The News Caravan

Tag: Democratic

  • One of the nation’s most powerful Democratic bosses is stepping aside

    One of the nation’s most powerful Democratic bosses is stepping aside

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    Norcross says he was “involuntarily pushed to a different place” and has been “sitting in the backseat” ever since. After thinking through his future, Norcross says he’s ready to dramatically scale back his political activities and shift his focus to other professional and personal interests.

    “We had a great run for almost 25 years,” he said in an exclusive interview with POLITICO. “And now it’s time for others to lead the party.”

    It is a ground-shifting moment in New Jersey politics — one that could reshape the state’s Democratic Party and change the way things get done in Trenton. His decision also has implications for Democrats nationally because he has been a key behind-the-scenes player in fundraising and recruitment.

    There are few people left in American politics quite like Norcross, who often blurred partisan lines and relished his leading role in the state’s ruthless political world. He dealt directly with governors and became a key ally to former Gov. Chris Christie, allowing the Republican to muscle his legislative priorities through a Democratic-led Legislature loaded with Norcross loyalists.

    Norcross raised money for his brother from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and drew a visit to Camden from former President Barack Obama — yet he celebrated New Year’s at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, where he was a member.

    The legislative defeats in 2021 marked a critical deceleration point for Norcross’ famed South Jersey machine.

    After Sweeney lost his perch as the second-most powerful elected official in New Jersey, he was kicked off a redistricting commission that could have strengthened the congressional district of Rep. Donald Norcross, George Norcross’ brother. Earlier this year, George Norcross got into a dispute with Sweeney’s successor, state Sen. Nick Scutari, over campaign spending that ended in insults. And a super PAC linked to Norcross reported raising no money in the first quarter of this year despite legislative elections in November.

    A decade earlier, Norcross found a somewhat unlikely ally in Christie. The Republican’s eight years in office were arguably the height of Norcross’ power.

    Christie, Norcross and Sweeney effectively ran New Jersey, rolling back pension and health benefits for public employees, passing measures meant to cut taxes, overhauling the Camden police force and shepherding programs focused on revitalizing the city, once one of the poorest and most dangerous in America.

    By many measures, those efforts in Camden have paid off.

    The new Camden County police force has been held up as a model for other agencies, with lower rates of murder and violent crime in the decade since its realignment and Obama visiting Camden to tout the city’s progress. Cooper University Hospital, where Norcross is chair of the board of trustees, was close to bankruptcy two decades ago but announced plans last year for a $2 billion expansion. The hospital also received an ‘A’ grade this week for safety by The Leapfrog Group.

    Though he has come under intense scrutiny over tax breaks paid to Camden businesses with which he has ties, including Cooper, Norcross has defended the use of corporate incentives as critical investments to rejuvenate the area.

    “The results have proven themselves,” he said. “So we’re very proud of everything we’ve done.”

    But Norcross said he spends about 90 percent of his time outside of New Jersey — he is officially a resident of Florida now — and is consumed by work for Cooper and the insurance firm he leads, Conner Strong & Buckelew. Between that and some leisure activities, such as golf and tennis, he said, “it leaves me not a whole lot of time” to focus on politics.

    “When you’ve been doing this for so many years like I have, and you have this kind of devastating loss — there’s no other way to describe it — you find yourself probably a little less enthused,” he said.

    Norcross would, however, support Sweeney if he runs for governor in 2025.

    Sweeney has made no secret of his desire to run, but his path back to the state capitol looks increasingly limited given the shifting power dynamics within the Democratic Party and the early candidacy of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a leading Democratic contender.

    Norcross acknowledged the reordered landscape, saying state party Chair LeRoy J. Jones Jr. and Middlesex County Chair Kevin McCabe “are the Democratic Party leaders in the state of New Jersey, without a doubt.”

    But Sweeney is like family to Norcross, so if he runs for governor, “I will do whatever he asks me to do,” Norcross said.

    “It remains to be seen where that goes,” he said. “A lot can play out.”

