If I ever had anything mean to say about The Washington Post, I take it all back. You'll see why when you read this Post story on how The Intercept is shaking up Democratic politics heading into the 2018 midterms with our coverage of the tug-of-war between grassroots Democratic activists and leaders in Washington over what the party stands for and how it should fund itself.
Here's my favorite bit from the Post:
In 2006, the last time that Democrats were in a strong position to win back the House, they faced a similar problem with party activists.
The DCCC, then led by Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), found that it could mollify critics with a little bit of access. In "The Thumpin'," his history of Emanuel's tenure at the DCCC, reporter Naftali Bendavid wrote that Emanuel held monthly, exclusive calls for liberal bloggers, and that even the harshest online critics "were for the most part painstakingly polite" after being let behind the velvet rope.
The Intercept is not so easily swayed. It's not an access publication — it gathers information that the party doesn't like, and then swoops in for the confrontation. (Grim once scuffled with Fox News's Jesse Watters in the middle of a White House correspondents' dinner party.) Just as importantly, it has a view of history that it repeats in nearly every article.
I was particularly glad that the Post noticed that we often toss a history lesson into our stories, which isn't done enough in journalism and I think is important to framing what's happening today. (Scroll down for a message from The Intercept's editor in chief about how you can support this kind of journalism.)
Part of that Democratic tug-of-war is going on in the Dallas district represented by Pete Sessions. I interviewed Lillian Salerno today, an EMILY's List-backed candidate who's locked in a primary contest with former NFL player and civil rights attorney Colin Allred. (Video of that is here.)
And I have a disproportionate number of readers on this email list from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania (because I was born in Allentown and half-grew-up there; it's complicated). I'm working on a story about the unfolding primary there, which pits a Democrat who is a Trump supporter (John Morganelli) against an EMILY's List-backed candidate who was Allentown solicitor (Susan Wild) against a Bernie Sanders-backed pastor with a huge ground game and small donor base (Greg Edwards). EMILY's List is dumping a million bucks into the race in the final few weeks, and Bernie Sanders is headed to Allentown for a rally this weekend. (He'll also be in Lancaster Saturday rallying with Jess King.)
The DCCC tried to get both Edwards and Wild out of the race to clear the field for the Trump supporter. (No, seriously, Morganelli, a local prosecutor who made his bones targeting immigrants, supported Trump during the campaign and tried to get a job with him during the transition.) That story will be out this week, but if you're in the Lehigh Valley and have thoughts on it, please send.
Meanwhile, below is a letter from our editor in chief, Betsy Reed, which says a lot of nice things about our political reporting, so I wanted to include it. Her letter to Intercept readers is here:
In just a minute, I'm going to ask you to support The Intercept's independent journalism by becoming a member with a small contribution. I first want to show why our reporting matters.
The stories most worth reporting are the ones that uncover the truth about how power works.
One of the biggest issues in Washington right now is how the Democratic Party is putting its finger on the scales of primary elections.
The Washington Post said this week that The Intercept's "stories have landed like live grenades in races that might otherwise have escaped national attention."
In the last two months, The Intercept has:
Published an audio recording that showed the No. 2 Democrat in the House of Representatives pushing a progressive to drop out of a Colorado primary.
Exposed the leading Democratic candidate for governor of Michigan as a former Republican who, despite branding himself as the state's Bernie-style candidate, was willing to flip on core issues to win;
Showed a private Democratic party poll that discouraged candidates from embracing single-payer health care, despite other polling showing support for the issue.
Revealed that a Democrat with national party backing in California lied about his previous voting history, and was in fact a registered Republican.
Obtained internal emails exposing why the centrist group No Labels dropped a million dollars into a Democratic primary to beat back a progressive challenger.
We're telling these stories because we think that it's important to show how power actually works in Washington.
Our reporting shows that Democratic Party's interventions result in the political establishment hand-picking candidates who are already wealthy or well-connected, or who are willing to change their beliefs to get elected. As a result, new candidates who pose threats to the establishment face uphill battles. That all has a profound impact on how our government actually works.
We're able to do this kind of reporting because The Intercept is a non-profit publication. We don't answer to advertisers. Instead, we depend on small contributions from our readers to help us tell the stories that deserve to be told. That's why I'm asking you today to become a member of The Intercept:
Contribute $15 to The Intercept today and support our independent journalism.
Thank you for reading, and for your support of our independent journalism.
Best,
Betsy Reed
Editor-in-Chief
This email grows by word of mouth. If you enjoy getting it, please forward this note to friends and tell them to sign up to start getting their own copy here. I'm the Washington bureau chief at The Intercept, and I send this several times a week. If you want to contribute directly to help keep the thing running, you can do so here, though be warned a donation comes with no tote bags or extra premium content or anything. Or you can support it by buying a copy of Schoolhouse Wreck: The Betsy DeVos Story, Out of the Ooze: The Story of Dr. Tom Price or Wall Street's White House, the first three books put out by Strong Arm Press, a small progressive publishing house I cofounded. See upcoming titles here.
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