Anyone in CD5 can run to go to Congress. If a person has her own good reasons to seek moving from city council to DC, and those reasons are true to her heart, she should go for it. But it would have to be her own decision. Nobody else's. She must learn or already know who is boosting her taking a run, and what motivates the suggestion.
It is the lady's decision, and we all should wish her well in very seriously thinking it over.
Vetaw still has her Ward 4 city council campaign website online - this contact page:
Every reader is urged to honestly contact this lady with your feelings about a contest against Congress Rep. Omar; including how well or otherwise you feel Rep. Omar has done the job - and especially, should Ms Vetaw run, would you contribute to her campaign, to Omar's, both, or neither.
Vetaw deserves such candid information because it will help her to know the mood of people, and where she might need to look and depend for campaign funding, beyond APAIC related PAC support. Having hard evidence from persons in the public can only assist good decision making.
This site's author's respect and support for Ihlen Omar is public knowledge, and Ms. Vetaw should know this already, or find it out.
Nonetheless, the lady runs or declines, and it appears she is still testing the waters.
Public input can only help. Readers might want to read what MinnPost has reported before making contact. Whatever contact you make, be honest and respectful.
WASHINGTON — Although it’s early in the campaign cycle, Rep.
Ilhan Omar is drawing challengers and, once again, the politically
powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is trying to
defeat her.
Pro-Israel donors and political action committees affiliated with
AIPAC have spent heavily to bolster the campaigns of Democrats who
launched primary challenges to Omar, D-5th District.
The first challenger they helped was Antone Melton-Meaux, who
received millions of dollars from pro-Israel donors, but was handily
defeated by Omar in the Democratic primary of 2020.
In 2022, AIPAC gave $350,000 to a group that supported former
Minnesota council member Don Samuels, who nearly defeated Omar in the
Democratic primary.
Samuels criticized AIPAC and pro-Israel donors for not coming to his
aid in the same way they helped Melton-Meaux. He is considering a
challenge to Omar again, said former campaign manager Joe Radinovich.
“Don came within 2,500 votes,” Radinovich said. “I think anyone in
that position would give a second thought to taking that challenge
again.”
However, according to Jewish Insider, AIPAC is now pushing Minneapolis City Councilmember LaTrisha Vetaw to challenge Omar.
Vetaw, who represents the city’s 4th Ward in north
Minneapolis, and like Samuels, is considered a moderate, did not return
several calls and emails requesting comment.
But
Jewish Insider said in recent months AIPAC has met with Vetaw and is
engaged in ongoing conversations to convince her to enter the primary.
The story was based on unnamed “multiple sources familiar with AIPAC’s
outreach.” AIPAC did not return several requests for comment.
Vetaw is serving her first term on the Minneapolis City Council. [...]
AIPAC appears to be aggressively recruiting candidates to challenge
Democrats who boycotted Israeli President Issac Herzog’s speech to a
joint session of Congress last month, including Rep. Jamal Bowman,
D-N.Y.,
Omar and Bowman also voted against a GOP-led resolution that rejected
claims that Israel is a racist state, something Rep. Pramila Jayapal,
D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, had claimed
before walking back those remarks.
Omar and other members of Congress targeted by AIPAC have been critical of Israel’s record on human rights.
So has Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, who has had
numerous confrontations with AIPAC. She also failed to attend Herzog’s
speech and voted “present” on the GOP-led resolution concerning Israel.
But Bill Harper, political adviser to McCollum’s re-election campaign,
said the congresswoman had not been targeted.
“I’m not aware of any AIPAC activity in the 4th Congressional District DFL circles at all,” Harper said.
Omar lost her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January
after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other Republican,
including Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6th District, accused her of making “antisemitic remarks.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., executive director of the
Congressional Black Caucus political action committee, said he and the
caucus would support Omar’s re-election.
“At a time when Republicans are erasing Black history, attacking
abortion rights, and undermining democracy, Ilhan Omar is a champion for
the rights of Minnesotans,” Meeks said in a statement. “She has
delivered over $40 million in funding to her district, including vital
funds to rebuild Lake Street, investments in entrepreneurs and food
availability in the Northside, and skills training for clean
energy. Despite constant racist attacks from MAGA Republicans, Ilhan
consistently shows up for her constituents and we are proud to endorse
her re-election campaign.”
