Rep. Greg Meeks lobs veiled primary threat against Ocasio-Cortez

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Daily News

The gloves are coming off in the Capitol Hill brawl between Democratic moderates and progressives.

Queens Democratic boss and 11-term congressman Greg Meeks took a thinly-veiled jab at fellow Big Apple Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday, urging her to back off her racially-tinged feud with party leaders or face a fight for her political life.

In an interview with the Daily News, Meeks fumed over Ocasio-Cortez’s recent racial beef with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and pushed back against her left-wing allies at Justice Democrats for openly backing insurgent candidates trying to unseat members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

...snip...

“Primaries go two ways," Meeks said when asked whether his wing of the party would consider challenging progressive members next year, including Ocasio-Cortez. “If someone picks a fight with somebody else, you fight back. That’s what my parents told me.”

Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-greg-meeks-ocasio-cortez-congress-pelosi-primary-20190712-wgbfh35akrf7bmakyuqugzltha-story.html

[BeyondGeography]

1. So what's the hook, Greg, she had a major problem with people being forced to drink from toilets?

[George II]

23. That's NOT what it is. It has nothing to do with people being forced to drink from toilets.

[KPN]

60. That's a big part of what led to her voting against the border funding bill.

So ...

[brooklynite]

2. More like: she has a major problem with other Democrats?

[BeyondGeography]

4. I think that's how she got the job

[OnDoutside]

6. More like the way Ted Cruz first got elected, having the primary

on a day that didn't have any higher race on the same day, so really low voter turnout, coupled with an expectation that the incumbent would win easily.

[watoos]

17. Low voter turnout

is a tactic used by incumbents to stay in power, you have it backwards, better check why the election was held on that day. Crowley didn't even show up for one of the debates with AOC, what was he afraid of?

[brooklynite]

29. Why was the Primary on that day?

It was mandated by a Federal Judge; otherwise it would have been in September. Same day all the other House Primaries were held.

[George II]

24. That's correct. New York State had two primaries - in June for Federal offices and in September....

...for State offices.

Many of the voters were expecting to vote only in September so they were totally unaware that there was a primary in June.

[brooklynite]

30. "Many of the voters were expecting to vote only in September"

Do you have some actual data to support that assertion? June has been the Federal Primary date fro several cycles.

[still_one]

27. More like she is inferring the party leadership is racist

[KPN]

61. She did mis-speak there for sure.

She let Pelosi rattle her. Pelosi didn’t need to impugn the four young members for speaking out against the border funding bill. But she did. AOC’s smarter and can do better than that. She better. I hope she does.

[Hekate]

70. Increasingly, I am not sure AOC mis-spoke, but that she meant what she said. Plus that senior aide

... Chakrabarti is trouble in a T-shirt.

[oldsoftie]

3. Accusing Nancy Pelosi of racism is one way to make yourself look like an idiot.

When all else fails throw the race card on the table!

[KPN]

62. Thats what I hear from my conservative acquaintances

all the time. The “racist card” is a standard right-wing diversionary sound-bite. Must we resort to that here? AOC definitely mid-spike, no question. But that phrase?

[oldsoftie]

63. No, she didnt "mis speak", she made a statement. "..singling out of newly elected women of color".

She was grasping at straws to try to make her weak point. It is what it is. She's frustrated that Speaker Pelosi is tightening the screws on her. More proof of why she was made Speaker for another term.
As for the "race card", i've seen both sides use that term for years. Much like "dog whistle"; my LEAST favorite BTW

[monmouth4]

5. AOC is becoming tiresome..n/t

[Thekaspervote]

8. Indeed she is!

[gabeana]

44. Nope disagree

She is inspiring young people especially young women of color

[Odious justice]

54. Inspiring them to do what?

Destroy a party, make false accusations, and throw tantrums when you get called out for bad behavior?

[Magoo48]

66. Hummm, I was just thinking that old-line, status quo Dems were becoming extremely tiring.

When experience must demand respect then perhaps it’s not so much experience but longevity. When youth and enthusiasm decides to fight under your banner, respect their choice and be grateful. Let them advance. If held back, of course they’re gonna snap at you.

[The Liberal Lion]

7. AOC can hold her own. Her knees remain unbent and her back firmly girded with steel.

Would be good if others in the House majority would take some lessons from her.

[TexasTowelie]

13. While I understand your comments,

I've also found humility to be an endearing quality. I always had difficulty working with others who are so certain of themselves that they cannot recognize that other people have different life experiences and points of view. There is a way for AOC to achieve her goals without disrespecting others or creating a hostile work environment.

[ancianita]

20. She doesn't dis anyone. She challenges those who disrespect those whom she cares for, and represents

their voice. She speaks for her constituents. People forget that she knows she's there for them and that it's not about her, no matter how much media try to make her egotistical. She's not.

