The Most Recent Attack: Bernadette Greene-Placentia, the Democratic nominee for Congress in AZ 8, was attacked and raped by two men who called her a “….cratic Bitch!” Dare I write, “Democratic Bitch for Congress!”

It was a late night in August, and Bernadette was out repairing her campaign signs. This was a targeted attack. They knocked her out … and the rest of the ugly details are in the news story below.

Photo by Craig Beckman, PhoenixNewTimes

Ugly, Bloody Details: Congressional candidate is raped while repairing her campaign signs.

Bernadette is a working class candidate and works to save money wherever she can in her under-funded campaign, so she was out late at night checking on signs and repairing some.

Bernadette is not just a “fill-in” candidate. She has amazing credentials, having driven semi-trucks four million miles across the country, started her own trucking business, and later selling it so she can run for office. She knows and understands the working class people of America.

She’s married and has a daughter. She will bring an important voice to Congress. She’s spent her life solving real problems and carrying serious responsibilities. She understands how affordability for food, gas, diesel fuel, health care and education have been thrown out the window by this Congress.

I AM ANGRY FOR HER! JOIN ME IN MY ANGER!

Bernadette for Congress

Bernadette — raped and left bleeding after two men attacked her, is NOT! the first Democratic woman to be attacked in Arizona. Remember Representative Gabrielle Giffords who was shot in the head while campaigning in 2011. After many surgeries, she survived.

Outside of Arizona, last month Dr. Amy Acton, Ohio’s Democratic candidate for governor, was saved when her staff stepped in and blocked the armed man with two pistols and a taser, who now has been charged. Others have been attacked, too, including Nancy Pelosi whose house was broken into and her husband was beaten with a hammer.

The misogyny behind these attacks is unacceptable.

But Bernadette has rallied. Her friends stood with her while she healed; it took some time before she felt well enough to talk about what happened and report the crime to the police.

She realized then that every day in her campaign, she speaks out; she fights for Arizonans; she calls out the wrongs, testing policies with AZ voters by asking, “Does it make life safer, more affordable, and more secure for the people of Arizona’s 8th District?”

I saw her do this in person in my living room when I hosted a fundraiser for her in Washington. We could feel the believability, her authenticity. She is who we need in Washington.

Bernadette reflected; she recognized that she didn’t feel like she could keep fighting if she “weren’t also fighting for women who are victims of sexual assault.”

Bravely, she got back on the campaign trail. She continues to emphasize her values as she contrasts them with her opponent’s record. Bernadette also speaks strongly for public safety and victim advocacy.

In contrast, her opponent — freshman Abe Hamadeh, has chosen to stand with rapists.

NOT-Funny … COINCIDENCE?

On the same day the PhoenixNewTimes reported, “Congressional candidate is raped while repairing her campaign signs,” the paper featured an editorial:

“Hamadeh goes to bat for infamous accused rapists Andrew and Tristan Tate.”

Journalist Zach Buchanan wrote, “Rep. Abe Hamadeh seems to suggest you should be able to get away with crimes if you leave the country fast enough.”

The story made me wonder whether freshman Congressman Abe Hamadeh even believes rape is a crime? Hamadeh represents AZ 8, the District Bernadette is running for Congress in.

He is endorsed by Donald Trump, a convicted rapist, and only a few organizations. To be fair, he did release a rather civilized statement to the news about the rape of Bernadetter.

Bernadette has strong local endorsements, especially by the people who know the work: labor unions, health care, and equality organizations, women’s groups, working people and community leaders. Her support crosses labels and party lines.

She stands for us! Unlike Hamadeh, she doesn’t spend her time defending well-known rapists.

Do You Live in Arizona?

Call your friends who live in AZ 8. Ask them to vote for Bernadette. This is Maricopa county tucked in between AZ 4 — Democrat Greg Stanton’s district and AZ 6 where Democratic challenger Joanna Mendoza is running a strong campaign.

There are all kinds of working class voters who may be overlooked. They are all around us. We meet them when we pay for our groceries or our dry cleaning; we wave at the garbage collectors or smile at the street workers; now, we need to take time to ask them to vote for Bernadette.

Ask your AZ friends to …

• Take a day off and volunteer to knock doors.
• Write a letter to your local newspaper. There is quite a bit of coverage … make sure people see the stories and earn about Bernadette.
• Contribute a bit more than you can afford: Bernadette at ActBlue
• Reach out to national women’s organizations and ask them to support this talented, working class woman in their last weeks of contribution strategies.

