Wow, Steny Hoyer was recorded strong-arming out a Progressive primary challenger

[yodermon]

I could do without the cartoon's editorializing, but this is newsworthy IMO.

Link to tweet

Secretly taped audio shows how a top Democrat worked to strong arm a progressive candidate out of a congressional race.

https://theintercept.com/2018/04/26/steny-hoyer-audio-levi-tillemann/

[shanny]

1. I am shocked, shocked! eom

[MineralMan]

2. The Intercept? Really?

Did we not learn anything a couple of years ago?

It appears that we did not.

Glenn Greenwald and The Intercept are not friends of Democrats. I find posts linked back to them to be toxic and noxious. Glenn Greenwald is a libertarian, not a progressive.

[tonyt53]

4. That old saying "consider the source" comes to mind.

[MineralMan]

6. I believe that "avoid questionable sources on DU" is

pertinent. The Intercept is a propaganda outlet.

[a kennedy]

12. Thank you MineralMan.......

I always wait for your response to ANYTHING before I even think of a response. Thank you, lord of reason.

[PoliticAverse]

3. Occasionally one gets to hear how the sausage is really made. n/t

[vi5]

5. Wow, this is shocking and surprising!

And by that I mean it is not shocking or surprising.

I can only imagine how often this happens within the party in much more covert and non-recorded ways and frequency.

What's even sadder is that based on the frequency and quantity of posts on here, that many voters have internalized this strategy and completely thrown themselves into justifying it endlessly.

[dembotoz]

7. a primary is expensive...you can avoid it by being an asshole some(many?) will

you win any race you do not have to run

[NCTraveler]

8. Your daily dose of Intercept stupidity. nt.

[Sophia4]

9. Tammany Hall all over.

This meddling in primaries will break the Democratic Party.

A lot of people who have been Democrats all their lives will vote for other candidates rather than succumb to the heavy-handedness of the Democratic "leadership."

The Democratic Party is hurting itself. News about this kind of meddling and this kind of sense of ownership by "leaders" of the Party gets out. I was visiting with a group of Democrats last night who were saying they want to leave the Party because of this sort of thing. I don't want to leave, but if candidates can't run against each other and test each other fairly in primaries, what is the point of claiming to be "Democratic"?

There is nothing democratic about a primary when a well-heeled party interferes by backing one candidate over another. And where is a promising candidate to start learning the ropes if not by running in a primary?

The party leadership's taking sides in a primary is self-defeating. It's stupid. It isn't needed. Stop it, Democratic Party leadership. You are hurting the Party. You are forgetting that YOU ARE NOT THE PARTY. The voters, the grass-roots voters, are the Democratic Party, not the leadership.

If your candidates can't win without extra help and money from the central Party prior to the primary, you shouldn't be backing them because they will be harder to push to victory in the ultimate election.

Please let democracy work or get out of politics.

[jalan48]

10. An embarrassing example of the effect of Citizens United.

[manor321]

11. Repeat

This nothingburger story has been posted here multiple times.

[IronLionZion]

13. Be wary of ratfuckers trying to divide us

Or anyone claiming to be liberal while working against Democratic candidates during an election year.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210558461

[MineralMan]

14. I looked up "ratfucker" in an internet dictionary, and

a photo popped up. Imagine that.

[zipplewrath]

15. Ya mean like the DCCC

I mean, you've got the DCCC here supposedly working against democratic candidates in a primary.

I say supposedly of course because the source of this story can't really be trusted to represent all of the pertinent facts.

[IronLionZion]

16. The Intercept would love to have us be distrustful of our own party leaders

by taking a grain of truth and spinning it into a big steaming pile of BS

[zipplewrath]

18. Non-Intercept version of the story

https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/hoyer-defends-urging-candidate-to-drop-out-of-democratic-primary

It's Roll Call, which is far from perfect, but a slightly different version.

[IronLionZion]

19. This version sounds much more reasonable

the other version clearly had a political agenda

[democrank]

17. Regardless of who or what the source was

this audio is troubling.

I don't have one set of rules for Republican politicians and another for Democratic politicians. What would we say if we saw the strong arm of the Republican machine meddle in the choice of which Republican has the right to run? We certainly wouldn't call it democracy at its finest.

I'm not a fan of promoting that those with power, money and influence do all the deciding. Let the people decide....in either party.

[zipplewrath]

20. Yes and no

I'm firmly in the "let the voters decide" camp. But quite honestly, all Hoyer did was make a phone call. It was rather courteous in many ways. I've seen vastly worse over the years. It's sorta Hoyer's job, at least currently. It is why I don't contribute to the DCCC because they see this as their job. And they can get rather aggressive about it too. But it is nothing new and one should understand this before donating to them, or more importantly, prior to deciding to run. Don't be surprised that the party leadership may, or may not, support your candidacy.

[democrank]

22. I respectfully add.....

Nothing surprised me about Hoyer's tactics. Money talks and Democratic leadership hasn't been too fond of boat rockers.

I don't donate to the DCCC. My money goes directly to a candidate or to a cause.

~PEACE~

[Renew Deal]

24. It's the consequence of party politics

[eleny]

21. I remember hearing about how Obama was told that it wasn't his time

And I'm glad he didn't listen.

We don't live in the 6th District but we'll be watching this race and donating to the most liberal of the three candidates. We never give to the DCCC but directly to House candidates.

[Renew Deal]

23. I don't see what's wrong here

It's horribly annoying, but Hoyer was forthcoming and it does happen all the time at all levels.