Do you feel sorry for Katie Porter?

[Morning in Atlas]

If I wanted people to believe the election was rigged, I simply would have gotten more than 14% of the vote.

[Morning in Atlas]

I've become much less sympathetic to this argument as time has gone on. From Nina Turner's quip about ((evil money)) to this sh*t, it's clear that these candidates had bigger problems.

Money is huge, and no one PAC should be spending as much money as an entire campaign. But they can. Even then is not an insurmountable advantage. Summer Lee is one example. Even on the establishment side, John Fetterman or Chris Pappas overcame massive outside, corporate spending and won an election. The all-powerful Jewbux couldn't even take out Tlaib and Omar! And Tlaib has actively hedged on Biden since October 7th.

If I wanted people to believe outside money stole my election, I would get more than 14% of the vote. I would also not spend 8 years bashing the Democratic nominee and the party as a whole. Candidates have proven that they can overcome their flaws and the environment. It's time to actually do it.

[Morning in Atlas]

It's funny that while you were a Sanders diehard in 2016-2020 and even left the Democrats over it, but are no longer sympathetic to the idea that money can rig an election. I was a Clinton guy, although somewhat sympathetic, didn't think the 2016 primary was rigged. But now, I agree with Porter that the primary was rigged, and you may be more likely to sport a D avatar in the future than me.

In both cases, I supported the female candidate and you supported the male candidate. I should point out that on Open Secrets, Fetterman actually outspent Oz (total spending $75 million to $49 million) and also had more outside money supporting him than Oz. https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2022&id=PAS1

Porter otoh was outspent by Schiff, $23 million - $38 million, and had $10 million opposing her by a crypto PAC! https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2024&id=CAS2

I won't even get into Summer Lee and Pappas because, running for a Congressional seat or in a state like NH is obviously nothing like running in California. My view remains that money plays a corrosive role in politics that undermines our democracy, particularly in states like CA, but that the extreme charges of the Sanders supporters in 2016 were exaggerated.

I am sympathetic to a point. I'm not saying it's not an advantage, because it absolutely is. I'm just saying that it's not insurmountable. I'm not gonna split hairs here - I was a Lee guy but Schiff was my #2 because of Porter's support of Netanyahu's power grab over the judiciary. Schiff is just aggressively mid - he represents the empty "own the cons" section of the party I distance myself from - but on policy he's not going to be a total disaster.

In some cases, like Nina Turner and Katie Porter, a cursory analysis of their election suggests other factors than money. Money doesn't explain Turner's total inability to attract any new voters or Porter reaching only the mid-teens. I think the current system we live in is absolutely disgusting, and an illegitimate decision from an illegitimate hack court. But these are the rules we have to play by, and we do have to fight before we can change it.