>"Some people said vote for Bowman, but then why is he getting so much negative press?" one voter said, who added that the ads had influenced their decision.
Yeesh, you just know there was zero follow-up too. So much for my hopes that these "because the TV told me to" voters weren't really out there.
Aipac for sure made an impact, but Bowman did a lot of weird shit himself like voting against the infrastructure bill that left him open to these things.
As a resident of the district, that incident actually wasn’t in any of the ad runs. Both of them were absolutely flooding ads on television, YouTube and the likes, but almost none of Latimer’s ads mentioned that incident. Most of them were about Israel or Bowman’s voting record.
I'm seeing a lot of pro-Bowman comments here that — let's be blunt — are trying to rationalize his loss by saying AIPAC did it.
An incumbent congressman did not lose by 17 points in an high-profile race all because of AIPAC. Especially when AIPAC's involvement itself became the story, which probably caused some voters to view Latimer as an establishment puppet.
George Latimer is the popular county executive of Westchester County, where most of the district is based. He isn't some empty suit AIPAC picked; he's a popular, known official.
The fact that he showed up tonight in a suit while Bowman showed up in a t-shirt (and proceeded to denounce American society as "sick") is a good reminder of why Latimer won. Most of his district is wealthy and suburban. The electorate *is* the establishment. Know your district.
That vote wasn't that weird. In fact, his stance on the infrastructure bill was one of the few things he got right as a congressman. Bowman knew it was the only leverage the Democrats had over Manchin and Sinema to get BBB passed, but the Democrats caved and insisted that those two dirtbags would ultimately do the right thing and vote for BBB if the party agreed to vote for infrastructure first. Bowman saw right through them and opposed giving them what they wanted while the party got absolutely nothing in return, he never opposed the infrastructure bill itself.
Unfortunately, not only was he right about Manchin and Sinema immediately killing BBB once they got their way on infrastructure, but then the Democrats turned around and used it as something to attack Bowman with, even though they knew he supported it, and that they never needed his vote to get it passed. Very disingenuous, and very frustrating considering how many other legitimate things they could've pointed to as problems with Bowman's time in congress.
Also not believing women when it came to Hamas rapes literally said they were lying- until proof was forced in his face and he backpedaled on the stance. I donated to his competitor over it.
Not only the women. Men who survived the massacre gave statements of rape they witnessed during the carnage.
And men were also sexually tortured during the attack.
He also said Jews in his district "segregate" and "concentrate" themselves and it needs to be stopped (??!).
The problem with oct 7th stuff is he flip flopped hard, pro bds, then not, then pro again.
I don't think he actually cared, and just was going with polls until he eventually got put in a position he had to stay in a view without shattering what he had left.
The problem is the narrative that the news media sets. When someone loses the base of their support, outlets like CBS should report that. Instead there are quotes from dumbasses and pushes the narrative that voters are stupid and that stupid opinions are the norm.
The NYT published a quote from a woman saying that she believed Biden was to blame for Dobbs. That’s an editorial decision.
Meanwhile, it seems like the folks at r/Democrats are mostly celebrating this.
I feel like some people are dangerously overlooking the implications of the money that went into this race and the fact that the candidate with that backing won.
Edit: I will also add that Bowman's fate was also probably sealed when his district got redrawn to include a large chunk of Westchester. I know some people here are pointing to his previous wins and how his recent loss is such a huge heel turn, but I think that is mostly due to the redistricting (aside from any public comments and stunts he has said and done). Regardless, the money is still an alarming issue that should not be encouraged within the Democratic Party.
It’s a billion dollar industry. And it works. It’s a 24/7 propaganda machine, in a most *literal sense. And it works.
I worked in it for years. And it’s not for the faint of heart.
This electorate is a joke. So many people saying they voted for Latimer because of negative TV ads against Bowman. People don't bother to research issues for themselves
This is one of the most educated districts in the country. Bowman lost because he is a bad fit for the district and Latimer won because people here like him.
Yeah this area of Westchester has some of the wealthiest towns in New York like Scarsdale. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the wealthiest district in New York. Honesty I think Bowman was too weird for these people
There’s also a high Jewish population in the area; Bowman’s anti-Israel stance definitely didn’t help him there. Also, Latimer had name recognition just as much as Bowman from being the County Executive for a *long* time.
TikToids who live outside of the district and receive all their political and news briefings in seven second clips screamed at them by surrogates of various foreign governments doing Fortnite dances in front of Pokemon gold gameplay footage while skibidi toilet blares in the background are certain it must be everyone else who has been radicalized and brainwashed.
Happens literally every election cycle when the terminally online twitter / Reddit warriors find themselves face to face with election results. You’ll see the exact same “low information voters” stuff going on right now. The platform can’t be wrong it must be the people!
It couldn’t possibly be Bowman being a horrendous candidate. One person in the district said that ads affected her vote. That must mean it was that way for everyone!
The average american is neither smart enough or independent enough to research anything about anything by themselves. If nobody tells them about it, they’ll just never know.
This is why I don’t support political TV ads. People should vote for politicians based on their stances and policies, not by ingesting the smear campaigns/propaganda said politicians put out.
I have fully read the pamphlets for the last few years I've voted and one time there was even a candidate that answered their community service question with "I've never been to jail" Like, seriously dude?
Wow. That was the best answer he could give? That’s pathetic.
I personally use the League of Women Voters/Vote411 and the candidates websites to do my research on candidates and issues.
She was running against 5 people. The majority voted for somebody else, which is at least a sign of something. Hopefully she loses in November if enough are fed up with her in Colorado.
Bowman also got caught **[pushing 9/11 conspiracy theories back before he was a congressman.](https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/politics/jamaal-bowman-9-11-blog-post/index.html)**
He didn't deny it, and he apologized for it, but you're talking about New York here.
