Why Cori Bush's victory is exceptionally decisive for the progressive army and its struggle to take over the Democratic Party
Another major victory for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party sent shock-waves to the establishment. This time, Cori Bush managed to defeat the corporate Democrat Lacy Clay, shifting the balance even further to the Left inside the Party.
As The Intercept reported:
In
an upset that will rock the House Democratic Caucus, Ferguson activist
Cori Bush on Tuesday unseated Rep. Lacy Clay, whose family has
represented the St. Louis-area congressional district for more than 50
years.
[...]
Bush
was among the original Justice Democrat recruits in 2018, but lost her
first challenge by 20 points. A registered nurse and pastor, she made a
second run this cycle, again with the backing of Justice Democrats, the
progressive group best known for recruiting Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez. “It is historic that this year, of all the years, we are
sending a Black, working-class single mother who’s been fighting for
Black lives since Ferguson all the way to the halls of Congress,” Bush
said in a victory speech.
Bush’s win follows the upset of veteran Rep. Eliot Engel at the hands of Jamaal Bowman in New York, and longtime Rep. Daniel Lipinski in Illinois, who fell to Marie Newman. Justice Democrats also supported a challenge against Rep. Henry Cuellar, who narrowly fended off Jessica Cisneros in Texas. |
Two years ago, we identified a successful operation against Bush, who eventually lost to Clay. Perhaps the most interesting part of the story is that the operation was not carried out by some liberal media pundits, affiliated to the establishment Democrats. It was carried out by the Fox machine!
As we wrote back then, Cori Bush appeared to be quite unprepared to deal with Fox’s aggressive style. Unfortunately, shortly after this ugly attack, Cori Bush, a very promising progressive, lost in primaries, and 'surprisingly', most of the establishment media (both liberal and conservative), indirectly welcomed the result with a kind of relief.
We also wrote that, as it seems, it is difficult for the liberal media to launch straight attacks against progressives because they are running under the Democratic umbrella. Their anti-progressive campaigns are smoother, more elegant if you like, related to these of the ultra-conservative media. So, they let media like Fox do the dirty job for them, hoping that they will crush the progressive movement. The narratives used by both the liberal and the ultra-conservative media are the same. What changes, is the manner and the general strategy against progressives.
Establishment's campaign against Bush this time was equally aggressive with that of 2018.
As Krystal Ball said, Lacy Clay took it very seriously. He raised money, he was up on the air, and his team launched one the nastiest campaigns against Bush. And the core issue again was, of course, Bush's central political position on raising taxes for the wealthy. This is something which always alarms all the establishment spectrum and makes it very angry.
Also, as the Middle East Eye reported, "A few days before Cori Bush defeated 10-term Congressman William Lacy Clay, ending a political dynasty that represented St Louis in the House for more than a half century, she was attacked by the incumbent over her support for the right to boycott Israel. Her response? Bush doubled down on backing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement."
So, evidently, this time all the smears and attacks against Cori Bush didn't work. And that's why her victory is exceptionally decisive for the progressive army and its struggle to take over the Democratic Party.
The liberal establishment must be feeling losing the ground under its feet, as it sees its main political vehicle being "hijacked" by the progressive wave of real-life, everyday people.
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