It’s Not You, It’s Them: How the Team Was Broken – Essence

After suffering a devastating primary defeat, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) joins Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in the progressive “squad” now down two members.

It is value noting that Bush’s election was the second costliest basic on this 12 months’s political cycle, ending behind only Bowman in a race against George Latimer earlier this 12 months.

Funded by the Republican Party Super PACs and megadonors led the charge, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to oust two incumbents. Attorney Wesley Bell’s victory over Bush was one other victory for “the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) after it played a leading role in removing New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, another progressive Democrat who had criticized the death toll of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, in the June primary.” Bush had alienated pro-Israel groups after publicly condemning Hamas and calling Israel’s attacks on Gaza and civilian deaths a war crime and “collective punishment against the Palestinians.”

Political donations to opponents of Bush and Bowman were channeled through AIPAC’s campaign arm, the United Democracy Project (UDP). The guard“[m]Much of the UDP’s money comes from billionaires who fund radical pro-Israel causes and Republicans in other races, including some who donated to Donald Trump’s campaign.” More than half of the money spent on Bush’s campaign got here from the UDP.

Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, released a press release via X: “Cori Bush is what the future of the Democratic Party looks like. No matter how much any single Super PAC can spend to try to buy an election, nothing can take away the transformational impact Cori Bush had directly on the people of St. Louis.”

“No other member of Congress has slept on the steps of the United States Capitol to provide housing for their constituents, no other member of Congress has testified before Congress in their first term about their own abortion history to demand federal protections for abortion rights, no other member of Congress has been on the front lines of our health care system and our racial justice system and used that experience to introduce transformative legislation to advance a health-centered approach to public safety,” he continued. Rojas.

Bush gave a rousing speech speech after losing the primary, saying it “takes some strings off… Because now there are strings that I have attached to me. And as much as I love my job, all they did was radicalize me, and now they should be afraid… They’re about to see the other Cori, the other side,” Bush said. “Nothing that happens in my life happens in vain. So it happened because it was supposed to happen. And let me tell you, it’s because of the job that I have to do.” Bush added, “And let me tell you this: AIPAC, I’m coming to tear down your kingdom!”

Breaking up the “squad” appears to be an extended game for the GOP. Last November CNN reported that Hill Harper revealed that “a donor had offered him $20 million in campaign support if he agreed to end his Senate campaign and instead mount a primary challenge against Rep. Rashida Tlaib.”

Although Bell denies it pro-israeli groups recruited him to mount an anti-Bush campaign, some are still suspicious, on condition that “he abandoned his challenge for the U.S. Senate and entered the race for Congress shortly after St. Louis Jewish organizations began seeking a candidate to challenge Bush, accusing her of ‘deliberately stoking anti-Semitism.'”

But as for the future, in accordance with Hill“Other prominent members, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), are expected to win re-election handily. And another progressive, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), won her primary earlier this year despite being outbid.”