Omar has raised more than $1.15 million for her re-election next year.
But AIPAC’s is known for its ability to raise and spend a lot of
political money. For instance, the United Democracy Project, a super PAC
affiliated with AIPAC, quietly contributed $350,000 to a separate group
that boosted Samuels and raised about $36 million in the last campaign
cycle and spent about $29 million.
That super PAC has raised another $9 million in the first six months of this year, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Samuels' above-mentioned advisor, Radinovich, had assisted Mayor Frey's campaigning in the past and has, himself, run for the CD8 seat, having lost the election to Stauber.
With Vetaw being approached by AIPAC, it is unclear whether this cycle might also include AIPAC backing for Samuels too.
Last cycle NYTimes published an eye-opener - about the Benjamins:
Democratic Primaries Are Embroiled in Debate Over Support for Israel
A
primary on Tuesday in suburban Maryland is the latest where pro-Israel
groups have stepped in to try to defeat a candidate who doesn’t conform
to their views.
Donna
Edwards greeting voters on Wednesday in Fort Washington, Md. She said
voters in her area were more concerned with many other issues than the
Mideast.Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
OXON
HILL, Md. — The primary on Tuesday for a Maryland House seat outside
Washington would seem to be an ideologically monochromatic affair
between two experienced, liberal lawyers who hope to represent a
Democratic swath of predominantly Black middle-class suburbs.
But
former Representative Donna Edwards’s run against the former Prince
George’s County state’s attorney Glenn Ivey has become a fierce proxy
fight between pro-Israel groups on the left and right, the latest
skirmish in a war that threatens to drive a wedge between the Democratic
Party’s ascending left wing and groups determined to stamp out dissent
on Israel-Palestine orthodoxy.
As
President Biden toured Israel and the West Bank this week and soaked in
the accolades of Israel’s right and left, no such unity was in evidence
back home. To the most ardent pro-Israel voices in the United States,
Mr. Biden’s reception was proof that they still represent the
mainstream, and that critics of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians,
such as Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, are the
outliers.
“Bernie and others need to
accept the fact that the majority of progressive Democrats in America
are pro-Israel,” said Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for the United
Democracy Project, the nondescript name for a new political action
committee affiliated with the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Not
so, said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a progressive Jewish
organization and foil for AIPAC, who maintains that politicians who
support the Jewish state ignore the growing criticism of Israel’s
actions in the West Bank and Gaza — especially among younger voters — at
their peril.
After four years of
Donald J. Trump’s overt efforts to peel Jewish voters away from the
Democrats by pursuing policies long sought by the Israeli right, now
should be a time of healing, Mr. Ben-Ami said. Instead, the
interventions in Democratic primaries are “driving a wedge between
communities of color, especially progressives, and the Jewish community”
and “turning Israel into a political football,” he added.
With
more than $22 million in contributions, AIPAC’s new super PAC has spent
$21 million in the Democratic primaries so far, a staggering $5.9
million of that in the Edwards-Ivey race alone.
Another new Democratic group, the Democratic Majority for Israel,
has spent at least $7 million in the primaries aiding what it termed
“pro-Israel Democrats,” including $426,000 to support Mr. Ivey. Both
groups have flooded the airwaves with ads that make no mention of their
singular rationale, promoting “pro-Israel” Democrats.
J Street
has spent a comparably paltry $720,000 to support Ms. Edwards and
$400,000 trying to counter the two rival groups in four other contests.
The
showdown Tuesday in Maryland is only the latest. The politics of the
Israeli-Palestinian divide have roiled Democratic House primaries in
South Texas, Cleveland, North Carolina, Illinois, California and
Pennsylvania. And for Michigan’s August primary, the AIPAC affiliate and
the Democratic Majority for Israel have lined up behind a moderate
congresswoman, Haley Stevens, who is Christian, in her
incumbent-versus-incumbent primary against a more progressive Democrat,
Andy Levin, who is Jewish — a reminder that in the political world
created by Mr. Trump, being Jewish is no longer equated with being
“pro-Israel.” Indeed, the Israeli right now views evangelical Christians
as a much larger and more powerful ally than American Jews.