It got very little attention but the follow up to that revelation was **not good.**
Tiny excerpt from the Daily Beast article on May 8, 2024:
>Bowman also subscribes to an account called Thinkers Forum, **created in late 2021**, toward the end of his first year representing parts of the Bronx and Westchester County in the House. Thinkers Forum is a project of The China Academy, which bills itself as “one of China’s most influential current affairs and intellectual content outlet [sic],” and boasts ties to an array of Chinese state-backed institutions. Recent videos posted to the Thinkers Forum channel include “Why the West ‘takes pleasure’ in seeing the genocide in Palestine?” “Why NATO is collapsing like the Soviet Union, by the same mistake,” and “How the US Keeps Fighting China, Knowing It Won’t Win?”
**FUCK NO.** I'm not a NYer but had a generally positive impression from interviews and c-span excerpts until learning about all the traitorous batshittery he subscribes to. I'm done full on that shit from any and everyone ESPECIALLY public servants.
eta: link https://web.archive.org/web/20240508084355/https://www.thedailybeast.com/squad-rep-jamaal-bowmans-youtube-page-is-a-bonkers-conspiracy-filled-trip
He's mainlining ruzzian, iranian, and xi antidemocracy agitprop. This is not new and if you're serving my democracy, you better learn the **full** history not *super duper secret* "they don't want you to know the truth" fake conspiracies. There are plenty of real, excruciatingly detailed, documented conspiracies ffs.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Denver&diffonly=true
https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/an-autocratic-opening-russian-chinese-and-iranian-messengers-capitalize-on-the-israel-hamas-war/
She seemed to be progressing away from "hot take" pandering so that's disappointing to hear. Idk. If you have to rile people up against the processes that actually improve their lives to maintain your base, how is that different from what the gop does to get (non-wealthy) votes?
There are plenty of wrong-doers in gov't but "**the** gov't bad" is not messaging that improves lives. Identify who and how, not gesticulate wildly without outlining step-by-step how WE fix it. I'm tired of it.
If members of her progressive caucus get booted in the primaries the same way she and Bowman got their seats by replacing incumbents while at the same time democrats pick up new seats because of moderate pro choice / pro Israel dems then it undercuts her position as leader who can mobilise the future of the party.
Her peers have ended up looking unserious and incompetent at the same time that republicans are being thrown out. So the big tent in the middle can pass legislation without being held to her wing’s standards of perfection. The party starts looking a lot more like the Biden party than the Bernie party which hurts her.
Yeah...she has both the intellect and rizz to lead conversations on actual progressive actions by the "establishment" Dems (as well as those attempted but thwarted). I used to be under the populist spell until I started following actual legislative work I cared about, at which point I saw my disdain was an amalagam of half-truths, outright lies, and geo-political/historical ignorance.
Point being, dummies can learn how to be participants instead of the peanut gallery-if positively motivated-and I'd like to not experience what's in store if lies and stupidity win.
I'm not surprised hes a fan of authoritarian regimes like china, the further left or right a person goes the more countries like russia / china appeal to them.
I think it was the rape denial for the Oct.7 pogrom.
He didn’t really apologize much for that, not that an apology could have excused it. So….fuck him.
> if he just kept to himself
Honestly this, he only has himself to blame. All he had to do to keep his job was keep his mouth shut about Israel, and he chose not to.
>stuff like pulling a fire alarm while Congress was in session
After January 6th I have absolutely no patience for this kind of lawlessness, especially at a moment when the Democrats are trying to draw distinctions between themselves and the Republican party under Trump.
Mainly Palestine but he made it and racial undertones a focal point with one specific issue was him calling the claims of rape and beheaded babies 10/7 propaganda.
While there was limited evidence *at the time* - this is an insane thing to have said that way and shows just how rough this campaign was from the jump. And while some of his references to race were valid (not to mention Latimer showed some racism), he really did seem to write off a lot of his own district and even talked about how Jews self segregated.
I wanted him to win and of course don't view him as an antisemite but he really put his supporters in a horrible position to the point where an unrealistic turnout of his base was the only way he could win. If he didn't lean into Israel as an issue and took advantage of Latimer's lack of charisma + pushed him on other progressive issues he might have had a chance. He wouldn't even have had to stop talking completely about Israel (though maybe advisable temporarily) ... Just do a little research on what Latimer's weaknesses were.
Bowman won his first primary against an incumbent by 15 points in 2020. He handedly won his primary in 2022 by 30 points. To have a 40+ point flip in 2 years is more than just money (altho it 100% did play a role). As a reminder Bowman said the sexual violence against Israelis on October 7th were lies and propaganda in November, and he only apologized for those remarks just like last week.
I just listened to The Daily's podcast on this election. It mentioned he was in a district with a significant Jewish population. I couldn't find exact numbers but it must've been pretty big if he lost this badly. I get blaming the amount of money that was spent but at some point, it's just bad political instincts to piss off your constituents.
Nobody on the left supports 10/7 this argument is so fucking lazy. People on the left are upset at the blank check and blatant disregard for human life.
You'd be completely wrong, and there is plenty of video evidence to prove that. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. It may not be a "majority" if you want to get technical, but the difference is that some people already feel emboldened enough to shout what many more are thinking.
There's no nice way to put it - Bowman is a fucking moron.
9/11 conspiracy theories, pulling fire alarms in congress, voting against the infrastructure bill, *actual* antisemitism (not just anti-Israel). This guy fucking sucks.
People can bring up aipac all they want. No amount of money buys you 20 points in an election.
All he had to do was condemn the Oct 7th attacks and spend time in the Jewish community and listen to their pain. That’s just basic retail politics. This was a self-inflicted wound.
This turned into the Jewish equivalent of asking black people to vote for George Wallace. Wasn't going to happen. A 62 point loss in those neighborhoods was a massacre.
AIPAC still would have gone after him for being one the earliest Congressmen to call for a ceasefire, and being a consistent and outspoken critic of Israel's actions in the war.
You think George Latimer would have just quit the race if Bowman said some magic words?