While we’re cleaning up Congress, getting rid of all those rubber-stamp-Republicans who voted 7 times for the ILLEGAL war in Iran, and supported making everything cost more because of the Iran War and the One Big Beautiful Bill, getting rid of Hamadeh must be a priority.

Energize Your Anger!

Send a quick contribution to Bernadette at ActBl

Ask your senior friends to contribute. Bernadette is endorsed by the Alliance for Retired Americans.

Forward this column. Ask labor unions to go door-to-door at the local level and to push their national organizations to help.

Ask the teachers to get behind Bernadette: American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA).

Go to the Labor Unions. Remind them of her local labor endorsements:

• Labors International Union — LiUNA
• Iron Workers Union
• Teamsters
• Building Trades, AFLCIO

CLOSE THE DEAL by making sure Bernadette gets to Congress.

About Bernadette:

Morgan Fischer, PhoenixNewTimes: Congressional candidate is raped while repairing her campaign signs

Karyn Wilkens, Yahoo News: Democratic Congressional Candidate Shares Harrowing Account of Being Raped While Fixing Campaign Signs

Newsweek: Democratic candidate speaks out about alleged rape while campaigning

The New Republic: Democratic Candidate Reports Being Raped Near Her Campaign Sign

About Bernadette’s Opponent:

Zach Buchanan, PhoenixNewTimes: Hamadeh goes to bat for infamous accused rapists Andrew and Tristan Tate

TJ L’Heureus, PhoenixNewTimes: Rep. Hamadeh retweets man credibly accused of sex trafficking and rape

Barbara Leach

Aug 19, 2026

The White House — Ballroom Construction

The Above-Ground Defiance

Construction continues at the White House, including on a South Lawn helipad and the new ballroom, on Monday. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

The Ballroom, Trump’s “wanna be” dance hall, is intended for billionaires to dance in as they dance on the graves of the many people who built this country. But we’re still here, i.e., those of us who believe in not only the past but also the future of the United States, are here.

We have a lot to do. Yes — protesting and voting. Yes — battling in Congress. Yes — helping farmers feed hungry children in the U.S. and the world. Yes — ending the war in Iran. Yes — fighting off the greedy billionaires!

One of our country’s defenders is the National Trust for Historic Preservation. When Trump decided he wanted to build this dance hall, he skipped all the rules for protecting the White House, including getting Congress’ permission and the National Trust’s agreement. Records show he secretly planned for two months how to skip all the preservation rules as he planned to destroy the entire East Wing of the White House.

SURPRISE … SURPRISE! At his bidding, the big equipment — excavators, back hoes, and bulldozers, just drove onto the White House grounds and began gobbling up the whole East Wing while dump trucks carried everything away. It took three days; the whole of Washington was shocked. Speechless, in fact.

Congress once again was ignored. The National Trust was left in the dark.

Lawsuits followed. Courts ordered construction to stay underground.

Trump brought in the backhoes anyway — digging his $900 million “security bunker” (formerly known as a party hall) straight through Court orders and the East Wing. Now, as the photo shows, he’s defied the law again by pushing construction high above ground.

• First estimate: $100 Million (Zero taxpayer dollars promised)
• Second estimate: $400 Million (Federal money requested)
• Third tax bill: $900 Million and rising (More appropriations required).

Trump’s excuses for “needing” the dance hall have varied:

Big events at the White House usually take place in a huge White Tent, but Trump has always complained that this is tacky.

Note: I live in DC and no one — no one! I know, having been invited to a big White House event held in the big white tent, has ever felt that it was a shabby, “tacky” event.

$900 MILLION+ means Trump needs more excuses for why the project — the dance hall — is necessary. Now he claims the reason is “security.” It’s not just a dance hall. It’s an underground bunker, connecting “somewhere” to the underground parts of the White House. Supposedly?

But wait, there’s more tacky going on. See the UFC fight arena.

The South Lawn Cage Match

See photo at https://share.google/flwWnvvxC5Gii42DY

The UFC arena on the White House South Lawn on June 11, 2026. Credit: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty

The UFC arena on the White House South Lawn on June 11, 2026. Credit: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty

The UFC arena on the White House South Lawn on June 11, 2026. Credit: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty

Trump traded 250 years of historic presidential lawn for a bloodsport cage.

