 20 years old and beginning to go out in the world, I'd like to be able to sit down and say that I was part of an effort that made Rhode Island a place where he can find a good job in this state if he wants to.

The economic plan never came to fruition, but Rhode Island nonetheless proved to be a good place for the young Magaziner to find a job.

More: Should Biden run for reelection? Most Democrats in RI congressional race sidestep the question

At 31, he was elected state treasurer, a role that has become a springboard for ambitious politicians. Now, at 39, he has a goodchance of becoming the newest member of Rhode Islands congressional delegation.

Magaziner grew up to be an affable nerd whose career has centered around the notion that financial systems can be leveraged to create positive social outcomes. Hes now a father himself and often says hes running to make a better world for his 10-month-oldson, Max who periodically causes chaos at campaign events.

As soon as I start my stump speech, he goes nuts and he starts screaming, Magaziner jokes. Hopefully, hes not going to grow up to be a Republican.

Magaziner spent his own early years on Bristols desirable Poppasquash Neck; later, his father became a top adviser to President Bill Clinton and temporarily moved the family to Washington, D.C.He attended Milton Academy and Brown University, where he was president of the College Democrats.

Afterward, he followed a popularpath for idealistic graduates: joining Teach for America.

His two years teaching third and fourth grade in Opelousas, Louisiana Cajun country, out in the swamps were a formative experience, he said. The majority of his students were Black and qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, and many lived in public housing.

More: RI candidates try to sway undecided voters. Here's how they are making their case

After a year, he recalled, the Home Depot in town shut down. Then, the one nice restaurant and by nice I mean the one restaurant with tablecloths closed. We didnt know it at the time, but it was the start of the Great Recession.

Students vanished from his classroom as their parents lost their jobs and moved away. Soon, Magaziner had also moved on to get an MBA at Yale.

Hed had a realization that there were decisions being made in boardrooms a thousand miles away that were impacting the lives of my kids and my parents, he said. And the people in those boardrooms making those decisions had no concept of what was going on in communities like the one I was working in.

He didnt know what he wanted to do with a business degree, he said. But I just knew that I wanted to try to understand both ends of the spectrum. I wanted to understand how the financial world worked with the goal of making it work better in places like Opelousas.

After Yale, Magaziner got a job at Trillium Asset Management, which positions itself as a socially responsible investment firm. While living in Providence and commuting to Boston by train, he got involved with local causes like the campaign for marriage equality, then launched his bid for state general treasurer in 2013.

Magaziner defeatedFrank Caprio, aveteran politician who had previously served as treasurer,in an upset.As treasurer, Magaziner seized on the fact that the state pension fund has the ability to push for changes at companies that it invests in. Recently, for instance, he urged Mastercard to crack down on sellers of ghost guns. When Pinterest faced allegations of discrimination, he initiated a lawsuit that resulted in a number of reforms.

Political Scene: How long, personal 'Mother T' letters became a Rhode Island campaign must

But he sees a school construction initiative that led to a majority of school buildings in the state being repaired or replaced as his biggest accomplishment.

When he entered the race to succeed Langevin, Magaziner didnt live in the 2nd Congressional District which, legally, is not required but pledged to move there. This month, just before the deadline to register to vote in the primary, he and his family relocated to a rental in the Edgewood section of Cranston. The house that they own on theEast Side of Providencehas been listed for rent.

Critics contend that a candidate with deeper roots in the district would fare better in the general election. In response, Magaziner tends to cite his work helping to finance infrastructure projects in West Warwick and Westerly. As treasurer, he says, hes spent real time in every part of the district.

He also notes that he was living in the 2nd District when he was first elected, so its not that Im moving there for the first time. (Certain pockets of Providence, including parts of downtown, are in the district.)

I have the deepest experience of working in communities all across the district to solve problems and get things done, he said. And I think that will allow me to be the most effective representative for the community in Congress.

The heat index is already at 100 degrees by the time David Segal begins canvassing a neighborhood of split-level ranches near Aqueduct Road in Cranston.

Its a Sunday afternoon, so it seems safe to assume that everyone has decamped for the beach. But at the first house, the door swings open. The homeowners, both trained social workers, nod appreciatively as Segal somewhat apologetically runs through his biography and explains that hes spent the last decade pushing back on corporate special interests.

More: Former state Rep. David Segal joins crowded field for RI's Second Congressional District

If you know The American Prospect, its a progressive publication, they just profiled me, he says. Maybe there was a little bit of exaggeration, but they called me the singular figure at the center of the most important cross-partisan coalitions over the last 10 years.

Sold, the couple ask what they can do to help. Segal promises to drop off a yard sign.

All right, just need to do that 20,000 more times, he says as he and state Rep. Brandon Potter walk to the next house. Then he corrects his math: There were two voters, so the exchange only needs to be repeated 10,000 times.

Segal, a lanky 42-year-old who livesin Providence's West End, doesnt have a typical politicians demeanor. Instead of speaking in sound bites, he frequently interrupts himself to add more nuance. And he often seems embarrassed to bring up his own accomplishments.

His populist pitch appeals to supporters of U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. (Warren has endorsed him; so has Our Revolution, the organization that Sanders founded.) But his concerns about Big Tech and corporate monopolies allow him to find common ground with conservatives, and he describes himself as someone with a history of working across ideological divides.

More: Poll shows McKee, Gorbea in 'statistical dead heat,' ahead of Democratic primary for governor

More: Three Democrats make the case for becoming RI's lieutenant governor

Segal grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with doctors as parents. He arrived at Columbia University with a conservative worldview, and worked on John McCains 2000 presidential campaign before embracing the progressive movement that had coalesced around the Green Party. After graduation, he moved to Providence.

A couple of my best friends were here, and I wanted to figure out what to do with my life, he explains. It seemed like a good place to do it.

It didnt take him long to find a direction. At 22, still new to the city, Segal became the first Green Party candidate to win election in Rhode Island. He spent four yearson the Providence City Council championing causes like police oversight, renewable energy and a living wage, and went on to serve in the state House of Representatives for two terms as a Democrat.

At the General Assembly, Segal was part of a relatively small group of progressives. He notes that he sponsored a bill to codify abortion rights back in 2007 more than a decade before it finally passed. A major accomplishment, he says, was leading a coalition that prevented tens of millions of dollars in aid for communities from being cut at the height of the financial crisis.

