The editorial board for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has officially endorsed St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell in the Democratic Party primary against Congresswoman Cori Bush, who is one of the most high-profile members of the “Squad” in the House. That, my friends, is a big, big ouch. It means the board doesn’t feel satisfied with Bush’s performance as a representative and are ready to try something a little different.
Of course, if they really wanted to go in a different direction they could go with a Republican candidate, but I digress.
According to The Hill, the editorial board ripped into Bush, making the case that she, along with other extreme leftists in the group she’s part of, were better at getting their names in headlines than they were in actually enacting public policies.
While I’m certainly glad they’ve failed to put into place progressive, big government policies that I know would be horrifically bad for the country, what they said is true. Let’s be real for a moment, shall we? Members of the “Squad” aren’t nearly as into their activism and causes as they are into self-promotion and furthering their political careers. Staying in Congress is easier and far more lucrative than tending bar, right?
“Missouri’s First Congressional District, encompassing St. Louis city and northern St. Louis County, is our region’s most direct connection to the federal government’s seat of power,” the editorial board went on to say in an article published Thursday.
“For the past four years, the district has been in the hands of U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat who has generally appeared less interested in working that system for the good of her constituents than attacking it on behalf of a small, hard-left klatch of lawmakers — ‘the Squad’ — who are good at getting headlines but bad at actually accomplishing anything,” the board added.
A poll released in late June found Bell ahead of her by 1 point. Her fellow Squad member Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) lost his primary last monthto a moderate after pro-Israel groups entered the race. Bowman and Bush have been outspoken critics of Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas, which has killed tens of thousands. The district is heavily Democratic, and whoever wins the primary will be the heavy favorite in November.
“Democratic primary voters in the overwhelmingly Democratic district weren’t offered a viable alternative to Bush two years ago,” the Post-Dispatch editorial board explained in their Thursday report. “This year, they have a terrific one. We enthusiastically endorse Wesley Bell for the Democratic nomination to this seat in the Aug. 6 primaries.”
They then added, “Bush’s almost immediate induction into the small clique of progressive House rabble-rousers positioned her as a darling of fringe-left activists — and thus irrelevant to what actually happens in Washington.”
“Bush voted against the Biden administration’s landmark infrastructure package — one of only six House Democrats to do so — to protest the fact that a separate social-spending package was stalled,” the board said later in the piece. “That myopic stance helps explain why labor interests that previously backed Bush have moved to Bell.”
Another issue the board took with Bush was her position on the war that is still raging between Israel and Hamas. She has maintained a staunch support for Palestine and has pushed for a cease-fire between the two nations.
“Even more outrageous has been Bush’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war,” the board said. “Israel’s conduct of the war has been far from perfect, but it remains a democracy fighting for survival against an evil terrorist organization. Bush’s tendency to equate both sides — and even to side with the terrorists, as when she cast one of just two House votes against a resolution to bar Hamas members from the U.S. — should in itself be disqualifying for re-election.”
One of the left’s strongest selling points in the past was its unity. It seems they are now beginning to fracture, which is actually a good thing for Republicans and conservatives who are looking to protect our nation from the kind of radical transformation that progressives want to bring to our country. The more fractured and split they are, the less effective they become and the more regular voters are likely to jump ship to the GOP.
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