AOC is wholly appropriate, and I don't give a damn who here is divisive about her, SHE is not divisive. SHE is doing her job.

Now, if Speaker Pelosi wants to take up the issue of her all-too-pushy chief of staff, that's another matter.

People need not fall for this media amplification of internal differences. We're not the weak infighters the media wants to portray.

AOC and Pelosi will work this out, and we should trust that they will.

[TexasTowelie]

22. In that case AOC needs to have a discussion with her chief of staff.

The buck stops with her and she needs to get Chakrabarti under control and fire him if he doesn't straighten up. Whether the calls to primary sitting congressman comes directly from AOC or through surrogates and groups that she has associated with in the past, this is a distraction that Democrats don't need. If AOC wants to be an effective leader, then she needs to demonstrate that she can keep her own office staff from making such dreadful mistakes.

[George II]

25. She claimed that Pelosi "singled out WOC", forgetting that she and her friends are not the ONLY....

....freshmen WOC. There's also:

Jahana Hayes
Lauren Underwood
Lucy McBath
Sharice Davids
Deb Haaland.

Pelosi is "singling out" those Representatives for a reason that we ALL know.

[lapucelle]

33. And her chief of staff tweeted something pretty disgusting about one of those women, Sharice Davids.

[lapucelle]

36. Her constituents were in favor of the Amazon deal.

New Poll Finds Queens Residents Support Amazon in Long Island City
Dec. 5, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez

A new poll has found that Queens residents approve of Amazon building new headquarters in Long Island City—in stark contrast to the backlash and anti-Amazon rhetoric expressed by many borough officials and groups over the plan.

The Quinnipiac University Poll released today shows that Queens residents are not only for the tech giant locating its headquarters at Anable Basin, but approve of the billions in incentives it is set to receive from the city and state for the move.

The poll found that 60 percent of Queens voters approve of Amazon locating one of its new headquarters in Long Island City, compared to just 26 percent of voters who oppose the tech giant’s presence.

Queens voters, furthermore, support the $3 billion in state and city incentives Amazon is set to receive as part of its deal to locate to Queens, with 55 percent in approval compared to the 39 percent of voters that oppose the incentives package.

The poll also reveals Queens to be the borough most in support of the city and state’s incentive package to Amazon, followed by the Bronx.

https://licpost.com/new-poll-finds-queens-residents-support-amazon-in-long-island-city

[eilen]

64. I can tell how it is not all about her from all the selfies and tweets

whenever anyone has an iota of criticism. She's as thin-skinned as Trump (and similarly inexperienced).

[The Liberal Lion]

40. You make a strong point and are most certainly correct.

[pampango]

16. She is young, liberal and imperfect.

If she does not play the inside-the-beltway politics game perfectly, so what. She goes after a Trump relentlessly. I encourage young, liberal, imperfect Democrats to run for office.

[brush]

32. Problem is she goes after other Dems more than repugs. Blasting other Dems to the world on twitter..

Good god! Why should adults have to be told to not blast members of your own party publicly?

Walk down the hall, knock on the door of the colleague you have a beef with and hash it out privately. Have a knockdown_drag out even but keep it in house.

Then both go out and blast repugs publicly.

Not rocket science if you wanna keep the House majority.

[ripcord]

9. Well she had tried to primary democrats she doesn't agree with

I don't see how she can have a problem with this.

[mcar]

10. She sure likes to primary Democrats

Should she be exempt?

[Hulk]

11. I'm getting a bit tired of OAC myself...

She has good intentions, and she has a message to get out there; but she is really pushing the bounds and is going to turn her own constituents off shortly, if she hasn't already.

Before you jump all over me for being a racist, and an anti-progressive, I am none of those things. A life long Democrat, and a liberal that wants a big socialist change to our sick government and ailing society. But the melodrama AOC puts out strikes me as more of an attempt to make the news with passionate arguments and brazen attacks on the establishment Democratic Party and any and all repuKKKes, than she really expects any change to come about as a result of her actions. In fact, just the opposite.

She is feeding the reich wing media machine plenty of ammunition. I don't know what is fact and what is fiction, but as far as I'm concerned, it has very little to do with racism or Islamophobia. She, along with a few other outspoken young ladies, are doing a real good job at keeping THEMSELVES in the news, and creating controversy with Speaker Pelosi and the establishment Democrats in Congress. Not saying they need to shut up and sit down, but there is an old expression about "picking your battles". They seem to be content with throwing shit at every fan they walk in front of. Some might think that's a good thing, but I strongly disagree. We have an election bearing down on us here in 2020, and they are doing a good job of dividing liberals and progressive and old establishment Democrats with petty garbage. NOT saying all her points are garbage, but a lot of it is. I tend to agree with Bill Maher on most of his opinions regarding the Democratic Party and our notorious circular firing squad and over sensitivity to "political correctness". We are going to pay a price for it if we don't get a handle on it pretty soon. In 2020 we need to win a half dozen or more Senate seats and pick up another 30+ House seats. Their outspoken and often careless attacks are going to cost us those seats, and God help us if the Coward Jackass gets re-elected because Democrats and Independents get turned off with our candidates.