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    #nations #powerful #Democratic #bosses #stepping
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Democratic mayor becomes unlikely GOP ally in battle over Southern border

    Democratic mayor becomes unlikely GOP ally in battle over Southern border

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    “This administration has been asleep at the wheel on border security, and it has had a tremendous, negative impact on New York City,” Lawler said in a statement to POLITICO. “I would be more than happy to work in a bipartisan way with the mayor to force President Biden to secure our borders and reform the immigration system.”

    Since spring 2022, more than 57,000 migrants — largely from Latin America — arrived in New York after crossing the southern border. Some were sent from conservative states like Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott chartered as many as eight buses a day to carry migrants to Manhattan. Others arrived on their own.

    The influx has strained the resources of one of the biggest cities in the world.

    Services tied to housing, feeding, educating and providing health care to the newcomers are projected to cost $2.9 billion next year alone, an amount that exceeds the New York City Fire Department’s entire operating budget. So far, Adams has mostly failed to get the White House to respond to his pleas for additional funds, easing of work requirements and better coordination at the border to resettle asylum seekers around the U.S.

    Adams’ new rhetoric, which drew praise from the conservative editorial page of the New York Post and mirrored remarks by Fox News contributor Sean Duffy, was even more eyebrow-raising given the moderate Democrat is a national surrogate for Biden.

    The mayor’s comments came just days before the president announced his reelection bid and at a time when Republicans are gearing up to use voter discontent around immigration in their fight for the White House, the Senate and a larger majority in the House.

    This is the second time in less than a year that Adams’ message on a highly contentious political issue has overlapped with Republican talking points. In 2022, he joined GOP calls for reforms to New York’s bail laws and only changed his tune as the midterms neared and it became clear his party would take a beating over crime at the ballot box.

    Though Adams’ words on immigration could now hurt fellow Democrats running for national office, particularly in New York’s swing congressional districts where Lawler is facing a competitive race, Adams may be thinking more about protecting his own reelection bid in 2025.

    One mayoral adviser, granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s internal mood, noted most New Yorkers would rather see investments in schools, libraries and other city services than billions more spent to help the newcomers. Indeed, a February poll by Quinnipiac University found that 63 percent of voters — including 53 percent of Democrats — don’t think New York City can accommodate the sanctuary-seekers.

    Spokespeople for Adams strongly rejected criticism that he’s parroting Republican talking points, saying he’s done more to care for tens of thousands of migrants than any other Democrat in the country.

    “To personally show his support for asylum seekers, Mayor Adams has organized haircuts for migrants, book donations for kids, and clothing drives, as well as slept besides migrants at a humanitarian relief center while spending hours hearing their personal stories,” mayoral press secretary Fabien Levy said in a statement.

    “Anyone falsely accusing Mayor Adams of using Republican rhetoric should stop criticizing the one person doing more than anyone else in this city for migrants and start pushing for more aid from Washington, DC and Albany,” Levy said.

    But his language around the issue — saying the migrant crisis has “destroyed” the city, directly blaming Biden for the situation and saying it has prevented New York’s economic comeback — is still jarring to many members of his party.

    “It’s extremely disappointing and dangerous to hear anyone feed into anti-immigrant rhetoric, particularly the highest-ranking elected city official of one of the most diverse cities that is fueled by the contributions of the immigrant community,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez, a first-term Democrat from Illinois who says her progressive stance is key to stemming GOP gains in the Latino community.

    “At the federal level, we need to utilize executive authority to ensure cities like Chicago and New York have the support they need to continue providing shelter with maximal flexibility,” she said.

    Added Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a leading critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ immigration policies: “We should tone down the rhetoric and focus on solutions.”

    Both Republican and Democratic strategists say Adams’ decision to amplify the right’s messaging around immigration could be a gift to the GOP.

    “I think echoing Republican attacks when Biden is going to need every single resource from Democrats to back him up is not what good Democrats do,” said Bill Neidhardt, a progressive political consultant.

    Republican strategist Bob Heckman said it’s surprising that other Democratic mayors of places like Chicago, D.C. and Denver, which have also faced an influx of migrants, aren’t speaking out like Adams.