More: Takeaway from latest RI treasurer poll: Candidates neck-and-neck but most voters undecided

In 2010, he ran for an open seat in Rhode Islands 1st Congressional District. At the time, The Journal observed that Segal was known as a kind of willing monkey wrench who threw himself into the workings of established political machines when he found it necessary.

Segal lost to David Cicilline, whom he now praises as an extraordinary leader on antitrust issues. He went on to co-found a grassroots group named Demand Progress with Aaron Swartz, an advocate for internet freedom who had worked on his congressional campaign.

The organization was just getting off the ground when Swartz was arrested. Federal prosecutors alleged that he had illegally downloaded millions of articles from academic publishing site JSTOR a charge that members of Congress would later describe as ridiculous" and "trumped up.

In 2013, facing the likelihood of prison time, Swartz committed suicide. His death sparked a massive outcry.

It was just extraordinary to see how many people hed touched, Segal said. I dont know how much he realized that the whole world would come to appreciate what he stood for, and recognize overwhelmingly that what was happening to him was unjust.

Segal remained at the helm of Demand Progress, though hes on leave for the final stretch of his campaign. The organization has a base of more than 1 million people, he said, and mobilizes them to contact elected officials about topics ranging from surveillance to the war in Yemen.

He argues that keeping the 2nd Congressional District from falling into Republican hands requires more than half measures. The district fundamentally has an anti-establishment bent to it, he said.

I think people rightly are concerned that the way government has been operating for decades clearly has not worked in our favor, he said.

Political Scene: What schools do the children of candidates attend?

Before taking a seat, Sarah Morgenthau pours black coffee into a Votes for Women mug. The suffragist slogan matches the theme of her campaign that its time for Rhode Island to send a Democratic woman to Congress.

I look into womens eyes and in 10 seconds, we get it, says Morgenthau, 59. We know we have that ability to get things done, and theres just a different way of looking at things.

More: Rhode Island congressional field swells with ex-Commerce official Sarah Morgenthau

The district was represented by a Republican woman, Claudine Schneider, in the 1980s. But no Democratic women have held the seat. Ruth Morgenthau, Sarahs late mother, ran in 1988 and lost.

Morgenthaus family legacy is also a theme of her campaign. Her mother fled the Nazis and went on to become an expert in world hunger who served as an adviser to Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Carter. Her grandfather, Henry MorgenthauJr., was treasury secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Her great-grandfather served as Woodrow Wilsons ambassador to Turkey, and was responsible for the public outcry about the Armenian genocide, she said. And her uncle was Robert Morgenthau, the longtime district attorney for Manhattan.

Morgenthaus parents, who had been living in Cambridge, built the Saunderstown house on 17 acres of land in the 1980s. Located south of Rome Point, it now belongs to Morgenthau and her husband,Carlton Wessel. A barn on the property serves as her campaign headquarters.

From the back deck, you can cut across a meadow and follow a tree-lined path down to the beach, where two paddleboards and the Hobie Cat are waiting. The small sailboat recently ran away, Morgenthau says, but a neighbor who happened to be out on their own boat quickly spotted it, jumped on board, and piloted it back to shore.

Until recently, Morgenthau wasnt living here year-round. She grew up in Boston and New York, spent years working in Washington, and registered to vote in North Kingstown shortly before launching her campaign this February. At the time, she said that the last time she'd voted in Rhode Island was probably her mother's 1988 campaign.

More: With McKee in COVID quarantine, challengers go on the attack during early childhood forum

Morgenthau often notes that she and her husband were married in their Saunderstown backyard. This has been home for us for 40 years, she says. Its been a constant in our lives.

But questions about her ties to Rhode Island have dogged her campaign.

During an April interview with WPRI, Morgenthau admitted shed never lived in the state for a full year, and that her children hadnt attended school here. In June, the station reported that she was still claiming a homestead tax exemption in Washington, D.C. (Morgenthaus campaign said she would correct that.)

And earlier this year, when The Journal called up candidates to see how theyd do on a pop quiz about the district, one of Morgenthaus answers matched a Wikipedia entry almost word for word.

I dont think folks are really interested in a trivia quiz, she said recently, when asked about the episode. I think folks are focused right now on having the right congresswoman at this really critical moment in our history to go to Washington. I have been so excited about the enthusiasm and the conversations that were all having together to make sure that we get the federal resources for this great state.

Sure, but its fair to ask how well candidates know the district that they seek to represent. So The Journal put her on the spot again this time, in person. One question: What road is Allies Donuts on?

We go there all the time, Morgenthau answered. I think its on Post Road, but most of the time my husband or my brother-in-law or my daughter goes.

Incorrect: Allies is on Quaker Lane, or Route 2.

More: Should taxpayers pay to build a soccer stadium in Pawtucket? What a new poll says

Lately, Morgenthaubeen making the case that her years in Washington are an asset, giving her experience that other candidates lack. We are losing seniority with Jim Langevin, and things could not be more urgent, she said.

After attending Barnard College and Columbia Law School and helping manage her mothers congressional campaign Morgenthau clerked for a federal judge in New Jersey, then worked as an attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

She worked on Barack Obamas 2008 presidential campaign, and was later made a director of the Peace Corps. In that role, she helped evacuate volunteers from Crimea and Haiti, she said. She then spent two years at the Department of Homeland Security, heading the private sector office and the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

She left when Trump took office and went to work at Nardello LLC, which describes itself as a global investigations firm. In 2017, then-Governor Raimondo named her to Rhode Islands Homeland Security Advisory Board.

Known as a skilled fundraiser, Morgenthau served as a surrogate for Joe Bidens presidential campaign.In September 2021, she became deputy assistant secretary for national travel and tourism in the Commerce Department, under Raimondo.

Her rsum, coupled with the fact that shes a woman, offers the strongest contrast to Fung, she says.

Anybody who knows me knows that I have the experience, that I will go to Washington and I will fight like heck, she said. But its hard in Washington. Its divisive, its overly partisan. We need a congresswoman who has those relationships, who has the experience working on the issues so that we can deliver for folks here.

Joy Fox has just arrived at Bagel Express in Pawtuxet Village when she overhears two women talking about the congressional race.

