Mixed Emotions

In the Illinois primary, we had a closely watched Democratic Primary in Illinois 10^thIlya Sheyman.

Sheyman is younger (25) and more liberal than Brad Schneider, Steny Hoyer supporter Schneider, and the district currently is served by a Teabagger republican who was elected in the 2010 blow-out, but definitely trending blue, even with redistricting.

Sherman won , and I have mixed emotions about this.

I'm uncomfortable with his attempting to appropriate the occupy movement for his campaign, and I think that the real source of his support is that he is a FOB (Friend of Barack).  He worked on his initial Senate campaign and was later one of his staffers.

We had another FOB running in 2010, Alexi Giannoulias, who also ran a failed bank, in the Illinois
Senate race, so I'm dubious of his ability to run a good race.

A bigger issue is a matter of policy, specifically Social Security.

I have concerns that Sheyman would salute anything that Obama would send up the flag pole, including cuts to Social Security and Medicare, while I think that with Schneider is LESS likely to support Obama if he were to propose such a policy out of a sense of political self preservation.

We've already had a number of near misses with these programs, where Obama has tried to trade them to the Republicans in the name of comity, and so I have included that this is what he really wants, because it's "transformative".

It's ironic that a President Obama is more likely to make major cuts to the jewels of the New Deal and Great Society than a President Romney would.