Restoring the grass alone will cost at least $1 million — courtesy of a lawn care CEO sponsor — after the National Park Service rules were tossed out the window. Or, maybe I should say, flushed down the toilet.

But wait, there is more tacky.

The $450 Million Reflecting Pool Disaster

1. Painted “Flag Blue” for America’s 250th. Cost: $14 Million.
2. Drove the presidential motorcade straight through the wet paint, leaving tracks.
3. Dark paint heated the water … massive algae bloomed … chemicals used to kill the algae murdered 50+ dead ducks, and a cracked pool liner.
4. The fix: another $35 million in taxpayer money to scratch it all and start over.

Visual Analysis Finds Dozens of Defects in Reflecting Pool Renovation, The New York Times (see full article at end of this report)

Trump blamed vandals. David Hearn, an Olympic winner, who dared to put his hand in the water, was accused of tearing up the pool liner. But the tire marks from Trump’s motorcade drive-through in the freshly painted pool told the truth of why $14 million of renovation do-over costs for painting the pool dark blue proved a failure.

Judge Jeannine Pirro tossed Trump’s law suit, leaving taxpayers with a $34 Million do-over bill.

The Mall is Dead (and the “Vandals” Did It)

The grass on the Mall is dead. Trump sings his same song, “Vandals ruined it.”

This summer has been a heat monster in Washington. From the beginning — building the stage, Trump giving his tacky campaign speech on the 4th of July, and then, taking the stage down, the temperature soared close to 100 degrees with barely a sprinkle of rain. Of course, the grass died, but no, Trump says, “Vandals did it…”

Coming Soon to Your Capitol: The list of “tacky” grows.

1. Tearing up Washington’s only public golf course.
2. A hand-picked National Garden of American Heroes.
3. “Trump de Arch”: a giant Triumphal Arch to honor himself, planned directly in Reagan National’s (DCA) flight path. If built, planes will practically have to jump over it — a monument to “Bone Spurs” right at the entrance to Arlington Cemetery. A lawsuit was filed this week to stop it before ground is broken.

More fiascos can be predicted.

Dan Diamond, Jonathan Edwards, Justin Jouvenal, The Washington Post: Ballroom opponents request to keep project on hold

Liza Anders, Doug Adams, PBS: How Trump’s construction projects are changing Washington and costing taxpayersWill Weissert, AP:

UFC Lights! Camera! Cage match! The White House lawn’s Octagon is ready for Trump’s 80th birthday bash

Rah Saha, Elaina Shao, Andrew Leyden, Yulya Parshina- Kottas, The New York Times: Visual Analysis Finds Dozens of Defects in Reflecting Pool Renovation

Aug 05, 2026

Sometimes I just want to write …. you just can’t make this shit up!

Erasing the past won’t make America beautiful — it will make us blind to history.

First came Trump’s March 2025 executive order that called for “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” He directed the White House Domestic Policy Council to evaluate the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Unsurprisingly, the Council’s review declared the museum is full of “radical ideology.”

American History books — AI generated

To fight this alleged “radical ideology,” Trump ordered warning signs to be posted as close as possible outside the Museum. The signs will be located on nearby National Park Service land because Trump has better control of the Park Service than he does the Smithsonian Institute. The result?

Historians are Shocked!

We all should be shocked.

History builds on itself. Sometimes people pretend things didn’t happen for a while — see the renaming of the Civil War, i.e., the so-called “War Between the States” and the 100 years of Jim Crow laws that followed. Jim Crow began in 1877 when Union soldiers left the South; it ended slowly with a series of laws that began in 1954 when public schools were desegregated, followed by the end of segregation in public places in 1964 (Brown v. Board of Education), The Voting Rights Act in 1965, and in 1967, Loving v VA that stopped the banning of marriages between people of different races.

Today, in Trump’s world, he is returning us to the world of “pretending” things did not happen.

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Now, he works to build a new era of selective memory.

On a personal note, I remember being taught in junior high school that “the Civil War was over.” And it was … to us. My school — at least beginning in 1952 when I went to kindergarten, was not segregated; nor was the swimming pool.

As I grewer older, I began to learn that ooops! … learning that the “Civil War was over” wasn’t quite right. People were still arguing, i.e., “pretending” the Civil War did not change the way we do business and had not specifically rewritten the way our nation must function.