Stopping to introduce herself, she quickly discovers that she knows one womans niece from elementary school. Over the next hour, as she sits for an interview, she spots her aunt and uncle on their morning walk, trades greetings with a family friend (Hows Kirsten doing?), and pauses to chat with an acquaintance who happens to be the brother of Cranston's mayor.

More: Joy Fox, former top aide to Rep. Jim Langevin and Gov. Gina Raimondo, enters congressional race

The constant interruptions arent exactly surprising: Fox, 44, grew up less than half a mile from here. She now lives only a short distance down the road, in Warwicks Gaspee neighborhood. Even when she was working for Langevin, she lived in Rhode Island full-time, and commuted to Washington, D.C., for important events like the State of the Union.

Now, her local roots are a central theme of her campaign.

My opponents could be running for Congress anywhere, if you listen to how they position themselves and talk about these issues, she says. And I am running in the 2ndDistrict where I grew up, where my family is, where I will always be.

Like the other candidates, Fox cites gun violence, climate changeand the erosion of abortion rights as major concerns. But shes just as likely to bring up a hyperlocal issue like the decrepit state of Cranston'sBudlong Pool. A strong focus on constituent services, she says, is critical for people to feel like the government is working for them.

Fox, 44, grew up in the Edgewood section of Cranston. Her grandfather was the founder of the P.J. Fox Paper Co., which sold toilet paper, among other things, and counted the PawSox and Rhode Island Hospital as two of its biggest clients.

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Which Democrat will prevail in RI's 2nd Congressional District race? - The Providence Journal

It also offers a window into how Healey could wield her name and political capital. A victory in November would not only make her Massachusetts top elected state official but give her a claim to be the state partys de facto leader.

Healeys delivered her most high-profile endorsement this month, backing Andrea Campbell in the three-way primary for the office Healey is vacating. Its her only endorsement in a contested statewide Democratic race ahead of the Sept. 6 primary.

She has also looked down-ballot, endorsing an incumbent-heavy slate 11 are elected officials facing primary challenges, many in the Legislature as well as five other candidates vying for open seats in the state House, Senate, and a pair of district attorney offices.

The candidates share little, if any, ideological thread, and some appear to reflect a measure of political loyalty, something Healey has hewed to during her rise through the party. They include progressive stalwarts and moderate, as well as conservative, members of the House Democratic caucus, including several who voted to uphold a veto of a 2020 bill that codified abortion rights into law.

Nearly every sitting lawmaker shes backing also holds some type of leadership post. That includes the fifth-ranking Democrat in either chamber: Representative Sarah K. Peake of Provincetown, who is facing her first primary challenge in 16 years, and Senator Joan B. Lovely of Salem, who has never faced another Democratic opponent since winning her seat in 2012.

Representative William M. Straus, a Mattapoisett Democrat and another Healey-backed candidate facing his first primary challenge in a decade, is the Houses longtime chairman of the transportation committee, which has openly scrutinized the Baker administrations handling of the MBTA.

I think its incredibly refreshing, Doug Rubin, a Democratic strategist, said of Healey spreading her support. The easy path would have been to not get engaged in these races, to stay focused on your race. That says a lot about her personally and how shes going to perform as governor.

Not among her endorsements, however, is anyone who is challenging an incumbent, notable given Healeys own history of bucking the political establishment.

As a first-time candidate in 2014, she topped a well-known Democrat who had the backing of then-Governor Deval Patrick, among others. Healey later broke with most party leaders to back Representative Ayanna Pressley in her 2018 upset of Michael Capuano, endorsing Pressley after the then-city councilor had done the same for her four years earlier.

Shes picking people based on some relationship, and shes probably trying not to get too far out there with her picks, said one Democratic strategist who has worked with Healey and others shes endorsed. But this is showing a Maura Healey who is probably more institutional, more [focused on], Lets get things done, than being a progressive purist.

Healeys campaign did not make her available for an interview. In a statement, the South End Democrat said she is backing candidates she believes understand the needs of their districts and will be strong partners in our work to make Massachusetts a better, more affordable place to live and work.

We need strong, experienced leaders in government who are ready to collaborate and hit the ground running on day one to deliver for people, Healey said.

Her decision to insert herself into the party contests, however, has surprised, if frustrated, some of the challengers who say they, too, have backed Healey in the past.

Among those she is supporting is Representative Paul J. Donato, a Medford Democrat who has held the seat since 2001 but is facing his second challenge in as many cycles from Nichole Mossalam of Malden. She has criticized Donato for his vote in 2016 against a bill that allows people to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, as well as his vote in 2020 to uphold Governor Charlie Bakers veto of the so-called Roe Act that expanded access to abortion.

In endorsing Donato, who also has the support of Senator Edward J. Markey, Healey called him a very long and early supporter of mine.

Mossalam said she respects Healey and supports her gubernatorial bid. But she said Healey never reached out to talk to her before endorsing Donato, and argued her decision is not in tune with the local voters and our local issues.

I believe shes doing a disservice to our community, Mossalam said.

Since state Senator Sonia Chang-Daz ended her campaign in June, Healey has been afforded a clear path to the nomination, and many believe, the governors office itself. She led each of her potential Republican opponents, Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty, by more than 30 points in a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll last month.

As the calendar has inched toward the Sept. 6 primary, she has focused on helping those in other races, most notably the tightening attorney generals race between Campbell, labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, and former assistant attorney general Quentin Palfrey.

Healey and Campbells campaign schedules have become nearly intertwined since Healey announced her endorsement in a radio interview this month, with the two appearing together in Mattapan, Gloucester, and Springfield, among other places.

Campbells campaign tucked the endorsement, and Healeys photo, into a recent television spot. Even outside groups have featured the endorsement prominently. Campaign mailers sent by the Environmental League of Massachusetts super PAC this month tout its support of not only Campbell and Healey, but Healeys support of Campbell.

The endorsement has also put Healey at odds with other state party heavyweights, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Michelle Wu, who are backing Liss-Riordan.

This is a big swing, using some of her political capital to sway voters when shes popular, said Erin OBrien, a political science professor at UMass Boston. This is a place where shes exercising her true preference. Shed rather work with Andrea Campbell.