So, my suggestion is "pick your battles", cut the crap on publicly criticizing fellow Democrats, work on legislation to make things better, and less TV time for their behavior and public statements. They are doing themselves a bigger disservice than they might think, and the party is going to suffer as a result of their foolishness.

[DeminPennswoods]

12. I doubt AOC is too scared

She beat the 4th ranking Dem in leadership in the primary. She seems very popular in her district, she knows the issues and comes prepared.

[watoos]

18. Her district, although very blue,

is one of the most diverse districts in the country. She took the time to go door to door to meet them and anyone who has thoughts of primarying her, lets just say I will wager a small bet to charity on AOC.

[CDerekGo]

14. Can we all say 'breath of fresh air'?

Not that I don't see the arguments where AOC is fighting battles all over the place, and yes, 2020 Elections only get closer every single day. Yet, I'm actually glad to see some dust getting kicked up in the old hallways and byways of the Democratic Party.

We all know that the old-timers are scared for their careers as well as their constituents.

Yes to "Pick Your Battles", but as an old white guy, I'm happy to see younger Representatives getting into our Congress and stirring the shit. I have a feeling that some of the old-timers aren't exactly that happy with the fact that the young Representatives are getting more air time than they are...

[groundloop]

15. I'm not up on who did what to whom, but we damned sure need to keep these issues to ourselves

Middle of the road voters who might be getting tired of tRump sure the hell aren't going to get excited about voting for Democrats when we're having these public spats amongst ourselves. Our reps who are involved in this need to learn how to sit down and talk things out behind closed doors.

[pazzyanne]

48. Could not agree more.

[BeyondGeography]

49. Talk to Madam Speaker

Contact her public whatever and share your concerns with her.

You make a good point but this problem, while it may not have started at the top, was certainly exacerbated there.

[grandpamike1]

19. If you look

at the commonality of the four women that Nancy Pelosi pointed her remarks at, a very strong case can be made for racism. Let Meeks primary her, and I would bet that he gets his ass handed to him, and I also think, this was set up by Pelosi. The old status quo Dems, are very frightened by AOC, a very articulate, and prepared Rep, that is extremely popular in her district, and I believe it is not in the best inters of the party to continue this battle, as the party is in disarray, and cannot get together on where the want to go, with legislation, ideas, or what the party actually stands for. I have seen this show far too many years, and it leads down the same path, to losing elections. We took the House, and now we must put ideologies aside, and take the Senate, otherwise it was all for naught.IMO

[brush]

28. Read this.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=199521

[Me.]

34. From New York Are You?

[lapucelle]

39. Where's the evidence for the "strong case" for racism being the cause of the tensions?

How many of the 115 POC in the House have implied that Speaker Pelosi is racist?
How many of the 10 new members who are POC have implied that she is racist?
In Pelosi's 32 years in the House, how many times has she been suspected of or accused of racism?

The answer to each of these questions is 1.

Welcome to DU.

[Honeycombe8]

43. That's so not true. The commonality of the four is that they are the four who voted against the bill

The only Democrats who voted against it. THAT is the commonality. It doesn't matter what else they are besides the four who voted against a critical Democratic bill.

AOC was trying to make anyone criticizing her and the other 3 a racial thing. They could be criticized for anything, and the response will be "That's racist, because we four are minorities." Pretty neat trick, if you can pull it off. But it doesn't work against legislators with decades of passing pro-equality, anti-racist legislation.

Almost all the newcomers to the House have settled in, are learning the ropes, learning how to legislate, conduct themselves at hearings and prepare for the hearings, how to get legislation passed in the real world, how to work with the other reps to get things done, etc. The existing members have no problem with the newcomers, so that's a false narrative. The newcomers, except those 4, have no problems with the reps who were there before them.

The fact is that the four are voting against bills, knowing the bills will pass, but are grandstanding for their viewpoints on the bills, so their districts will be impressed. That's activism, not legislation, IMO. They haven't sponsored any bills, or drafted any themselves, that I know of. They've just criticized, quite publicly, what others have done. So if they're going to do that, then they need to take their lumps, 'cause the legislators who actually legislate are going to call them on it.

