Texas Primaries Megathread - DCCC attacking TX-07 Dem Candidate

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

One more thing I should have posted last night but didn't. I don't like how Moser opposes the DCCC policy of supporting pro-life candidates (and to be fair Bernie Sanders seems in favor of it), but the DCCC shouldn't hold grudges.

Isn't Conor Lamb pro-life? Not supporting him would be kind of idiotic.

[YE]

One more thing I should have posted last night but didn't. I don't like how Moser opposes the DCCC policy of supporting pro-life candidates (and to be fair Bernie Sanders seems in favor of it), but the DCCC shouldn't hold grudges.

Isn't Conor Lamb pro-life? Not supporting him would be kind of idiotic.

I hope so because a pro-choicer isn't winning that seat but to be fair IIRC the DCCC isn't investing in PA-18.

[Former Kentuckian]

One more thing I should have posted last night but didn't. I don't like how Moser opposes the DCCC policy of supporting pro-life candidates (and to be fair Bernie Sanders seems in favor of it), but the DCCC shouldn't hold grudges.

Isn't Conor Lamb pro-life? Not supporting him would be kind of idiotic.

I say this as a woman: it bothers me that figures like Emily's List's Stephanie Schriock and NARAL's Ilyse Hogue have tried to make abortion rights a litmus test in Democratic support and have meddled in elections where candidates have been pro-life, like the Omaha Mayoral race. Ilyse Hogue in particular made that race controversial due to Perez's and Sanders' support of Heath Mello. I believe abortion rights are important, but I also know that the country is vastly different by region having grown up in Eastern Kentucky and that you can't run an Emily's List candidate everywhere. If we made abortion a litmus test, we wouldn't have the governor's mansion in Louisiana or have a Senate seat in West Virginia.

[Ebsy]

Early vote numbers through Saturday for the 14 comparable Texas counties. Quite the shift.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Also, why is anyone even discussing Sanchez. He is not a serious candidate in this race.

So because someone has no chance of winning you can't like them? Got it.

I have a friend in the district. He says the guy is actually like a crazy conspiracy theorist who talks about it during candidate forums.

Yikes! Unendorsed. LOL.

[McGovernForPrez]

I have friend who volunteers for the Westinghouse campaign and he says they seem to think he'll make the run-off at this rate. He says their preferred opponent is Fletcher due to the fact that the local labor unions have come out strongly against her due to her having some history prosecuting labor unioms.

[TheRocketRaccoon]

I have friend who volunteers for the Westinghouse campaign and he says they seem to think he'll make the run-off at this rate. He says their preferred opponent is Fletcher due to the fact that the local labor unions have come out strongly against her due to her having some history prosecuting labor unioms.

Westin? I definitely hope he wins.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

So - I promised X a response to his outlining of who makes a good affluent suburban Dem, and I believe Moser fits the bill.

First - some caveats:
1) I don't think Moser is remarkably better electorally than Alex T or whoever the union busting lawyer is that landed the EMILY's List endorsement. I think they're roughly about the same.  

2) I think that 2018 is specifically a good time for Moser, rather than even previous wave years like 2006 and 2008

Now, to respond to you point by point. We actually mostly agree on what we think is good, so this will mostly be me saying how I think Moser fits what you're describing, or at least fits it as much as everyone else:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Moser is straight - I'm not going to speculate about her sexuality in its totality but she's married to a dude and has biological kids, so that's enough for outward appearances in politics.

Idk about how you personally locate Judaism as a marginalized religion/ethnicity/culture, but I think we can safely say that at minimum she's in the assimilated/Reformed tradition that has proven to be electorally inoffensive in 90% of the country - and the 10% where it isn't viable probably isn't the Houston suburbs. Furthermore, at she has white skin and a blandly European name.

She is impeccably educated.

She has a very standard appearance. Seems to prefer dresses to pantsuits on the trail, but comes across as very normal. Lots of cute photos on her website/social media of her with her family.