    “If you are the mayor of a city who’s receiving the huge influx of migrants that are pouring across the southern border, it’s hard not to talk like that,” Heckman said. “The administration needs to get serious about it. They can’t just ignore it and run on, ‘We can’t let Donald Trump get reelected.’”

    A spokesperson for Biden declined to respond directly to Adams’ criticism but pointed to the president’s announcement in January about new border enforcement actions when he said “extreme Republicans” have always tried to use immigration to score political points but don’t help solve the problem.

    One of those so-called extreme Republicans, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas who has advocated for conservative immigration measures, wasn’t quite ready to embrace the New York mayor.

    “Eric Adams is right to blame the Biden Administration for the border crisis, but this is the same guy who campaigned on his city’s sanctuary status and extended childcare, colleague classes and other taxpayer-funded programs to illegal migrants,” Roy said in a statement.

    “Texas has been bearing the brunt of this crisis for over two years — now New York is getting a taste of their own medicine.”

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    #Democratic #mayor #GOP #ally #battle #Southern #border
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Democratic governors lose their grip as Republicans nab supermajorities

    Democratic governors lose their grip as Republicans nab supermajorities

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    Conservatives are triumphant about the recent legislative victories they see as shoring up support among their base and solidifying future success at the ballot box. And that’s left many Democrats, who are facing dwindling numbers in state legislatures throughout the South and parts of the Midwest, feeling deflated and helpless.

    “If people are power-hungry enough, they’ll do whatever they can to keep power and control it,” North Carolina state Sen. Sydney Batch, a moderate Democrat representing parts of Raleigh, said in an interview.

    The rise of these 29 supermajorities — seven of which emerged since the 2022 midterms — can be attributed to two things: GOP-crafted redistricting that protects the party’s candidates, and the polarization of the nation’s politics. And while anti-transgender laws have been passed in places like Idaho, Indiana, Iowa and Arkansas, the consequences are particularly challenging for the Democratic governors of Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana and North Carolina, who joust with a GOP legislature. (Vermont’s Phil Scott is the only Republican governor with a Democratic-controlled supermajority legislature.)

    Cooper, of North Carolina, has highlighted his role in stopping “bad culture war legislation” coming from a GOP legislature he’s faced since stepping into office in 2017. But Republicans have a supermajority in the Senate and, until recently, a working supermajority in the House by tapping persuadable Democrats to join their causes.

    Last month they bypassed Cooper’s veto on a bill that eliminates a requirement for sheriffs to issue a permit before someone buys a handgun, marking the first time Republicans successfully overrode him since 2018.

    Since that vote, however, a House Democrat has switched parties, giving Republicans an official supermajority in that chamber.

    Under the new law, sheriffs will no longer have the authority to deny permits based on criminal background checks or mental health evaluations. Bill supporters had argued that the handgun permitting process was burdensome for sheriffs and duplicative of the national background check system.

    “After years of Gov. Roy Cooper obstructing our Constitutional rights, today marks a long overdue victory for law-abiding gun owners in our state,” a group of Republican lawmakers said in a joint statement the day the legislation was approved for the second time. They also issued a warning for the term-limited Democrat: Their veto “set forth a path to overcoming any future impediments from the lame-duck governor.”

    They’re likely right that more veto overrides may be coming down the pipeline. Democrats are on edge about the prospects of Republicans agreeing to abortion restrictions that they have little means of stopping. Under current law, the procedure remains legal for up to 20 weeks of pregnancy but Republicans are considering rolling back the threshold to 12 weeks or less. Cooper has vowed to reject such legislation.

    Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, another Democratic leader of a red state, is dealing with a similar situation. Last month, Republicans dismissed his refusal to sign legislation banning transgender children from receiving gender-affirming health care and dictating what bathrooms they can use.



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    #Democratic #governors #lose #grip #Republicans #nab #supermajorities
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Looking back at the 1968 Democratic National Convention

    Looking back at the 1968 Democratic National Convention

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    Protesters gathered at a nearby hotel where many of the delegates were staying. Police officers could not keep the peace and Daley sent in troops from the Illinois National Guard, which had been activated by Gov. Samuel Shapiro.