But we made progress — lots of progress which the National Museum of American History documents, telling the story honestly and sometimes eloquently.

Now, here we go again. The extreme right-wing dominated Supreme Court is doing everything it can to turn the clock back to those olden days, creating a new version of the old “Jim Crow” years.

• The Court chips away at “Rule of Law” that has been established over decades.
• Trump’s SAVE Act, passed by the House but not the Senate, seeks to disenfranchise many of us — particularly married women and people of color. Estimates are as many as about one-third of us would face new barriers to keep us from voting.
• Hegseth’s one-by-one firings, blockcades on the earned promotions of women and Blacks, and across the board, firings targeting highly qualified members of our military who disagree with Hegseth and Trump about national security, weaken our military and threaten the U.S. record for leadership worldwide.

These are all systemic rollbacks that attack our nation’s progress.

I used to describe progress as how when things are done wrong, we expose them, we right them, and we learn from them. But now I realize that the losers’ “fights” happen over and over. It is a continuous loop.

Progress, and the truth of history, are actively being rolled back now.

Trump’s strategy:

1. Deny progress: the truth and the achievements did NOT happen.
2. Erase history: Remove the evidence and the foundational facts that allowed us to learn, repair, and build a better society.
3. Gloss over the past: pretend systemic issues never existed.

The result is dangerous. Without an honest accounting of history, the problems previous generations solved can no longer serve as warnings and the laws that protected us from these problems are being discarded — “not necessary” anymore.

This is not progress. There is nothing beautiful about it. Rather, it is a flat-out denial of historical truth and a blatant attempt to gas-light us.

— YouTube: Report on Trump’s attack on the Smithsonian Museum of American History

— Robin Pogrebin, Zachary Small, The New York Times: Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum

— YouTube: Trump orders warning signs outside American History …

— Phillip Kennicot, The Washington Post: I’ve visited the Smithsonian hundreds of times. Warnings aren’t needed.

Practical Politics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Aug 02, 2026

The dealmaking numbers in his 2nd term add up quickly.

Poor Donald — he says he “got absolutely no credit” for limiting his dealmaking during his first term. The poor thing, he only raked in $594 million while he was president the first time. Here he is, unappreciated for that “puny” $594 million accomplishment, so this time, in his second term, he’s going for the gold:

$2.24 Billion so far:

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

DJT now, still — not even two years finished in his second term, he’s already raked in $2.24 Billion.

OMG! … that’s about 4 1/2 times what he made in the whole four years of his first term. At this rate, he will take home more than $5 billion by the end of this term. These four items are his take-home from the biggest deals he’s cut so far, while supposedly serving us as our president:

$1.44 Billion in crypto deals

$799 Million from World Liberty Financial

$636 Million from the Trump memecoin

$549 Million from domestic golf and real estate deals

These are NOT chump change. Then there’s the “small” stuff to add in, e.g., $125 Million in foreign golf and real estate; $117 Million from legal settlements, and $17 Million in merchandise and publishing. Forbes did the data survey which first presented these numbers … the grand total: $2.24 Billion! Yes, not an M for million, but a B for billion.

These numbers do NOT include the enormous amounts of money his family is making, as they step up to “manage” the many foreign deals relating to Trump’s governing.

Under usual circumstances, US presidents put what wealth they have into blind trusts, but Trump refuses to do so, and Congress repeatedly refuses to make him. Although Trump does not take the $400,000 salary that the law allows, he claims he is the only president not to do so. However, Fact Check says even this is not true.

If I had a magic wand, I would insist he take the salary, and most important, I would prohibit Trump, and also all his family’s money-making that connects to government policy-making and the related conflicts of interest galore, from continuing.

Dear Readers, you are the voters. Is this what you expected?

Leave a comment

Dan Alexander, Forbes: Trump Is Making Three Times As Much In White House As He Did In Business

Andrea Fuller, Daniel Wood and Ben Protess, The New York Times: Trump Has Made Billions in Office. Will His Party Pay Politically?

Clara Ence Force and Dan Diamond, The Washington Post: Trump’s wealth grew on a scale without modern presidential precedent

Practical Politics is a reader-supported publication and a proud member of Okoboji Writers Retreat. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I never charge but I do incur continuing costs so to those of you who are paid subscribers, here is an extra THANK YOU!