While journalism isn't exactly doctor/lawyer, it's a profession that requires (for the most part) a college education. She wasn't exactly writing in the Trotskyite newspapers they try and get you to buy for 25c outside of more successful socialist gatherings - she was published in NYTimes, Vogue, etc.. In addition, she wrote some YA books? In any case, there's very little that's scary here.

Let's talk policy. First, I'll go ahead and be cynical and say that I don't think actual policies are nearly as important as the character you project and vocabulary you use *with * those policies. Moser plays it very safe with how she outlines her policy, grouping it under buzzwords like "Security, Freedom, Community, Entrepreneurialism" etc on her website. Definitely checks the boxes of 'inoffensive rhetoric.'

But even looking at literally what she's proposing, there's nothing very exciting there other than M4A. Like... more transit $$$ for Houston? Vaguely pro immigration? "Fostering small & family-run businesses?"

She's done a very good job fundraising.

But let's talk about her 'activism.' And this is why I think 2018 is a good year for her rather than other years. I actually think that Daily Action is a plus in this district. Yes, in most years having the word activist assigned to you is going to be a minus in everywhere but Portland. But I think it's important to note that the #resistance, of which Daily Action was/is a prominent part, is deeply familiar to the affluent suburbs that Moser is running in.

The #resistance is coming from affluent (and disproportionately female) liberals with ties to districts like the 7. At the least this makes her familiar to the district (which yeah, a lot of older males will scoff and make really offensive memes about her and how she resembles their daughters with whom they have hostile relationships, but they were voting R anyway). I suspect that in this particular cycle, it gives her a motivated base of support.

  
Again, I don't support Moser more than tepidly. But I don't think there's a case to be made that she's somehow disastrous. And hey, she supports M4A and has a personal connection to Bernieland (which again is why I think DCCC is going after her). And she's certainly inoffensive enough that DCCC's conduct seems on its face to be completely ridiculous.

If it turns out she like, liked to skin cats in her youth or something, I'll retract my remarks. But until then I think DCCC is being dumb and petty for reasons personal to the young and clueless staffers that work there.

As a random post script: kinda squicked out how everyone is super ready to bust out "shrill" again as a descriptor of a female politician. Like... seriously?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

So - I promised X a response to his outlining of who makes a good affluent suburban Dem, and I believe Moser fits the bill.

First - some caveats:
1) I don't think Moser is remarkably better electorally than Alex T or whoever the union busting lawyer is that landed the EMILY's List endorsement. I think they're roughly about the same.  

2) I think that 2018 is specifically a good time for Moser, rather than even previous wave years like 2006 and 2008

Now, to respond to you point by point. We actually mostly agree on what we think is good, so this will mostly be me saying how I think Moser fits what you're describing, or at least fits it as much as everyone else:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Moser is straight - I'm not going to speculate about her sexuality in its totality but she's married to a dude and has biological kids, so that's enough for outward appearances in politics.

Idk about how you personally locate Judaism as a marginalized religion/ethnicity/culture, but I think we can safely say that at minimum she's in the assimilated/Reformed tradition that has proven to be electorally inoffensive in 90% of the country - and the 10% where it isn't viable probably isn't the Houston suburbs. Furthermore, at she has white skin and a blandly European name.

She is impeccably educated.

She has a very standard appearance. Seems to prefer dresses to pantsuits on the trail, but comes across as very normal. Lots of cute photos on her website/social media of her with her family.

While journalism isn't exactly doctor/lawyer, it's a profession that requires (for the most part) a college education. She wasn't exactly writing in the Trotskyite newspapers they try and get you to buy for 25c outside of more successful socialist gatherings - she was published in NYTimes, Vogue, etc.. In addition, she wrote some YA books? In any case, there's very little that's scary here.

Let's talk policy. First, I'll go ahead and be cynical and say that I don't think actual policies are nearly as important as the character you project and vocabulary you use *with * those policies. Moser plays it very safe with how she outlines her policy, grouping it under buzzwords like "Security, Freedom, Community, Entrepreneurialism" etc on her website. Definitely checks the boxes of 'inoffensive rhetoric.'

