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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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Fifty Years After

  By A political memoir, About me

Written for the class book for the fiftieth reunion of the Wesleyan University class of 1976.  Thanks to Karen Harmin for suggesting I write this.  Titled with apologies to Alvin Lee. I’ve thought often about the expectations I formed of both my life and the future of our country at, and because of, Wesleyan. In many ways, my life has gone as I had hoped and expected. The country has very much not. We came to Wesleyan in the seventies. But the spirit of the sixties shaped us with its sense of optimism and possibility, the aspiration to a new kind of freedom, and the belief that we were on the verge of a radical step forward in our political, social, and moral lives. I began college with the idea of studying American politics to prepare for a career in left of center politics. My first American politics class, with… Continue reading

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It’s Time to Stop Talking about Zionism and Anti-Zionism.

  By Uncategorized

IT’S TIME TO STOP TALKING ABOUT ZIONISM AND ANTI-ZIONISM Over the last few days I’ve been called both a Zionist and an anti-Zionist, by myself in a friendly way and by there in not so friendly ways. Thus confirming that both terms are practically meaningless. For two reasons. The first is that the the range of meanings for both of them is now too great. The meaning of Zionism ranges the ideas of Martin Buber and Ahad Ha-Am to Itamar Ben-Gvir. That is from those who wanted to create a Jewish community in the Land of Israel / Palestine living together with Arab to those who want a confederation of two states to those who want two independent states with civil rights for all who live in each state to those who want Israel to control the whole land with Palestinians living under the dominance of Israel to those who… 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

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Rep. Rabb Did The Right Thing Because He is a Politician of Uncommon Integrity and Character

  By Criminal Justice, Elections and Voting

TL;DR: REP. RABB’S CONTROVERSIAL VOTES WERE RIGHT. Rep. Chris Rabb has been criticized for being the sole member of a House committee to vote against legislation directed against trafficking children. But as I explained in this post, he did the right thing. Anyone who knows the history of how the criminal justice system has criminalized poverty and been racist in its outcomes would recognize that these two bills were deeply problematic. And he didn’t just do the right thing. He also took a stand of conscience against legislation that sounds good but isn’t—even though he knew it would cost him politically. I’m even prouder of my support for Rep. Rabb today than I was two days ago. He is a politician of uncommon character and integrity. Chris Rabb is getting pummeled for doing the right thing. Please share this and set the record straight. THE WHOLE STORY Like many of… Continue reading

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Why We Must Resist All War

  By International politics, Just War Theory, Middle East

WHY WE MUST RESIST ALL WAR   My first political cause—back when I was 13 years old—was to end the Vietnam War. (My second was to support a Palestinian State.) There were few protests or marches in my hometown of 5000. I attended an event about Kent State tragedy in 1970. I went to a lot more protests and rallies when I went to college. My first campaign was for George McGovern in 1972 largely because of his opposition to the war. In the spring of 1972, when I was 16,  I ran the field campaign for McGovern in my hometown. We beat the regulars who were supporting Humphrey. (My dad was among the regulars, although he was against the Vietnam War long before I even know what it was about.) And I was among a group of volunteers for McGovern during my first semester of college that fall. During… Continue reading

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Chris Rabb for US Congress

  By Elections, Politics

For the last ten years, I’ve mostly not endorsed candidates in Democratic primaries. The organization I headed, Pennsylvania Policy Center (PPC), prohibited staff members from making such endorsement. Having left the organization in February, I am now free to make such endorsement. And it gives me great pleasure that the first candidate for Congress I can endorse is Chris Rabb who is running for Congress in the 3rd district. Before telling you whyt I support Chris, I also want to note that if Chris were not running, I would enthusiastically support Sharif Street. Sharif and I got to know each other when we both ran and lost in the primary race  for Council at Large in 2007. I came to admire him then. And I’ve admired his work as a State Senator and worked closely with him during the last ten years. Sharif is a progressive Democrat. But I support… Continue reading