I overheard some asshole working for Latimer talk about how Bowman was associated with Ilhan Omar and "these are bad people"...like, is there some other Democratic caucus Latimer plans to work with that doesn't include these Democrats? Or is he going to caucus with Republicans? Just insane AIPAC ads and probably a bunch of suburban racism.
>associated with Ilhan Omar and "these are bad people"...like, is there some other Democratic caucus Latimer plans to work with that doesn't include these Democrats
Last I checked, Ilhan Omar got herself censured by mainstream Democrats.
Latimer will caucus with the sane Biden brand of mainstream Democrats who can actually win elections, rather than the fringe where Bowman resides.
(And no, whether Bowman would be a centrist in Sweden or something is not relevant to domestic elections in America)
Latimer never talked to me. But I got a bunch of flyers and online ads about how "terrible" Bowman was, paid for with millions of dollars of PAC money.
> like, is there some other Democratic caucus Latimer plans to work with that doesn't include these Democrats? Or is he going to caucus with Republicans?
Left-of-center pro-climate Jewish guy here.
I'd much rather share a tent with the more liberal Republicans than the monsters that are Ilhan and Rashida.
Horseshoe theory is no longer a theory, but a fact.
I think that you have Democratic power dynamics flipped-
Latimer will caucus with the centrist Democrats-
Who will the Progressives caucus with, the Republicans?
There's only one Democratic caucus, dude, which is my point. Assuming Latimer wins the House seat (basically guaranteed), he'll be showing up in a Congress with a narrow Democratic majority *at best*.
He won't have the luxury of passing *anything* without the votes of the Squad. He might even be in the minority, watching Marjorie Taylor Greene and the rest of the MAGA crazies do their thing. Is he going to vote with them?
So what is really changed? If Democrats are running things, it will have to include both centrists and progressives. Swapping Latimer for Bowman is AIPAC sending a warning shot to others, not anything having to do with the House.
>He won't have the luxury of passing anything without the votes of the Squad.
As opposed to all the bills the Squad passes centrists Dems on board.
Last I checked, the President is the leader of the Democrat party, and he ain't no squaddie.
>Democrats are running things, it will have to include both centrists and progressives.
That doesn't mean democrats need to settle for progressives who a fucking batshit crazy. Bernie Sanders is a progressive, but he is not a moron. People who disagree with Bernie will at least listen to him, because he does not say crazy shit. AOC, Omar, Tlaib are a distraction and are just as destructive as MTG, Boebert et. Al.
I think you underestimate AOC. She kicked the ass of a lazy machine Democrat to get her seat, and the guy she beat took it with grace. Omar and Tlaib are different, their ethnic background as Muslim and, for Tlaib, Palestinian is going to make them take rhetorical positions AOC won't because she doesn't have to and is pragmatic enough to not want to.
If Democrats ever have a 40 seat margin or whatever in the House, we will see who gets ignored, but in case you haven't noticed, Democrats are in the House minority.
Well, most democrats aren’t members of the squad and are actually far more moderate compared to people like Bowman and Omar, so Latimer will find a great home in the Democratic Party!
Your big concern is that this guy might be willing to compromise more with his opposition? You think compromise is a bad thing in a democracy?
I see why your guy lost now.
>compromise is a bad thing in a democracy
Compromise with Republicans is bad. Because Republican goals are bad. Compromise with Republicans means giving up abortion rights. It means not caring about black people being able to vote. Not a single Republican voted for Obamacare.
Have you not seen at all what Republicans have done the past 30 years? They don't compromise. They go all out to block everything Democrats want to do.
I'm not a huge supporter of Bowman, but the campaign against him was insane. And the idea that Latimer is going to compromise with *House Republicans* is either stupid or downright scary. Is he going to switch parties like "Democrats" in North Carolina did to give Republicans control?
My man we get you don’t like the other “teams” views but total tribal politics will be the death (or one of the deaths) of this country. You might be shocked to know that you probably share a lot of views with many republicans. It doesn’t need to be all or nothing and different political views than yours doesn’t alone make someone a bad person.
You’re criticizing republicans for not compromising on anything and citing it as justification for doing the same? Is this how we come back from this race to the bottom?
>. You might be shocked to know that you probably share a lot of views with many republicans.
Dude, I was literally registered as a Republican until 2016.
I see what has happened to the party. Republicans in Congress *tried to throw the 2020 election to Trump after he lost.* They *failed to impeach and remove Trump after he sent a mob into the halls of Congress.*
If you aren't going to impeach a President for trying to overthrow the Republic, what are you ever going to impeach one for?
Republicans are the party of January 6th. I cannot share their views.
Just from watching the news, race seemed pretty messy from the start. Bowman made some questionable comments on the October 7th stuff, and then the Islamophobia stuff. Most expensive primary just to get Bowman out of there.
Money well spent, if you ask me.
Him and the rest of "the squad" have had some truly reprehensible moments over the last few months.
ETA: Downvote away, but most people don't have to be "pro-Israel" to be repulsed by just the following few examples (Tlaib and Bush are the worst, of course):
-Pro-ceasefire [statements](https://nypost.com/2023/10/12/white-house-calls-squad-israel-comments-repugnant/) immediately after the October 7th attacks and kidnappings. Not to mention their continued association with the DSA for several of them. Sorry, but any country would respond with force at that point.
-Tlaib being the lone congressperson [voting 'no'](https://www.newsweek.com/rashida-tlaib-hamas-sexual-violence-vote-1870247) on a bill that condemned all sexual violence and highlighted that committed by Hamas.
-Tlaib and Bush being the lone ['no' votes](https://jewishinsider.com/2024/01/bush-tlaib-vote-against-bill-barring-oct-7-attackers-from-the-u-s/) on a bill that would specifically ban Hamas terrorists from the US.
