The Difference between the Opposition and the Enemy

Redistricting fights tend to be the nastiest fights out there.

As such, it reveals some serious truths about people, so the decision by Illinois Democrats screw Marie Newman, the woman who finally took out faux Democrat, and nepotism poster child, Dan Lipinski in a primary.

Once again, I have to make the obvious point:  faux progressives, like New Labour and Clinton Democrats, see Republicans as the oppositions, but progressives as the enemy, because should the latter take power, they and theirs, would lose their power.

It's the Iron Law of Institutions, "The people who control institutions care first and foremost about their power within the institution rather than the power of the institution itself. Thus, they would rather the institution "fail" while they remain in power within the institution than for the institution to "succeed" if that requires them to lose power within the institution."

Illinois' state legislature passed a new congressional map early Friday morning that likely secures Democrats' control of 14 of the state’s 17 congressional districts — but it also condemned liberal freshman Rep. Marie Newman to an uncomfortable fate at the 11th hour.

Newman, who rose to fame in 2020 after ousting a veteran conservative Democrat, Dan Lipinski, fell victim to last-minute changes by Springfield legislators plotting to both boost Democratic Rep. Sean Casten and create a new district where the Latino community could elect their candidate of choice. Now, Casten and Newman are set to clash in a primary next June.

A draft map released last weekend looped both Casten and Newman together in one district — but after a concerted campaign from Casten allies, the legislature reversed course. A new map unveiled just hours before it was approved artfully carved Newman’s hometown of La Grange out of the district with Casten’s home and into the heavily Latino seat of Democratic Rep. Chuy García — where she would face long odds in a potential primary.

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Yet by late Friday morning Newman announced that she would challenge Casten in the new 6th District regardless: "The lion's share of this new district is made up of the communities and residents I represent today and I look forward to continuing to serve them in Congress."

There is no requirement for a Congressman to live in their district, the Constitution says so, so she can do this, but it makes it more difficult.

Casten is a corporate Democrat, a member of the New Democrat Coalition, so I would love to see him lose to her in the primary.

The district is going blue anyway.

The lesson to be learned her is that progressive Democrats cannot support institutions which are dominated by the corporate wing of the party.  Those institutions will pull out all the stops to sabotage progressives.

One need only look at Labour, where the party bureaucracy was actively sabotaging Jeremy Corbyn, and once Keir Starmer took control, he has focused almost exclusively on purging ……… Well ……… Labour from the Labour party, and so has given the Conservatives a free pass.