Free Republic

Rep. David Trone, D-Md., who was recently blasted for using a disparaging term for Black people during a House hearing, is officially the largest self-funded candidate of a Senate primary race in U.S. history. Trone contributed $18.5 million of his own money to his Maryland Senate campaign, Fox News confirmed. And he brought in a total of over $40 million, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). No candidate running in a Senate primary has contributed this amount in recorded Senate primary history. "David Trone has been crystal clear that he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to...

Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) received backlash from several lawmakers Thursday after saying “colored people” during an explanation of an amendment he pitched for the National Defense Authorization Act, provoking a call from Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) to have his offensive words stricken from the record. Crane said his amendment to the NDAA would have prevented “race, gender, religion, or political affiliations,” from being used in the recruitment of military members, adding the amendment had “nothing to do” with “whether colored people, or Black people, or anybody can serve.” Crane’s use of the outdated term received a stern response from Beatty,...

Police arrested Congressional Black Caucus chair Joyce Beatty on Thursday afternoon after she led pro-voting rights protesters into a Senate office building. Officers moved in as Beatty, 71, and a handful of other activists, including Women's March co-founders Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory, chanted, 'Fight for justice,' and, 'End the filibuster.' Capitol Police later said they had arrested nine people for 'demonstrating in a prohibited area on Capitol Grounds.'

**SNIP** But to believe Bowman’s ouster of Engel is a sign that the Ocasio-Cortez wing of the Democratic Party is taking over would be a severe misreading of the political landscape at the congressional level - and nationally. She attracts an inordinate amount of attention for a first-term lawmaker, keeping up an active and innovative social media presence, and appearing frequently on television. It’s easy to conflate the publicity with political influence. In fact, the vast majority of Justice Democrats who have run over the past two House cycles have lost, often in humiliating fashion. Since emerging on the national...

Pelosi, Beatty tour to defend health-care reformBy Emily Wilkins The Columbus Dispatch Friday August 17, 2012 6:09 AM Nancy Pelosi ripped criticism of the federal health-care law by GOP presidential ticket Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as “not true” during an appearance yesterday in Columbus. The U.S. House minority leader defended the Affordable Care Act at a panel she attended with Joyce Beatty, Democratic candidate for Ohio’s 3rd Congressional District. Ryan, who spoke at Ohio’s Miami University this week, said President Barack Obama had “raided” the Medicare budget and taken $716 billion to fund the Affordable Care Act. “The Ryan...