NC-SEN, 2022: The Beasley Resurrection?

[Boobs]

https://twitter.com/MurphinDC/status/1372581667190231044?s=19

Looks like Beasley is running. Good luck to her!

[progressive85]

https://twitter.com/MurphinDC/status/1372581667190231044?s=19
Looks like Beasley is running. Good luck to her!

Sounds good!

[SnowLabrador]

I hope the DSCC doesn't endorse in this race. That's a big mistake they made in 2020.

[Roll Roons]

When's the primary? If this turns bitter, an earlier primary would be better for the eventual Democratic nominee.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Jackson is gonna win

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I hope the DSCC doesn't endorse in this race. That's a big mistake they made in 2020.

In what way was their intervention in 2020 a mistake?

[Sol]

I hope the DSCC doesn't endorse in this race. That's a big mistake they made in 2020.

In what way was their intervention in 2020 a mistake?

They coronated Cal Cunningham, a relatively unqualified nobody, which prevented a wider array of options from running.

[Not Me, Us]

I hope the DSCC doesn't endorse in this race. That's a big mistake they made in 2020.

In what way was their intervention in 2020 a mistake?

They coronated Cal Cunningham, a relatively unqualified nobody, which prevented a wider array of options from running.

They also forced out Jeff Jackson, who probably would have won.

[😥]

https://twitter.com/MurphinDC/status/1372581667190231044?s=20

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Mandela Barnes if he runs for Nomination probably will be the only other AA SEN, Jackson is gonna win the NC Senate race

[Coldstream]

I want Cunningham to run and finish 5th in the primary, he deserves more humiliation for his failures.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I hope the DSCC doesn't endorse in this race. That's a big mistake they made in 2020.

In what way was their intervention in 2020 a mistake?

They coronated Cal Cunningham, a relatively unqualified nobody, which prevented a wider array of options from running.

They also forced out Jeff Jackson, who probably would have won.

As I’ve explained elsewhere, there are a few common misconceptions in the above posts.  A few quick facts that often get overlooked:

1) Cunningham was not the DSCC’s first, second, third, or fourth choice.  

The DSCC’s first choice was Cooper, but he decided to run for reelection.  Then they turned to Josh Stein with the same result.  They then tried really hard to recruit Anthony Foxx, but he wasn’t interested for reasons unknown.  They looked at Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, but he wasn’t interested.  They very briefly looked at former Congressman Brad Miller, but decided he was the wrong candidate and Miller turned out not to be interested either.  Next, they looked at former Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and Former NC Treasurer Richard Moore, but IIRC decided they were has-beens who were always kinda overhyped.  Then they tried to recruit former NC Treasurer Janet Cowell who was leaning toward running, but the DSCC’s opposition research team dug up some scandals with her IIRC and decided they needed someone else.  Which brings us to point two...

2) The DSCC did not force out a would-be winning candidate in 2020, it dodged a bullet by keeping Jackson out.  

Finally, the DSCC turned to Josh Jackson...only to find out that he had somehow concluded that the way to win was to do almost literally no fundraising and completely surrender the airwaves to Tillis (or rather, leave ads exclusively to Dem-allied PACs).  

IIRC Schumer indicated that the DSCC would back him if he would commit to doing at least some fundraising, but Jackson refused and that left the DSCC with no one but a random DINO state Senator (Erica Smith).  At this point, the DSCC played the crappy hand it had been dealt and went with Cunningham.  In the meantime, we kept Jackson on the bench for a later campaign whenever he could be made to see reason (and IIRC he eventually accepted you have to fundraise some to win a Senate race).

3) The DSCC definitely had the right strategy in the race.  

People forget what this race looked like before Cunningham got hit with a late-breaking scandal, handled it horribly, faced an aggressively hostile local media, and basically spent the closing stretch hiding from the media.  Even with polling error, it’s pretty likely that Cunningham would’ve won but for that unforeseeable scandal and its aftermath.  

And despite all that, he still only lost by a hair and even outperformed Biden in a few noteworthy places like Union County IIRC.  That suggests that the DSCC - and not Jackson - had the right strategy, but Cunningham’s unforeseeable scandal/horrible handling of said scandal blew the race.  Lastly...

4) If you’re gonna blame Schumer for stuff like this that really isn’t his fault then you’ve also gotta give him credit for things like Osoff and Warnock winning, recruiting Mark Kelly, flipping the Senate, etc.  