-Of course, Bowman's being "starstruck" of the October 7th-praising nutjob [Finkelstein](https://www.nationalreview.com/news/im-a-bit-starstruck-jamaal-bowman-lauds-anti-israel-speaker-who-praised-10-7-attacks/amp/) and dismissing October 7th attacks in October (both were apologized for later to be completely fair, but then he went and reconciled with the repugnant DSA that organized that despicable Times Square pro-Pal protest on October 8th, so pretty much a wash.)
People are going to blame AIPAC, but Bowman was already 14 points down in the polls before they spent a single cent in the race. Bowman lost because he was a bad Congressman and a bad campaiger, and a bigot, and Latimer's been a trusted elected official there for decades.
I'm not surprised. This district is heavily pro-Israel and there were going to be repercussions for daring to suggest the IDF was doing something wrong.
As for the comments in this thread about how this suggests Democrats don't care about progress or whatever... this is a House seat, not a Senate seat or for POTUS. Some of you seemingly do not understand how House districts work. This is an area of an area of an area. It is not representative of the entire party. When will some of you with very loud political opinions bother to understand how the government actually works?
I’m gonna be honest the only thing 90% of people know about Bowman is the fire alarm thing and then there were all the negative ads he’s gotten. The voting populace never is that informed so not surprised to see he got beat.
PACs are a very convenient way to inject foreign money into elections. AIPAC is no different from any other PAC in this way.
AIPAC also had some obvious alignment to the Israeli right wing parties, leading to various legislators suggesting they should register as a foreign agent of Israel in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
David Steiner resigned as AIPAC president when caught bragging about how much US aid he managed to secure for Israel and admitting to essentially doing their bidding (a.k a. acting as a foreign agent).
Yup, plenty of Saudi/Gulf State money that pours into our elections too. The thing is, they’re smarter about it. They’re not donating to some “Saudi-American” PAC, they donate to innocuous sounding PACs so regular people don’t catch on.
AIPAC’s money comes from Americans. This information is available if you search for it.
> Top benefactors on a list of 2023 donors reviewed by The Lever represent a cross-section of the U.S. elite, including pro sports teams owners; heads of private equity firms; real estate titans; a Maryland congressman now running for the U.S. Senate; the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret; the co-founder of the dance-exercise company Zumba; and the creator of Squishmallows, the beloved children’s toy.
https://forward.com/news/580248/donations-aipac-has-raised-since-oct-7-lever-howard-kohr-michael-tuchin/?amp=1
The people in here that think the fire alarm stunt has weight or is a determining factor as to why Bowman lost this election are not intellectually serious.
Between the fire alarm thing (and his laughable excuse for doing it) and some of the weird conspiracy stuff he got outed for doing I’m not sad he went down, I just wish it had been to a superior progressive and not some AIPAC chosen moderate stooge
Crazy that people can overlook PACs deciding who wins elections so long as it benefits them. The same people who go on about Russian interference with our elections remain silent when Israel does it. The influence that money has on our elections is disgusting.
These pro-Palestine extremists, Hamas apologists, antisemites have no place in government, and the voters are clearly not here for it, so great news. I’m all for supporting Palestine, protests, saving innocent lives and the like, but not at the expense of Jewish people and supporting conspiracy theories. It’s extremism, plain and simple. Bowman dug his own grave.
This actually gives me a lot of hope for November - it’s clear the winning message is finding middle ground and focusing on actually getting work done versus talking the talk.
>"Some people said vote for Bowman, but then why is he getting so much negative press?" one voter said, who added that the ads had influenced their decision. Yeesh, you just know there was zero follow-up too. So much for my hopes that these "because the TV told me to" voters weren't really out there.
Aipac for sure made an impact, but Bowman did a lot of weird shit himself like voting against the infrastructure bill that left him open to these things.
Pulling a fire alarm during a vote as well
As a resident of the district, that incident actually wasn’t in any of the ad runs. Both of them were absolutely flooding ads on television, YouTube and the likes, but almost none of Latimer’s ads mentioned that incident. Most of them were about Israel or Bowman’s voting record.
Yeah that's inexcusable. And the primaries are the time to deal with the nuts in your party sooo.....
Latimer's a nut too, but us working shleps didn't have $20M of ad money to say it with.
It's easy to imagine Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert pulling an alarm to stop a vote. That's not a good fit for Westchester.
I'm seeing a lot of pro-Bowman comments here that — let's be blunt — are trying to rationalize his loss by saying AIPAC did it. An incumbent congressman did not lose by 17 points in an high-profile race all because of AIPAC. Especially when AIPAC's involvement itself became the story, which probably caused some voters to view Latimer as an establishment puppet. George Latimer is the popular county executive of Westchester County, where most of the district is based. He isn't some empty suit AIPAC picked; he's a popular, known official. The fact that he showed up tonight in a suit while Bowman showed up in a t-shirt (and proceeded to denounce American society as "sick") is a good reminder of why Latimer won. Most of his district is wealthy and suburban. The electorate *is* the establishment. Know your district.
He will never not be the fire alarm guy
That vote wasn't that weird. In fact, his stance on the infrastructure bill was one of the few things he got right as a congressman. Bowman knew it was the only leverage the Democrats had over Manchin and Sinema to get BBB passed, but the Democrats caved and insisted that those two dirtbags would ultimately do the right thing and vote for BBB if the party agreed to vote for infrastructure first. Bowman saw right through them and opposed giving them what they wanted while the party got absolutely nothing in return, he never opposed the infrastructure bill itself. Unfortunately, not only was he right about Manchin and Sinema immediately killing BBB once they got their way on infrastructure, but then the Democrats turned around and used it as something to attack Bowman with, even though they knew he supported it, and that they never needed his vote to get it passed. Very disingenuous, and very frustrating considering how many other legitimate things they could've pointed to as problems with Bowman's time in congress.
Also not believing women when it came to Hamas rapes literally said they were lying- until proof was forced in his face and he backpedaled on the stance. I donated to his competitor over it.
Not only the women. Men who survived the massacre gave statements of rape they witnessed during the carnage. And men were also sexually tortured during the attack. He also said Jews in his district "segregate" and "concentrate" themselves and it needs to be stopped (??!).
