Progressive Representative Donna Edwards (D-MD) is the latest member of the House of Representative to be targeted for removal by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC, a right-wing pro-Israeli lobbying group that is normally allied with the Republican Party, is using the same template against Edwards that it used against former Representatives Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Earl Hilliard (D-AL). Because of what AIPAC and its supporters believe is a weak voting record on Israel, a potential primary challenger to Edwards is being groomed by the Israeli Lobby to take on Edwards in the primary. The potential challenger is Maryland Delegate Herman Taylor, who, like Edwards, is an African-American.
Taylor represents the AIPAC strategy of dividing and conquering the African-American community in order to ensure that black members of Congress remain subservient to the Israeli agenda.
In 2002, AIPAC and wealthy Jewish donors poured tons of money into the campaigns of primary challengers to McKinney and Hilliard, Denise Majette and Artur Davis, respectively. Both McKinney and Hilliard were defeated by their primary opponents and AIPAC ensured the two members of the House, who were critical of Israeli policies, were defeated by pro-Israeli candidates. Majette and Davis went on to win the general election and seats in the House.
In 2004, after Majette gave up her seat to run for the U.S. Senate, McKinney was elected to the Georgia Fourth District House seat. However, AIPAC simply found another willing African-American primary challenger in Hank Johnson, who beat McKinney in a primary run-off. Johnson went on to win the House seat in the general election.
On June 1, the right-wing Capitol Hill newspaper Politico ran a hit piece on Edwards titled "Should Edwards Be Shvitzing?" Shvitzing is a Yiddish word meaning "sweating."
WMR sources tell us that Edwards is far from "shvitzing" and in remarks on June 2 at the annual Campaign for America's Future conference of leading Democratic progressives in Washington, DC, Edwards said United States foreign policy in the Middle East must be in "U.S. interests."
Seated left to right: Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and Donna Edwards (D-MD). The three are members of the House Progressive Caucus, which now numbers a record 70 members. AIPAC's targeting of progressives over lack of support for Israel also ensures that America will never see a single-payer public health care system. The Progressive Caucus overwhelmingly supports H.R. 676 that will create a single-payer health care system for all Americans. In other words, AIPAC's picking off of Democratic Progressives in primaries and general elections is injurious to the health and well-being of every American.
Edwards beat the much more pro-Israel Representative Al Wynn in the Maryland 4th district in the 2008 primary. However, according to House insiders, Wynn had his own problems with AIPAC after it was discovered that he had contributed to the re-election campaign of AIPAC's primary target McKinney in her Georgia primary race against Majette.