Barbara Leach

Not long ago, I sat down to write about CHRIS JONES, Iowa’s newly nominated Democratic candidate for Secretary of Agriculture. He’s a man with concrete solutions for both our agricultural system and our health crisis — with a plan to stop the pervasive cancers targeting our farmers, our young people, and all of us who drink the bad water.

Meeting Chris reminded me of my own journey into farming. It also reminded me of the shared path that brought us all here: a point where Iowans desperately need leadership to break free from the cancer “trap” while keeping family farms profitable.

Introducing CHRIS JONES!

I first met Chris at Okoboji Writers Retreat (OKR). He had just completed his book: The Swine Republic: Struggles With the Truth About Agriculture and Water Quality

Chris was sort of leaning back in an old, definitely uncomfortable OKR chair, feet sprawled out, wearing an open-collar shirt and jeans so worn out they looked fashionable. He was teaching an OKR writing class at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, a state-owned campus with aging buildings and a spectacular view of West Lake Okoboji. I aimed to learn to be at writer at OKR.

As I got to know him, I learned his backstory … and how Iowa’s leadership tried to hide the reality of what is happening to Iowa’s water, health, and to us. Iowa’s governor did not want Iowans to know the reason so many Iowans are getting cancer.

The BATTLE for CLEAN WATER DATA

Chris is a former research engineer at the University of Iowa. He helped develop Iowa’s first real-time public water quality sensor network. The network gave Iowans unprecedented, transparent access to information about the health of their rivers and creeks, i.e., the exact data Iowa’s state leadership did not want anyone to learn about.

Now — because Chris fought back, anyone with a computer can look up the health of their local waterways.

• The Reality: The data reveals exactly how bad Iowa’s water quality truly is. It isn’t good, it’s bad, and getting worse.
• The Backlash: Because the governor didn’t want the public to know; pressure was applied to shut down Chris’ project, or at least to keep it a secret.
• The Outcome: Chris chose integrity over secrets. He resigned from his job, but kept the data alive and updated … the website lives on due to Chris’ diligence. He wrote his book; now, he runs for office to fix the system from within.

What I admire most about Chris is his backbone. He is fighting for the health of every Iowan.

The Culprits in Our Water

Iowa has the second highest cancer rate for new cancer diagnoses per 100,000 people. This crisis is caused by “dirty” contaminated water. In blunt, non-scientific language, these are the culprits:

• Nitrates
• Synthetic chemicals
• Unmanaged hog and cattle waste.

In Chris’ words,

“Iowans shouldn’t have to choose between prosperity OR safe drinking water, freedom OR safe beaches, livestock OR wildlife, and love it OR leave it.

A prosperous countryside AND clean water for all can co-exist, with courageous leadership and vision.”

Chris’ Four-Point Plan for Change

1 — A more diverse rural landscape.

2 — Tax-payer funded off-ramps.

3 — A strategic retreat from growing corn for fuel-ethanol.

4 — A healthier, more livable Iowa.

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You can read more about his platform directly: Chris Jones for Iowa.

#2 particularly stands out to me because it mirrors what I have supported for years. USDA’s “bad science” was paid for with taxpayer-dollars; USDA used it to draw farmers into an industrial ag. system decades ago. Because government (USDA) led the way into this crisis, it is only fair that federal resources should fund the transition path for getting us out of it.

The Real Stakes: Cancer in Iowa

The data is terrifying: 2026 Cancer in Iowa predicts 21,700 new, invasive cancers will be diagnosed this year. 6,400 Iowans will die from cancer this year. This is for only one year!

The kids are getting cancer, too, and worst of all, Iowa’s young adults are getting it at a seriously higher rate than do young adults nationwide in the U.S.

AI generated photo — young person ill and in the hospital

Iowa’s farmers are particularly vulnerable to cancer.

• Iowa’s Most Deadly Kinds of Cancer: Lung Cancer, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers.
• Iowa’s Most Commonly Diagnosed Cancers: Breast, prostate, melanoma, and oral cancers.

Why This Hits Home

This brings me back to my own story. Ages ago, entirely too young, I got married in Atlantic, Iowa. I was a town girl, just graduated from High School when I married a farmer named Jim. Until I moved to his farm, I had never weeded anything more serious than a flower bed. They were my mother’s flowers; I didn’t plant them.