    Day 3

    The anticipated televised Vietnam debate aired, and thousands of antiwar protesters gathered in Grant Park, where they had a permit to assemble.

    The National Guard prevented the protesters from reaching the amphitheater. Later in the afternoon, a teen climbed a flagpole and lowered the American flag, and the police arrested him.

    One of the protest organizers, Rennie Davis, told the police that the group had a legal protest permit and requested that the officers leave the park. The officers then beat Davis unconscious.

    Another protest organizer, Tom Hayden, encouraged protesters to return to the hotel. However, early in the evening, outside the hotel, police officers began attacking antiwar protesters with billy clubs and tear gas.

    Meanwhile, Sen. Abraham Ribicoff, in his nominating speech for McGovern, referred to “Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago” as televisions inside the convention hall showed the riots happening outside.

    Later at the convention, delegates voted for Humphrey to receive the presidential nomination.

    Day 4

    The police used tear gas to stop the remaining protesters and antiwar delegates from reaching the amphitheater.

    Officers arrested over 650 protesters during the convention.

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    #Democratic #National #Convention
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Chicago will host 2024 Democratic convention

    Chicago will host 2024 Democratic convention

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    illinois daily life 87106

    Chicago stood out, party leaders said, because of its diversity and strength in the labor movement. Although Democratic Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson ran to the left of Biden on policing, he was backed by the powerful Chicago Teachers Union.

    Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is a co-chair of the DNC, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot made a concerted lobbying campaign with the White House for the city. Pritzker and Duckworth organized an effort among Midwestern governors and senators and others to also lean on Biden.

    “The Midwest is key to a victory in 2024, and there is no city better positioned to reach those voters than Chicago,” Duckworth said in the statement.

    Many party leaders point to recent Democratic victories in Michigan and Wisconsin as proof of the Midwest’s strength for Democrats.

    Last week, Wisconsin voters elected a liberal majority to its state Supreme Court, which will likely affect an upcoming court case challenging a ban on abortion.

    Chicago and Atlanta have been the frontrunners among the three finalists for weeks. A convention in Atlanta would have highlighted the importance of Georgia, where Democrats have seen recent success in Senate and presidential elections.

    But Chicago, a city split nearly evenly between Black, Latino and white residents, is also a union town, where Georgia is a right-to-work state.

    After last week’s mayoral runoff in Chicago, Pritzker said he “absolutely” saw Johnson’s victory as enhancing the city’s chance of securing the convention. “Look, he brings a real excitement to the job, I think to the people of Chicago. And I think that’s being felt in Washington, D.C.”

    The 2024 Democratic convention will be the city’s 12th time hosting the event. The first was in 1864 and the most recent was 1996. The most memorable, however, was the 1968 convention, which was marked by unrest.

    The ’68 convention was held on the heels of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., who had lived in Chicago with his family for a time to highlight the disparities of the city.

    Chicago is a city well-versed in hosting big conventions.

    It has 132 hotels and 43,462 hotel rooms in the business district and hundreds more hotels in the greater metropolitan area. It has a solid transportation system. And Pritzker has also pledged to make sure the DNC can walk away debt-free from a convention held in Chicago.

    Pritzker, who self-funded his two gubernatorial campaigns, has enlisted numerous Illinois business executives to help fund the convention, which is expected to cost between $80 million to $100 million.

    The major convention events will be held in the United Center, where the Chicago Bulls play. It’s the largest arena in North America, with 1.7 million square feet of arena and convention venue space, according to organizers. There’s also more than 26,000 square feet of hospitality space, which has been a draw for conventions in the past.

    Other events would be held at McCormick Place, which has hosted nearly every American president since President John F. Kennedy at various events. McCormick Place also hosted more than 60 world leaders and heads of state as part of the 2012 NATO Summit.

    As an example of how important the Midwest is for 2024, Republicans are set to gather in Milwaukee, Wis., an hour away from Chicago, from July 15-18, 2024.

