The Grio: "Why Nina Turner, the real 'establishment,' lost Ohio Democratic primary race"

[StarfishSaver]

The conventional wisdom about the Ohio 11th congressional district Democratic primary was always wrong. After Marcia Fudge vacated the seat to become President Joe Biden’s HUD Secretary, the race to replace her didn’t suddenly become a battle between Progressives and the Establishment or a proxy battle.
...
The reality of the Ohio primary is that Nina Turner, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, was the Establishment in this race. She had more money, higher name recognition and tons of celebrity endorsements in her pocket. Her opponent Shontel Brown was a local Cuyahoga County Democratic Party chair, that nobody would’ve been able to pick out of a lineup four months ago. And yet, Turner still lost.
...
The Establishment is no longer old white men in a smoke-filled room playing kingmaker. Not in an era of social media, wild-wild west campaign fundraising, and national organizers who can descend on a district like political flash-mobs after one tweet ... Nina Turner was a former national surrogate of a presidential campaign, former elected official, television pundit, college professor, SuperPAC director and lobbyist, who got endorsed by the major local newspaper Cleveland Plain Dealer, had Hollywood backing her and could raise thousands of dollars with one mass text. It doesn’t get more Establishment than that, which is ultimately why Turner lost the election.

...{I}n the minds of the majority of non-aligned voters, Turner, not Brown, was the big-name establishment politician. Initially, that helped Turner when she began the campaign as the political prodigal daughter coming back to save her hometown. Unfortunately in June after she jumped out to a huge lead, her campaign went national, bringing in activist and rapper Killer Mike who insulted Democratic power broker Congressman James Clyburn and going overboard with attack ads depicting Shontel Brown as a corrupt politician. Clevelanders have a long history with corrupt politicians and Shontel Brown doesn’t fit the bill.
...
Turner didn’t lose because of “dark money,” she lost because local voters don’t live their lives on Twitter, don’t read puff pieces in The New York Times and didn’t want the Progressive Establishment carpetbagging into town and telling people how to vote. Not to mention, Shontel Brown is actually a pretty darn good public servant.

https://thegrio.com/2021/08/04/why-nina-turner-lost-ohio-primary-race/

[Elessar Zappa]

1. Interesting perspective.

The article makes some very good points.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. Don't see how any Democrat could vote for someone who endorsed Putin's buddy* Jill Stein in 2016!

*and therefore Donald Trump's

[sheshe2]

7. Or one that said voting for Biden vs Trump ...

Was like eating a bowl of shit. Is this who we have become?

I remember clearly when Obama was called a POSUCS here on DU and the thread, with a follow up thread was recommended hundreds of times. Hundreds of times.

[Hekate]

18. I'm glad we old-timers still vividly remember the POSUCS thread & other inglorious incidents...

I look at them as learning-opportunities, even AFOG* — so it is important to not let the Memory Hole suck them away.

Post #70,000 Imagine that.

*Another Fckng Opportunity for Growth

[sheshe2]

20. I will never forgive or forget that filth.

Congrats on 70K!

[betsuni]

32. And the "Madame Secretary ... kindly go f**k yourself with a brick" that's still there.

143 recs.

[sheshe2]

34. Forgot about that one.

143 recs for Madame Secretary to be disemboweled. Yes it still stands.

[betsuni]

38. Will never understand what all the Obama/Hillary/Democrats hate was (is) for.

[sheshe2]

39. Simply...

Black and White.

Worse.

Black MAN and White WOMAN.

[betsuni]

49. Oh, and we can't forget the post claiming the Democratic base has Stockholm syndrome!

Self-deleted, not removed.

[betsuni]

51. Still want to know why those idiots think Hillary was Satan, lesser of two evils.

Idiots.

[Cha]

35. I'm so grateful NT's Vile words came

back to haunt. She needed to be held responsible unlike so many who didn't give a damn.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. I love this article

Link to tweet

[Cha]

29. Rt TY!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. From the Grio article

I like this analysis

The Progressive Establishment model didn’t work in Ohio because Turner wasn’t an underdog and hadn’t been in the district recently but also because mainline Democrats ignore progressives at their peril. At the same time, progressives shouldn’t be calling Black voters in Ohio stupid or blaming outside money when they simply ran a candidate who had every technical advantage but couldn’t reconcile half a decade of attacking the Democratic Party with running in a heavily Democratic district.

Over 72,000 voters turned out for a special election primary in an off-year when both campaigns privately estimated turnout would be in the 40,000 range. That should be something all Democrats can get excited about and should reverse engineer heading into the 2022 midterms.

