Representative Cori Bush’s primary on Tuesday once again puts progressives on guard as they face what could be their second consecutive defeat this cycle.
Bush is facing Wesley Bell, the St. Louis County district attorney, in a Missouri contest that will test the strength and staying power of the “squad.”
Many progressives see Bush as the potential underdog, especially after Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-N.Y.) defeat revealed trouble for liberal incumbents.
“I’m having flashbacks to my races in 2021 and 2022,” said former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, who twice tried to win the blue district primary as an insurrectionist. “It’s going to be difficult until the end.”
“There are a lot of undecided people out there,” Turner said. “If they swing toward her, she could win this race. But she should never have gotten to that point.”
Tuesday’s primary, the winner of which will be the clear favorite to represent the state’s Democratic-leaning 1st Congressional District, has become contentious amid a bitter division within the party. Now progressives fear that what happened to Bowman in New York is happening again to Bush.
Bell, a centrist who allies insist is a progressive prosecutor, criticized Bush for being so far left that she is out of place in the party. He argued that she has a poor record in the House and highlighted the number of times she has missed votes on Capitol Hill. He pointed to times when she differed with President Biden, arguing that she was out of alignment with the caucus.
“Progressives should aim to make progress,” said Anjan Mukherjee, a Democratic strategist working to elect Bell. “Cori Bush knows she can’t defend her record in Congress, and that’s why she made excuses.”
Bush has long drawn the ire of moderates for his stances on criminal justice and policing, as well as his push for student loan relief — including a critical vote against the bipartisan billion-dollar infrastructure deal signed by Biden.
Bush, Mukherjee said, “spent her time in Congress obstructing President Biden’s progressive agenda and finding herself embroiled in multiple scandals.”
Her support for the Palestinians following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 further fueled opposition to her from the Democratic Party. The activist-minded congresswoman’s embrace of Palestinian rights has included loud calls for a ceasefire and attacks on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom she referred to as a war criminal last week when she addressed Congress.
As his criticism intensified, special interest spending prospered. The biggest monetary influences working against Bush are the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the United Democracy Project, its affiliated political super PAC, as well as other Democratic interest groups. AIPAC played a major role in Bowman’s defeat in late June, creating a blueprint for future campaign spending to harm leftists like Bush.
AIPAC considers Bell a champion for Israel. He won financial support from the UDP totaling more than $8 million, Federal Election Commission records show. According to the AdImpact tracker, a massive $15 million was invested in the race. While that’s less than the $25 million spent on Bowman’s contest, it’s still among the five most expensive in the country’s history, the tracker shows.
Progressives who helped recruit Bush are furious about the dollar amount being poured into the district.
“You don’t spend nearly $10 million on a single Democratic primary from a position of strength or if your policies, policies or politicians were popular,” said Usamah Andrabi, who serves as communications director for Justice Democrats.
“This level of spending is a testament to the strength of our progressive movement and the power that ordinary people have to transform our political system,” Andrabi said.
Bush’s first run for Congress, where she fought to beat Rep. Lacy Clay, foreshadowed the position she finds herself in now, battling strong headwinds. Bush’s campaign is distinct from Bowman’s, but the two members of the “squad” share the burden of combating excessive foreign spending. And although Bush won the 2020 race against Clay, funding has increased exponentially this cycle.
“That former nurse and single mother fighting for workers in her district is such a threat to right-wing interests, corporate power and Republican mega-donors in Congress that they have to drag our democracy through the mud to have a chance at challenging Cori Bush,” Andrabi added.
Other progressives were not as convinced of their prospects in a difficult climate.
“The classic left-flank antidote of disrupting big money is not enough,” said Angelo Greco, a progressive strategist and Bush supporter. “It has to be more combative and also distribute funds on a large scale.”
Progressives rebuke claims that Bush was not a strong ally during the Biden administration. In the latest show of support, she joined progressives in refraining from pushing for Biden to resign, despite growing pressure from vulnerable moderates in swing districts to do the opposite. When Biden decided to make this announcement last month, Bush was among the first House liberals to support Vice President Harris.
Some Bush supporters want Harris, who enjoyed a super-charged launch and an impressive influx of cash in just a few weeks, to return the favor. Having the support of the presumptive Democratic nominee could recalibrate the race in Bush’s favor, the congresswoman’s supporters argue.
“Imagine how amazing it would be if Harris supported her,” Greco said. “If I were on Team Bush, I would try to pursue this and/or make this a thing. Apply pressure and use the black woman’s network.”
When asked about the likelihood of that happening, Greco seemed less optimistic. “I doubt it,” he said.
Turner remembers firsthand the difference a Pennsylvania Avenue endorsement can make. In his bid in Cleveland, Biden made an unusual move to support his opponent, Rep. Shontel Brown, who won handily.
“I mean, it would have been really magnanimous, for example, to have the vice president come to help Congress, but that’s not happening,” Turner added. She predicted this will “harm the black community in the long run.”
The first black woman to represent her district after defeating Clay, Bush’s candidacy represented a sea change for voters who believed in her promise to improve conditions for the working class. Bush’s victory came as progressives enjoyed an anything-is-possible approach to electoral politics against longtime Democratic incumbents.
Now, she is at a financial disadvantage and faces a wave of anger over what her opponents consider to be far-left, anti-Biden and anti-Israel views. They hope it will be a powerful trifecta against Bush.
Bell, who is also black, has the support of the National Black Empowerment Action Fund, which spent about $1 million on ads and mailers to negatively influence Bush’s standing with black voters. A public relations firm called Mercury, which works with the polling and research group, shared a memo with The Hill that concluded that Bush has a fundamental weakness in the language he uses to discuss policy.
An analysis of the memo states that Bush’s positions “present major challenges to his public image.” He finds his slogan-filled message problematic, noting that 84 percent of black Democrats “prefer a member of Congress who focuses on governing and getting results, as opposed to someone who focuses on activism and ideological rhetoric.”
Bush used slogans common among popular networks like “defund the police,” but which have since fallen out of fashion among most Democrats. “Even among the demographic subgroups with which Bush is strongest, fissures emerge when his black voters are fully aware of his record,” it reads. “Additionally, Bell’s record on public safety and criminal justice reform resonates strongly with black Democrats.”
One Democratic strategist, who works with Black organizers and candidates and asked to remain anonymous, suggested that voters are paying particular attention to who is actually telling the story about what’s happening in the district.
“This election is about the messenger,” said the strategist. “The strongest Democratic messengers right now are those who can, at the same time, criticize an opponent and point out results.”
“Bush is vulnerable in part because of the absence in her campaign rhetoric and message structure of what she has done for the district. This leaves it vulnerable to insurgency,” the strategist added.
“Progressives who may be good at criticizing opponents and opposition, but terrible at describing their achievements in a tangible way, [are] will go through difficult times in 2024.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
