Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday singled out AIPAC as a ‘special interest group pushing a wildly unpopular agenda,’ starting a new debate about the pro-Israel organization’s involvement in the party

The debate has been simmering since AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC spent unprecedented sums to unseat two progressive Democrats in their respective primaries over the summer – largely, but not exclusively, bankrolled by donations from Republican megadonors in an election year that was far and away the most expensive in history.

As internal Democratic debate over the party’s ills and its future reached fever pitch in recent days, AIPAC was once again catapulted to the center of the matter.

“Weird to have a whole discourse about ‘special interest groups’ that completely leaves out corporate and industry lobbies – by far the most influential ‘groups’ in the Democratic Party,” Jeremy Slevin, a senior adviser to AIPAC foe Sen. Bernie Sanders, wrote on Sunday.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the most nationally prominent AIPAC critic despite, ironically, being attacked from the left as an apologist for the group earlier this summer, singled out the pro-Israel organization while echoing Slevin’s point. “If people want to talk about members of Congress being overly influenced by a special interest group pushing a wildly unpopular agenda that pushes voters away from Democrats then they should be discussing AIPAC,” she tweeted in response.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    Re-organizing the court is a normal bill. And yes the Republicans are going to make sure anything they don’t like is highly controversial. If that’s why you aren’t doing something then you’re just keeping their seat warm for them.

    • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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      27 days ago

      Controversial as in even getting 48 Democrats on board would be difficult, but even if they did then they still couldn’t pass a normal bill without Republican help as I outlined they were outnumbered for all 4 years.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        The independents are more progressive than them, not less. And keeping the filibuster is a self inflicted injury.

        I have no sympathy for the boy who does nothing more than cry wolf while he loses his sheep.

        • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          Sinema voted alongside Trump’s policy stance more than 50% of the time. Angus King Jr 37%. Now Joe Manchin is also an Independent.

          But on average you might be right, because Bernie Sanders weighs the average down with 16.7%.

          Using Trump as a measure for conservative, the average Democrat is quite a bit more progressive than an Independent.