Open Thread: Hey, Weiss & Min, Unite vs. AIPAC!

Our generally infuriating but occasionally useful commenter Eric Neshanian called our attention to this story about AIPAC Republicans attacking Congressional candidate Dave Min over his DUI. Min and his primary opponent Joanna Weiss can, and should, use this as an opportunity to put the share of the national spotlight they will now receive towards a good purpose: to bury the hatchet between themselves … and right into the face of those AIPAC Republicans. Unexpectedly fighting back against these ghoulish barbarians would pay off for whichever one of them ends up facing the AIPAC Republican nominee Scott Baugh in November and it would also just be a righteous and raucous blow against political extortion and for justice. (They should also call upon Scott Baugh to denounce this intervention as well — because he won’t, because he’s their pawn, and that will bear considerable repeating this fall!) Young voters, Muslim voters, non-Jewish liberal and moderate voters — and even the majority of American Jews who are horrified by the crimes of the attacks on Gaza and the expulsions in the West Bank but unsure what to do about it — would enjoy this pushback. So, c’mon, give the public what they want: FIGHT BACK!

1. Background.

Here’s some of the conversation we’ve had about this, buried deep in the comments section of Vern’s endorsement post. First from the past two days:

• Greg Diamond, Posted February 6, 2024 at 12:27 PM ======= I’ve never heard that [a rumor that AIPAC was supposedly giving Weiss money, which turned out to be false] — but AIPAC could be playing both sides (or even have decided that Weiss is likely enough to win to lead them to want to exert ownership over her.
  
  In this case, the cleaned-up version of Jesse Unruh’s maxim would apply: you have to be able to take contributors’ money and then vote against them, if that’s what’s right.
  • Vern Nelson, Posted February 6, 2024 at 12:41 PM =======
  • AIPAC is not listed on Weiss’s “endorsements” page. Maybe it wouldn’t be. One of her most prominent endorsers, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, called for a ceasefire in January. Sara Jacobs same thing. https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-more-us-jewish-democrats-join-growing-calls-for-a-gaza-ceasefire/
• Vern Nelson, Posted February 6, 2024 at 5:05 PM ======= Looks like AIPAC is actually spending money ATTACKING DAVE MIN. “Why?” I want to know? Has Dave come out for a ceasefire? That would actually impress me and maybe even make me change my mind, except I still don’t see him beating Baugh.
  
  “United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-affiliated Super PAC, is booking TV ads in CA-47 ($260k on cable so far per @AdImpact_Pol). Yesterday they reported direct mail spend targeting Democrat Dave Min, who faces Joanna Weiss (D) and Scott Baugh (R) in the open seat primary.”
  
  The Democrat insider who sent me that (and who agrees with Greg & Bernie Sanders [both leftist Jews] on Gaza) doesn’t know anything about Min or Weiss speaking on this issue, and theorizes that AIPAC is trying to help Baugh, thinking that JOANNA will be easier for him to beat – go figure! This insider also thinks that those of us who care about Palestine should be supporting Katie instead of Barbara – but as I remember Katie took FOREVER to call for a ceasefire (as though she was determining what would help her most politically) while Barbara was always there.
  
  • Greg Diamond, Posted February 7, 2024 at 12:24 AM. That’s exactly the analysis that I was going to provide. AIPAC is entirely in Baugh’s corner and they want to rough up Min — out of ignorance, in my opinion — so they can face Weiss, whom they will probably tar as a self-hating Jew (if she is indeed Jewish.) It may be just to protect themselves against charges of Anti-Asian racism in the general election.
  • Your insider’s analysis is also why I’m getting more and more committed to voting for Barbara for the short term and Katie for the full term. Losing in the short term election would be humbling if not humiliating for her — and frankly she could use the perspective. …

And then more from today.

• Vern Nelson, Posted February 8, 2024 at 4:11 PM ========
  
  Thanks Eric. That first piece is especially enlightening. AIPAC’s PAC – and from now on I’ll just say AIPAC – is publicly only attacking Dave on his DUI, but their motivation (whether they want Baugh or Weiss) is probably that he has lightly criticized Israel, blaming Bibi for his failures allowing Oct 7 to happen and criticizing West Bank settlements. Good for Dave on those two points. Bummed out by the AIPAC attack, he complains, “I didn’t say anything that was outside of the Democratic mainstream,” he didn’t call for a ceasefire, and he had assured them that he didn’t “expect to be involved in foreign policy.”Sounds like Min is a tiny bit better than Weiss or Baugh on the Middle East. None of them are Barbara Lee though.
  
• Greg Diamond, Posted February 8, 2024 at 6:08 PM ======== I think that the previous J Street endorsement, mentioned in the article, is a big part of it. This sounds insane, but it’s similar to DPOC attacking someone because we [OJB] endorsed them once and they want candidates to be terrified of our support. It’s the old “secondary boycott” strategy often used by unions.
  
  The larger reason for attacking Min like this is simple: he’s an incumbent.
  
  AIPAC isn’t going to scare the shit out of other incumbents by coming out of nowhere to sucker-punch Weiss. That would just seem weird and random. But coming out of nowhere to sucker-punch Min — that’s an attention-getter!
  