Shes given time and aid elsewhere, too. Healey on Sunday campaigned in Lawrence with Pavel Payano, a city councilor vying in a three-way primary in a newly reshaped state Senate district. On Twitter, her campaign has amplified her endorsement of Manny Cruz, a Salem school committee member running in another three-way race for an open House seat. And Representative Tommy Vitolo, a Brookline Democrat locked into a lively primary with former Select Board member Raul Fernandez, said hes canvassed the district with Healey volunteers.

She wants to make sure all the voices are heard, said state Representative Chris Markey, a Healey-backed Dartmouth Democrat. Markey has veered from Healey on several issues, having voting against a measure to allow undocumented residents to apply for drivers licenses and a sweeping policing bill in 2020.

In endorsing him, she said hes brought a thoughtful, balanced approach to governing. They also have a personal connection Markey said he has dear friends from college who are friends with her.

Shes going to be the governor. Shes going to win. And she knows she has to work with both sides, Markey said.

Cameron Costa, a 21-year-old New Bedford Democrat challenging Markey, meanwhile has the support of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Teachers Association two influential labor groups that also endorsed Healey.

Its that classic thing, Costa said of Healey endorsing his incumbent opponent. When you fight against the establishment, the establishment fights back.

Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattpstout.

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With clear path in Democratic primary, Healey takes on another role: Helping allies survive theirs - The Boston Globe

Democrats are aware that the search of former President Donald Trumps home by the FBI hurt the Party politically. This Aug. 17 headline from The New York Times, referencing the Inflation Reduction Act, says it all: President Takes a Bow, but Spotlight Stays on His Predecessor.

Yet, even with this knowledge, 88 percent of Democrats want Trump charged for fomenting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Slightly over half of Democrats think he will be.

Undoubtedly, Democrats are also hoping that state criminal investigations into financial improprieties and election interference will lead to prosecutions.

And now there is concrete evidence from the search of his home that Trump broke the law by possessing top secret documents. Since no one is above the law, surely now there must be a criminal case.

Well, the politically good news for Democrats is that no criminal prosecution is likely in any of these areas. There is no indication that the Justice Department is preparing a treason case against Trump, the evidence of election interference in Georgia is ambiguoushe was complaining about illegal voting, after allfinancial cases are notoriously difficult to bring and the classified documents charge is actually legally dubious.

Donald Trump is not going to jail, which improves the chances that Democrats will retain majority control of Congress and the presidency.

To see the problem with a criminal case based on possession of classified documents, it is helpful to remember why the FBI recommended that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not be prosecuted for accessing classified materials on her personal, non-secured, email account.

On July 5, 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey shook up the presidential campaign by his announcement that the FBI had discovered on Clintons email server 110 emails in 52 email chains that contained classified information. Eight of those chains contained information that was Top Secret at the time they were sent.

Comey described these results as potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information.

Nevertheless, Comey recommended to the Justice Department that no criminal charges be brought.

The reason Comey gave was that regardless of what federal law technically provided, all previous prosecutions for mishandling or removing classified information involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice.

Comey concluded, We do not see those things here.

Taking these points one at a time and applying them to Trumps actions should lead to the same conclusion of no prosecution.

In terms of intent, it appears that Trump attempted to, and probably believed that he had, declassified some or all of the material he retained. Presidents often do this, informally communicating secret information in order to reassure allies or deter enemies. Trumps failure to follow accepted procedures is not unprecedented. His bungled attempt to declassify suggests he had no wrongful intent.

Even more important, in Trumps case there is only minimal indication of any exposure of secrets. Unlike an unprotected email account that could be hacked by anyone, the documents Trump retained were mostly physically locked up. While wrongful access by others undoubtedly occurred, it was easily monitored.

Clearly, a Trump attorney was inaccurate in telling the Justice Department that all classified documents had been returned to the government after earlier requests.

But it is not easy to make a case of obstruction of justice out of that. The government knew that a great deal of material remained in Trumps possession and also knew of Trumps belief that classified material had been declassified. The Trump team may well have believed that their account was truthful or may have simply been mistaken.

Can the U.S. slide into authoritarianism? Yes. But we can avoid it if we try | Opinion

But if no criminal charges are likely to be filed, why was a search warrant sought and a search conducted? An affidavit in support of a search warrant must allege probable cause that evidence of a crime will be found.

As was true in the case of Clinton, there is a potential crime when classified material is possessed by an individual in circumstances in which that possession is unauthorized by law. So, the warrant was certainly properly sought by the government and granted by a federal judge.

However, the use of a search warrant does not mean that the Justice Department had decided to prosecute. It only means that prosecution would be possible if classified material were found.

In Trumps case, there is every indication that the government concluded after months of fruitless negotiations, that Trump would not voluntarily return everything that should be turned over. The search was the most expeditious way of determining what Trump retained and of gaining possession of what the government believed should not be in private hands. The search was a practical expedient.

That is not a bad faith search. No final decision about prosecution could be made until after the search revealed the facts.

Everyone knows that prosecuting a former president would set a risky precedent in terms of democracy. If you want to see the potential harm, just look at the crisis in Pakistan. The reason we dont prosecute losing candidates is that it turns politics into war in which any action is justified in order to avoid going to prison.

For Americas best lawyers, Trump is radioactive | Dick Polman

This doesnt mean such a prosecution could never be justified. Trump really did try to overturn a lawful election. Maybe that prosecution would be worth it if the matter could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Trump may have engaged in financial wrongs. Maybe prosecution for such non-political crimes could also be warranted if the conduct could be linked to him personally.

But this is not true of a potential prosecution for mishandling secret government material. Here, the precedents do not support criminal charges. Going after Trump for retaining documents would rightly be labeled a political prosecution. It would harm Democrats. But it would also wound the nation.

The Justice Department has probably already concluded the same.

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Trump isn't going to jail. And that's good news from Democrats | Bruce Ledewitz - Pennsylvania Capital-Star

1. Democrats Sense a Shift in the Political Winds, but It May Not Be Enough  The New York Times
2. Democrats use abortion to blunt the GOP's midterm advantage  Axios
3. Analysis | Democrats show momentum coming out of special elections  The Washington Post
4. Turnout surge powered Democrats' N.Y. special election win and their renewed hopes for November  POLITICO
5. Yes, Special Elections Really Are Signaling A Better-Than-Expected Midterm For Democrats  FiveThirtyEight
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Democrats Sense a Shift in the Political Winds, but It May Not Be Enough - The New York Times

Here are five takeaways from a key primary night in Florida and New York:

It would have been easy to write Nebraska off as a fluke, after Democrats ran better than expected in a House race there last month. But then came Minnesota, where Democrats again beat expectations. And then, in New York on Tuesday, the dam broke.