“Our goal is to build the broadest pro-Israel bipartisan coalition in Congress, period,” Mr. Dorton said.
The
effort, remarkable for AIPAC, which until now has tried to keep its
political interventions sotto voce, has yielded heated accusations of
ethnic bias and deep concern that, rather than fortifying the Israeli
government’s support within the Democratic Party, the groups are turning
a tougher stance toward Israel and a forthright position supporting
Palestinian autonomy into a litmus test for progressives.
“When
an organization endorses, it’s essentially the political version of,
‘you’re with us or you’re against us.’ You’re creating a black-and-white
scenario,” said Julie Rayman, senior director of policy and political
affairs at the American Jewish Committee, which does not intervene in
political races.
Mr. Ben-Ami is more direct.
“We’re
about saving the space to preserve American policies that are more
balanced, that push back on some of the things that are happening on the
ground in Israel,” he said, adding, “AIPAC is trying to shut down the
discussion and impose a political cost” on those who speak out.
Yousef
Munayyer, a Palestinian rights activist and nonresident fellow at the
Arab Center in Washington, sees the contretemps as a positive sign for
his cause. For decades, AIPAC’s influence on campaigns was indirect. The
group did not endorse or raise money for candidates, instead encouraging its members to do so.
Not
anymore. The United Democracy Project was created this cycle with $8.5
million in seed money directly from AIPAC, as well as seven-figure
contributions from two prominent Republicans, Bernie Marcus, a
co-founder of Home Depot, and the hedge-fund manager Paul Singer, and
from Haim Saban, an Israeli-American media magnate and Democratic donor.
Marshall
Wittmann, AIPAC’s longtime spokesman, said the super PAC was a response
to the soaring cost of campaigns, high congressional turnover and
“hyper-partisanship.”
“We will not be deterred or intimidated from engaging in the democratic process to elect pro-Israel candidates,” he added.
Unmentioned
in Mr. Wittmann’s lengthy statement was the rising volume on the
Democratic left of voices calling for a fundamental re-evaluation of the
United States’ reflexive backing of successive Israeli governments, as
the occupation of the West Bank stretches into its second half-century
and the prospects for a two-state solution grow more remote.
Mr. Munayyer said AIPAC’s new tack was evidence that it was losing its grip on the Democratic Party.
“It’s
certainly a flex, but it’s a flex that was never necessary before,” he
said of the new super PAC, adding, “Hegemony is not supposed to require
the constant use of power to punish.”
For
Ms. Edwards, who in 2008 became the first Black woman to represent
Maryland in Congress, Middle East politics should be beside the point.
She spent nearly a decade in the House before a failed bid for the
Senate in 2016. Her intended return is backed by much of the Democratic
leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
And,
she said, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the furthest thing from
the mind of suburban Maryland voters: “Never, ever, ever” has it come
up.
But to hawkish Israel groups, Ms.
Edwards has emerged as an enemy. She was an early supporter of the Iran
nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration — and fiercely opposed by AIPAC.
After Mr. Trump walked away from the agreement, amid hosannas from
AIPAC and many in the Jewish community, both Ms. Edwards and Mr. Ivey
said they supported the Biden administration’s efforts to strike a
stronger deal with Iran.
Perhaps even more eye-catching, Ms. Edwards voted “present” on a 2009 resolution recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, on a 2011 resolution
“reaffirming the United States commitment to a negotiated settlement of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations,” and in 2012 on a United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act that got 411 yes votes.
Ms.
Edwards said those “present” votes were in protest of biases that she
perceived in Republican-drafted resolutions — biases, she asserted, that
are more broadly understood now in her party and among many American
Jews.
“There’s not a rift between the
progressive community and mainstream Jews,” Ms. Edwards said. Most
American Jews desire a secure, democratic state for Israeli Jews side by
side with a secure, democratic state for Palestinians, she argued,
while “AIPAC and its front groups” have shown no interest in pressing
for an autonomous, secure state for Palestinians.
And she called on Mr. Ivey to renounce his support from AIPAC, especially in light of its endorsements of Republicans who voted against certifying President Biden’s election.
That is a lengthy contiguous quote. The NYTimes item continues from there, where interested readers should check it out.