  And, weirdly enough, the multiculti DPOC endorsement is also part of what makes Min a better target for them, because it sends a message to (ahem) “liberal” Democrats that they’d best not fuck around with AIPAC, in a similar vein to the Mexican drug cartels’ messages sent to law enforcement.
  
  This does push me in the direction of being willing to support Min in the runoff if he makes it. What I’d like to see is for Weiss AND Min to come together and reject pro-Baugh attacks by AIPAC on Min’s DUI or on Weiss’s use of her husband’s money, because either of them are better than the shitheads from AIPAC. They could even say “there is no daylight between us when it comes to condemning the excesses of Nettanyahu in Gaza.” That would warm my heart considerably! It might also greatly improve their standing with young voters in November.

So there we have it: Netanyahu Republicans horning into this close and critical race, in which Israel-related policy has not been an issue, to put the fear into others. Is there an effective way to fight back? I think there is! And I’m using my Jewish privilege to call my plan to use their force of their attack against them … “Jew Jitsu”!

2. Now This Would Be a Great Press Conference!

Here’s the scene: Min and Weiss show up at their previously scheduled joint press conference. I’ll put words in their mouth, only for illustrative purposes: they have their own thoughts and advisors for wordsmithery.

WEISS: Thank you for coming to our joint press conference. This is in response to some Scott Baugh supporting Republicans from AIPAC putting out an attack on Dave Min, my opponent in the upcoming primary, in which voting has begun. They’ve attacked him on an issue where I’ve argued he is vulnerable — but that’s not the way I want to win. Dave is magnitudes better than Scott Baugh no matter what, and I want voters to hear only my positive message and his. I do not want to profit from an attack that is really a message to politicians that Israel should be beyond any rational criticism. And I know that what they do to him now, they can try to do to me later. From this day forward, any question about my colleagues past judgment is off the table. I ask people to ignore and rejects — or even better, denounce, these ads.

MIN: Thank you, Joanna; I’m happy that we can come together like this. I know that my supporters have attacked Joana based on her ties to this district and to her funding sources. I imagine that they might use those attacks against her in the future, if she goes onto the general election. I want no part of that — Joanna is magnitudes better than Scott Baugh no matter what — and that is not how I want to win. From this day forward, those personal attacks will be absent from my campaign. I will not let myself be used as a way to make political candidates afraid to criticize the excesses of current Israeli policy towards the Palestinians. This deeply tragic issue should be addressed with reason, not with MAGA-like dirty tricks and brute force.

WEISS: During Israel’s war on Lebanon in 1982, a peace organization came to be with the name “Yesh G’vul” — which is translated as “There is a Limit,” or “There is a Line” or generally as “Enough is Enough.” That group continues to exist, although I’m not going to discuss its specific history and policies. But I think that its very name speaks to the present moment. Dave and I both believe that Israel had a right to fight back against the Hamas atrocities of October 7, but THERE IS A LIMIT and when we see civilians chased out of their homes and businesses, from north to south and back, while their infrastructure is reduced to rubble to facilitate an Israeli takeover of Gaza, THAT IS OVER THE LINE! We appreciate and celebrate the peace proposals being pursued by President Biden and Secretary Blinken, which call for quick recognition of the borders of a safe, secure, and self-sufficient Palestinian state that will exist side-by-side with Israel. The details are to be worked out, but the overall goal needs to be proclaimed loudly.

MIN: We’re speaking today because we recognize that these attacks were designed to make us afraid to speak about this, one of the gravest issues of our time. Well, we don’t give in to those sorts of attacks — that is not the American Way. We will not be prudentially silent to save our political skins; we will speak out and make it easier for other politicians to do the same. There was a line, in fair political discourse, and this attack by people associated with AIPAC has crossed that line. You wanted to stifle any criticism of Israel? Well, this will have had a boomerang effect, because you put in in a position where we either stand on our feet or crawl on our knees — and we are standing up! A month from now, one of us will be in the runoff against Scott Baugh and the other one will be at that person’s side, in unqualified support, to challenge Scott Baugh to explain whether he will have become “Scott Bought.” We pray for a safe and secure Israel, led by wiser leaders than now control it, and we pray for a lasting peace between Jews and Arabs in their common home in the Holy Land.

WEISS: Thank you for coming today; please read the Orange Juice Blog for more coverage!

OK, maybe that last line is itself stepping over the line. But their taking this high profile shot at AIPAC is not really that much of a political risk: most of the people who are 100% for Israel getting everything it wants are already going to vote for Baugh and for Trump, and Joe Biden’s strategy will be relatively popular in California. I’d love to see them go further than what I’ve written — “the full Bernie,” if you will, — but even this welcome amount of resistance would be headlining and heartwarming national news.

So what do you say, Joanna and Dave? Bury the hatchet and put whichever of you that wins in a better position for November, rather than living in fear? It’s both the smart and the right thing to do!

This is your new Open Thread. Talk about that, or whatever else you’d like, within reasonable bounds of decorum and discretion.