The August 3 primary for that open Ohio Congressional seat is getting national attention. Progressive Nina Turner, who has made critical comments about Israel, is leading in the polls; and as we have reported repeatedly, the “Democratic Majority for Israel” PAC is a lead funder of her chief rival, Shontel Brown, the chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party. Though DMFI goes under the radar as “DMFI” in the ads it has bought for Brown– ads that don’t mention Israel.
Turner is a former co-chair of the Sanders campaign who has had long experience on the national stage, as even Brown concedes, and yesterday she appeared to take aim at the Democratic Majority for Israel as a “dirty money” group that targets progressives of color. Turner spoke to an Ohio women’s forum called “She’s Got Next”:
One… of the surprises is the level of dirty money that has come. This one group in particular really targets progressives and also progressives of color. They did the same thing to Jamaal Bowman, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and that kind of thing.. People have a right to support what they want. But the level of dirty money that is in politics– so we really do have to do something about campaign finance reform. And I tried to mirror through most of my donations to make sure that people know that grassroots power does exist.
Turner seems to mean DMFI. The group spent $1.5 million for Eliot Engel in his failed effort to win reelection in New York last year, losing to progressive insurgent Jamaal Bowman, a black man. DMFI has often attacked Ilhan Omar. It has supported candidates of color, such as Rep. Ritchie Torres in New York; though not progressives.
A second group that has supported Brown is Protecting Our Vote PAC. But it did not support Engel or Omar’s opponent.
The two Ohio candidates’ differences on Israel did not come up in yesterday’s forum, nor in other public comments recently. But Israel is clearly a huge factor in the funding and endorsements for the race, as Jewish Insider’s coverage of the campaign has also emphasized.
Turner has called for conditioning U.S. aid to Israel over its human rights violations. While Brown has expressed staunch support for Israel and reportedly “visited the country on a trip sponsored by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation not long ago.”
So no surprise, Brown has won the endorsement of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and Pro-Israel America, as well as the backing of pro-Israel House stalwarts Josh Gottheimer, David Trone, Ted Deutch, and Brad Schneider.
Turner has the support of a long list of progressives, including Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison and James Zogby.
The media are also afraid of the Israel issue. A long New York Times article on the battle for Ohio 11 (left open by Marcia Fudge’s appointment as Biden’s HUD secretary) all but leaves out the Israel angle. In fact the Times never mentions Israel, though it does mention Palestine.
[Brown’s] campaign is staffed by help from SKDK, a powerhouse Democratic political firm stocked with old hands from the Clinton and Obama days. Her endorsements include moderate House Democrats like Mr. Gottheimer, many of whom are motivated by Ms. Turner’s favorable statements on Palestinian rights.
The Washington Post characterizes the race as a “Biden loyalty test,” saying that the establishment opposition to Turner, including DMFI’s, stems from her progressive stances during last year’s primaries. The article leaves out Israel as an issue:
[N]early half a million dollars of PAC money has lashed Turner over the ways she advocated for Sanders…
Democratic Majority for Israel, which has given air cover to other Democrats challenged from the left, started running spots and sending mail that not only reminded voters of Turner’s Biden criticism but suggested that by opposing the party’s 2020 platform — most of Sanders’s delegates did so, protesting the absence of Medicare-for-all in the text — she had opposed “universal health care” and the rest of the Democrats’ agenda.
The establishment is plainly wary of Nina Turner’s economic justice platform, including Medicare for All and a $15 minimum wage. Shontel Brown hedges on such issues, supporting them in principle but not as practical political goals.
Jacobin leaves Israel out of its coverage of corporate lobbyists “declaring war on Nina Turner.” The Intercept also leaves out the Israel issue in a report on Democratic Majority for Israel’s support of Brown titled, “Oil and Gas Heir Funding Super PAC attacking Nina Turner.” The article focuses on Stacy Schusterman, a prime contributor to Democratic Majority for Israel.
The Intercept suggests that Schusterman is primarily motivated by the fact that she is an heir to an oil and gas fortune, and that Nina Turner will back the Green New Deal. But Shontel Brown says, “I support the principles laid out in the Green New Deal,” and as for Schusterman and Democratic Majority for Israel, they indicated clearly to the Intercept, this is about Israel.
Schusterman, for her part, did not say what her position was on the Green New Deal, but said through a spokesperson that she supported President Joe Biden’s climate agenda and had made “investments” in “clean tech” and “efforts to protect the environment.” The spokesperson said, “Stacy’s support for DMFI, and the candidates it endorses, is based on her commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and the shared values and interests of these two democratic allies.”…
A spokesperson for Democratic Majority for Israel said they strongly support the Paris climate accord and Biden’s climate efforts. They declined to say whether the group supports the Green New Deal.
I believe that Schusterman is in this race because of Israel, and oil and gas has nothing to do with it. In the latest federal filing, the Schusterman Family Foundation, which Stacy Schusterman chairs, gave $1.5 million to the AIPAC arm that sends congresspeople and other politicians to Israel, including Shontel Brown; $2 million to Birthright, which sends young Jews to Israel on a free trip; $250,000 to the rightwing Israel advocacy group the David Project; $250,000 to Honeymoon Israel, which is all about paying for newlywed’s trips you know where– so long as there’s one Jewish partner; $500,000 to Onward Israel; $150,000 to Renewal of Israeli Democracy; and $62,500 to Engaging Millennials on Israel.
Speaking of leaving out Israel, you have surely seen the reports on the spyware sold by an Israeli company and used by various bad actors to hack cell phones of dissidents, human rights activists, and journalists. NPR downplays the Israel angle in its coverage. So does Nick Schifrin of the News Hour. One prominent mention of Israel, then nothing. Imagine if this company was based in China or Russia.
