Disappointing election result in Ohio


Unfortunately, progressive Nina Turner lost the primary race for the Democratic nomination for the seat held by Marcia Fudge. She lost to Shontel Brown, a candidate who was backed by the corporate wing of the Democratic party as well as wealthy Republican donors and the Israel lobby.

As Michael Arria and Philip Weiss write:

Turner, 53, had been co-chair of Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign and is a leading advocate for poor and working class voters. She supported conditioning military aid to Israel, in stark contrast to Brown, 46, a Cuyahoga County councilperson, who embraced Israel in her campaign and was rewarded with substantial donations from pro-Israel groups.

While Israel was seldom mentioned in mainstream coverage, it was certainly a component of the race. While not a public supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), Turner has consistently defended the right to boycott. After Israel attacked Gaza this spring, she tweeted support for Palestine.

In contrast Brown positioned herself as a staunch supporter of the Israel. She condemned the BDS movement, opposed calls to condition military aid, and referred to the country as a “bustling democracy.” During the attack on Gaza, that killed almost 70 children, she asserted that Israel has the “right to defend itself.”

This is undoubtedly a boost for the more right-wing elements in the Democratic party led by Hillary Clinton, James Clyburn and the rest of the party establishment who want to prevent progressive policies being adopted such as Medicare for All and a more even-handed treatment of the Israel-Palestine issue. They are determined that the one-party nature of US politics, where both Democrats and Republicans differ on just a few social issues while maintaining a pro-war, pro-corporate, pro-Israel consensus, continue.

Comments

  1. Bruce says

    After 4-5 years of division, do they want us to think it is good to see unity between the Trump and Clinton corporate swamps, against poor and normal people?

  2. says

    To be perfectly honest, the US needs to get shit done at a federal level. Nina Turner had used insulting language toward other democrats and repeatedly refused to promise to work with other Dems.

    I didn’t actually follow the race & can”t tell you much about either candidate, but from what little I did read, I preferred Turner’s policy agenda. Nonetheless, there are reasonable who question whether she would vote against Democratic bills that are net positive (like expansions of voting rights) if they aren’t her preferred version of those bills.

    Now, again, I don’t know these candidates well, so maybe it’s only possible to have those questions if you did not avail yourself of primary sources & do a deep dive into Turner, her candidacy, and her policies on you own, unfiltered through the media’s election coverage. But that’s just it: the media does filter and frame election coverage, and most people don’t do the independent work.

    So this result tells me not that this is a huge boost to establishment Dems, but rather that if you can find someone with the same policies who has been less insulting to other Dems (and is therefore less easy to misframe), then this narrow loss could be easily turned into a win.

  3. Holms says

    Nonetheless, there are reasonable who question whether she would vote against Democratic bills that are net positive (like expansions of voting rights) if they aren’t her preferred version of those bills.

    The reasoning is clear: if mediocre bills are no longer guaranteed to be rubber-stamped into law, with the vote being a formality with no real chance of losing, then bills will have to be crafted with some additional care in order to gain each vote.

  4. consciousness razor says

    Actually, the government does “get shit done.” Lobbyists write shitty bills all the time, and they get passed by many shitty members of Congress. It is definitely shit, but it is true that something is done. Why the fuck anyone should collaborate on that or appease the assholes who really love that shit? I have no fucking clue.

    Things not being done, such as minimum wage increases and adequately addressing the eviction crisis and so forth, are not the fault of progressives like Turner refusing to work with other Dems. It’s thoroughly preposterous to repeat such garbage talking points, as if they have any connection with the real world.

    Those numerous and constant failures of our government are instead the fault of the corporate/establishment Dems themselves, who are rarely even put in a position where they need to admit openly that they are the reason we can’t have nice things. They can simply hide behind party leadership (also shitheads) or get cozy interviews with fake journalists. Meanwhile, progressives do actually need to stand up for themselves and what they actually believe, and they are fucking blamed for it.

  5. mnb0 says

    “hose numerous and constant failures of our government are instead the fault of the corporate/establishment Dems themselves”
    Nope. They are inherent to the American political system, that enables the socio-economical elite to get its way against the majority of the American citizens in 70 -- 80% of the cases. You should stop expecting solutions from such Dems. Won’t happen, because it’s against their self-interest.

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