[eilen]

65. If Nancy Pelosi were a guy, she would be yelling "sexism" too. nt

[DeminPennswoods]

67. A reminder, 95 Dems voted against the bill, not just 4.

nt

[brush]

26. Read this.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=199521

[Me.]

35. AOC Primary Meeks?

Just exactly how is that isupposed to happen?

[wiley]

46. Not hard at all

Our reps are very tight within the city. There are always a dozen people that would run if they were supported by them. She had best be in her CD this Sunday. She needs to apologize to Pelosi and the entire Democratic Party right away. Otherwise she's going down hard with Bernie.

[Me.]

50. It Seems To Me

The previous poster was suggesting that she personally would primary him which would mean moving from her 14th district to his 5th where is a very popular rep.

[lapucelle]

31. Gregory Meeks is no "moderate". The media needs to get called out for this phony narrative.

Gregory Meeks is a Hard-Core Liberal.

https://bit.ly/32snnrl



Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Hard-Core Liberal.

https://bit.ly/2XJzFNm


Nancy Pelosi is a Hard-Core Liberal.

https://bit.ly/2NSrLNn

[shanny]

55. The fact that your 3 charts do not

or cannot find any differences between these 3 Representatives makes me doubt its accuracy and usefulness. Just sayin'

[lapucelle]

56. The charts are data driven, and I included a link to the data that they are based on.

If a reader actually examines the data at the links, he or she will see where the differences lie. To say "the charts didn't look at or find [sic] any differences" when it might be more accurate to say "I didn't look at the data that would have shown me the differences" is problematic at best.

It would not be surprising if what a layman perceives based on agenda driven story lines and narratives from self-selected (and often bias-confirming) sources doesn't line up with what a data analyst determines based on a careful, thorough, and objective examination of a politician's actual record.

Voters who want facts rather than the spin should care enough to research a politician's actual record. An objective analysis based on facts is reliably accurate and extremely useful.

Just saying.

[shanny]

57. If you wanted to post the data, you could have

if you wanted to gloss over the data, you could post the charts

just saying.

[lapucelle]

58. I posted links to the data. The only people who "glossed over it" are those who didn't bother

to read it.

Posting screen upon screen of data in someone else's thread (rather than links) is both obnoxious and in violation of copyright standards.

Responsible voters research candidates' records to ensure that the ballots they cast are based on something other than agenda-driven story lines and phony narratives. Abrogation of that basic civic duty helped put Trump in the White House.

[CentralMass]

37. I'll send a few campaign $'s AOC's way.

Last edited Fri Jul 12, 2019, 11:22 PM - Edit history (1)

[BlueIdaho]

38. Just once I'd like to see our Democratic politicians curb their ego

and think of the American people who are suffering. These pissing contests aren’t helpful.

This is aimed at all of them.

[Bradical79]

41. I'm all for primary challengers

If you think you'll represent voters better, go for it. Let voters decide. Threatening people with primaries, or feeling threatened by primaries, seems kind of silly to me.

[Lucky Luciano]

42. The right wing (by European standards) can be annoying, but he is welcome to try. nt

[wiley]

45. What a gift to the country that would be

and to the city of New York. She needs to correct herself.

[5starlib]

47. Well there's a wealth of material to use against AOC in a primary

Amazon, her tweeting habits, etc., etc.

[beachbum bob]

51. primaries do go both ways. less not forget that AOC won hers

because of an extremely low voter turnout

[kwolf68]

69. Yea

Couldn't have been because anyone actually liked her.

[watoos]

52. Democrats have a treasure in AOC,

The M$M is not our friend, it is a big reason why Democrats always fight an uphill battle. The right wing M$M which includes msnbc controls the narrative for the reich wingers.

AOC has that rare ability that very few Democrats have, she can change the narrative. When she speaks at hearings she is the center of attention because she comes prepared, because she does the best job.
The right fears AOC because she has that ability to change the narrative.

What a loss it would be for Democrats to lose her, she is the future of the party, a Democrat who fights. She reminds me of Ted Kennedy. Pelosi needs to give her more responsibilities, or we can keep our powder dry for after the election.

[shanny]

53. Bring it.

[Politicub]

59. This is starting to look like a pile-on. While AOC was out of line,

it doesn't mean that she needs a bunch of reps criticizing her nonstop.

At some point, people have to give it a rest and let AOC course correct. And if she doesn't, then maybe it would make more sense to approach her personally, in the chamber. If she goes on twitter ranting again, the people she criticizes should defend themselves.

But since I have no control over what's happening, all I can do is sit back and watch.

[LanternWaste]

71. Less a 'brawl' and more a disagreement in affecting policy.

Yet 'brawl' allows the media and IdiotRump to exploit it as something other than what it is; and judging by the amount of people successfully played by it, they're certainly effective at it.