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Tulsi Gabbard Tag

Russia, Russia, Russia! Failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claimed Russia is "grooming" 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to be a spoiler in the election. Instead of gaining support, Hillary has become a laughingstock. Gabbard's 2020 opponents even came to her defense against the once-beloved Democrat.

In politics as in all things, glory can be fleeting. After the first Democratic debate in late June, the MSM and liberal political commentators treated Sen. Kamala Harris (CA) like the invincible presidential candidate. Her polling numbers rose significantly after she broadsided frontrunner Joe Biden in the opening round. She also saw a nice boost in fundraising. But the last two months have seen the Harris campaign endure an embarrassing freefall. Her polling numbers have tanked, she's lost a significant amount of support from key Democratic voting blocs, and was on the receiving end of a brutal smackdown from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI) at the second debate over her troubling criminal justice record.

After the first Democratic presidential debate in June, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) became a top contender. She successfully broadsided frontrunner Joe Biden over his remarks about busing and working with segregationist Senators in a moment that was clearly staged, and landed a body blow that helped her campaign funding and poll numbers rise. But while we political junkies were anxious to find out if we'd see more fireworks between Harris and Biden in Round Two Wednesday night, something unexpected happened.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) wrote a scathing op-ed, which was published in The Hill Tuesday, in which she lambasted lawmakers who questioned US district judicial nominee Brian Buescher about his affiliation with the Catholic organization, Knights of Columbus. While Rep. Gabbard never mentioned Sen. Hirono by name, the only two Senators to have made an issue of Buescher's participation in the Knights of Columbus were Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

There are a few Democrats who think that since President Donald Trump won in November 2016 then maybe they can, too. After all, how did a man with no political experience beat the all mighty Hillary Clinton?! So a handful of politicians that not a lot of people have heard of believe they have a chance to take on Trump in 2020, including mayors and congressmen "low on the seniority totem pole."

Debbie Wasserman Schultz is not having a good time this cycle. She's facing protests at every turn over her decision to limit the number of officially sanctioned Democratic primary debates, and now her own colleagues are once again lining up to throw her under the bus. Everyone from presidential candidate Martin O'Malley to Nancy Pelosi has accused DWS of terrible leadership and bad decisionmaking. O'Malley even accused her of "rigging" the debate cycle to promote a Hillary Clinton ticket---as did an entire MSNBC panel. Remember? If reports from some Democratic members are to be believed, DWS is getting serious about squashing dissent in the ranks.

On the eve of their first presidential primary debate, the Democratic primary drama rages on. According to Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) vice chair of the DNC, she was disinvited from Tuesday's Democratic primary debate after publicly calling for more primary debates. The number of primary debates has been a contentious issue for Democrats this election cycle. DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Shultz struggled to gain control of an auditorium of delegates chanting "we want debates!" in New Hampshire last month. Morgan Chalfant of the Washington Free Beacon reported Monday that Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders' campaign has invited the supposedly dejected Gabbard to Tuesday's debate.

The inner-party tension over the Democratic primary debate schedule boiled over at a New Hampshire Democratic Party convention Saturday. According to the Washington Post, more than 4,000 delegates and guests were at the event. When Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepped up to speak, convention goers began chanting, "we want debates!"

Earlier this week, protesters rallied outside of the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington, DC to oppose the rules that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has imposed on Democratic primary candidates. What's the controversy? Most of the opposition boils down to the limited number of debates candidates will have the opportunity to participate in. In addition to scheduling just 6 officially-sanctioned debates, the DNC (via DWS) has limited the potential for rogue forums by creating a new rule: if a Democrat chooses to participate in a non-sanctioned debate, they’ll be banned from future sanctioned ones. The candidates aren't happy; even some of DWS's DNC colleagues aren't happy (DNC Vice Chairs Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) and R.T. Rybak released a joint statement asking DWS to revoke the sanctioned debates only-rule); and now, Democratic heavy-hitter Nancy Pelosi has weighed in against DWS's mandate. From the LA Times:

Today, advocacy group #AllowDebate will occupy the steps of the Democratic National Committee headquarters and perpetuate a little Democrat-on-Democrat violence over what many believe are unfair and unreasonable restrictions on the Democratic primary debate schedule. From the Weekly Standard:
"Hundreds of protesters will rally at DNC headquarters on Wednesday afternoon to demand that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz allow Democratic presidential candidates to debate more than 6 times. There were 26 Democratic primary debates in the 2008 campaign, including 11 before September 14th, 2007," says an email from the organizing group #AllowDebate. Says the group's founder, “DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is unilaterally defying the will of Democratic voters, Presidential candidates, and the DNC’s own Vice-Chairs. ... Her dictatorial suppression of free and open debate is an attack on the democratic process.”
Wasserman Schultz has repeatedly come under fire from both candidates and activists over this cycle's debate rules. In addition to scheduling just 6 officially-sanctioned debates, the DNC (via DWS) has limited the potential for rogue forums by creating a new rule: if a Democrat chooses to participate in a non-sanctioned debate, they’ll be banned from future sanctioned ones.

Democrats are unhappy with the way their party officials are handling this election cycle---and the party doesn't mind one bit. Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has come under fire repeatedly for the way she's managing her flock of potential presidential candidates. In addition to sanctioning just six official debates, DWS has limited the potential for rogue forums by creating a new rule: if a Democrat chooses to participate in a non-sanctioned debate, they'll be banned from future sanctioned ones. During a media breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, she doubled down on the new rules:
“We’re not changing the process. We’re having six debates,” said Wasserman Schultz, who has been under fire from several Democratic presidential candidates over the debates. “The candidates will be uninvited from subsequent debates if they accept an invitation to anything outside of the six sanctioned debates.”

A total of 134 Members of the House of Representatives have signed a letter, organized by the offices of Reps. Peter Roksam (R) and Ted Deutch (D) condeming the academic boycott of Israel passed by the American Studies Assoction. The effort was truly bipartisan, with 65 Republicans and 69 Democrarts signing.  The full list of signatories is at the bottom of this post. As previously reported, the congressional organizers were hoping for 50 signatures, so the response was better than expected. Gathering signatures on short notice was difficult, one of the staffers explained to me, because of the press of House business before members left today on break. In a Press Release by the Office of Rep. Peter Roksam, the background of the letter was explained:
Today, a bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers condemned the American Studies Association’s (ASA) academic boycott of Israel. 134 Members of Congress, led by Reps. Peter Roskam (R-IL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Doug Collins (R-GA), and Brad Schneider (D-IL), sent a letter to ASA President Curtis Marez opposing ASA’s boycott as bigoted and an affront to academic freedom. “We come together—Democrats and Republicans alike—to strongly condemn the ASA boycott, which undermines academic freedom and exhibits flagrant prejudice against the Jewish State of Israel,” said the House lawmakers. “This boycott doesn’t advance peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but only reinforces dangerous stereotypes that limit mutual understanding and cooperation—two things that should be at the very heart of our academic endeavors. We therefore cannot tolerate these ignorant smear campaigns to isolate Israel and deteriorate the historic U.S.-Israel relationship.”
The letter reads, in full: