[Peace-discuss] "Hyper-AIPAC" Senate Dems Revealed Themselves on the Cruz Amendment Vote

[Robert Naiman]

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159157962777656

"Hyper-AIPAC" Senate Dems Revealed Themselves on the Cruz Amendment Vote

I have long argued that it doesn’t help anyone understand the world to
describe some Democrat in Congress as “close to AIPAC,” because they are
almost all “close to AIPAC.” What is more helpful in understanding the
world is to distinguish Democrats from “blue states” who support AIPAC even
when this exposes them to negative public scrutiny, because most Democrats
from “blue states” are doing something different. I call these Democrats
“hyper-AIPAC.”

Yesterday’s vote on the Cruz amendment to the Kaine Iran war powers bill
provided such an opportunity for distinction. Kaine went to the floor and
said: this amendment is hostile to my bill, and I urge you to oppose it.
Since all Democrats were supporting Kaine’s bill, you would normally expect
Democrats from blue states to oppose the amendment to Kaine’s bill that
Kaine had just asked them to oppose. But the vote was an AIPAC loyalty
test, so Senate Democrats from blue states who are more loyal to AIPAC than
to the Senate Democratic leadership voted for the Cruz amendment. Here they
are:

Carper (D-DE)
Cortez Masto (D-NV)
Hassan (D-NH)
Peters (D-MI)
Rosen (D-NV)
*Shaheen (D-NH)*
Sinema (D-AZ)
Stabenow (D-MI)

The presence on this list of *Jeanne Shaheen*, who played a crucial role in
sabotaging the Sanders-Lee-Murphy Yemen War Powers Resolution in March
2018, is particularly interesting, in light of the bio of co-chair Todd
Richman at the so-called “Democratic Majority for Israel,” an “associated
force” of AIPAC
<https://theintercept.com/2020/02/14/aipac-anti-bernie-sanders-ads-nevada/>
:

https://demmajorityforisrael.org/todd-richman/

“Todd Richman is a top Democratic fundraiser raising money for *several
Members of the House leadership* and several US Senators including; Sherrod
Brown, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Manchin, and *Jeanne Shaheen*. Richman served as
a Democratic political consultant and worked for numerous elected
officials, including: Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Congressman Steve
Rothman (D-NJ), NY State Attorney General Robert Abrams (D-NY) and
Congressman Stephen Solarz (D-NY). Currently, Richman is a Managing
Director and Financial Advisor for a firm in New York City. Richman has
served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and was a John
Kerry Trustee in his 2004 bid for the Presidency. He has also led and
participated in several missions to Israel with elected officials.”
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