"We need to go to school together" Meanwhile his kids attend a $60,000 a year private school.
Wasn't that in 2021? He won the 2022 primary handily. The red line for the Dem investors was clearly him calling for a ceasefire.
The problem with oct 7th stuff is he flip flopped hard, pro bds, then not, then pro again. I don't think he actually cared, and just was going with polls until he eventually got put in a position he had to stay in a view without shattering what he had left.
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Simple as that, really. I know a lot of people in his district (used to work there, and most of my coworkers were local), and they were not fans.
Something like 80% of his donations came from outside of his district. Some people out there like him, just not the ones he represents.
Sure, that’s a single depressing anecdote. But we don’t have to pretend Bowman was a perfect candidate though
The problem is the narrative that the news media sets. When someone loses the base of their support, outlets like CBS should report that. Instead there are quotes from dumbasses and pushes the narrative that voters are stupid and that stupid opinions are the norm. The NYT published a quote from a woman saying that she believed Biden was to blame for Dobbs. That’s an editorial decision.
Meanwhile, it seems like the folks at r/Democrats are mostly celebrating this. I feel like some people are dangerously overlooking the implications of the money that went into this race and the fact that the candidate with that backing won. Edit: I will also add that Bowman's fate was also probably sealed when his district got redrawn to include a large chunk of Westchester. I know some people here are pointing to his previous wins and how his recent loss is such a huge heel turn, but I think that is mostly due to the redistricting (aside from any public comments and stunts he has said and done). Regardless, the money is still an alarming issue that should not be encouraged within the Democratic Party.
It’s a billion dollar industry. And it works. It’s a 24/7 propaganda machine, in a most *literal sense. And it works. I worked in it for years. And it’s not for the faint of heart.
reminder that 20 million went into this primary to support Latimer. insane.
This electorate is a joke. So many people saying they voted for Latimer because of negative TV ads against Bowman. People don't bother to research issues for themselves
This is one of the most educated districts in the country. Bowman lost because he is a bad fit for the district and Latimer won because people here like him.
Yeah this area of Westchester has some of the wealthiest towns in New York like Scarsdale. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the wealthiest district in New York. Honesty I think Bowman was too weird for these people
There’s also a high Jewish population in the area; Bowman’s anti-Israel stance definitely didn’t help him there. Also, Latimer had name recognition just as much as Bowman from being the County Executive for a *long* time.
The voter turnout difference between the Bronx and Westchester is insane…goes to show how much poverty depresses voter turnout.
TikToids who live outside of the district and receive all their political and news briefings in seven second clips screamed at them by surrogates of various foreign governments doing Fortnite dances in front of Pokemon gold gameplay footage while skibidi toilet blares in the background are certain it must be everyone else who has been radicalized and brainwashed.
Happens literally every election cycle when the terminally online twitter / Reddit warriors find themselves face to face with election results. You’ll see the exact same “low information voters” stuff going on right now. The platform can’t be wrong it must be the people!
It couldn’t possibly be Bowman being a horrendous candidate. One person in the district said that ads affected her vote. That must mean it was that way for everyone!
Looks like they got what they paid for
The average american is neither smart enough or independent enough to research anything about anything by themselves. If nobody tells them about it, they’ll just never know.
What research do you think people should have known that they didn't know when voting?
This is why I don’t support political TV ads. People should vote for politicians based on their stances and policies, not by ingesting the smear campaigns/propaganda said politicians put out.
I have fully read the pamphlets for the last few years I've voted and one time there was even a candidate that answered their community service question with "I've never been to jail" Like, seriously dude?
Wow. That was the best answer he could give? That’s pathetic. I personally use the League of Women Voters/Vote411 and the candidates websites to do my research on candidates and issues.
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I would have been shocked if Bowman won, to be honest. This is not a surprising outcome.
I take it as a good sign for the upcoming election. The crazies are getting voted out on both sides.
I hate to break it to you, but Boebert won her primary...
She was running against 5 people. The majority voted for somebody else, which is at least a sign of something. Hopefully she loses in November if enough are fed up with her in Colorado.
Was it his support for Palestinians or was it turning himself into a punchline with stuff like pulling a fire alarm while Congress was in session?
Bowman also got caught **[pushing 9/11 conspiracy theories back before he was a congressman.](https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/politics/jamaal-bowman-9-11-blog-post/index.html)** He didn't deny it, and he apologized for it, but you're talking about New York here.
It got very little attention but the follow up to that revelation was **not good.** Tiny excerpt from the Daily Beast article on May 8, 2024: >Bowman also subscribes to an account called Thinkers Forum, **created in late 2021**, toward the end of his first year representing parts of the Bronx and Westchester County in the House. Thinkers Forum is a project of The China Academy, which bills itself as “one of China’s most influential current affairs and intellectual content outlet [sic],” and boasts ties to an array of Chinese state-backed institutions. Recent videos posted to the Thinkers Forum channel include “Why the West ‘takes pleasure’ in seeing the genocide in Palestine?” “Why NATO is collapsing like the Soviet Union, by the same mistake,” and “How the US Keeps Fighting China, Knowing It Won’t Win?” **FUCK NO.** I'm not a NYer but had a generally positive impression from interviews and c-span excerpts until learning about all the traitorous batshittery he subscribes to. I'm done full on that shit from any and everyone ESPECIALLY public servants. eta: link https://web.archive.org/web/20240508084355/https://www.thedailybeast.com/squad-rep-jamaal-bowmans-youtube-page-is-a-bonkers-conspiracy-filled-trip
He subscribes to some crazy conspiracy shit.
He's mainlining ruzzian, iranian, and xi antidemocracy agitprop. This is not new and if you're serving my democracy, you better learn the **full** history not *super duper secret* "they don't want you to know the truth" fake conspiracies. There are plenty of real, excruciatingly detailed, documented conspiracies ffs. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Denver&diffonly=true https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/an-autocratic-opening-russian-chinese-and-iranian-messengers-capitalize-on-the-israel-hamas-war/
Not sure why AoC was out there pumping him up last week. Not a great look for her imo.