Well, shit, one Republican strategist texted late Tuesday, as results from a Hudson Valley special election filtered in.

It would have been a victory for Democrats if theyd even kept it close. Instead, Democrat Pat Ryan beat Republican Marc Molinaro in a district that Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020, but that would have appeared to favor Republicans in a normal midterm climate.

Overall, on the last major primary night of the year, the winds appeared to be shifting in Democrats favor.

It can be tempting to read too much into special elections. Theyre not always predictive of results in the fall, and Republicans this year have overperformed in some places, too. In June, the GOP won a South Texas House seat that had been held by a Democrat.

But that was before Roe shook the political landscape. Ever since, its been nothing but one sign after another that Democrats while still widely expected to lose the House in November might not be in for the all-out drubbing once predicted.

The New York race to succeed Democrat Antonio Delgado in a New York House district is likely a better indicator than the House races in Minnesota or Nebraska. For one thing, its the most current data we have. But more than that, its a competitive district where both parties spent real money and tested their general election messaging abortion for Democrats, the economy for Republicans. It was about as close to a November test run as were going to get.

This is a Republican versus a Democrat. Theyre not crazy. No ones off the wall, said Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic strategist based in New York. Thats why its a good test.

Democrats passed and then some.

If Pat Ryan out-and-out wins, or even comes within 5 points of beating Molinaro, all projections of a red wave are completely overblown, said New York-based Democratic strategist Jon Reinish, a former aide to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). This race is really a canary in a coal mine.

In a midterm cycle dominated by Donald Trump, it was a House race in Florida on Tuesday that laid bare more clearly than anywhere just how much Republicans are willing to stomach in their service to the former president and his fiercest allies.

Not even a federal investigation into whether Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) had sex with a 17-year-old girl and paid her for it (Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing) was enough to dent his MAGA celebrity. Not even close.

Gaetz, a Trump favorite, beat his closest opponent by more than 40 percentage points.

With the primaries all but finished now, Trumps midterm record is not without blemishes. There was his humiliation in Georgia in May. His preferred candidates lost gubernatorial races in Idaho and Nebraska. And in New Hampshire, Trump-world failed to find any prominent Republican to run against the incumbent governor, Chris Sununu. Sununu, who called Trump fucking crazy at the roast-style Gridiron Club dinner this year, is likely to easily win re-nomination in his primary next month.

But for the most part from J.D. Vances victory in the Ohio Senate primary in May to Rep. Liz Cheneys (R-Wyo.) ouster in Wyoming last week the midterms belonged to the former president.

Gaetz was the icing on the cake.

In general, probably the former president has maybe even a better win-loss record than some people would have expected, said Mark Graul, a Republican strategist who worked on George W. Bushs 2004 campaign.

If Trump-ism is ever going to flush its way through the Republican Party, he said, the lesson of this years primaries is that its going to take more than one election cycle.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis political muscle was on full display Tuesday night, as candidates he endorsed won a handful of key state legislative races and a wave of school board seats, which were a main focus for the governor in the final weeks of the 2022 midterm.

DeSantis biggest legislative win was Republican Kiyan Michael, who is running for a Jacksonville state House seat. Michael was running against more established and better funded politicians, including a former state representative.

DeSantis did not endorse until late in the race, but his support gave Michael immediate momentum to overcome her Republican rivals. She ended up securing 47 percent of the vote in a three-way primary.

DeSantis also backed Florida Senate candidate Blaise Ingoglia and Jonathan Martin, both Republicans. The impact of the governors endorsement was felt long before Election Day because it cleared a potentially crowded field in both races.

For the final weeks of primary season, DeSantis put an outsized effort, including contributions from his personal political committee, into local school boards across the state. Its part of his broader agenda to reshape Floridas education system.

It worked. Of the 30 school board candidates that got DeSantis formal support, 21 won their election bids Tuesday night.

Florida Republicans, with DeSantis taking the lead, have poured thousands of dollars into school board races this election cycle, elevating those generally sleepy races into top midterm targets for the GOP, and putting at times surprised Democrats on underfunded defense.

Defense contractor Cory Mills boasted that he would make the media shed real tears after news accounts reported on how his company sold tear gas used on Black Lives Matters demonstrators. Mills has also questioned the legitimacy of President Joe Bidens win in 2020.

Anna Paulina Luna, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, alleged last year that a handful of her rivals were engaged in a conspiracy to kill her.

Both are poised to join the Republican caucus in Congress after winning their respective primaries for Floridas 7th and Floridas 13th congressional districts. The contests in both races were noisy, bitter and expensive.

The GOP candidates are likely to win in November because the districts were reshaped to favor Republican candidates under a controversial new congressional map championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Currently Republicans hold a 16-11 edge in Floridas congressional delegation. After adding one seat due to population growth, the new map is projected to give the GOP a 20-8 margin in the next session of Congress.

The result was that Republicans vying for the new seats shifted even further to the right.

It didnt work for all candidates. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has been kicked off social media platforms for anti-Islamic posts, came close to knocking off longtime GOP incumbent Rep. Dan Webster. But Webster buoyed by votes in his home county managed to beat her by a few thousand votes in the race for Floridas 11th congressional district. Another candidate Martin Hyde said FBI agents would have wound up in a body bag if they had searched his home like they did Mar-a-Lago. But longtime incumbent Rep. Vern Buchanan soundly thrashed Hyde in the GOP primary for Floridas 16th congressional district.

Everything we know about the overturning of Roe v. Wade is that it will likely be a major motivator for Democrats in the fall.

What abortion does not appear to be given Nikki Frieds wipeout in the Florida gubernatorial primary on Tuesday night is singularly determinative.

Fried, the state agriculture commissioner once heavily promoted as the future of the Democratic Party in the state had spent much of the primary campaign casting her opponent, Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), as at best untrustworthy on the issue. Crist, a former Republican governor of the state before morphing into an independent and, eventually, a Democrat, said during his U.S. Senate run in 2010 that he would advocate for pro-life legislative efforts.

