Anti-abortion Democrat snubbed by party for reelection

[former9thward]

Dan Lipinski is the kind of candidate Democrats need more of for the party to win the House in November. But the national Democratic Party is refusing to endorse him.

The seven-term congressman from Chicago, who opposes abortion and voted against Obamacare, marriage equality and immigration reform, is one of the most conservative members of the House Democratic Caucus.

The question of whether the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will officially back Lipinski for reelection — he faces a stiff primary challenge from the left — has triggered an outbreak of ill will and finger-pointing from each wing of the party toward the other. With less than a month until the March 20 primary, tensions that have been brewing privately for weeks between the caucus’ centrist and progressive lawmakers are now spilling out into a messy public spat.

Caught in the middle are House Democratic leaders, who govern a caucus more aligned with Lipinski’s opponent, Marie Newman. But they are wary of appearing to kick one of their incumbents to the curb, aware of the potential long-term implications for a party that is struggling to regain its standing with blue-collar voters.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/25/lipinski-democrats-abortion-chicago-illinois-423431

[TreasonousBastard]

1. BFD. We applaud Republicans who throw their ultra conservatives under the bus, so...

why not throw our own out there?

Don't know anything about his district, but if Newman can take it, what's the problem?

[former9thward]

8. She can't.

She is far to the left of people in that district.

[Tavarious Jackson]

2. He doesn't sound like a democrat to me.

If he doesn't vote like one than get someone else

[Kirk Lover]

4. I understand having to stray on an issue or two if you are running in a 'certain' district...but

yeah...he's voting against everything for cripes sake. He truly sounds like a Dem in name only.

[obamanut2012]

3. He is anti-choice, and good

You cannot be anti-choice and be either a Dem or a feminist, period.

[demmiblue]

5. Good. n/t

[msongs]

6. the purpose of primaries is to get the best democrat possible not keep DINOs nt

[former9thward]

7. His opponent can't win in that district.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Yaknow, she might have a chance after all...

He's around not because of a conservative district, but because of a powerful machine, and that machine might be slowly breaking down.

I watched as Tammany Hall slowly self-destructed in NYC, and maybe its time for Madigan's to go.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/dan-lipinski-faces-off-against-marie-newman-in-3rd-district-democratic-primary

Liberal organizations have fumed for years over his votes and views, especially since he holds a district that both Hillary Clinton and President Obama carried by roughly 15 points. But Lipinski easily defeated early primary challengers with the support of one of the country’s few remaining powerful Democratic machines. Party boss and Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (D) then gifted him a personalized gerrymander that stretched the 3rd District from his and Lipinski’s base in Chicago’s South Side into whiter, more socially conservative southwestern suburbs after 2010, possibly at the expense of drawing another gerrymandered Democratic district. He hasn’t faced a real challenge since.

But Newman has shown herself to be a capable candidate, with decent if less-than-dazzling fundraising figures, and she has the backing of some of the left’s most powerful groups. She has support from the pro-abortion rights NARAL Pro-Choice America, EMILY’s List and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, MoveOn.org, and the Service Employees International Union, as well as Schakowsky, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

“The Lipinski monarchy supported by the Chicago machine has continued because nobody’s had the time or resources to do this,” Newman told TPM last week. “We’ve had 36 years of Lipinskis, and everyone’s pretty clear they’re completely out of touch with the district.”

[Bettie]

10. This guy doesn't vote with Dems

most of the time...he's against pretty much everything Dems generally stand for.

If were one issue, then fine, but it is more than one or even two.