[StarfishSaver]

6. "Progressives shouldn't be calling Black voters stupid" - good advice for any purpose or season ...

I can't believe someone had to actually say that ...

[mcar]

17. They shouldn't be saying they are the base of the

Democratic Party either - to the base of the Democratic party.

[Cha]

31. Exactly.. they still doing that canard?

From the link it talked about "Hello Somebody".. do you know what that's about?

TY!

[Celerity]

55. Killer Mike is a a fucking bomb-throwing bellend, a political arsonist nt

[George II]

57. If turnout was higher in some of the 2018 primaries perhaps Speaker Pelosi wouldn't have....

....some of the headaches she has today.

[sheshe2]

5. Great read.

All of it.

[JI7]

8. Most of these terms and labels are all about whether someone supported a certain candidate

in 2016 and 2020 . Their record and their position on issues don't really matter much.

[betsuni]

33. +1

[stopdiggin]

9. thanks. that's interesting

especially like the finish -

"Not to mention, Shontel Brown is actually a pretty darn good public servant."

Dang! What a concept! Could we maybe do more of that?
----- -----

[Budi]

10. This is the most Honest piece written yet.

'Money & Media' has the power to remake anyone's image for better or worse.

But in the case of Local OH-11, the millions spent simply failed to impress, & failed.

I'm really glad that the Grio retold the true story that high $$$ Media buys refused to do.

[NNadir]

11. Rather delicious. Thanks. n/t.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Truest sentence I've read this year

"voters don’t live their lives on Twitter"

Someone should tell The Lincoln Project, and Establishment Democrats pushing cultural agendas that alienate suburban voters.

[betsuni]

14. What does your last sentence mean?

What cultural agendas by "Establishment Democrats" that alienate suburban voters?

[empedocles]

13. TY

[mcar]

15. Great article

Nina Turner was the "establishment" candidate.

[msfiddlestix]

16. Good Read. Excellent Points

[LetMyPeopleVote]

19. For this thread

Link to tweet

[betsuni]

25. Love it! "Who's name-calling?"

Oligarchs-elites-establishment-corporatists-status quo-neoliberals-evil money-bowl of shit. "But I'm not name-calling, that's the way I see it."

[StarfishSaver]

26. Dayum ... He tore her up!

[Hekate]

21. Very interesting article. Thanks, Star

[iemanja]

22. College professor?

ETA. I should have googled it first. She teaches African-American history and women’s studies.

[station agent]

23. I don't know why Dems keep electing people who will stand in the way of M4A N/t

[StarfishSaver]

30. Maybe because they are more sophisticated than those who keep attacking them

and, unlike those who continually try to besmirch and belittle them, they understand that politics is complex and nuanced and they don't vote for candidates based solely on one pet issue (especially when that issue is one is an aspiration that doesn't have a realistic chance of becoming a reality in the immediate future, even if Democrats did elect someone who supports it ...)

[crickets]

24. Great read - thanks. K&R

[halfulglas]

27. I don't live in Ohio but I identify as a Progressive Democrat.

I've followed this race here on DU and it frankly made me cringe, maybe because I'm older. I like "the Squad" and think they bring of fresh air to the Dem party but the vitriol on the part of Nina Turner was just turning me off. I received emails from her group and just deleted them. I wasn't about to send them her any money. I think Biden Harris is the only slate who could have won this last time out and they are doing a remarkable job so far, especially given the tightness of the margins. I'm hoping Shontel Brown will continue to help unify the Democratic party in Ohio.

[Cha]

28. Ha, Nina Turner, the "Establishment" candidate..

All that money and those "celebrities" didn't do her any good.. because she was still Nina Turner.

She had more money, higher name recognition and tons of celebrity endorsements in her pocket. Her opponent Shontel Brown was a local Cuyahoga County Democratic Party chair,

And Shontel Brown was an Exponentially better candidate to Represent Ohio District 11!

Who were those "celebrities", anyway? Susan Sarandon?

From your link..

“You can’t say voting for Biden is like eating shit. I mean, lots of people felt that way, I wanted to vote for Pete Buttigieg, but you can’t say that then run for Congress.”

Shontel's ads using NT's own words did enlighten people to what was said by Turner on July 27, 2020.

“My sister went to school with Shontel, and I just don’t like that “Hello Somebody” thing, [From Turner] it sounds forced!”

What was that "Hello Somebody" thing about? I did see tweets that said "Goodbye Somebody!" so that's where it came from but what was Turner doing with "Hello Somebody"?

Oh, and I didn't know they called "Black Voters in Ohio Stupid"! Who was in charge there?!

Thank You and for the Grio article!