Even days before this years primary, when asked if he was pro-life, Crist responded, Im for life, arent you? before adding, Ive been pro-choice in every single decision Ive made that affects a womens right to choose.

So, whats more important to Democrats than Roe?

Electability, it seems.

I think the litmus test question in this race is who is the candidate who can best defeat DeSantis, which is a strategic question that I think most Democratic voters are applying, said Fernand Amandi, a veteran Democratic pollster and consultant in Florida.

Crist is widely considered an extreme longshot in the general election against DeSantis, even among Democrats.

But paradoxically, while Crist needed to survive the politics of abortion to win on Tuesday, its that same thing that he will need to be competitive at all in November.

If not for Roe, Amandi said, Im not certain that the Democrat would have a chance.

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Democrats gain momentum: 5 takeaways from the last big primary night of 2022 - POLITICO

When I asked Skye Perryman, the president of Democracy Forward, about the resonance of democracy in the midterms, she mentioned health care, the minimum wage, education, the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and economic unrest all as issues of concern to voters.

What we see every day is people deeply concerned about democracy and about the broader promise of democracy what are their wages going to be, what is their economic opportunity going to be, can they educate their kids, are they going to be able to raise their kids in safe communities? These are broader democracy issues, she said. There is a movement that is seeking to eradicate and undermine the very foundation of our democracy But that same movement is also engaged in a range of conduct that is harmful to people and communities, and that is a democracy issue, too.

Democratic messaging about democracy itself may pick up once Trump announces hes running again for president, as is widely expected, especially if Biden seeks a second term.

Biden, who was in the Senate even before Carter got to Washington, is steeped in institutional concerns. He cast his 2020 campaign broadly as a return to democratic norms, and in a preview of his likely messaging in 2024, he said of Trump last month: You cant be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy. You cant be pro-insurrection and pro-American.

If the electorates attention to threats to democracy can be fleeting, said John Anzalone, the longtime Biden pollster, the fact is, in some ways we forget democracy worked.

The fact is that we had a threat, Anzalone said, referring to the 2020 election. America rose up, and it kicked its ass.

Still, he said it wouldnt surprise anyone if Biden or Democrats running in some midterm elections make it more of an issue as the campaign season unfolds.

There may still be time for that. Most of the partys paid messaging will not come until after Labor Day. Democrats in some races are issuing fundraising appeals based on their opponents statements about elections, and they have found criticizing Republicans for election denialism effective when wrapped into a broader critique of a candidate as extreme.

On the call in November with the Carter group, Gephardt, who is 81 and living in Florida, said, Us old people dont have much of an audience And we shouldnt. Were has-beens. But we love this country, we love this democracy, and weve got to play the role of Paul Revere.

But that was in November. This spring, the Carter group met less often, disrupted by a run of deaths and memorial services for members of the group or people close to them. Between March and May, among other people, Albright and two former House representatives Vic Fazio and Norman Mineta, also a former transportation secretary passed away. There was a memorial service in May for Walter Mondale, the former vice president who, before his death last year, had been a regular on the calls.

By the time the group resumed its regular meetings earlier this summer, the anxiety some members had about democracy in the fall was no less severe. In some ways, they were even more dispirited. (Carter was aware of the groups meetings, Francis said, but has yet to participate in one. He has publicly warned the country is at risk of losing our precious democracy, while the Carter Center, long involved in monitoring elections abroad, turned its focus to the United States for the first time in 2020.)

Its conventional wisdom among pro-democracy activists globally that one strategy for protecting the ballot is to boost pro-democracy candidates regardless of their party. But instead, in a handful of states including Michigan, Maryland and Pennsylvania, Democratic groups had been meddling in Republican primaries, spending millions of dollars elevating pro-Trump hard-liners they believed would be easier for Democrats to defeat in the fall.

It may have been smart politics. In Maryland, the candidate helped by the Democratic Governors Association, Dan Cox a state lawmaker who organized buses to Washington for the rally preceding the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 is running in such a heavily Democratic state that he is almost certain to lose. By helping to sink Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan, one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee may have given Democrats a better chance of flipping a congressional seat there.

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There's a Huge Divide Among Democrats Over How Hard to Campaign for Democracy - POLITICO

Ever since June 24, 2022, when the Supreme Court issued a ruling overturning the right to abortion, people have been trying to predict its impact on the upcoming midterm elections. Polling data offer some clues; Gallup found that the number of Americans identifying themselves as pro-choice rose to a near record high in the aftermath of the Courts decision.

But trying to determine whether the abortion decision will affect voters decisions about individual candidates is pretty complicated. Throughout this year the big issues driving the election have included not just abortion but also inflation, gun control, and now, according to a recent NBC poll, threats to democracy.

The polls offer no clear picture of what might happen in head-to-head races between Democrats and Republicans in November.

This years elections have been mostly party primaries which also offer no clue as to how the abortion issue might affect the midterms. The two parties are so very clearly divided on this issue, that almost all the Republican candidates are in favor of the Courts decision and almost all the Democratic candidates are against it. However, in the months since the Supreme Courts decision, we have had four special elections which pit Democrats against Republicans. In Minnesotas 1st congressional district (MN-01), a special election was called to fill the vacancy created by the death of U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn. In Nebraskas 1st congressional district (NE-01), the seat became vacant after the resignation of incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry who was indicted on campaign finance charges. In New Yorks 19th congressional district (NY-19), a vacancy was created by the resignation of Democrat Antonio Delgado, who became New Yorks lieutenant governor.And in New Yorks 23rd congressional district (NY-23), the Republican Tom Reed resigned after sexual harassment allegations.

Although special elections are generally low turnout affairs, we can compare the performance of the Democrats and Republicans in these four races to past performance of candidates of their parties and to the performance of Biden and Trump in the 2020 presidential race to see if there is a pattern developing.

Lets start with the special election in NE-01, held four days after the Supreme Courts decision. In that race the Republican emphasized his sponsorship of a law that banned abortion after 20 weeks, while the Democrat criticized the Dobbs decision and emphasized her support for abortion rights. As the following chart shows, while the Democratic candidate, Patty Pansing Brooks, lost, she outperformed the last Democrat to run in a midterm by 7.7% in a very Republican district and she outperformed the Democratic candidate in 2020 by 9.7%. She also did better than Biden didoutperforming him by 6.2%.