Over the years, I learned a lot — perhaps too much — about agriculture, industrial row crops, laying hens, and livestock production.

Every winter back then, USDA’s Extension Service hosted Monday night meetings in town for farmers. Jim always attended, ready to learn the latest cutting edge techniques. He always took advantage of these meetings, each designed to teach the latest/newest ag. farming practices. One Monday night, he came home extra-excited.

“There are these new chemicals that stop the weeds from growing,” he told me. “We won’t have to cultivate nearly so much and this will help us farm more land!”

I asked … “I thought those weeds helped build back the land?“

Jim replied, “Oh no. That doesn’t matter anymore.”

USDA said it didn’t matter, so it didn’t matter to us, or to anyone else.

Decades later, we learned just how much it does matter. The new farming practices taught by USDA and its land grant colleges relied heavily on synthetic chemicals, anhydrous ammonia, and bigger and bigger, ultimately massive! concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Most of these CAFOs lacked safe places for the animal waste management.

AI-generated photo of a big farming operation

“Shit” — chemicals, anhydrous, and animal waste, that have no safe place to go, result in run-off …. run-off that lands in our water, rivers, creeks, and catch pools once the land has absorbed all it possibly can. It took decades but USDA’s “new” farming practices have caught up with us. USDA has added cover crops to its approved farming practices, with a goal of making up for some of the damage chemicals have done to the land, but that is only a tiny step forward.

A Path Forward

I didn’t just learn this from watching input costs skyrocket while working the land and worrying about markets and weather.

After leaving the farm, I eventually found my way to USDA, spending 12 years as a senior appointee (Clinton and later Obama)at USDA, doing my best to bridge the gap between practical farming knowledge and university-led science.

I remember when one official said to me, “Well, we’ll just tell them to grow other crops. These new ones are better.”

But changing crops and changing farming practices isn’t that simple; it comes with a massive cost. Different crops require entirely different machinery, and soil that has absorbed all the chemicals for years does not always adapt easily. In the meantime, our water pays the price.

To change anything in agriculture, a massive, coordinated effort is required. That change can begin with Chris Jones. He is running to be elected as Secretary of Agriculture. (Yes, Iowa really does elect this position every four years. That time is now!)

We need his courageous, visionary leadership to kick off the changes Iowa so desperately needs.

To learn more about his platform or support his campaign, visit Chris Jones for Iowa.

Practical Politics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber

Barbara Leach

Jul 22, 2026

One of my favorite commentators — Simon Rosenberg at Hopium, said today, “the only people who should pay for this disastrous and illegal war are the oligarchs who put Trump into power and are slavishly propping him up now.”

That’s our position here at Practical Politics, too. The rest of us, i.e., the non-oligarchs, are paying more — MUCH MORE!! than our fair share for Trump’s and Netanyahu’s Iran war. We pay the price:

• Grocery & Gas Prices: UP
• Investments in Healthcare & Schools: DOWN

Also terrible, the EPSTEIN FILES are still caught in Great Cover-up orchestrated by Trump and his personal lawyer/wanna-be Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Our country is feeling the pain, and voters are reacting. Jobs are getting harder to find, and even the new-skill IT and AI-trained people are losing their jobs, so life is becoming more complicated day by day, all with higher living costs to face. The new college graduates are moving home, too. At the same time, the our country’s voters are looking for a new future.

“While Washington causes the pain, voters are ready for solutions. Across the country, working-class champions are stepping up to turn the tide. Here’s a quick look at four races where Democrats are taking the fight to the establishment:”

GOOD NEWS for Our Candidates and HOPE for our Country!

Here is a Look-See peak at four of the Dems’ best candidates — Iowa, Texas, Alaska, and Maine. We’ll do another share soon with four more.

IOWA

Democratic nominee JOSH TUREK is running ahead of his opponent — Ashley Hinson who pledged to be ‘Trump’s strongest ally.” Ohhh my! … Hinson just doesn’t get it.

This morning, even FOX News can’t spin the numbers which forced FOX! to rate the Iowa race for US Senate as a TOSS-UP!!!

Produced by FOX NEWS — original photo owned by Turek campaign

TUREK, a two-term state legislator, won his primary big time, carrying 96 out of 99 counties. He’s the son of a Vietnam Veteran who was in Agent Orange, and fights off Spina-Bifida daily. After 12 surgeries as a kid, he earned two gold medals in ParaOlympic basketbal, and proved he’s a fighter.

