Nuts & Bolts—Inside the Democratic Campaign: The No. 1 rule in all campaigns

Welcome back to the weekly Nuts & Bolts Guide to small campaigns. Over the course of more than a decade, I’ve taken time to speak with campaign managers, field directors, communications directors, finance directors, and, of course, been a part of as many campaigns as I could. As election season gets close, there are always questions we ask of candidates who are considering running for office.  You would think the first question that the local party or campaign help would ask might be, “Can you raise money?” Another guess is, “How is your name…

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Ukraine update: We were so focused on NW Kyiv, we didn’t notice all the action on the other side

NBC’s Richard Engel got an unclassified look at the status map at a Ukrainian headquarters. Click the link for the full video, but here’s a screenshot of the map itself:  For all the talk about Ukraine encircling the Russian spearhead at Bucha, northwest of the city, it’s actually the northeastern side of Kyiv where counter-attacks are having the most success. Here’s @War_Mappers latest map of the area, updated last night:  Both of these maps have Bohdanivka, just northeast of Brovary, in Russian hands. But look at the thin tendril supplying…

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Amy’s Kitchen betrays its supposed progressive values, this week in the war on workers

Calls for a boycott of Amy’s Kitchen vegetarian products spread this week. Workers at the company have said they face long hours and unsafe working conditions, and they’re working with the Teamsters to file a workplace safety complaint with Cal/OSHA. The Teamsters are also challenging Amy’s B Corp certification, noting that B Corps’ alleged values include that “business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered.” YouTube Video <p>●&nbsp;<a href=”https://www.vice.com/en/article/88gb5p/amazon-warehouse-workers-stage-coordinated-strikes-demanding-dollar3-raises”>Workers at three Amazon warehouses staged walkouts</a>, demanding a $ 3 an hour raise, Lauren Kaori Gurley reports.</p> <p>●&nbsp;</p> <div…

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Greg Abbott continues to blame everyone but himself for his disastrous Operation Lone Star scheme

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star has been an unmitigated disaster, and he’s the one solely to blame for that. He’s the one who decided to use vulnerable asylum-seekers as a primary campaign prop. He’s the one who deployed soldiers to the border scheme. He’s the one who’s forced them to live in deplorable conditions when they could have been at home. Ultimately, it all points back to Abbott. (Personal responsibility, as Republicans used to like to say.) But as a leaked survey has revealed continued discontent among deployed soldiers (aside from…

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Republican Attorney General who killed a man with his car has to answer for new evidence

Back in September 2020, 55-year-old Joseph Boever was struck and killed by a car being driven by South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg. Boever was walking on the side of Highway 14 around 10:30 PM when Ravnsborg’s car drifted into the shoulder of the highway and hit Boever. Ravnsborg had been driving home from a Republican fundraiser and reportedly called 911 at the time, claiming to the dispatcher that he might have hit a deer. A sheriff’s deputy came out to quickly survey the attorney general’s car before giving him a ride home.…

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Oil and gas industry petitions to block pipeline monitoring rule that cites Enbridge failures

Two oil and gas industry groups have filed a petition in hopes of eliminating a Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) rule that would better hold them accountable. The American Petroleum Institute (API) and GPA Midstream want to halt the implementation of the “Pipeline Safety: Unusually Sensitive Areas for the Great Lakes, Coastal Beaches, and Certain Coastal Waters” rule that went into effect last month. The rule explicitly cites API member Enbridge’s failures with its Line 5 and Line 6B pipelines as to why stricter regulations must take effect. According to the…

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