The Benjamins are being lined up, and progressives need to watch their backs.
__________UPDATE___________
MinnPost mentioned but did not link to this JI item, which details AIPAC aiming at a number of progressives, without getting into the sums of money available, or likely to be spent against Omar, Bowman, or others.
For a sense of the scale of money which may be spent against progressives, see this websearch. JI in 2021 published of the then early efforts to fund actual political challengers to any candidate taking a non-cheerleader approach regarding Israeli treatment of occupied people and occupied territory.
It appears earlier testing the waters encouraged upcoming big spending. An example: One item in Haaretz a year ago, unfortunately behind a paywall, nonetheless opens:
Trump Ally Robert Kraft Gave $1 Million to AIPAC’s Super PAC
Robert
Kraft donated the money to AIPAC’s United Democracy Project in July.
The super PAC spent over $26 million on Democratic races during primary
season
Twenty-six million is not chump change. Expect the same or more, 2024.
Max Berger a few months earlier published a detailed item, "INVESTIGATION: The Super PACs Trying To Take Down Working Class Candidates For Congress -- Inside the flood of billionaire super PAC money — $18 million in 3 months — that's targeting working class candidates " with text after a chart of money spent against good people in the 2022 election:
Who’s funding them?
Much of the big money intervening against these working-class
champions comes from AIPAC-affiliated donors, a right-wing lobby for
Israel. These ads that AIPAC helps fund however, virtually never mention
the word Israel. They route funding through two giant super PACs: the
Democratic Majority for Israel and the United Democracy Project. All
together, the two AIPAC-related super PACs have spent over $10 million
in these seven races.
United Democracy Project
The United Democracy Project – the biggest funder of this ad barrage –
proclaims to be engaged in efforts to strengthen democracies here and
abroad. But, AIPAC PAC has also endorsed 109 Republicans
who sided with the insurrectionists and voted against certifying the
2020 presidential election. So, a billionaire-funded super PAC that
supports Republicans who objected to Electoral College results is
creating ads saying working-class candidates of color aren’t real
Democrats.
The United Democracy Project raised $15.7 million in the first
quarter — $8.5 million of that from AIPAC itself. Major individual
donors to UDP in the first quarter included investor and media mogul
Haim Saban, who donated $1 million; investors Michael Leffell and Linda
Rubin, who each donated $500,000; investor Ed Levy, philanthropist Phil
de Toledo, investor Tony Davis and financial analyst Victor Kohn, who
each donated $250,000; and investor Kenneth Levy, who donated $200,000.
DMFI
The Democratic Majority for Israel is a super PAC founded by people
tied to AIPAC that allows them to engage in Democratic primaries without
AIPAC’s brand. Many of DMFI’s donors have also been affiliated with
AIPAC. For example, Stacy Schusterman, the chairman of oil and gas
company Samson Energy and DMFI PAC’s top donor this year with $2.5
million given, is a former AIPAC board member. Several DMFI board
members have previously held positions with AIPAC or its affiliate the
American Israel Education Fund, including co-chairs Ann Lewis and Todd
Richman.
Mainstream Democrats
Major Democratic donor Reid Hoffman has invested $500,000 into a new
super PAC meant to beat back Democratic left-wing populists. Its website
says it’s “the only Democratic group with the courage to consistently
defend mainstream Democrats and defeat extreme candidates whose stated
goal is “to overthrow” the Democratic Party.”
According to Puck News, “Mainstream Democrats shares staff, offices
and other resources with another PAC that has gone after Turner, the
Democratic Majority For Israel—which, despite its name, has been focused
on beating back liberals more broadly. Now, with a new brand and with
Hoffman’s help, the group is going bigger.”
Protect Our Future
Recently, these groups have been joined by Protect Our Future, which
gets much of its money from Sam Bankman-Fried, a crypto billionaire who
is worth $24 billion. Protect Our Future says it’s concerned with
vaccination preparedness, but many of the crypto billionaires are trying
to cultivate positive relationships with lawmakers because they fear
the potential of future crypto regulation. It’s spent $16 million
dollars across all races this election cycle.