NEBRASKA DISTRICT 1

MN-01s special election was held on August 9, 2022. In that election the Republican Brad Finstad ran as a clear opponent of abortion while the Democrat, Jeff Ettinger, ran as a pro-choice candidate with the backing of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. But Ettinger ran behind the Democrat who ran in the last midterm election and only slightly ahead of the Democrat who ran in 2020. But he did run 2.9% ahead of Joe Bidens numbers in 2020.

MINNESOTA DISTRICT 1

In New York on August 23, there were two special electionsone in a swing district and one in a very Republican district. In NY-19, the swing district, the race turned into a very clear cut battle over abortion rights. The Democrat, Pat Ryan, won a narrow victory therealmost reaching the vote of the Democrat who ran in 2018 and exceeding the vote of the Democrat in 2020. In addition, Ryan ran 1.3% ahead of Biden in 2020.

NEW YORK DISTRICT 19

Finally, in NY-23, the most Republican district of the four special elections, the Republican candidate, Joe Sempolinski won but the Democrat, Max Della Pia outperformed the 2018 Democratic nominee by two points and outperformed the 2020 Democratic nominee by 6.9%. He also did 4.4% better than Biden did in 2020.

NEW YORK DISTRICT 23

Another way to look at these numbers is to compare them to Trumps past performance in the three districts he won. For example, in MN-01 Trumps margin was R+14.9 but the Republican margin in the special election was only R+5.4. In NE-01 Trumps margin was R+10.1 but the Republican margin in the special election was only R+3.9. And in NY-23 Trumps margin was R+11.2 but the margin in the special election sank to R+6.5.

A few things stand out in these four early tests. First, in each one of these districts (three of which were Republican districts and one an evenly matched district) the Democratic candidate in 2022 outperformed Joe Biden in 2020 and the Republican candidate underperformed Trump. Second, in the two races where the abortion issue seemed to stand out, NE-01 and NY-19, the Democrat did wellwinning narrowly in NY-19 and losing but dramatically improving Democratic performance in NE-01.

What does this all mean?

As of August 10, the Cook Political Report had 25 Democratic seats in the toss up category and 8 Republican seats in the toss up category. Control of the House may still end up in Republican hands, but to see what may be coming down the pike politicians look at margins in addition to winners and losers. In these special contests the Republican margins shrank and most of the Democratic margins grew. November is looking a little less grim for the Democratic Party today than it did a few months ago and as these races show, the abortion decision may be having a major role in the change.

Excerpt from:

Can the abortion issue save Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections? - Brookings Institution

The 2022 primary season is finally waning down. With only a handful of races left to be decided, Democratic chances of keeping their majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and winning key state and local races in November are growing, thanks to a strong field of highly qualified candidates with records of leadership and problem-solving who embrace moderate positions.

In contrast, in several key states and races across the country, Republican primary voters have nominated far-right extremists who in many cases embrace defeated former President Donald Trumps false claim that he won the 2020 presidential election and was robbed of victory by both Republican and Democratic state and local officials who rigged the election.

Many of these radical Republicans have never run for office before and are less qualified for government positions than I am to be an NFL quarterback. Still, Democrats must become much more aggressive in talking to and motivating voters of all backgrounds to support them this fall.

Here are a few of my recommendations to Democratic campaign managers and others working across the country.

First, take our campaigns directly to Democratic, Republican and Independent voters using GOTV, which stands for Get Out the Vote drives, not just Go On Television. Focus particular attention on people who often skip voting in midterm elections. The time to begin these voter drives is now, not two weeks before Election Day. We should remember that millions of people will start votingnext monthand many more will be voting absentee in October. Again, this is a big change from the pre-pandemic years.

Second, Democrats have positive cases to focus on, including the major achievements of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats in Congress, including:

Third, remind voters that the disruption and deaths caused by the pandemic are easing, gasoline prices haveplummetedby more than $1 a gallon since June, inflation isslowing, the unemployment rateis downtoonly 3.5 percentin July (the lowest since before the pandemic), supply chain bottlenecks areclearing up, Biden has rallied the world in support of Ukraine against Russian aggression and expanded the NATO alliance, and al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri waskilledin a U.S. drone strike ordered by Biden.

Lastly, Democrats mustdraw attention to how millions of Americans would suffer if Republicans take control of one or both chambers of Congress or state houses because of the GOPs radical positions of opposing the common sense solutions discussed above. It needs to be stressed that all of these accomplishments took place while Democrats held a razor-thin majority in the House and had to deal with an evenly split Senate. Under the circumstances, the Democrats legislative achievements are truly astonishing, but further progress will be impossible if Republicans make even minimal gains in November.

In primary races, Trump has attacked Republicans who might be able to win general election campaigns and thrown his support to sycophantic candidates who accept his Big Lie that he was reelected two years ago and shower him with praise. This has producednomineespopular with Trumps base but not with the rest of the electorate.

Some Trump-endorsed candidates who have won their partys nominations have said they would haverefusedto certify Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential race and have given indications they would declare Trump the winner if he runs in 2024 regardless of what voters decide. They dont just oppose Democrats; they oppose democracy.

In addition, some Republican nominees have called forendingentitlement funding for Social Security and Medicare (meaning funding could be cut), advocated forreduced aidto public schools, called for sugarcoating American history in public schools to cover up the role ofracism, and favortax cutsfor the rich that would result in soaring deficits and less funding for vital programs.

The Republican civil war fueled by Trump has left the party disunited, with Republicans like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is term-limited, saying he will not vote for Dan Cox, the Trump-endorsed GOP nominee for governor. Hoganhas calledCox a nut and a QAnon whack job who is not, in my opinion, mentally stable. Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has decried the sadcandidate qualityof the current crop of GOP nominees.

To take advantage of the weak GOP field, Democrats must focus on the issues and put party labels aside to demonstrate to voters which party can accomplish the most for the American people. From fighting inflation to getting people vaccinated to reopening schools and repairing roads, bridges and tunnels, to connecting every community, its Democrats who are driving forward and looking at the road ahead, while many Republicans are focused on the rearview mirror and Trumps election defeat.