This is the second time we’ve flipped the Senate on his watch when few thought we had a real shot at doing so at the beginning of the election cycle.  Between 2006 (when he ran the DSCC), 2008 (IIRC he remained head of the DSCC), and 2020 (when everyone seemed to conflate Schumer with the DSCC), it sure looks like the man knows what he’s doing and has a pretty good track record.  And before anyone brings up 2010, Schumer wasn’t involved with the DSCC that cycle (nor was he in 2012, 2014, or 2016 for that matter).

[S019]

I hope the DSCC doesn't endorse in this race. That's a big mistake they made in 2020.

In what way was their intervention in 2020 a mistake?

They coronated Cal Cunningham, a relatively unqualified nobody, which prevented a wider array of options from running.

They also forced out Jeff Jackson, who probably would have won.

2) The DSCC did not force out a would-be winning candidate in 2020, it dodged a bullet by keeping Jackson out.  

Finally, the DSCC turned to Josh Jackson...only to find out that he had somehow concluded that the way to win was to do almost literally no fundraising and completely surrender the airwaves to Tillis (or rather, leave ads exclusively to Dem-allied PACs).  

IIRC Schumer indicated that the DSCC would back him if he would commit to doing at least some fundraising, but Jackson refused and that left the DSCC with no one but a random DINO state Senator (Erica Smith).  At this point, the DSCC played the crappy hand it had been dealt and went with Cunningham.  In the meantime, we kept Jackson on the bench for a later campaign whenever he could be made to see reason (and IIRC he eventually accepted you have to fundraise some to win a Senate race).

This is my main concern with Jackson, and it's why I'm fully behind Beasley.

[Left Wing]

Jackson is gonna win

[Lambsbread]

Man, this might end up beating PA for the best D Senate primary race of the cycle.

Edit: Just read up a bit on Jeff Jackson and I'm not really a fan. I think Erica Smith will be my preferred candidate in this primary.

[Left Wing]

Man, this might end up beating PA for the best D Senate primary race of the cycle.

Edit: Just read up a bit on Jeff Jackson and I'm not really a fan. I think Erica Smith will be my preferred candidate in this primary.

I know she’s probably more progressive but she’s also a bit of a DINO in many ways. She endorsed a bunch of republicans for the state legislature in this last election.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Man, this might end up beating PA for the best D Senate primary race of the cycle.

Edit: Just read up a bit on Jeff Jackson and I'm not really a fan. I think Erica Smith will be my preferred candidate in this primary.

.
Markets predict a Fetterman and Jackson win, Keyanetta should run for Gov, but he wont

[Lambsbread]

Man, this might end up beating PA for the best D Senate primary race of the cycle.

Edit: Just read up a bit on Jeff Jackson and I'm not really a fan. I think Erica Smith will be my preferred candidate in this primary.

I know she’s probably more progressive but she’s also a bit of a DINO in many ways. She endorsed a bunch of republicans for the state legislature in this last election.

Really? That's weird. I have more researching to do then. I'm interested in Beasley as well, but Jackson strikes me as being similar to Cunningham in presentation and rhetoric? Also I would love to see more black women in the Senate lol.

Edit: Wow, just read up on those endorsements of Republicans last year. Seems like she did those out of nothing more than spite and her voting record is nowhere near as progressive as she wants folks to think. That's disappointing. I didn't pay much attention to the 2020 Senate primary, but supported Cunningham once he won the primary...this is just absurd, though. Maybe Beasley will be my preferred candidate but I was not a fan of the rhetoric I had seen from Jeff Jackson regarding Bernie Sanders' chances in 2016. There's a lot of time left before the primary lol.

[Meatball Ron]

Man, this might end up beating PA for the best D Senate primary race of the cycle.

Edit: Just read up a bit on Jeff Jackson and I'm not really a fan. I think Erica Smith will be my preferred candidate in this primary.

I know she’s probably more progressive but she’s also a bit of a DINO in many ways. She endorsed a bunch of republicans for the state legislature in this last election.

Really? That's weird. I have more researching to do then. I'm interested in Beasley as well, but Jackson strikes me as being similar to Cunningham in presentation and rhetoric? Also I would love to see more black women in the Senate lol.

Edit: Wow, just read up on those endorsements of Republicans last year. Seems like she did those out of nothing more than spite and her voting record is nowhere near as progressive as she wants folks to think. That's disappointing. I didn't pay much attention to the 2020 Senate primary, but supported Cunningham once he won the primary...this is just absurd, though. Maybe Beasley will be my preferred candidate but I was not a fan of the rhetoric I had seen from Jeff Jackson regarding Bernie Sanders' chances in 2016. There's a lot of time left before the primary lol.