Their Playbook
The billionaire funded super PACs have targeted candidates around the
country who have been fighting for a working-class agenda: Jessica
Cisernos in Laredo, Erica Smith and Nida Allam in North Carolina, Nina
Turner in Cleveland, and Andy Levin in Michigan. They’ve also gone all
out to help Kurt Schrader in Oregon. The super PACs see these
candidates as threats to their control of the Democratic Party.
Their sharpest line of attack, which they’ve repeated in several
races, is that working-class candidates are not real Democrats (again,
coming from an organization which has endorsed 109 Republicans who
refused to certify Biden’s election).
Berger, Jan 2023, published (with SBF being the now jailed Samuel Bankman - Fried):
SBF and the Injustice Democrats
How SBF, AIPAC and pro-Trump billionaires coordinated to crush the left
When
I looked into SBF’s political giving to write a follow up to last
week’s piece, I thought I knew what I was looking for. It’s a subject
I’ve written about before.
But, when I looked at the end-of-cycle FEC data, the results were truly shocking.
I
found more evidence SBF was collaborating with AIPAC and Trump
supporting billionaires to stop the growth of the squad and the
electoral left.
Five billionaire funded
PACs were coordinating closely on a strategy to defeat progressive
candidates in Democratic primaries — a kind of Injustice Democrats.
Mark
Mellman, a long-time operative and AIPAC ally, appears to be at the
center of the effort and likely spearheaded the shared campaign. He was
hired by four of the five groups this cycle, who collectively paid his
firm $476,016.67.
As you may have heard, SBF gave nearly $40 million to Democrats
in 2022. But, I found that SBF wasn’t primarily funding groups that
help Democrats defeat Republicans. According to FEC data, over 75% of
the money SBF contributed to Democrats in 2022 went to groups that spent
nearly all their money on competitive primaries in the Democratic
Party.
SBF personally contributed $29,250,000 to Protect Our Future and DMI
PAC (which later contributed the money to Web3 Forward). Both of these
groups spent the vast majority of their money on Democratic primaries.
They also worked closely with two AIPAC affiliated SuperPACs called the
United Democracy Project (UDP) and the Democratic Majority for Israel
(DMFI), and a group called Mainstream Democrats which aimed to defeat
the “far-left.”
Together, these five PACs make up the Injustice Democrats.
[...] SBF was one of the key funders of the Injustice Democrats.
But, SBF wasn’t the only billionaire to support the effort. Trump supporting billionaires
Bernard Marcus (owner of Home Depot), Robert Kraft (owner of the
Patriots), and Paul Singer (owner of Elliot Investment Management) each
gave a million dollars to help defeat working class candidates.
Overall, the five groups that make up the Injustice Democrats spent $44,454,111 on outside expenditure this cycle.
What
did SBF have in common with the pro-Israel lobby and pro-Trump
billionaires? In short, a desire to staunch the rise of the left, [...]
Howie Klein
— June 20, 2022 writing at Crooks&Liars:
This morning, I reached out to one of the sharpest and most effective young political operatives of the 2022 cycle, Morris Katz, who has worked with several progressive campaigns that have come under vicious attack from AIPAC and DMFI.
"AIPAC," explained Katz, "is on a mission to destroy the
Democratic Party from within. It’s a front for GOP billionaires and
corporations to smear progressive women of color and interfere in our
primaries. They pose an existential threat to American Democracy and
it’s critical that we have Congresswoman Edwards' back as they try to
steal this election."
Pelosi seems upset that AIPAC has gone rogue and is
attacking outstanding Democratic incumbents and attacking Donna Edwards,
who she worked closely with in the past.
But she should have thought more carefully about what she was doing when she allowed Hakeem Jeffries to weaponize AIPAC against progressives like Jessica Cisneros, Michelle Vallejo, Summer Lee and Nina Turner, at least two of whom beat back the AIPAC barrage of GOP sewer money and are on their way to Congress.
I spoke with a member of the Congressional Black Caucus last night, a former colleague of Edwards', who told me that Donna was a "principled
progressive with a coherent liberal ideology, which isn't that common
among CBC members... Some Members admired and respected her, others
weren't particularly thrilled about her [political] independence."
Sludge last month commenting on the Jayapal situation:
On Monday, more than 40 of the congresswoman’s Democratic colleagues,
including several who recently received more than a hundred thousand
dollars from the PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), signed a statement condemning Jayapal’s remarks.