    The 2020 Democratic Convention held some events in Milwaukee but was largely virtual because of the pandemic.

    Additional reporting from Christopher Cadelago and Sally Goldenberg.

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    #Chicago #host #Democratic #convention
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • “BJP is democratic party, not a dictatorship like Congress,” Bommai

    “BJP is democratic party, not a dictatorship like Congress,” Bommai

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    New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday took a jibe at the Congress party and said that Bharatiya Janata Party is a democratic party and not a dictatorship party like Congress.

    Bommai said that this is the reason BJP is thinking well and talking in detail before releasing the first list of candidates for the Karnataka Assembly Elections.

    BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda on Monday held a meeting with CM Bommai over the Karnataka Assembly election 2023 at his residence in Delhi.

    MS Education Academy

    Parliamentary Minister Prahlad Joshi, CT Ravi and members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly were also present at the meeting.

    Talking to the media after attending the meeting, Bommai said, “Our party is a democratic party not like the dictatorship party of Congress so we are thinking well and talking in detail before releasing the first list of candidates for Karnataka Assembly Elections.”

    “Tomorrow, after another internal meeting, Karnataka’s list will be released late evening,” he added.

    CM Bommai said, “BS Yediyurappa has attended many important meetings, he is currently in Bengaluru. We are understanding each and every suggestion very well and after that, the list of Karnataka elections will be released.”

    Earlier in the day, Former chief minister of Karnataka and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran BS Yediyurappa on Monday said that the party will release the first list of candidates for around 170-180 seats on Monday.

    Senior BJP leaders on Sunday attended the CEC meeting for the Karnataka Assembly elections.

    Earlier, on Saturday, Amit Shah held a meeting at BJP president Nadda’s residence in the national capital to discuss and finalise the list of candidates for the May 10 polls.

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    #BJP #democratic #party #dictatorship #Congress #Bommai

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • From Simi Valley to Taipei, the focus of recess for many lawmakers has been countering China. A new Democratic codel to Vietnam and Indonesia will share similar themes. 

    From Simi Valley to Taipei, the focus of recess for many lawmakers has been countering China. A new Democratic codel to Vietnam and Indonesia will share similar themes. 

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    2023 0329 senate approps francis 1
    Jeff Merkley will lead a congressional delegation to the two countries.

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    #Simi #Valley #Taipei #focus #recess #lawmakers #countering #China #Democratic #codel #Vietnam #Indonesia #share #similar #themes
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Sinema can’t quit the powerful online Democratic fundraising machine

    Sinema can’t quit the powerful online Democratic fundraising machine

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    20230207 sotu biden 25 francis 10

    Sinema’s continued presence on the platforms shows the limits of her disdain for the Democratic Party: She might dislike sitting next to the party’s senators during lunch, but she’s still willing to take money from its small-dollar donors. Access to ActBlue could be hugely beneficial if Sinema runs for reelection — and in a three-way race in a state with a large independent vote share, Arizona’s seat could well tip control of a closely divided Senate.

    An ActBlue spokesperson confirmed this week that the Arizona senator is still eligible to use the site as an independent with a record of caucusing with Democrats. Sinema was a substantial fundraiser on ActBlue during her 2018 Senate campaign, bringing in more than $11.7 million via the platform that cycle, according to FEC data, although her small-dollar support has largely dried up in the past few years. Between her Dec. 9 announcement that she was leaving the Democratic Party and the end of the year, she had raised a bit shy of $25,000 via the platform.

    ActBlue — which has long served candidates facing each other in primaries — has looked to position itself as a neutral actor within the party’s broader fundraising ecosystem. The Arizona senator, who has yet to formally declare a 2024 run, puts that to a new test.

    “At the end of the day, ActBlue is an incredibly important technology platform inside an incredibly formidable big tent,” ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones said in an interview with POLITICO last month. A longtime tech executive and former city councilor from East Palo Alto, Calif., Wallace-Jones was named ActBlue’s new leader in January.