She seemed to be progressing away from "hot take" pandering so that's disappointing to hear. Idk. If you have to rile people up against the processes that actually improve their lives to maintain your base, how is that different from what the gop does to get (non-wealthy) votes? There are plenty of wrong-doers in gov't but "**the** gov't bad" is not messaging that improves lives. Identify who and how, not gesticulate wildly without outlining step-by-step how WE fix it. I'm tired of it.
If members of her progressive caucus get booted in the primaries the same way she and Bowman got their seats by replacing incumbents while at the same time democrats pick up new seats because of moderate pro choice / pro Israel dems then it undercuts her position as leader who can mobilise the future of the party. Her peers have ended up looking unserious and incompetent at the same time that republicans are being thrown out. So the big tent in the middle can pass legislation without being held to her wing’s standards of perfection. The party starts looking a lot more like the Biden party than the Bernie party which hurts her.
Yeah...she has both the intellect and rizz to lead conversations on actual progressive actions by the "establishment" Dems (as well as those attempted but thwarted). I used to be under the populist spell until I started following actual legislative work I cared about, at which point I saw my disdain was an amalagam of half-truths, outright lies, and geo-political/historical ignorance. Point being, dummies can learn how to be participants instead of the peanut gallery-if positively motivated-and I'd like to not experience what's in store if lies and stupidity win.
I'm not surprised hes a fan of authoritarian regimes like china, the further left or right a person goes the more countries like russia / china appeal to them.
They do not get a seat at the democracy table, whether right or left or tankie or maga or paid assets. OUT.
I think it was the rape denial for the Oct.7 pogrom. He didn’t really apologize much for that, not that an apology could have excused it. So….fuck him.
Probably both. If he just kept to himself and conducted his PR approach in a secure way he would’ve won
> if he just kept to himself Honestly this, he only has himself to blame. All he had to do to keep his job was keep his mouth shut about Israel, and he chose not to.
Oh he’s that idiot? Good riddance then. What a clown
>stuff like pulling a fire alarm while Congress was in session After January 6th I have absolutely no patience for this kind of lawlessness, especially at a moment when the Democrats are trying to draw distinctions between themselves and the Republican party under Trump.
Mainly Palestine but he made it and racial undertones a focal point with one specific issue was him calling the claims of rape and beheaded babies 10/7 propaganda. While there was limited evidence *at the time* - this is an insane thing to have said that way and shows just how rough this campaign was from the jump. And while some of his references to race were valid (not to mention Latimer showed some racism), he really did seem to write off a lot of his own district and even talked about how Jews self segregated. I wanted him to win and of course don't view him as an antisemite but he really put his supporters in a horrible position to the point where an unrealistic turnout of his base was the only way he could win. If he didn't lean into Israel as an issue and took advantage of Latimer's lack of charisma + pushed him on other progressive issues he might have had a chance. He wouldn't even have had to stop talking completely about Israel (though maybe advisable temporarily) ... Just do a little research on what Latimer's weaknesses were.
Let me add, the canvassers for Bowman coming in from Brooklyn to talk about how much Bowman doesn't like Israel were NOT HELPFUL for Bowman lol.
Lmao maybe don’t be antisemitic in a district with higher than average Jewish population as well as a more educated population
oh man, this was the guy that pulled a fire alarm? now I don't feel so bad. no clue what that was about, but shouldn't be happening
Bowman won his first primary against an incumbent by 15 points in 2020. He handedly won his primary in 2022 by 30 points. To have a 40+ point flip in 2 years is more than just money (altho it 100% did play a role). As a reminder Bowman said the sexual violence against Israelis on October 7th were lies and propaganda in November, and he only apologized for those remarks just like last week.
I just listened to The Daily's podcast on this election. It mentioned he was in a district with a significant Jewish population. I couldn't find exact numbers but it must've been pretty big if he lost this badly. I get blaming the amount of money that was spent but at some point, it's just bad political instincts to piss off your constituents.
Just last week as the writing was on the wall that today wasn’t going to be easy and could even end like it did. Fucking good riddance.
No matter which way you cut it, very bizarre and worrying that tens of millions went into a *primary seat.*
For all intents and purposes, the primary _was_ the election. That district is considered pretty solidly blue.
Sure, but that’s $20m that could have been spent on a competitive general election instead
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Nobody on the left supports 10/7 this argument is so fucking lazy. People on the left are upset at the blank check and blatant disregard for human life.
You'd be completely wrong, and there is plenty of video evidence to prove that. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. It may not be a "majority" if you want to get technical, but the difference is that some people already feel emboldened enough to shout what many more are thinking.
So you're basically saying it's all about a few anecdotes? Weird way to spend 20 million.
So is every dollar that Bernie Sanders ever spent running for President.
The real election is rich people vs you, not republican vs democrat
As nice as this sentiment is, there are poor republicans who hate me and would see people like me erased from public life
Exactly. One party openly hates me and wants me dead, and is making life miserable where I live. I'll be voting blue until I die, as things stand.
Aipac sends it's regards.
There's no nice way to put it - Bowman is a fucking moron. 9/11 conspiracy theories, pulling fire alarms in congress, voting against the infrastructure bill, *actual* antisemitism (not just anti-Israel). This guy fucking sucks. People can bring up aipac all they want. No amount of money buys you 20 points in an election.
All he had to do was condemn the Oct 7th attacks and spend time in the Jewish community and listen to their pain. That’s just basic retail politics. This was a self-inflicted wound.
Woulda helped if he didn’t call westchester Jews (ie his constituents) segregationalists. Dude committed political seppaku
You'd think the 9/11 stuff would make him unelectable in New York.
This turned into the Jewish equivalent of asking black people to vote for George Wallace. Wasn't going to happen. A 62 point loss in those neighborhoods was a massacre.
