I have had a hell of a disastrous year when it comes to blogging availability. I was not able to contribute effectively to Vern’s “official” endorsements. But I’ve read and enjoyed Vern’s take! There are just a few places where I disagree, and there are others where I want to underline Vern’s thinking in more controversial areas. (Vote for a registered Republican for Lieutenant Governor??? Sadly, it’s the right call!) So I’m going to paraphrase some of Vern’s picks — https://www.orangejuiceblog.com/wp-admin/post.php — render them in violet (“V is for Vern”) and then make my proposed amendments and extrapolations in green, (“G is for Greg — and also for Garrulous.”)
But first, let’s consider what considerations should guide your choices. Vern says that “this is the most important election of our lifetime,” and it may be seen as such in retrospect, if one limits oneself to midterm elections but the “Contract With America” election in 1994, in which Newt Gingrich led to an awesome net turnover of 54 House seats and 8 Senate seats, ending 52 years of Democratic control of the South. (Of course, this was in a coalition between “normal” Dems and “Dixiecrats” the , would more likely be seen as such. Among other things, Perhaps even more significantly, it stopped dead any reformist aspects of Bill Clinton’s agenda (on which he ran and won a plurality of the vote in 1992) and left him and most of the party timorous, all the way up through the (actually stolen!) 2000 election — and, or course, beyond. If Clinton had held his ground in ’92, he might (ta;most the best one could hope for with Clinton) likely have been less cautious about embracing significant reform — rather than folding to the right-wing under the tender mercies of the modern Democratic party’s greatest monster, (referring, of course, to Lord Voldemort) James Carville in order to defeat Bob Dole and Jack Kemp
If you look at that list of Republican names, though, you may note that none of them were full blown fascists. There were good reasons to dislike many of them, but they were all near a bipartisan consensus that fascism was bad. Our county, now led by a fascist-friendly leader, is in largely novel territory. We’ve had sine awful leaders, including floridly racist ones, bur never one as at ease with lying and enjoying a supine Supreme Court and Congressional leadership. Even Joe McCarthy was an avid liar, but also a pretty lame one. Roy Cohn, who along with Trump’s father is considered to be Trump’s mentor, was the only one who had Trump’s skill — and I’m not sure that even he could have been called a fascist.
I’ll return to this soon — but for now get a load of Vern’s Senate picks.
Vern notes, with good reason, that we have a delightful buffet of tasty Democratic candidates and suggests that you may want to donate to them, or even fly out to canvass and campaign for them. Do listen to him, but not too closely!
The first two names on Vern’s list — Dr, Abdul El-Sayed and Reverend James Talarico are especially deserving and consequential. (Don’t fly out there, though; it’s too expensive.) But I have some different thoughts about funding.
Talarico is the guy that can break the hammerlock that Republicans have had over the second-largest state. And donating money to him is like rubbing chili peppers into Elon Musk’s eyes — all of his main businesses are based there! And that is why I urge you NOT to donate to Talarico — he’s probably got too much money to spend. Instead, I urge donations to Gina Hinajosa for Governor! She’s the one who can be the biggest pain in Musk’s ass — and will “thank him” properly for having spent so much money on Texas politics! Donations to Talarico are largely redundant at this point; donations to Hinajosa reach the exact same voters with a similar, but less cumulative, message! The 89th ad you see from Talarico probably help Talarico LESS hat I will note the 9th you get from Talarico himself! For one thing, repetitive ads get increasingly less effective,; for another, Hinajosa will bring Latinos and women to the polls, while Talarico’s got the progressive white male market covered all by himself. Democratic turnout likely helps all Texas Democrats!
A victory for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed would indeed help to undo some of the damage done by the virulent and mercilessly anti-Palestinian leadership that helped kill Kamala Harris’s campaign. And he has great values, great resilience, and great debating skills — both on offense and defense. But he is very high-profile — and I doubt that he can even spend the money he might receive at this point. (Again: don’t fly to Texas! Here too, I will suggest a better way.)
I will note that, like any other politician (especially those with professional fundraisers working on commission, as I suppose he has), Dr. Al-Sayed’s texts suggest that the race is virtually tied (and he may be a little behind), and he needs all of the money you can spare and at least some of what you can’t. And, honestly, it’s hard to blame him! Take a look at what I found in my text messages yesterday!