    She added: “It would be inappropriate in any way for us to be first movers bearing who is on the platform versus not. And we do have partners inside that tent that we will be taking cues from. So I do not imagine that we will be making that kind of a statement, and I do know that we’re in deep communications with others who have decision-making authority.”

    Adding a new fundraising platform is a sign that Sinema is preparing for the possibility of running for reelection, likely as an independent. A spokesperson confirmed Sinema’s campaign is currently using both Anedot and ActBlue, but declined to address what that could mean for her 2024 plans.

    Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) announced his own Senate campaign in January, and is widely viewed as the likely Democratic nominee. No major Republicans have declared they are running, although former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has expressed interest.

    ActBlue’s policies, which pre-date Wallace-Jones’ time at the head of the organization, say that independent or third-party incumbents can remain on the platform provided they have a “proven record” of caucusing with Democrats. Sinema no longer attends weekly caucus meetings, although she accepted Democrats’ committee assignments.

    Sen. Angus King, another independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is permitted to use ActBlue under the organization’s policies. His campaign website links to the platform NationBuilder, although he also has an active ActBlue page. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent though also a former Democratic presidential candidate, is among ActBlue’s most prolific fundraisers.

    Compared to other fundraising platforms, ActBlue is a unique tool in part because so many candidates use it, which allows campaigns to split donations with ease. For repeat donors, who make up a large share of the Democratic donor base, it saves credit card information, making transactions easier.

    “So many times where we would test using one processor or another, and just every time ActBlue would raise more for a variety of reasons,” said Taryn Rosenkranz, a longtime Democratic fundraising professional and founder of New Blue Interactive. “We never found anything that could net more for folks.”

    ActBlue also currently hosts Marianne Williamson in her longshot bid against incumbent President Joe Biden. In rare cases, the platform has kicked off candidates, such as Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) who switched to the Republican party in 2019.

    ActBlue has grown exponentially since its launch in 2004. The platform, which hosts federal, state and local candidates as well as progressive-aligned committees and nonprofits, reported processing donations from more than 7.4 million distinct donors last cycle.

    In the 2022 calendar year, ActBlue processed more than $1.4 billion for federal campaigns and causes. That’s more than twice the roughly $620 million raised at the federal level through WinRed, the Republican counterpart that launched in 2019, according to the groups’ filings with the FEC.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • TikTok is a necessary evil for Democratic campaigns

    TikTok is a necessary evil for Democratic campaigns

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    Last week, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress for the first time, where he faced a barrage of criticism from lawmakers. Both Republicans and Democrats raised security concerns about the Chinese-owned tech platform, which collects data from users. Officials are pushing ByteDance, the company that owns the app, to sell the app or risk an outright ban.

    It’s unclear if a nationwide ban could be enacted. But as long as TikTok exists, strategists say it’s necessary for campaigns and candidates on the app.

    They acknowledge that a presence on TikTok comes with some risks, but as long as campaigns are implementing safeguards — like using a separate phone for the app and not linking it to official campaign emails — it’s one of the best ways of reaching a core demographic. TikTok is not the only security concern a campaign may face, but is one that’s increasingly in the public eye.

    Even if a campaign is wary of having an account on the app, there are still other ways to engage. Kasey O’Brien, director of social and texting at Democratic firm Middle Seat, said that tapping influencers to share the campaign’s message could be effective. That’s a strategy that addresses some security concerns, but also practical ones, especially if campaigns lack the resources or knowhow to produce content for the app.

    “It’s not so much that you the candidate needs to be on TikTok, but you need to have people who are speaking about you on TikTok and sort of spreading your message,” she said. “If you want your message to get across and to become part of popular discourse, it needs to be where the popular discourse is being created.”

    The prospect of a ban is one that has the potential to impact Democratic candidates and campaigns in a substantial way, as Republicans have been less inclined to engage with TikTok.

    In last year’s midterm elections, there were more than twice as many Democratic candidate accounts on TikTok compared to Republicans in Senate, House, governor and secretary of state races, according to a study from the Alliance for Securing Democracy.

