Category: 2026 Congressional Election

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THE DIVISION IN CD 3 WAS NOT BASED ON RACE BUT ON INCOME AND EDUCATION–AND THE FUTURE FOR PROGRESSIVES IS BRIGHT.

  By 2026 Congressional Election, Elections, Philadelphia, Politics, Ward politics

(EDIT: I added the image of vote results with majority white ward excluded.. Thanks to Henry Prescott for sharing it with me. I suspect that if one excluded majority white divisions, one would find even stronger support for my analysis.) Some folks, like Ian Griffiths who often misinterprets quantitative, are drawing the wrong conclusion from the Inquirers analysis of the CD 3 race. The Inquirer data shows that Rabb came in last in majority Black divisions and came in first in majority white divisions. That simply DOES NOT MEAN that he came in last with Black voters and first with white voters. One simply cannot make that assumption based on this data. Why not? For the simple reason that there are very few divisions that are just made up of Black people or white people. Most divisions have a mixture. And there are differences between divisions that have nothing to… Continue reading

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Reject Fear, Embrace Change, Vote Rabb.

  By 2026 Congressional Election, Congress, Elections, Politics

Progressives or, indeed, anyone pointing to a new direction in political life, often find that as they get close to victory, some of their supporters begin to have doubts and fall away. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. pointed to this phenomenon in his account of the 1960 presidential election in A Thousand Days. Kennedy was ahead of Nixon in the campaign’s internal polls for much of the race. But then in the last few weeks the gap closed. Schlesinger’s explanation was that Kennedy was not only offering something new and different to the American electorate but was younger than the typical presidential candidate. And that combination ran up against the inherent conservatism of human beings. Most of us find change hard. We find new idea, new approaches, and new directions challenging. And that’s true even if we are dissatisfied with much of the status quo. We know what to expect from things… Continue reading

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Chris Rabb, Hasan Piker, and the Uncomfortable Practice of Liberal Democracy

  By 2026 Congressional Election, Congress, Elections, Jew Hatred, Politics

TL;DR Chris Rabb has been criticized for campaigning with Hasan Piker. Many Jews, including myself, are discomforted not just by antisemitism, but by anti-Zionism. And that’s true even when we are strong or even strident critics of Israeli politics. For most of our lives, we Jews have been spared the discomfort of having to work in political coalition with critics of Israel. But, mostly because of the extremist policies of  the Israeli government under Netanyahu, those days are over. How respond to this situation is perhaps the greatest test of our political acumen and morality many of us have ever faced. For given the stakes for our country and the world, we are going have to suck it up and recognize that Israel is now a contested issue and that we will have to both work with and vote for people who we also disagree with and want to challenge.… Continue reading

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These Are Not Normal Times. And That’s Why We Need to Elect Chris Rabb

  By 2026 Congressional Election, Congress, Elections, Politics

THESE ARE NOT NORMAL TIMES. AND THAT’S WHY WE NEED TO ELECT CHRIS RABB TLDR; This country is in a deep crisis. We need bold leaders in the Democratic Party with a different vision for the future. No freshman member of Congress with no seniority is going to play a major legislative role. But AOC showed us that a new member with a talent for publica advocacy and connections to progressive advocacy groups can help move the country in the right direction. Sharif Street is the best of the establishment. But establishment policies and political practices can’t save us. Chris Rabb promises to be a very different kind of leader who will join with other progressive to give us the best chance to save our republic. THE WHOLE STORY I’ve said a few times that I like and respect Sharif Street very much. In any normal year, I could support… Continue reading