Bernie Sanders swung through Lancaster, Pennsylvania on Saturday, and joined House candidate Jess King, a bluegrass band and some 2,000 people on hand for a rally. When was the last time 2,000 people gathered for a progressive political rally in Amish country? Okay, sure, the Amish are the nation's original socialists, I guess, but they're not exactly democratic socialists.
I've been following the King race closely because if she can win, it can show that a grassroots-powered campaign that relies on small donors and is organized around an unapologetically progressive platform can actually win in a red district. (The area is so red, in fact, that the establishment candidates, Christina Hartman, dropped out when it was redrawn to move to a more Democratic district.)
And even if it falls short, all of this organizing and activism is building progressive infrastructure in a place where it hasn't existed in a long time.
King (who is Mennonite, actually) isn't arguing that money doesn't matter; she's raised more than her Republican opponent.
The race in Allentown nearby is one to watch for the same reason. Pastor Greg Edwards is running on the same strategy as King, but he faces two opponents in the May 15 Democratic primary. One of them tried to get a job with the Trump administration and the other has come under fire for her defense of a police officer caught on video breaking a prostrate suspect's jaw with his boot. My story on that is here and below.
And Kate Aronoff was in Puerto Rico reporting this week. Sometimes politicians are more honest when they're away from Washington, and that appears to be the case here, as she got the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee to explain to her his vision of Puerto Rico as a future hub of the fossil fuel industry.
And Judd Apatow was on our politics podcast! Check it out.
My uncle Archie, who's running for the state House, and my dad, George, went to the rally in Allentown. My dad went in undecided between Susan Wild and Greg Edwards, but judging by this photo, I think he came out an Edwards backer:
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