But even looking at literally what she's proposing, there's nothing very exciting there other than M4A. Like... more transit $$$ for Houston? Vaguely pro immigration? "Fostering small & family-run businesses?"

She's done a very good job fundraising.

But let's talk about her 'activism.' And this is why I think 2018 is a good year for her rather than other years. I actually think that Daily Action is a plus in this district. Yes, in most years having the word activist assigned to you is going to be a minus in everywhere but Portland. But I think it's important to note that the #resistance, of which Daily Action was/is a prominent part, is deeply familiar to the affluent suburbs that Moser is running in.

The #resistance is coming from affluent (and disproportionately female) liberals with ties to districts like the 7. At the least this makes her familiar to the district (which yeah, a lot of older males will scoff and make really offensive memes about her and how she resembles their daughters with whom they have hostile relationships, but they were voting R anyway). I suspect that in this particular cycle, it gives her a motivated base of support.

  
Again, I don't support Moser more than tepidly. But I don't think there's a case to be made that she's somehow disastrous. And hey, she supports M4A and has a personal connection to Bernieland (which again is why I think DCCC is going after her). And she's certainly inoffensive enough that DCCC's conduct seems on its face to be completely ridiculous.

If it turns out she like, liked to skin cats in her youth or something, I'll retract my remarks. But until then I think DCCC is being dumb and petty for reasons personal to the young and clueless staffers that work there.

As a random post script: kinda squicked out how everyone is super ready to bust out "shrill" again as a descriptor of a female politician. Like... seriously?

I gotta say, while I'm still definitely pulling for Alex T, Moser doesn't sound as bad as I'd initially thought profile-wise (although if there's audio of that Texas Toothache quote, then that's definitely a deal-breaker and the stuff with her husband's consulting firm, while not entirely her fault, is pretty sketchy).  I think the DCCC may've jumped the gun here unless they know something we don't (which is definitely quite possible).  I don't think the DCCC is doing this b/c of Moser's connection to Bernieland though. 

On a different note, I've really been souring on Fletcher lately; her history as a union-buster is pretty bad.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

More on texas tribune

https://apps.texastribune.org/2018-texas-congressional-primaries-to-watch/

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

This is strictly anecdotal, but I was talking to a classmate from the district about the race and he said he’s been hearing for a while that Moser can come across as extremely condescending/patronizing towards voters when retail campaigning and that one friend of his who works in TX Democratic politics in the Houston metro said the reason for the opposition research dump is that there was internal polling showing Moser and Alex T starting to pull away from the pack and a lot of folks were worried about her winning the runoff since the same internal polling showed Moser basically DOA against Culberson in the GE even before the DCCC dumped some of its opposition research.  Alex T apparently polled the best in a GE contest with Culberson by quite a bit, but I didn’t get any more details about what the internal polling showed.  However, no one seems to know why the DCCC didn’t just leak the opposition research to a newspaper.  

While this should obviously be taken with a grain of salt, it makes a lot more sense than the idea the DCCC would act the way it did simply b/c Moser has connections to Bernieland.  It also fits pretty well with my own sense of the race.  Ultimately, whether or not the opposition research dump was fair, it seems pretty clear that we’re gonna blow a winnable race if we nominate Moser.  

It’d be one thing if we had no shot of flipping the house or if the President was anyone other than Trump, but the stakes this cycle are just too high not to run the strongest Democratic candidate in every house race, whomever that may be even when they’re from a different wing of the party.  I think Ed Meier would be better in TX-32, but his main opponent would also be a strong candidate so I’d be fine with Berniecrats focusing on that primary.  But Moser seems to be objectively much weaker as a GE candidate than a number of the other folks running here.  

Giving the finger to the DCCC isn’t worth blowing our best chance to unseat a right-wing extremist like Culberson and put ourselves one seat closer to flipping the House.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

If the DCCC had internal polling that showed Moser doing worse against Culberson, they should have released it.