    Much of that has to do with Republicans being more vocal about China’s ownership of the app, said Lindsay Gorman, senior fellow for emerging technologies at the group and co-author of the study. But after last week’s hearing showing bipartisan concerns, Democrats could find themselves “in a tough spot.”

    “The longer this uncertainty drags out, especially as it potentially bleeds into the 2024 election season, that’s when we’ll see hard choices among politicians that they’re going to have to make, of if there are voters still on this platform — but we still haven’t resolved the national security concerns, they’ll probably still continue to use it in some fashion,” she said.

    The app is critical to a broader strategy, strategists argue, to reach voters who don’t normally consume political content. A recent poll conducted by SocialSphere found that just one-third of Gen Z and millennial users of the app regularly view content about current events or politics. A majority are instead there for entertainment.

    “The fundamental goal of all of our digital strategies across these platforms is to get in touch with voters, entice them to think about your campaign and your candidacy, the platforms, the issues that you care about, and then engage them offline,” Bell said. “Voting doesn’t happen on TikTok.”

    Eric Wilson, a GOP digital strategist, said Republicans who choose to not engage with TikTok out of principle are missing out on a core demographic.

    A post-election survey conducted by the Center for Campaign Innovation, which Wilson is director of, found that 18 percent of Republicans between the ages of 18 and 49 use TikTok daily. That’s compared to 12 percent in that group who use any conservative social media, including Truth Social, Rumble, Parler, Gettr or Gab. Wilson said that the gap of not being on TikTok can be filled by relying on content creators who are. He pointed to influential media personalities like Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro, whose clips from their podcasts are circulated on TikTok.

    “If Republicans don’t engage there at all, we run the risk of missing out on shaping narratives and reaching younger voters and I think that will be a mistake,” Wilson said. “You need to have a presence there. Now, whether it’s the core of your strategy, it shouldn’t be. But at least having positive information flow is a minimum.”

    The SocialSphere poll also found that more than half of respondents are concerned about the app’s Chinese ownership, but there’s less of a consensus when it comes to supporting a ban unless the company sells its shares to U.S. operators. Sixty-six percent of Gen Z-ers have a favorable view of the app, as do 46 percent of millennials.

    Still, strategists say they’re doubtful the increased governmental scrutiny on the app will change TikTok’s dominance among young people — and thus campaign strategies likely won’t change. What they do hope will change, however, is how digital communications are regulated.

    “This also just really points to the need for a much broader set of regulations around data governance and privacy of America where we’re having these conversations about one off apps like Tiktok, because we don’t have an overarching platform as a country, and that’s something that our lawmakers really need to focus on,” said Mark Jablonowski, president of DSPolitical, a digital advertising firm that works with Democratic candidates and causes.

    And some lawmakers agree. At last week’s hearing, House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) called for Congress to pass privacy legislation that establishes baseline data minimization requirements and provides privacy protections for young people. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), who recently created her own TikTok account, said that banning the app is “putting the cart before the horse because our first priority should be” passing such legislation. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who’s been outspoken about not banning the app, also discussed legislation to deal with social media comprehensively.

    Campaigns are reevaluating their balance of spending on platforms as they enter the 2024 cycle, but so far there’s not a massive move away from TikTok — yet.

    “That’s the challenge: Youth are still out there using it,” Bell said. “We need to continue to find avenues to engage people who are not engaged in the political process, traditionally, and bring them on to the campaign.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Bruising budget battle in New York deepens Democratic divide

    Bruising budget battle in New York deepens Democratic divide

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    At a moment when many are looking to Hochul to unite Democrats in New York, fearing disaster in 2024, the governor is having the opposite effect. Progressives from New York City, who largely control the state Legislature, feel emboldened to push a left-leaning agenda after a decade of strong-arm tactics from ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And Hochul, long a moderate, is struggling to advance priorities that include tough-on-crime policies and making the state more affordable.

    It’s a volatile mix that’s left the governor with limited political capital and her party as splintered as it has been in years.

    “I wish she would listen to the voters and not the high rollers,” state Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), a leading progressive and chair of the Senate Labor Committee, said in an interview, adding that Hochul is being influenced by corporate interests who helped her raise a state record $50 million for her election.