“We are deeply concerned about Representative Pramila Jayapal’s
unacceptable comments regarding our historic, democratic ally Israel,
and we appreciate her retraction,” the letter said. “Israel is the
legitimate homeland of the Jewish people and efforts to delegitimize and
demonize it are not only dangerous and antisemitic, but they also
undermine America’s national security.”
The statement was circulated by Democrat Rep. John Gottheimer (N.J.), who has taken more than $159,000
in bundled donations from AIPAC’s PAC so far this year, according to a
recent disclosure. Money-in-politics website OpenSecrets says that
Gottheimer received more than $217,000 from AIPAC last cycle, making it his largest contributor.
Several of the Democrats who signed the Gottheimer statement had also
recently disclosed taking large sums of bundled donations from AIPAC
PAC. Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) signed the statement after taking
nearly $210,000 from AIPAC PAC since the beginning of the year. Another signer, Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), has received more than $116,000 from AIPAC PAC this year. Several more signers have received more than $20,000 from AIPAC PAC this year, including Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.).
Multiple human rights groups have called Israel an apartheid state
over its systematic mistreatment of Palestinians. In its 2021 report “A Threshold Crossed,”
Human Rights Watch argues that the Israelis have subjugated
Palestiniatians by virtue of their identities in ways that amount to the
crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution, as defined under
International law. Amnesty International released a report
in February of this year that found that “Israel has established and
maintained an institutionalized regime of oppression and domination of
the Palestinian population for the benefit of Jewish Israelis – a system
of apartheid – wherever it has exercised control over Palestinians’
lives since 1948.”
House Democratic leadership came out with a separate statement condemning Jayapal’s remarks on Monday. In a post to Twitter,
House Majority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Democratic Whip
Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Conn.), Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and
Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) declared that “Israel is not a racist
state.”
“The special relationship between the United States and Israel will
endure,” the Democratic leaders said. “We are determined to make sure
support for Israel in the Congress remains strongly bipartisan.”
Jeffries has received more than $419,000 from AIPAC PAC in the form
of earmarked donations so far this year, according to data from the
Federal Election Commission, and Clark has received more than $49,000 in
bundled funds from the group.
Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) quote tweeted
the leaders’ statement and said that she agreed with them in their
rejection of any description that Israel is racist. Frankel has received
more than $34,000 from AIPAC PAC already this year.
For many years, AIPAC worked to cultivate an image of political
neutrality and chose not to make donations to politicians. The group’s
lack of political donations gave it a talking point to use against
claims that it influences
U.S. foreign policy through money, such as when Rep. Ilhan Omar
(D-Minn.) said in February 2019 tweets that the group’s power was “all
about the Benjamins.”
AIPAC formed its PAC and super PAC last year, and some of its former
allies questioned the move. AIPAC’s former chief lobbyist and
legislative director Douglas Bloomfield expressed his concern with the
PAC and super PAC in comments to Haaretz. “When someone says ‘it’s all about the Benjamins,’ what’s the answer?” Bloomfield said.
On Tuesday, the House voted 412-9 to pass a resolution
that says that “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state,
Congress rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia; and the
United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel.”
In comments
on Monday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.,) blasted Jayapal and
other Democrats for what he called antisemitic statements. “These are
just multiple Democrats, on multiple times, consistently saying
antisemitic remarks, and it has got to stop,” McCarthy said.
AIPAC PAC has earmarked more than $285,000 for McCarthy already this year, according to Federal Election Commission data.
THE BENJAMINS! THE BENJAMINS! THE BENJAMINS - its all about THE BENJAMINS! Omar said it before these PAC movements arose, proving her statement to be the dead honest truth. THAT WOMAN DESERVES TO BE REELECTED AND THE PROGRESSIVES AMONG US DESERVE TO SEE HER REELECTED.
Jewish billionaire Bernie Marcus, one of the most significant
megadonors to the Republican Party, quietly donated $1 million to the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC in May.
The Home Depot co-founder’s donation will undoubtedly lead to renewed
scrutiny of AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC, since
Republican funds will play a significant role in its efforts to sway
Democratic primaries ahead of one of the most hotly contested elections
in U.S. history.