5 REASONS WHY ABDUL EL-SAYED CAN’T BE TRUSTED:
El-Sayed said, “Hurt people hurt people,” after a terrorist attacked a Michigan synagogue filled with Jewish Children
El-Sayed refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
El-Sayed declined to say whether Iran poses a greater threat to America than Israel.
El-Sayed opposes selling defensive weapons like Iron Dome interceptors to Israel.
El-Sayed campaigns with notorious antisemites and refuses to condemn their dangerous rhetoric.
CBS News September 11, 2026″
El-Sayed got on national television the morning after the primary and used a term, ‘bloodthirsty, [that] to me sounded like a blood libel against the Jewish people, against the state of Israel.”
Rabbi Josh Whinston
I felt that I had space to refute one of these claims, the one that I think should guide our thinking: the question of whether Iran or Israel is the greater threat to America. Here was my answer, in Black.
How much of a threat do you think Iran poses to the U.S.? Israel (mostly Netanyahu the lying inciter) blew up our economy by assuring Trump that Iran would be easy pickings, having no understanding of their actual military capabilities. It’s very hard to damage the U.S more than that! So was Netanyahu stupid, or was he deliberately trying to damage the U.S. to make us more scared and pliable? This is EXACTLY why we need someone with critical thinking skills in the Senate, and why Netanyahu’s head should be sent to the U.S. on a platter! But I’d rather he be tried for crimes against humanity like Slobodon Milosivic and Ratko Vladich. Now lose my number, schmuck!
[Note also that CBS is the TV Network that Trump’s agents extorted tp name Zionist MAGAT Bari Weiss to be their news director — just for moments like this!]
(Pro-Israel Jewish Democrats should recognize that they are in effect making common cause with MAGA. How prominent Jewish Democratic leaders get away with this playing footsie with MAGA is beyond me!)
And therein lies the answer to what prospective donors should so: go after the real enemies here: not just MAGA Republicans, but their enablers. In this case, the biggest opponents of a sound, moral, and effective foreign policy is AIPAC! They hate progressive Judaism because it can’t be counted on to do the self-serving — or more properly Netanyahu serving — thing, (For those who don’t know, Netanyahu, who is facing his own election challenge quite soon, in his own struggle against being arrested, and possibly from losing immunity against being shipped to the International Court of Justice.) So think that the best way to protect Dr. Al-Said is to give money to a group that will take on his opponents’ weakest point: that he is a slave to and courtesan of AIPAC.
But who might do something like this? Well, I don’t know if they are doing it — but I know who might!
Meet AIPAC’s biggest political enemy: Jewish Voice for Peace.
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
You can tell a lot about them by their endorsements. Yes, they support Dr. Sayed — but also many others, where a small donation might still do a whole lot.
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/resource/jvp-action-endorsements-2026/
I don’t even know whether they do this sort of negative ads, even against something like AIPAC. But rather than tossing a few grains of sand on the pan balance in a huge race, I’d consider supporting a candidate especially if they’re in Michigan, who will say more than a few grains worth of sand to the service of complimenting the candidate you like.
And speaking of Michigan, here’s a couple of JVP endorsements of politicians from there!
Donavan McKinney, MI-13 — PRIMARY WINNER
State Representative Donavan McKinney is a longtime fighter for the people of Michigan. He is a lifelong Detroit resident, and a democratic socialist representing one of the poorest districts in the state.
As a State Representative, Donavan has poured energy into ensuring families have access to clean air and water, strong public education, and expanded rights for workers and unions — and he will fight for the human rights and freedom of people across the globe.
Donavan is a strong and unwavering voice for justice and freedom and will be a powerful pro-Palestine voice in Congress.
Or have you heard of this spectacular State Senate Candidate?
Abbas Alawieh, MI State Senate, District 2 — PRIMARY WINNER
Abbas has been a committed, passionate organizer and advocate for years. He served as a Congressional staffer for Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush, and was one of the co-founders of the Uncommitted Movement. He is unbought and unafraid of taking on billionaire special interests and fighting for working families.
Growing up in a working class immigrant family from Lebanon, Abbas knows first-hand how the struggles of families in Michigan are intimately connected to U.S. war and genocide abroad. He has survived U.S.-made bombs dropped by Israel, and he has organized and protested to stop the flow of those bombs.
Abbas will fight for our government to fund and prioritize communities in Michigan – not genocide and apartheid.
At this stage in the race, it’s no longer about persuasion; it’s about getting out the vote! Every vote that McKinney or Abass bring out is an almost sure vote for Dr. Al-Sayed — and they are closer to the ground!