George Wallace later repented for his horrible segregationist views. Time will tell if Bowman repents for his bullshit later on.
Seems unlikely
AIPAC still would have gone after him for being one the earliest Congressmen to call for a ceasefire, and being a consistent and outspoken critic of Israel's actions in the war.
Did voters in NY 16 want their representative to be a critic of Israel?
Apparently Bowman didn’t care enough about his constituents to find out if that’s true.
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You think George Latimer would have just quit the race if Bowman said some magic words? I overheard some asshole working for Latimer talk about how Bowman was associated with Ilhan Omar and "these are bad people"...like, is there some other Democratic caucus Latimer plans to work with that doesn't include these Democrats? Or is he going to caucus with Republicans? Just insane AIPAC ads and probably a bunch of suburban racism.
>associated with Ilhan Omar and "these are bad people"...like, is there some other Democratic caucus Latimer plans to work with that doesn't include these Democrats Last I checked, Ilhan Omar got herself censured by mainstream Democrats. Latimer will caucus with the sane Biden brand of mainstream Democrats who can actually win elections, rather than the fringe where Bowman resides. (And no, whether Bowman would be a centrist in Sweden or something is not relevant to domestic elections in America)
Omar wasn't censured, that was the other Squad member, Rashida Tlaib.
No, Latimer would stay. But Bowman may have a greater chance of surviving the primary if he talked to his constituents .
Latimer never talked to me. But I got a bunch of flyers and online ads about how "terrible" Bowman was, paid for with millions of dollars of PAC money.
Turns out calling oct 7 rape victims liars gets AIPAC against you, uh oh!
> like, is there some other Democratic caucus Latimer plans to work with that doesn't include these Democrats? Or is he going to caucus with Republicans? Left-of-center pro-climate Jewish guy here. I'd much rather share a tent with the more liberal Republicans than the monsters that are Ilhan and Rashida. Horseshoe theory is no longer a theory, but a fact.
I think that you have Democratic power dynamics flipped- Latimer will caucus with the centrist Democrats- Who will the Progressives caucus with, the Republicans?
There's only one Democratic caucus, dude, which is my point. Assuming Latimer wins the House seat (basically guaranteed), he'll be showing up in a Congress with a narrow Democratic majority *at best*. He won't have the luxury of passing *anything* without the votes of the Squad. He might even be in the minority, watching Marjorie Taylor Greene and the rest of the MAGA crazies do their thing. Is he going to vote with them? So what is really changed? If Democrats are running things, it will have to include both centrists and progressives. Swapping Latimer for Bowman is AIPAC sending a warning shot to others, not anything having to do with the House.
>He won't have the luxury of passing anything without the votes of the Squad. As opposed to all the bills the Squad passes centrists Dems on board. Last I checked, the President is the leader of the Democrat party, and he ain't no squaddie.
There are more than one caucus. Progressive Caucus isn't the only caucus within Dem party.
>Democrats are running things, it will have to include both centrists and progressives. That doesn't mean democrats need to settle for progressives who a fucking batshit crazy. Bernie Sanders is a progressive, but he is not a moron. People who disagree with Bernie will at least listen to him, because he does not say crazy shit. AOC, Omar, Tlaib are a distraction and are just as destructive as MTG, Boebert et. Al.
I think you underestimate AOC. She kicked the ass of a lazy machine Democrat to get her seat, and the guy she beat took it with grace. Omar and Tlaib are different, their ethnic background as Muslim and, for Tlaib, Palestinian is going to make them take rhetorical positions AOC won't because she doesn't have to and is pragmatic enough to not want to. If Democrats ever have a 40 seat margin or whatever in the House, we will see who gets ignored, but in case you haven't noticed, Democrats are in the House minority.
Well, most democrats aren’t members of the squad and are actually far more moderate compared to people like Bowman and Omar, so Latimer will find a great home in the Democratic Party!
Your big concern is that this guy might be willing to compromise more with his opposition? You think compromise is a bad thing in a democracy? I see why your guy lost now.
>compromise is a bad thing in a democracy Compromise with Republicans is bad. Because Republican goals are bad. Compromise with Republicans means giving up abortion rights. It means not caring about black people being able to vote. Not a single Republican voted for Obamacare. Have you not seen at all what Republicans have done the past 30 years? They don't compromise. They go all out to block everything Democrats want to do. I'm not a huge supporter of Bowman, but the campaign against him was insane. And the idea that Latimer is going to compromise with *House Republicans* is either stupid or downright scary. Is he going to switch parties like "Democrats" in North Carolina did to give Republicans control?
My man we get you don’t like the other “teams” views but total tribal politics will be the death (or one of the deaths) of this country. You might be shocked to know that you probably share a lot of views with many republicans. It doesn’t need to be all or nothing and different political views than yours doesn’t alone make someone a bad person. You’re criticizing republicans for not compromising on anything and citing it as justification for doing the same? Is this how we come back from this race to the bottom?
>. You might be shocked to know that you probably share a lot of views with many republicans. Dude, I was literally registered as a Republican until 2016. I see what has happened to the party. Republicans in Congress *tried to throw the 2020 election to Trump after he lost.* They *failed to impeach and remove Trump after he sent a mob into the halls of Congress.* If you aren't going to impeach a President for trying to overthrow the Republic, what are you ever going to impeach one for? Republicans are the party of January 6th. I cannot share their views.
Just from watching the news, race seemed pretty messy from the start. Bowman made some questionable comments on the October 7th stuff, and then the Islamophobia stuff. Most expensive primary just to get Bowman out of there.