I agree with you about the downsides of both Smith and Jackson (I don't care about anti-Bernie stuff, but Jackson feels like Cal 2.0 to me - time for a different approach). Beasley seems like a slam dunk to me. Her and Kenyatta are the first candidates I'll be donating to this cycle.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I’m still holding out for Anthony Foxx tbh

[brucejoel99]

If Beasley's indeed running, then I guess hers is a name you can scratch off the potential SCOTUS list.

[Not Me, Us]

I like Beasley but I worry about her chances in the general. She lost a statewide race in 2020, which will almost certainly be a better environment for Dems than 2022. This races starts out at Lean R anyway, but I think Jackson would be a better candidate, electorally speaking.

[Sol]

I hope the DSCC doesn't endorse in this race. That's a big mistake they made in 2020.

In what way was their intervention in 2020 a mistake?

They coronated Cal Cunningham, a relatively unqualified nobody, which prevented a wider array of options from running.

They also forced out Jeff Jackson, who probably would have won.

As I’ve explained elsewhere, there are a few common misconceptions in the above posts.  A few quick facts that often get overlooked:

1) Cunningham was not the DSCC’s first, second, third, or fourth choice.  

The DSCC’s first choice was Cooper, but he decided to run for reelection.  Then they turned to Josh Stein with the same result.  They then tried really hard to recruit Anthony Foxx, but he wasn’t interested for reasons unknown.  They looked at Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, but he wasn’t interested.  They very briefly looked at former Congressman Brad Miller, but decided he was the wrong candidate and Miller turned out not to be interested either.  Next, they looked at former Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and Former NC Treasurer Richard Moore, but IIRC decided they were has-beens who were always kinda overhyped.  Then they tried to recruit former NC Treasurer Janet Cowell who was leaning toward running, but the DSCC’s opposition research team dug up some scandals with her IIRC and decided they needed someone else.  Which brings us to point two...

2) The DSCC did not force out a would-be winning candidate in 2020, it dodged a bullet by keeping Jackson out.  

Finally, the DSCC turned to Josh Jackson...only to find out that he had somehow concluded that the way to win was to do almost literally no fundraising and completely surrender the airwaves to Tillis (or rather, leave ads exclusively to Dem-allied PACs).  

IIRC Schumer indicated that the DSCC would back him if he would commit to doing at least some fundraising, but Jackson refused and that left the DSCC with no one but a random DINO state Senator (Erica Smith).  At this point, the DSCC played the crappy hand it had been dealt and went with Cunningham.  In the meantime, we kept Jackson on the bench for a later campaign whenever he could be made to see reason (and IIRC he eventually accepted you have to fundraise some to win a Senate race).

3) The DSCC definitely had the right strategy in the race.  

People forget what this race looked like before Cunningham got hit with a late-breaking scandal, handled it horribly, faced an aggressively hostile local media, and basically spent the closing stretch hiding from the media.  Even with polling error, it’s pretty likely that Cunningham would’ve won but for that unforeseeable scandal and its aftermath.  

And despite all that, he still only lost by a hair and even outperformed Biden in a few noteworthy places like Union County IIRC.  That suggests that the DSCC - and not Jackson - had the right strategy, but Cunningham’s unforeseeable scandal/horrible handling of said scandal blew the race.  Lastly...

4) If you’re gonna blame Schumer for stuff like this that really isn’t his fault then you’ve also gotta give him credit for things like Osoff and Warnock winning, recruiting Mark Kelly, flipping the Senate, etc.  

This is the second time we’ve flipped the Senate on his watch when few thought we had a real shot at doing so at the beginning of the election cycle.  Between 2006 (when he ran the DSCC), 2008 (IIRC he remained head of the DSCC), and 2020 (when everyone seemed to conflate Schumer with the DSCC), it sure looks like the man knows what he’s doing and has a pretty good track record.  And before anyone brings up 2010, Schumer wasn’t involved with the DSCC that cycle (nor was he in 2012, 2014, or 2016 for that matter).

This is totally wrong. Jackson was intending to run in the style of Beto--something which he likely could have pulled off since he's a relatively charismatic guy and a strong communicator.

[brucejoel99]

I like Beasley but I worry about her chances in the general. She lost a statewide race in 2020, which will almost certainly be a better environment for Dems than 2022. This races starts out at Lean R anyway, but I think Jackson would be a better candidate, electorally speaking.

Didn't she massively outperform Biden & all of the other Democratic candidates sans Cooper? I mean, if she only lost by 401 votes, then I can only imagine the impact that running a Black candidate at the top of a year's ticket (in this case, for Senate) would potentially have on juicing Black turnout & pushing her over-the-line.

[West_Midlander]

Excited that Beasley is running because I am not enthusiastic about Jackson or Walker.