MD-4: Edwards vs. Ivey

[Pollster]

This primary appears to be heating up, AIPAC's political arm is spending a massive amount of money airing Edwards attack ads, and Ivey and his family have significant deep roots in Prince George's County politics. Ivey came in 2nd in the primary to succeed Edwards in 2016, losing to Brown by about 8 points.

My partner's entire family lives & votes here - will be monitoring this one closely. The open gubernatorial primary is also expected to be competitive here with Rushern Baker exiting the race.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Excellent. I personally wish AIPAC/DMFI would take the gloves off and start doing mass oppo/ad drops against implacable enemies in Congress and actually back their primary opponents, but fighting hard in open districts is the next best thing.

[Pollster]

Excellent. I personally wish AIPAC/DMFI would take the gloves off and start doing mass oppo/ad drops against implacable enemies in Congress and actually back their primary opponents, but fighting hard in open districts is the next best thing.

Interestingly, AIPAC is not actually intentionally backing "moderates" - they're backing the most steadfast supporters of Israel they can find, many of whom happen to be running in districts that Our Revolution/WFP-types are also targeting. Ivey is a good example - his platform is virtually identical to Edwards on most key issues, he is just a vocal supporter of Israel.

[Horus]

Edwards was a wonderful congresswoman and it'll be great to have her back.

[Schiff for Senate]

Excellent. I personally wish AIPAC/DMFI would take the gloves off and start doing mass oppo/ad drops against implacable enemies in Congress and actually back their primary opponents, but fighting hard in open districts is the next best thing.

If the AIPAC supports Ivey, I support Edwards, especially if what Pollster says about their having the same platform otherwise is true. I'm sick of American politicians bootlicking and grovelling for Israel and refusing to criticise them (and instead always and only criticising Palestine). Some constructive criticism would be nice instead of politicians intentionally closing their eyes to all the bad things Israel does to avoid triggering Jewish voters and the AIPAC. We need less blindly pro-Israel members of Congress and more people who are willing to look at this from a more objective and balanced perspective.

[JM1295]

IIRC Edwards primaried a CBC member for backing the Iraq War and was great when she was in the House, can't wait to see her make a return! Also, yeah AIPAC sucks but that's nothing new. This is the same group that backs ghouls like Jim Jordan and Scott Perry, because even if they back Stop the Steal, they still support Israel.

[West_Midlander]

I'm rooting for Edwards.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

AIPAC is attacking Edwards?

Endorsed

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I don’t trust or like AIPAC at all, but that’s not the reason to back Edwards.  She has a proven track record of fighting for progressive legislation whereas Ivey may be running as a progressive now, but IIRC he has tried to position himself as the business-friendly moderate choice in at least one of his prior runs. 

As such, I don’t trust him to do more than talk a good game if elected.  Edwards is the best choice here and it’s a no-brainer.  Even if I am misremembering about Ivey, you know what you’re getting with Edwards: someone who is serious about getting progressive legislation passed and won’t sell out to corporate interests whenever an important issue pops up that doesn’t necessarily have the full attention of the public. 

Sometimes taking a chance on an unknown can pan out and become a great progressive despite having the sort of profile that might give one pause on paper.  But why take a chance when there is absolutely no political need to and the proven progressive choice isn’t a demagogue or anything like that?

[Pollster]

I don’t trust or like AIPAC at all, but that’s not the reason to back Edwards.  She has a proven track record of fighting for progressive legislation whereas Ivey may be running as a progressive now, but IIRC he has tried to position himself as the business-friendly moderate choice in at least one of his prior runs. 

As such, I don’t trust him to do more than talk a good game if elected.  Edwards is the best choice here and it’s a no-brainer.  Even if I am misremembering about Ivey, you know what you’re getting with Edwards: someone who is serious about getting progressive legislation passed and won’t sell out to corporate interests whenever an important issue pops up that doesn’t necessarily have the full attention of the public. 

Sometimes taking a chance on an unknown can pan out and become a great progressive despite having the sort of profile that might give one pause on paper.  But why take a chance when there is absolutely no political need to and the proven progressive choice isn’t a demagogue or anything like that?

My understanding (based solely on what my partner's family has relayed) is that the Ivey family is known and respected in the county for being workhorses and generally visible and accessible. That seems to be the contrast with Edwards who has always been criticized for perceived inattentiveness and poor constituent services. Edwards actually lost the Dem primary for Prince George's County executive in 2018 to Angela Alsobrooks (who is incredibly popular and was recruited but declined to run for both this seat and for governor) largely thanks to this line of attack. The district is made up of largely middle-aged, working class, non-college educated Black folks - many of whom have government or government-adjacent jobs being so close to DC - so not really fertile ground for a primary win on ideological grounds.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I don’t trust or like AIPAC at all, but that’s not the reason to back Edwards.  She has a proven track record of fighting for progressive legislation whereas Ivey may be running as a progressive now, but IIRC he has tried to position himself as the business-friendly moderate choice in at least one of his prior runs. 

As such, I don’t trust him to do more than talk a good game if elected.  Edwards is the best choice here and it’s a no-brainer.  Even if I am misremembering about Ivey, you know what you’re getting with Edwards: someone who is serious about getting progressive legislation passed and won’t sell out to corporate interests whenever an important issue pops up that doesn’t necessarily have the full attention of the public. 

Sometimes taking a chance on an unknown can pan out and become a great progressive despite having the sort of profile that might give one pause on paper.  But why take a chance when there is absolutely no political need to and the proven progressive choice isn’t a demagogue or anything like that?

My understanding (based solely on what my partner's family has relayed) is that the Ivey family is known and respected in the county for being workhorses and generally visible and accessible. That seems to be the contrast with Edwards who has always been criticized for perceived inattentiveness and poor constituent services. Edwards actually lost the Dem primary for Prince George's County executive in 2018 to Angela Alsobrooks (who is incredibly popular and was recruited but declined to run for both this seat and for governor) largely thanks to this line of attack. The district is made up of largely middle-aged, working class, non-college educated Black folks - many of whom have government or government-adjacent jobs being so close to DC - so not really fertile ground for a primary win on ideological grounds.

I was unaware of the bolded part; that had not been my understanding.