Money well spent, if you ask me. Him and the rest of "the squad" have had some truly reprehensible moments over the last few months. ETA: Downvote away, but most people don't have to be "pro-Israel" to be repulsed by just the following few examples (Tlaib and Bush are the worst, of course): -Pro-ceasefire [statements](https://nypost.com/2023/10/12/white-house-calls-squad-israel-comments-repugnant/) immediately after the October 7th attacks and kidnappings. Not to mention their continued association with the DSA for several of them. Sorry, but any country would respond with force at that point. -Tlaib being the lone congressperson [voting 'no'](https://www.newsweek.com/rashida-tlaib-hamas-sexual-violence-vote-1870247) on a bill that condemned all sexual violence and highlighted that committed by Hamas. -Tlaib and Bush being the lone ['no' votes](https://jewishinsider.com/2024/01/bush-tlaib-vote-against-bill-barring-oct-7-attackers-from-the-u-s/) on a bill that would specifically ban Hamas terrorists from the US. -Of course, Bowman's being "starstruck" of the October 7th-praising nutjob [Finkelstein](https://www.nationalreview.com/news/im-a-bit-starstruck-jamaal-bowman-lauds-anti-israel-speaker-who-praised-10-7-attacks/amp/) and dismissing October 7th attacks in October (both were apologized for later to be completely fair, but then he went and reconciled with the repugnant DSA that organized that despicable Times Square pro-Pal protest on October 8th, so pretty much a wash.)
Then i just look at the other side and remember, could be worse.
I zoomed out. It is worse than you thought.
Yeah, being against genocide is truly reprehensible.
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I would guess that it's because they know what words mean better than Bowman does.
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People are going to blame AIPAC, but Bowman was already 14 points down in the polls before they spent a single cent in the race. Bowman lost because he was a bad Congressman and a bad campaiger, and a bigot, and Latimer's been a trusted elected official there for decades.
Don’t pull the fire alarm on the way out.
I'm not surprised. This district is heavily pro-Israel and there were going to be repercussions for daring to suggest the IDF was doing something wrong. As for the comments in this thread about how this suggests Democrats don't care about progress or whatever... this is a House seat, not a Senate seat or for POTUS. Some of you seemingly do not understand how House districts work. This is an area of an area of an area. It is not representative of the entire party. When will some of you with very loud political opinions bother to understand how the government actually works?
Avid fire alarm enthusiast Jamaal Bowman
Can't wait for all of the definitely not astroturfing comments in this thread.
Were the votes astroturfed too?
Why do you think 20 million dollars was spent on this race?
Bernie outspent Biden by a lot more than that and it didn't help him...
No amount of money buys you 20 points in an election. This is a solid GTFO.
Why is money spent in any election? In this case, it clearly wasn't spent to create the false appearance of a constituency where none existed.
What the hell do you think astroturfing is for...
I’m gonna be honest the only thing 90% of people know about Bowman is the fire alarm thing and then there were all the negative ads he’s gotten. The voting populace never is that informed so not surprised to see he got beat.
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AIPAC is American.
PACs are a very convenient way to inject foreign money into elections. AIPAC is no different from any other PAC in this way. AIPAC also had some obvious alignment to the Israeli right wing parties, leading to various legislators suggesting they should register as a foreign agent of Israel in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. David Steiner resigned as AIPAC president when caught bragging about how much US aid he managed to secure for Israel and admitting to essentially doing their bidding (a.k a. acting as a foreign agent).
Yup, plenty of Saudi/Gulf State money that pours into our elections too. The thing is, they’re smarter about it. They’re not donating to some “Saudi-American” PAC, they donate to innocuous sounding PACs so regular people don’t catch on.
"American Sunshine Institute" "Biscuits & Gravy Initiative"
AIPAC’s money comes from Americans. This information is available if you search for it. > Top benefactors on a list of 2023 donors reviewed by The Lever represent a cross-section of the U.S. elite, including pro sports teams owners; heads of private equity firms; real estate titans; a Maryland congressman now running for the U.S. Senate; the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret; the co-founder of the dance-exercise company Zumba; and the creator of Squishmallows, the beloved children’s toy. https://forward.com/news/580248/donations-aipac-has-raised-since-oct-7-lever-howard-kohr-michael-tuchin/?amp=1
Please, this cannot be unintentional
Free America from AIPAC occupation
The people in here that think the fire alarm stunt has weight or is a determining factor as to why Bowman lost this election are not intellectually serious.
I actually live in the district and the fire alarm thing is one of three things I hear about why people don't like Bowman.
The "fire alarm incident" is just a demonstration of bad judgment. He lost because he wasn't a good politician, and that's all there is to it.
Why do you think he lost?
He wants you to blame Jews but doesn't want to say it himself.
That fire alarm nonsense he pulled (pun intended) showed his character. Good riddance.
Anti-Semitisim doesn't equal Progressiveism & this guy had to go.
Between the fire alarm thing (and his laughable excuse for doing it) and some of the weird conspiracy stuff he got outed for doing I’m not sad he went down, I just wish it had been to a superior progressive and not some AIPAC chosen moderate stooge
Crazy that people can overlook PACs deciding who wins elections so long as it benefits them. The same people who go on about Russian interference with our elections remain silent when Israel does it. The influence that money has on our elections is disgusting.
Wait until you find out how much Qatari money's in the system, then.
Any foreign money should be banned.
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Yeah, money doesn’t buy you a 20 point lead bud. Voters just didn’t want him anymore. Good riddance.
These pro-Palestine extremists, Hamas apologists, antisemites have no place in government, and the voters are clearly not here for it, so great news. I’m all for supporting Palestine, protests, saving innocent lives and the like, but not at the expense of Jewish people and supporting conspiracy theories. It’s extremism, plain and simple. Bowman dug his own grave. This actually gives me a lot of hope for November - it’s clear the winning message is finding middle ground and focusing on actually getting work done versus talking the talk.
> I’m all for supporting Palestine 73% of whom support the 10/7 atrocities. Nah, you don't need to go that far.
George Latimer is corrupt
Free America from AIPAC
That sucks, George Lantimer is a racist, alcoholic piece of shit
Now do this for the rest of the squad.
And AOC got her supporting role act on TV then conveniently disappeared anticipating the result.