A nightmare for Mitch McConnell
I have a new story up this afternoon, with Akela Lacy and Aida Chavez, on the state of the fight for the Senate, with a look at a bunch of exciting progressive candidates who have gotten into races around the country. There’s some news in the story about Matt Jones, a fascinating sports radio talk show host who could end up being Mitch McConnell’s worst political nightmare.
And with the support of the Trump administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today barred two members of Congress, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, from traveling to Israel or the occupied territories it controls. Back in June, Akela Lacy and I interviewed a bunch of members of Congress about the major junket to Israel, which is sponsored by AIPAC. In light of the decision to block this different version of a trip, it’s worth understanding what the other one is like.
My own take is that it was easier politically to bar these two members of Congress because no other House members signed on -- which is an indictment of the other House Democrats, who ought to have supported them, but some of the blame for that belongs with Tlaib and Omar, who are excellent organizers, but didn’t organize more support from the caucus. (Only the representative from the non-voting US Virgin Islands was planning to go with Tlaib and Omar.)
Politically speaking, it’s clear that Israel has decided it no longer has any need or use for Democrats; they’re fully throwing their lot in with the GOP and, in particular, the party’s evangelical base. Not sure that’s the smartest move long term, but what do I know?
I did a podcast interview with Guardian reporter Daniel Levitt, which you can find here.