Embedded Files
NEXT MEETING: 07/13/26, 7 PM, OZARK-DALE LIBRARY
Misc.
‘Democrats want to win': Platner’s support reflects a changing party in the Trump era - 6/12
Comment: "As the party aims to flip both chambers of Congress in the midterms, Smith and other Democrats have backed Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner despite a growing list of controversies, including a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, sexting with other women shortly after he married and allegations, which Platner denies, that he locked an ex-girlfriend in a room and forcefully twisted her arm. Platner cruised to victory in this week’s primary after Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign."
"The support for Platner is about more than one candidate. It reflects a Democratic Party increasingly willing to overlook behavior it might once have deemed disqualifying, and instead judge candidates by whether they can energize voters and help the party regain power."
The Democratic Party’s future is on the ballot in June - 6/04
Comment: "Democrats are staring down a host of primaries this month that will help shape the party’s message heading into November — and potentially its direction for years to come."
"June’s monthlong test of the party’s future kicked off Tuesday with a slate of primaries across six states, in which voters mostly chose more establishment-leaning candidates in critical battlegrounds while dealing mixed results for progressives, with some race calls still pending in California."
"Next up among the roughly dozen primaries are competitive contests in Maine, Colorado and New York that will test how far the base has shifted on contentious issues like Israel and offer key markers in the ongoing debate over generational change that’s been roiling the party since 2024."
" 'There’s two levels of the struggle going on here,' said Democratic strategist Ian Russell, who is working on a number of House races this cycle, usually on the side of more-moderate candidates. 'There’s the ideological fight, or the candidate-specific fight in certain safe seats, and then the larger fight about who’s best positioned to help win the House.' "
Democrats who marched in New York’s Israel Day parade decry attendance of far-right minister Smotrich - 6/02
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/02/new-york-israel-day-parade-democrats-smotrich
Comment: "Politicians’ statements reflect difficulty facing pro-Israel Democrats as voter support for country falls"
Comment: "Several prominent New York Democrats who participated in the city’s annual Israel Day parade on Sunday have condemned the participation of Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Israeli finance minister and a leading figure in the Israeli settler movement, in the event."
"Smotrich was among several Israeli lawmakers and cabinet officials who marched in the parade on Sunday. His appearance marked his first trip to the US in more than a year, and came less than month after he said the international criminal court (ICC) was seeking an arrest warrant against him."
"Smotrich has called for Israel to annex the West Bank and for Palestinian villages there to be ethnically cleansed, and for Gaza to be 'destroyed'. He has also described himself as 'proud homophobe'. Last year, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions on Smotrich, as well as on the Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, saying that the ministers had 'incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights'."
"Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel, also condemned Smotrich’s appearance and said that Smotrich was 'not invited to the Israel Day Parade in New York' adding that 'he crashed it'."
More than half of Americans say they ‘definitely will vote’ in midterms: Poll - 5/27
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5897749-2026-midterms-likely-voters-survey/
US employers spend more than $1.5bn a year to fight labor unions, report finds | US unions | The Guardian - 5/20
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/20/how-much-companies-spend-fight-unions
What Americans mean when they say they’re worried about a stolen election
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/10/poll-voters-stolen-election-concerns-00913086
Comment: "New results from The POLITICO Poll show Democrats are worried about voter suppression while Republicans are worried about voter fraud."
Poll: 72 percent say there’s too much money in American politics - 5/09
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5871418-poll-shows-money-influence-politics/
Scoop: Dems' foreign policy group prepping for '28 - 5/03
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/03/democrats-foreign-policy-2028
Comment: "Senior Democrats are rebooting an influential foreign policy group to help potential 2028 presidential candidates and bring together national security specialists who could staff the next Democratic administration, Axios has learned."
Biden backs Keisha Lance Bottoms for Georgia governor in his first endorsement since leaving office - 5/01
Comment: "Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, served as a senior adviser in the Biden administration."
Video: Potential 2028 Democratic candidates barnstorm states ahead of midterms - April 20, 2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QSFzVgRLvU
Andy Beshear makes waves in Democratic circles as Southern moderate - 4/16
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5833100-andy-beshear-democratic-appeal/
WATCH IN FULL: WTVY co-hosts congressional candidate forum for Alabama’s District 1
https://www.wtvy.com/2026/04/11/andalusia-showdown-could-determine-next-congressman/
Comment: One of these 7 GOP Congressional candidates will be running against Clyde Jones. After May 19th primary, suggest that Democrats review statements from GOP primary winner and look for any missteps or errors.
OpenAI Backs Bill That Would Limit Liability for AI-Enabled Mass Deaths or Financial Disasters - 4/09
https://www.wired.com/story/openai-backs-bill-exempt-ai-firms-model-harm-lawsuits/
DNC avoids taking a stance on Israel, AIPAC
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/09/democrats-punt-israel-aipac-resolutions-00865426
Comment: "The members’ latest vote reflects a party establishment still grappling with how to respond to an increasingly thorny political issue."
The DNC is meeting — and Israel is at the forefront once again
Democrats announce first slate of state legislative targets ahead of November - 4/06
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5817709-dlcc-targets-gop-state-legislature-seats/
A new CNN poll reveals how people mad at both parties see the midterms
Andy Beshear Thinks Democrats Should Start Talking Like People
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/03/29/andy-beshear-interview-2028-jd-vance-00849225
The "Squad" left suffers complete wipeout in Illinois
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/18/the-squad-left-suffers-complete-wipeout-in-illinois
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Democrats launch aggressive campaign to win back infrequent voters
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/04/democrats-local-listeners-initiative-elections
Democrats want to find out why their voters stayed home in 2024 — and how to get them to show up this year
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/04/democrats-2026-listening-program-00763666
Comment: "The DNC is launching an outreach campaign to win over voters who skipped the 2024 election with a new 'listening first approach'."