    Hochul still has the power to shape budget negotiations in coming days and weeks since she holds the purse strings ahead of the April 1 start of the fiscal year. New York lawmakers typically wrap most major legislative proposals into the state budget each year, so winning support for her agenda will be her highest priority as discussions wrap, likely in April if a deal isn’t reached in the next few days.

    Hochul has struggled all year to get traction in the Legislature. She got rolled by Democrats in the state Senate last month when they resoundingly rejected her pick, Hector LaSalle, to be the state’s top judge — a first-of-its-kind rebuke by lawmakers who deemed him too moderate for their taste.

    Hochul’s trying a new tactic this month by aligning herself with former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is pumping $5 million into ads and mailers in lawmakers’ districts to boosther priorities. While the move will certainly put pressure on lawmakers worried about how their constituents will view the messages, it’s also serving to anger fellow Democrats who think the mailers cross a line.

    “What’s she’s doing is weaponizing her identity and allowing billionaires to use her to continue the same old Albany politics,” Assemblymember Ron Kim (D-Queens) said at a news conference last week referencing Hochul’s status as the first woman governor.

    Hochul appears ready to dig in on her priorities, looking to beat back opposition to toughening bail laws on violent suspects and making the high-cost state more affordable by forcing new housing in the suburbs.

    She also wants to show that she’s got a firm grip on her office as she looks to set the tone at the Capitol for her four-year term and takes the reins of a divided state Democratic Party after succeeding Cuomo, who resigned in 2021.

    Democratic values get “clouded” when “people from the socialist side” say they represent what the party stands for, Hochul said.

    “My job is to bring it together, instill confidence in voters in the Democratic Party and go forth into a whole new era,” the governor said earlier this month, when asked by POLITICO about the party’s future.

    Some New York City Democrats are still calling for the resignation of state party chairman Jay Jacobs, who lost all four House seats in his Long Island backyard and is fighting with liberals by blasting them as too far left for the state as a whole.

    “There is a concerted, clear and definite unrelenting effort by folks from the far left to unseat moderate, progressive incumbents,” Jacobs said in a recent interview. “And it’s all about power.”

    Jacobs said that, if the Legislature keeps pushing the party further left, it will alienate moderate voters in the suburbs and upstate — which, he said, was the reason Republicans flipped four House seats on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley and upstate.

    “The people who abandoned the Democratic Party, for the most part, abandoned the Democratic Party because they felt that our party has moved too far to the left,” he continued. “The more we continue to do that, the more voters in these areas we will lose.”

    So far, Hochul has stood by Jacobs, but his presence continues to irk liberals. Some groups said Hochul needs to make New York a progressive capital in the nation to counter Republicans in Washington and in red states.

    “The governor in the last election struggled to communicate most directly with voters, and now this is a movement in the budget to say: message received,” said Sochie Nnaemeka, the director of the labor-backed Working Families Party.

    Some Democrats said it’s important that the party find common ground heading into 2024, when all 26 House seats and 213 state legislative seats will be on the ballot again.

    “We have to take back the House in 2024. We need to make Leader [Hakeem] Jeffries … Speaker Jeffries, and in order to do that, we have to figure out what didn’t go so great and what did well and how we do more of that,” Sen. Jamaal Bailey, the Bronx Democratic Party chairperson, said.

    The tension at the Capitol is almost palpable. And it was apparent as soon as the six-month legislative session started in January.

    “In a lot of areas, the governor was a drag on the ticket. That’s just a fact. So how much does that contribute to what we’re seeing now? I don’t know. I think the people who are most aggrieved aren’t here anymore. They lost,” said Sen. James Skoufis, a Hudson Valley Democrat and part of the conference’s more moderate faction.

    “But it’s clear, regardless where it comes from, there is tension between a lot of the Legislature and the governor.”

    How does it end up?

    “There are two paths forward,” Skoufis surmised in the wake of the LaSalle rejection. “The place proverbially blows up for session, and the other is we hit a reset button. Obviously, I hope it’s the second.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )