by Guy Page
The day after Squad member and Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-Westchester County) lost a primary to a pro-Israel centrist, despite vigorous campaigning by NYC native Sen. Bernie Sanders, VDC Social Media Director Paul Bean and I talked about why Bernie Sanders never will be, and never could have been, elected president.
This Tuesday night, June 25 news story in Politico tells what happened to Bowman:
“Rep. Jamaal Bowman was trounced in a suburban New York race that became a referendum on progressives’ attitudes toward Israel and the most expensive House primary in U.S. history. Moderate Democrat George Latimer bested Bowman on Tuesday by 17 points with 88 percent of the vote in, making Bowman the first member of the Squad to lose an election since the far-left group formed in 2018.”
Bernie campaigned visibly and hard for Bowman (see photo, released by Sanders staffers). The presence of a New York City native and most influential Jewish member of the Senate who isn’t named Chuck Schumer failed to bail out Bowman.
So why wasn’t Bernie enough?
Because – as Paul and I discuss in this rather casual Creemee Cast videoed Wednesday – Israel-savvy New York Jews have known for decades that Bernie is no true friend of Israel. That when it came time to pick sides, Bernie would stand in socialist solidarity with the Palestinians he considers the greater victims. So in an election where the existential threat to the survival of the State of Israel is a central issue, Bernie’s got no cred. In fact, he’s a political deb. Not a Debs (as in his socialist hero Eugene), just a deb (as in a debit).
I’m not Jewish, I don’t spend much time in New York, but I did have an enlightening conversation with a woman with a Star of David tat on her shoulder during our recent visit to Wells Beach in Maine. And – according to her, anyway – even the liberal, Sanders-admirers among the New York Jewish community know he’s weak on Israel. And thus, could never have been, should never be president. (We explain her reasoning in the video.)
Paul and I kick this issue around on the video – and we didn’t even get to how Bernie wants to give global organizations the power to tax, enforce public health, and exercise criminal justice on Americans and America. We’ll explore that in a future show.
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