These developments, along with the willingness of Democrats to campaign everywhere, should leave the party optimistic that, unlike in most midterm elections, the party in the White House will come out stronger in November. The mixture of a marvelously productive two years for Democrats and the weakness of Republican nominees has created the opportunity for historic wins in 2022. We need to grasp that opportunity.

Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC News and former chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the author of Hacks: Inside the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.

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Democrats are on a roll: Heres how to ride the wave to November - The Hill

In 2018, Democrat Amy McGrath nearly accomplished the unthinkable when she came within three points of unseating Republican Representative Andy Barr in Kentucky's 6th Congressional District, a once-competitive pocket of the state that, for the last decade, has been dominated by Republicans.

It was a major spiritual victory for Democrats, propelling McGrath to a Senate run against Mitch McConnell and a fresh enthusiasm in the district after Republicans wrested the district from Democratic control during the Obama administration.

Four years and a crushing 2020 defeat later, and the Kentucky Democratic Partyand the state's Democratic governor, Andy Beshearhave all but abandoned the district after refusing to support or endorse the candidacy of their party's nominee, Geoff Young, a former state engineer.

Not because of his progressive politics. Not because the perennial candidate has never won a race. And not because of his anemic fundraising against a powerful incumbent. It's because he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of neighboring Ukraine was not only justified, but warranted, mirroring talking points pushed by the Kremlin designed to bolster public support for the war.

In Young's view, Russia is not an imperialist state, but a nation acting in its own self-defense against Western aggression and seeking to liberate the Ukrainian people from an oppressive totalitarian governmentclaims closely resembling those in Russian propaganda supporting the war. And he has bought in to Russian allegations that the Ukrainian government is controlled by Nazis, a claim the U.S. State Department has described in official materials as a "particularly pernicious kind of Russian disinformation."

"My position is that ever since 2014, the main aggressors and mass murderers in Eastern Europe have been the United States, NATO and a group of well-armed Ukrainian Nazis supported by and armed by the United States," Young told Newsweek.

"We're not defending democracy. We're not defending the Ukrainian people. We are trying to, or have been trying to for the last eight years, set up a NATO base consisting of the entire territory of Ukraine, and point those weapons at Russia."

While Russian perspectives on the war have primarily found inroads in the right wing of American politics, Young's beliefs represent an increasing subset of the anti-war left that has become receptive to narratives perpetuated by countries like China and Russia critical of American imperialism.

A prominent example is found on Reddit, where popular progressive forums like /r/WayOfTheBernwhere Young held a Q&A with subscribers Monday nighthave beenincreasingly dominated by content advancing foreign interests while denigrating the United States. Other subsets of leftist politics have emerged that have bought in to the policies of Soviet bloc countries during the 20th century, earning them the online slang designation as "tankies."

But there are cultural factors playing into the phenomenon as well. Mary Blankenship, a Ukraine native and disinformation expert at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told Newsweek that the source of many of the Russian narratives surrounding Ukraine arose from a limited number of suspicious accounts online that were posted about February 24, when Russia's military first entered the country, signifying a concerted effort to shape the narrative around the invasion.

What makes people vulnerable to buying in to them, however, is the current health of people's trust in institutions. Since reaching a high of 77 percent in 1964, public trust in government has fallen to 20 percent as of May of 2021, according to Pew data, while trust in the mainstream media has collapsed to an all-time low in 2022, leading members of the public to seek out other sources of information that comport with their worldview.

"There's a propensity to think that everything is an inside job," Blankenship said. "Many people become susceptible to different conspiracy theories and disinformation not just around the war, but on a lot of different topics. I think you have a lot of the same sentiments that carry from domestic issues and domestic events and the grievances that both left-wing and right-wing people have in the U.S. that kind of carry through into foreign policy and foreign events."

But part of the allure, experts say, also lies with the rise of anti-establishment figures in American politics like Noam Chomsky on the left and Ron Paul on the right, whose criticisms of American imperialism have found a loyal audience on both ends of the political spectrum.

In one notable example from the 2016 presidential election, a University of Minnesota study found that Donald Trump, who pitched himself as an anti-war president, had some of his most significant successes as president in regions that suffered disproportionately high levels of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some on the left, like Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, have called the prospect of increased military aid "potentially disastrous." Other progressives who initially participated in Congress' consensus on the war have begun to tread carefully around other planks of the American response, with progressive members of "The Squad" voting against measures like bans on importing Russian oil and opposition to broad-based sanctions on the Russian government, for fear they could have disproportionately negative effects on the country's citizenry.

After U.S. military failures in the Middle East and countries like Vietnam, longtime media critic Jeff Cohenfounder of media watchdog FAIRsaid in an interview, the public has become more receptive to candidates willing to buck the American foreign policy establishment.

"The problem that we have in our country is that there's almost no debate on foreign policy, that there's a bipartisan consensus," Cohen told Newsweek. "And that bipartisan consensus is usually wrong. And the reason I can say that so bluntly is that if you look at almost any foreign policy adventure, every major intervention, 10 years later, even the mainstream media that was cheerleading for it at the time was wrong."

Young, and others, have equated criticisms of their beliefs to censorship. On July 14, the Ukrainian government's Center to Counter Disinformation released a since-deleted list featuring Young alongside figures who questioned U.S. involvement in the warlike journalist Glenn Greenwald and former Representative Tulsi Gabbardas Russian propagandists for questioning the United States' increasing involvement in the war.

But the list also featured figures like New York Senate candidate Diane Sare, who attended conferences sponsored by the left-wingt Schiller Institute, a highly controversial political organization that has sought to build a collaborative economic order between nations like China, Russia, India and the United States.

Sare, who participated in the Reddit Q&A with Young, echoed several of Young's claims about the Ukrainian government in an interview with Newsweek, includingcontested claims that the Ukrainian military was bombing its own citizens in an effort to secure the country.

But Sare said her opinions questioning the United States' involvement in Ukraine were intended to warn against the likelihood of nuclear war between the two countries, which she believed to be a likely conclusion of a full-scale engagement between the two superpowers.

"The idea of saying that I'm an information terrorist, that somehow I am a war criminal for saying we should not have a nuclear war...that's what they are asserting," Sare said.

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Meet the Democrat Siding With Putin on the Ukraine War - Newsweek