[betsuni]

36. I want to use "Progressive Establishment" from now on.

I've wondered about the "Hello Somebody" thing, thought it was from a song, poem, quote, something. But I guess not. Don't know what it means.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

40. Hello Somebody

It's giving personification to everyday people that they aren't just anybody, they are somebody. They are the difference that they want to see, and they matter just as much as the upper class in terms of benefit from society. They are somebody that does not have to go bankrupt for healthcare, they don't need to be a slave to their student loans, they deserve to have free education available. That is what I perceive from her term "Hello Somebody"

.

[betsuni]

44. Thanks.

But the word "somebody" makes me think:

Who was that?
Oh, somebody I know from work.

Who's going to clean this up?
Just leave it, somebody will do it sooner or later.

Somebody drank the last Diet Coke.

Somebody called the cops.

[Cha]

41. It's what they are.. Jason Johnson explained

and they have the nerve to act all grass roots. Having no clue they were just pissing a lot of people off.

I'm on a mission to find out in what context that "Hello Somebody" meant.

It sure delighted twitter to say "Goodbye Somebody".. I had no idea what it meant.. only that they were obviously talking about NT.

I'll let you know & please let me know if you find an explanation.

[UTUSN]

37. Ain't that something?!

[Cha]

47. Yes, it is.. just what has been obvious

to many for a long time now.

[UTUSN]

48. Ol'Cha, your views and mine have been simpatico for a *long* time!

[Cha]

50. ..

[DinahMoeHum]

42. "Progressive" candidates should learn from India Walton. . .

. . .who won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo, NY back in June:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/opinion/india-walton-progressive.html

Walton is a woman with a working-class background and an inspiring personal story who knows how to make progressive ideas sound like common sense.

“The challenge of the left is that we use our jargony activist language and don’t take time to fully explain what we mean to those who may not be as ‘woke’ as we are.”

[LeftInTX]

43. Nina Turner gets on my nerves...

I can't be the only one who thinks that?


Shontel is down to earth and likeable....
Isn't likeable a big factor in who people vote for?

[StarfishSaver]

45. I think "likeability" is less a factor than getting a sense that a candidate cares about them and wi

focus on trying to make their lives better.

Nina Turner always promised to "fight for" people and made a big deal of being combative and confrontational and never giving in. But most voters aren't interested in fights and they don t see politics as a cage match. They want their representatives to try to get things done. Turner doesn't seem to understand that.

[LeftInTX]

46. Yep

[Cha]

52. KICK!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

53. This is Joe Biden's Party Now

The Democratic Party is Joe's party

Link to tweet

This is Joe Biden's party now. That was the indisputable message sent after Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown defeated former Ohio state senator Nina Turner in the Democratic primary to succeed Marcia Fudge. The special election to fill the seat in Ohio's 11th Congressional District will be held in a few months, but the outcome is already known, given that it is one of the bluest districts in the country.

This race was once thought to be a slam dunk for Turner, given that she began with a commanding 35 point lead and strong name recognition. Turner cemented herself as a progressive, anti-establishment firebrand over the past several years as a fierce backer of Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 Presidential runs. She refused to back Hillary Clinton's presidential bid once she became the Democratic nominee, and last year compared voting for Joe Biden to eating a bowl of excrement.....

While progressives have had some success during Donald Trump's tenure, the political winds are now blowing in a different direction. A recent AP poll found that 92 percent of Democrats approve of Biden's work as President. That means it is going to be difficult for progressives who brand themselves as anti-Biden or anti-establishment to win.

This point was implicitly acknowledged by the pro-Sanders group Our Revolution when their executive director rebranded them as "pragmatic progressives" who were willing to work with President Biden's more moderate agenda rather than flatly oppose it. You can see this also in other recent progressive losses in high profile races, such as the runoff election in Louisiana's 2nd district, or the Virginia gubernatorial and New York mayoral primaries. Centrist candidate Eric Adams, now the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, went as far as to call himself the "Biden of Brooklyn."....

While the race between Brown and Turner might not be the biggest of the year, it is nevertheless important because it is emblematic of how internal Democratic dynamics will play out during the Biden years. Turner showed us that even a well funded anti-establishment candidate with name recognition and endorsements can lose in this Democratic environment.

[Celerity]

54. Great article. Best post mortem I have read. nt

[George II]

56. That's a great analysis. Thanks for finding it for us.

[George II]

58. In light of the next to last paragraph, did you see what I posted last night about Clyburn?

He was refreshingly candid in this article:

Clyburn says he planned to stay out of Ohio race until he was called 'stupid'

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/566479-clyburn-says-he-planned-to-stay-out-of-ohio-race-until-he-was-called-stupid

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215705696