Why Does This Guy Have a Job?

In a Congressional district that is important for Democrats if they want to retake the house, Rep. Henry Cuellar, nominally a, "Democrat", is raising money for the Republican:

Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, had breakfast on Tuesday with an embattled Republican colleague, Rep. John Carter.

But this wasn't just a friendly bipartisan chat over huevos or chorizo at San Antonio's Mi Tierra Cafe.

This was a campaign fundraiser for Carter, who is badly in need of cash as he fights for political survival against former Air Force combat pilot MJ Hegar. Ticket prices ranged to $2,700 and Cuellar didn't just attend. He also encouraged others to donate.

Congressmen cross party lines to write and pass bills, and Cuellar and Carter have worked together for years. But it's highly unusual for a lawmaker in one party to help a colleague from the other to keep his job. It's especially remarkable given that Democrats are angling for a "blue wave" potent enough to dislodge lawmakers who, like Carter, have held safe seats for years.

………

"Sadly, this is far from out of character for Cuellar," wrote the liberal Daily Kos, which noted that Cuellar votes with President Donald Trump more than any Democrat in Congress.

………

As a member of the Texas House, he supported then-Gov. George W. Bush for president in 2000. Bush's successor, Rick Perry -- now the energy secretary -- named him secretary of state, Texas' chief election officer and the governor's emissary on Mexico and border affairs.

………

As The Dallas Morning News has documented, Cuellar has a long history not just of bipartisan cooperation but of going out of his way to provide political aid to members of the other party. 

Cuellar is in a district that has a PVI of D+9, and this ratfF%$# was renominated without any opposition in the primary.

There is a difference between a conservative Democrat and a disloyal Democrat, and Cuellar is the latter.

Nothing will come of this in the party, because he is good at raising money, his PR flack is quoted saying that, "The congressman is a member in good standing [of the DCCC] and has not only paid his entire dues for this Congress but he is also advanced his dues for the next Congress."

He raises money that pays the unelected consultants who keep losing elections, so he is safe from the party leadership.

F%$# that.