No super PAC (political action committee) can by law directly
contribute to politicians, but can solicit and spend unlimited campaign
sums for or against particular candidates.
The United Democracy Project super PAC spent nearly $27 million
exclusively on Democratic primaries during its debut run in the 2022
election cycle, with more than $10 million on attack ads alone. None of
those ads – nor the name of the super PAC – mentioned Israel once.
Marcus was among GOP megadonors donating at least $1 million to
the super PAC last election cycle. His was perhaps the first donation
to raise alarm that AIPAC was allowing Republican supporters to
influence Democratic elections.
The billionaire has long been known for his Jewish philanthropic
efforts and support of GOP candidates and political action committees.
He has steered contributions to pro-Israel candidates while bankrolling
efforts aimed at promoting Israel advocacy and opposing the 2015 Iran
nuclear deal.
Marcus was also among the first Republican Party mainstays to support
Donald Trump. He donated $7 million to Trump’s 2016 campaign, saying
that the “fate of the nation depends on sending him, and not Hillary
Clinton, to the White House” – particularly due to a “leftward” shift of
the Supreme Court had she been elected.
In recent years, Marcus has drawn criticism
for backing GOP candidates who have compared Democrats to Nazis and
bankrolling a campaign to place the Green Party on election ballots in
order to take away votes from Democrats. He described attacks on Steve
Bannon as a “shonda” (disgrace), defending Trump’s far-right adviser as a “passionate Zionist and supporter of Israel.”
He was one of six people to make a donation
of $1 million or more to the United Democracy Project last election
cycle, alongside fellow Republican megadonor Paul Singer and others who
are more closely aligned to the Democratic Party like media mogul Haim Saban – a fact that AIPAC officials highlight to rebuff criticism of the source of the funding.
Among the likeliest primaries where United
Democracy Project may involve itself is for Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s New
York seat. The progressive lawmaker, a target for pro-Israel groups
since in 2020 defeating AIPAC’s favorite Democrat, Rep. Eliot Engel, is
expected to face a significant primary effort after becoming
increasingly outspoken against the Israeli occupation and the Mideast
status quo in Washington.
Bowman and other progressive critics of U.S.-Israel policy have
found themselves increasingly marginalized as the GOP majority in the
House has found repeated opportunities to politicize Israel through
official measures – with the participation of Democratic leadership, all
of whom have been endorsed by AIPAC.
“It is unfortunate that after years of
grumbling to the press on the paramount importance of protecting
incumbents, Democratic leadership has seemingly turned its back on ours –
allowing outside groups like AIPAC to target them with
multimillion-dollar primary challenges,” Justice Democrats Executive Director Alexandra Rojas told HuffPost.
The Jewish progressive movement IfNotNow
has also chosen to make AIPAC a central focus ahead of the 2024 election
cycle, launching a “Reject AIPAC” campaign targeting lawmakers in
states with large Jewish populations.
“We’re at a crossroads. Our political and
community leaders have a choice to make: are they on the side of
equality, justice and a thriving future for all in Israel-Palestine and
the U.S., or are they on the side of AIPAC and their extremist allies,”
IfNotNow Political Director Eva Borgwardt said in a press statement.
The anti-occupation activists are demanding
candidates decline endorsements and contributions from AIPAC, accusing
it of being on the wrong side of the fight for democracy in both the
United States and Israel.
“AIPAC is not just an obstacle to progress
for Israelis and Palestinians. Their intervention in Democratic
primaries serves as a huge obstacle to necessary policies like universal
health care, meaningful climate action and workers’ rights. AIPAC’s
endorsement should be as welcome in progressive circles as the NRA or
the fossil fuel lobby,” Borgwardt added.
Progressives, meanwhile, are hoping Lee’s
victory offers a blueprint for combating AIPAC’s resources by
coordinating their own network of donors, operatives and local community
members focused on both anti-occupation activism and ideologically
consistent domestic policy.
I hope LaTrisha Vetaw takes a long hard look at who is recruiting her to undermine Rep. Omar, and considers long term as well as short term best self interest.
We find out soon.