[Jeppe]

The betting markets have Fletcher as a significant favourite to win the Democratic primary, ahead of Alex T.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

If the DCCC had internal polling that showed Moser doing worse against Culberson, they should have released it.

In fairness to them, it's not like releasing an internal would've caused many people to vote against Moser.

[Skill and Chance]

If the DCCC had internal polling that showed Moser doing worse against Culberson, they should have released it.

In fairness to them, it's not like releasing an internal would've caused many people to vote against Moser.

Maybe they are holding back the worst oppo so that they can sink her campaign during the runoff?  If that's the case and one of the 2 most moderate candidates (Lizzie and Alex) makes the runoff against Moser, then they are in a better position for the GE than having to worry about one of the nutty also-rans making the runoff due to vote splitting or having Westin running on single payer in the wealthiest district in the state where like 98% of voters have private coverage they don't want to lose?

We'll see.  I think Fletcher is clearly making the runoff.  2nd place is very unclear.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

If the DCCC had internal polling that showed Moser doing worse against Culberson, they should have released it.

In fairness to them, it's not like releasing an internal would've caused many people to vote against Moser.

Maybe they are holding back the worst oppo so that they can sink her campaign during the runoff?  If that's the case and one of the 2 most moderate candidates (Lizzie and Alex) makes the runoff against Moser, then they are in a better position for the GE than having to worry about one of the nutty also-rans making the runoff due to vote splitting or having Westin running on single payer in the wealthiest district in the state where like 98% of voters have private coverage they don't want to lose?

We'll see.  I think Fletcher is clearly making the runoff.  2nd place is very unclear.

Ugh, a Fletcher vs. Moser runoff would be awful.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Moser hates Texas, and is full of white privilege and a DC transplant still having a homestead exemption there, plus she looks like a combative seahawk. Still miles better than Culberson, and would definitely not be shy about wanting her in a GE, but literally all the other dems in the primary are better than her.

[BuckeyeNut]

The idea Fletcher is anti-union is pretty contrived for a couple of reasons, 1: she never worked the case against the SEIU and 2: she joined the firm in 2009 -- 9 years after the case started. The case is in question is DumbBad, but her work, judging by the profile on her firm's page, seems to focus on antitrust and securities. Getting anti-trust lawyers in Congress is definitely a good thing.

[TheRocketRaccoon]

http://www.nypress.com/the-jesus-orgy/

Wow so progressive

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

http://www.nypress.com/the-jesus-orgy/

Wow so progressive

Ok, I hate her now. Terrible person, she will make this race Strong Lean R if she wins the nomination. Plus she is just a terrible person, and a hater of the south and the culture. Still better than Culberson, but she does not deserve to win.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

What the hell is with this person lol

Progressives should endorse Fletcher if they're really "progressive"

[Jeppe]

Yeah, I was skeptical of the Moser hate, but that entire article seemed pretty racist and incredibly ethnocentric. “Look at these coloured people and their whacky beliefs and practices”.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

DCCC is nothing but a political smear machine that attacks progressives so they can keep their gravy train going. Thankfully this is 2018 not 2016 so this will only motivate people to vote for Laura Moser.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

DCCC is nothing but a political smear machine that attacks progressives so they can keep their gravy train going. Thankfully this is 2018 not 2016 so this will only motivate people to vote for Laura Moser.

There is literally a more progressive candidate people can vote for called Fletcher. Why the hell would you vote for a controversial swamp candidate that is less progressive?

She is literally A PART OF THE SWAMP THAT YOU HATE SO MUCH.

Makes no damn sense lmao.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

http://www.nypress.com/the-jesus-orgy/

Wow so progressive

Ok, I hate her now. Terrible person, she will make this race Strong Lean R if she wins the nomination. Plus she is just a terrible person, and a hater of the south and the culture. Still better than Culberson, but she does not deserve to win.