IL-06: Casten vs. Newman?

[Figueira]

Suddenly I'm a huge Sean Casten fan

Weren't you the one that claimed that Lipinski was an amazing fit for his district? Apparently he wasn't.

[Figueira]

Suddenly I'm a huge Sean Casten fan

Weren't you the one that claimed that Lipinski was an amazing fit for his district? Apparently he wasn't.

Damn right I was. He was a better fit than a far-left Justice Dem who outspent him 2 to 1 with special interest money pouring in from out-of-district, endorsements from multiple local members of Congress and four Presidential candidates, etc.

"Far left" in this case meaning not being a homophobe?

[Figueira]

Did Newman beat Lipinski the parts of her district that are carrying over? Could see some lingering resentment from his voters doing her in, even if Casten obviously isn't Lipinski.

That is... a bit of an understatement. Are the same people in Clearing or Mt. Greenwood who voted for Lipinski going to vote for a liberal a-theist from DuPage County just because he grades out as five points to the right on some national group's scoring system?

Maybe they will after the big money groups move in, possibly coordinated by the IL machine, and the area is showered with ads proclaiming that Newman supports The Squad, Defunding the Police, Hamas terrorists, CRT, transgender creeps raping their children, etc.

Seems like explicitly running that kind of campaign would backfire in a Democratic primary. I could see Republicans doing that in an attempt to pull a reverse McCaskill, but there's no guarantee it would work (in the primary or the general).

[Figueira]

Suddenly I'm a huge Sean Casten fan

Weren't you the one that claimed that Lipinski was an amazing fit for his district? Apparently he wasn't.

Damn right I was. He was a better fit than a far-left Justice Dem who outspent him 2 to 1 with special interest money pouring in from out-of-district, endorsements from multiple local members of Congress and four Presidential candidates, etc.

"Far left" in this case meaning not being a homophobe?

I think if we try really hard, we can find a candidate who supports a woman's right to choose, gay people's right to marry and be treated like any other citizen, and also opposes Jewish children having rockets shot at them.

Hey, I wonder about this Sean Casten guy.

I'm not opposed to Casten and I don't know how I would vote if I lived in this district, if this ends up being the primary.

[Figueira]

Did Newman beat Lipinski the parts of her district that are carrying over? Could see some lingering resentment from his voters doing her in, even if Casten obviously isn't Lipinski.

That is... a bit of an understatement. Are the same people in Clearing or Mt. Greenwood who voted for Lipinski going to vote for a liberal a-theist from DuPage County just because he grades out as five points to the right on some national group's scoring system?

Maybe they will after the big money groups move in, possibly coordinated by the IL machine, and the area is showered with ads proclaiming that Newman supports The Squad, Defunding the Police, Hamas terrorists, CRT, transgender creeps raping their children, etc.

Seems like explicitly running that kind of campaign would backfire in a Democratic primary. I could see Republicans doing that in an attempt to pull a reverse McCaskill, but there's no guarantee it would work (in the primary or the general).

Especially given the (well-publicized, so there's really no excuse) reason Newman is particularly sensitive to trans issues. May as well directly attack her family, see how far that'll get you in the primary.

Are you saying that most Democratic primary voters in this district actually agree with defunding the police and all that stuff? We're going to have to agree to disagree. This is not near North Side or West Loop. This is a suburban district, there may be some progressive Democrats out there but it swung left because of Trump.

Let's watch what happens in VA, if suburban NoVA swings against the Democrats to any substantial degree then Newman could be vulnerable to this line of attack. It helps Casten's cause that IL has open primaries and he could try to get some Republicans to vote against Newman.

It's not that Democratic primary voters necessarily agree with Newman on everything (I'm sure they don't), but using right-wing attacks on someone doesn't make sense in a Democratic primary. It just energizes the progressives that exist in the district to vote for Newman, and makes them hate Casten when they wouldn't otherwise. There are more subtle arguments you can use to get moderates on your side.