_________FURTHER UPDATE________
The MinnPost item drew a comment thread which raises the question: How have these commentators drawn their views, given how mainstream media seem to have a bias in reporting about Isreal, and given how anyone speaking out against Israel and how it treats the occupants of the occupied territories gets pilloried by multiple online outlets and by alert pro-Israel politicians; the usual response being to shout "ANTISEMITE!!" at the drop of any judgmental word. And "tropes" or "memes" get a lot of mileage too, as reflexive responses. The MinnPost commentators must be attuned to alternate information sources on the web.
We should hope Councilmember Vetaw while deliberating a candidacy takes time to read that comment thread. One interesting aspect of the comments, Vetaw is not even mentioned, while AIPAC gets its share of criticism and scorn.
There is a lesson there for Ms. Vetaw, but she may run and do well. Remember that Jamaal Bowman, now another AIPAC super PAC target, defeated Elliot Engle, who had years of seniority to be the ranking Dem on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as a dedicated pro-Israel New York politician. Upsets happen.
Bowman deserves small donor attention much as Omar deserves it. The big money machine being against both means each needs progressive donor attention.
_________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Expanding upon the two
mentioned above, Omar and Bowman; the obvious websearch = candidates
AIPAC PAC money is being spent against
drew primarily reporting from 2022 mid-term election spending, which was massive
Doing
that websearch via Google, switched from "anytime' to "past month" does
filter out older stuff, *and* when run moments ago returned:
About 585 results (0.32 seconds)
Readers
are urged to run the "past month" Google to check out returned items.
In the course of doing that, several things were encountered worth
special mention.
Here
is one that from the headline appeared metaphorical about the
settlements, and conduct in the occupied territory, but it in fact is
entirely literal.
KNOW WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH: Crabgrass likes non-anonymized whois info more than blank disclosure. But the site owner picks how much to tell the world, via whois, what to not disclose. "Trust me" has always been a gamble, always will be. For this IfNotNowMovement.org, this image from "about" pages gives comfort -
Bernie cred!
Compare: https://www.whois.com/whois/rejectaipac.org each at "Registrant Contact" field. One, Ontario. The other, Israel, Capital Region - (with no Bernie cred). Compare "Registered On" dates. Compare the info each site seeks on fill-out forms. Define your own comfort zone.
_________FURTHER UPDATE_________
In an undated, but current as of mid-August 2023 item, AIPAC posts "featured candidates," with a suggestion that for payments to "featured candidates" campaigns routed through the AIPAC Political Portal "Credit goes to You and AIPAC". The word "endorsement" is not used, however on the homepage, https://www.aipacpac.org/ you click a "Who We Support" button to get to https://candidates.aipacpac.org/page/featured/ for the "featured" list, so if that is not an endorsement, what else is it?
By searching the "featured" page for R-MN and D-MN it was clear that the only MN House or Senate office holders un-featured are Reps Omar and McCollum, and Sen. Smith. Thus identifying three that progressives might wish to help.
Of the "Learn More" buttons for each featured politician only one was of real interest, to see if Dean Phillips's "support" was for President, as well as for House continuity. No mention of support or touting, presidentially, was found.
FURTHER: While not previously particularly enamored of Sen. Smith, beyond her earlier Planned Parenthood affiliation, Crabgrass sees gravitas in an AIPAC snub, given how AIPAC has most recently degenerated into a pom-pom group for Netanyahu's excessively cruel and aggressive government, where its "friends" become suspect.
Moreover, HuffPo recently featured Smith favorably, in a well written, credible item.
That combination puts Tina Smith on the Crabgrass favorable "follow list."
Interestingly, MN CD4 and CD5 incumbents were snubbed by AIPAC PAC, suggesting that progressive urban Reps are disfavored by AIPAC decision makers.
My district's Rep., Emmer, is not a Crabgrass favorite, far from it, although an upgrade from Michel Bachmann, so there is further cause to distrust/dislike AIPAC PAC's choosing who to "feature."
In fact, the featured candidates included House leadership position holders of both parties, such as Emmer, and there is not a single progressive in such leadership, in either party. They are all conservatives, having a range of right wing policy positions, but if any single one of them has a single progressive bone in his/her body, it has yet to show. On the Dem side, they wish to suppress progressives. That is why you give to individual candidates, and not DCCC, or DSCC. Or simply give to Justice Democrats.