Axelrod warns Democrats against campaigning on abolishing ICE
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5715690-axelrod-warns-democrats-ice/
Comment: " 'I don’t think most people who said it believed that there should be no policing function in cities, but the implication was that there could be,' Axelrod continued. 'So I don’t think Democrats want to get into that.' "
"He said what Democrats want is 'fundamental root-branch reform'.”
" 'And if it means getting rid of the name ICE, which has became a very bad brand, that’s one thing,' the strategist said. 'If it means that we’re just going to abandon immigration enforcement, I don’t think Democrats and Republicans would support that in large numbers.' "
Here’s Andy Beshear’s Case for President
Democrats will spend millions to shift voter registration strategy ahead of the midterm elections
Comment: " The Democratic National Committee will spend millions of dollars to cement control of voter registration efforts that have traditionally been entrusted to nonprofit advocacy groups and individual political campaigns, a shift that party leaders hope will increase their chances in this year’s midterm elections."
"The initiative, being announced on Tuesday, will begin in Arizona and Nevada with at least $2 million for training organizers. It’s the first step in what could become the DNC’s largest-ever push to sign up new voters, with a particular focus on young people, voters of color and people without college educations. All of those demographics drifted away from Democrats in the last presidential race, which returned Republican Donald Trump to the White House."
" 'It’s a crisis. And for our party to actually win elections, we have to actually create more Democrats,' DNC Chair Ken Martin said in an interview with The Associated Press."
The fight for young men intensifies ahead of the 2026 midterm elections
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/fight-young-men-2026-midterm-elections-rcna249513
Where are the Democratic and Republican parties going next? Watch these primaries to find out
Democrats spy rare opening in rural America
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/27/democrats-rural-voters-economy-trump-midterms-00700822
Democrats divided over how to retake House, Senate majorities
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5661739-democrats-debate-2024-election-lessons/
Andy Beshear builds buzz among Democrats for possible White House run
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5655174-beshear-moderate-democrat-presidential-race/
Democrats won’t release 2024 election loss ‘autopsy’, DNC chair says
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/18/democrats-2024-election-autopsy?CMP=share_btn_url
U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin Endorses Jared Hudson for U.S. Senate
https://alpolitics.com/u-s-senator-markwayne-mullin-endorses-jared-hudson-for-u-s-senate/
Harris stepping toward another White House run
https://www.axios.com/2025/12/14/kamala-harris-president-2028
Democratic governors say the party’s midterm strategy must focus on voters’ pocketbook concerns
Video: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says Democrats need to "reignite that American Dream" - November 25, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI7awpjkXAo
How X's new location feature exposed big US politics accounts
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj38m11218xo
Comment: This new feature illustrates foreign influence in social media content concerning politics.
Democrats dip into the 'manosphere' in search of the key to the young male vote
NBC News: Michelle Obama says the U.S. is 'not ready' for a woman president
The 2025 Elections and Future of the Democratic Party: Why Spanberger and Sherrill Provide a More Plausible Model for Success than Mamdani
Republicans try to turn national Democratic candidates into Mamdani copycats
Comment: "Republicans got their midterms bogeyman in Zohran Mamdani. Now comes the challenge: making the incoming New York City mayor’s brand of democratic socialism sink candidates outside his liberal bubble."
"They’re getting right to it."
"Republicans’ House campaign arm launched digital ads Wednesday morning across 49 battleground districts tying Democrats to the 'socialist mayor' who 'built his movement on defunding the police and abolishing ICE.' "
" 'This is the future House Democrats want,' a male narrator intones over images of Mamdani and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who issued a late-stage endorsement of the mayor-elect. 'And your city could be next.' "
Comment: Lies, fear-mongering, and gerrymandering. It's all the GOP has.
Comment: "Some national Democrats are sounding alarms about the coming GOP onslaught. The centrist think tank Third Way on Wednesday issued a memo, shared first with POLITICO, urging Democratic candidates across the country to run from Mamdani and his 'politically toxic' policies, which they warn 'are deeply unpopular in the red and purple places Democrats must win to retake Congress and the White House.' They cited his past calls to defund police — a position from which he distanced himself this year — as well as his affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America."
Comment: Mamdani may be the answer in New York City, but his policies probably won't work in other areas of the country, especially in rural and suburban areas. Republicans will try to scare citizens in non-urban areas by claiming that Democratic candidates are Mamdani copycats. Democrats won't run Mamdani type candidates in suburban and rural areas. Democrats need to monitor Mamdani's performance in NYC, and if it is good, moderates need to explain that Mamdani's socialistic approach is necessary in NYC, but may not be appropriate in many rural and suburban locales. If Mamdani's performance is not working in NYC, Democrats should distance themselves from his policies completely.
NPR: NYC's next mayor is a democratic socialist. What does that mean?
Working-class voters think Dems are 'woke' and 'weak,' new research finds - POLITICO
For News Articles links from before November 1st, 2025, please go to one of the following, depending on the article date:
https://sites.google.com/view/dem3oldnews/home/old3-misc-to-be-characterized
OR
https://sites.google.com/view/dem2oldnews/home/old2-misc-to-be-characterized
There you will find a continuation of the news links & comments from the period prior to November 1, 2025. The article history can be viewed as follows:
www.dalecodemocrats.com (latest)
sites.google.com/view/dem3oldnews/home/ (May 1, 2025 - October 31, 2025)
sites.google.com/view/dem2oldnews/home/ (Nov 2024 election - April 30, 2025)
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