Now as Iowa Democrats’s Senate nominee — a man who grew up working class, TUREK is fighting again … for food on the table, healthcare for everyone, labor rights, and tax cuts for the middle class paid for by closing the tax loopholes that the billionaires and gazillionaires enjoy. Learn more at Turek4Iowa.

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MORE GOOD NEWS AND MORE HOPE!

ALASKA

MARY PELTOLA is running for US Senate. Her opponent is incumbent Dan Sullivan, who is best know in the 48 states below Alaska for whining about another Republican with a similar name filing as a Republican to run against him. The new-to-enter the race Sullivan got tossed off the ballot. Apparently, whining counts in Alaska.

PELTOLA got in the race in January. Since then she has beaten Sullivan in fundraising every Quarter. With the help of these resources, she has built a statewide network of supporters, community by community.

Her campaign theme: Fish. Family. Freedom. She has built herself a reputation of having an independent streak and is fiercely protective of the fish that many fisherman families need to feed their families over the winter and to keep their small business alive. Opponent Sullivan stands with the big corporate fishing trawlers that scoop up fish with little interest in keeping fishing healthy and prevalent. Learn more at Mary Peltola: Fighting for Alaska’s Fisheries

Peltola’s vulnerability relies on mailed ballots from rural supporters living in isolated areas of the Alaskan Bush. Noting that Trump controls the US Post Office, Peltola’s risk doubles.

Local Alaska Survey Research says PELTOLA is ahead by five points and the Cook Report just moved the Alaska Senate seat from “Leaning Republican” to “Toss-Up!” This is a big jump and proof that PELTOLA really can win.

Here at Practical Politics, we’re betting on PELTOLA’s grassroots community- organizing strategy plus her fundraising advantage means PELTOLA will pull out a victory.

TEXAS

JAMES TALARICO outpaces Ken Paxton by a hair. Talarico is out raising Paxton. As TALARICO crosses the state, he talks about kitchen table issues — the rising costs of healthcare, groceries, and gas.

In TALARICO’s words, “Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, none of us can afford our health care . . . none of us can afford our groceries, or our gas, or our housing,”

TALARICO has called the “culture war” battle that Paxton is trying to light a distraction, saying, “I’m the first to admit that I’ve missed the mark on some past statements, but Ken Paxton is clipping some of my old comments to distract from his career of corruption.”

The election is now. The cost of Regular Unleaded is on the verge $4.6950 in Texas and diesel is $5.37 … the lowest in the country and still significantly higher than Texans are used to. Texas grocery prices are rising twice as fast since Trump took over.

Paxton — first the distraction: Paxton talks about what he calls “real” Texans. His story is pretty ugly but stretching it to say TALARICO is not a “real” Christian is too far of a stretch. Obviously, my readers know I’m not from Texas, but still, the Bible instructs that people “should not judge least they be judged with the same wisdom they have used.”

So let’s avoid judging Paxton. Rather, let’s focus on facts:

• “Indicted on two counts of first-degree securities fraud and a lesser charge of failing to register with state securities regulators” by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). Numerous years and court battles later, Paxton settled in Court by paying $300,000 to make his repeated law-breaking go away. Add in state level impeachment, abuse of office, and bribery. That’s quite a bouquet.
• Paxton’s extremely messy divorce isn’t over yet, but Paxton is so careless with his very public affair that he and his paramour Christian “Influencer”Tracy Duhon were caught vacationing in Europe before the divorce settlement is done. Paxton and Duhon have been public for four years.

What matters most here is that JAMES TALARIC is fighting for “pocket book” kitchen table matters. He talks about “Real Stuff,” while Paxton fights for nothing but is good at throwing dirt. The Paxton “dirt” that TALARICO seems to be the most sensitive about is how Paxton insists that TALARICO is not a real man.

TALARICO responds that he welcomes the debate, saying:“Real men serve, while Paxton serves only himself.” Learn more about JAMES TALARICO for Texas.

If I were in Texas and buying groceries or filling up my car, I’d go with TALARICO.

MAINE

I am on vacation in Maine presently; as one might expect, politics here are in a bit of an upheaval. Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner has resigned. The contest to replace him is ongoing but almost over. On July 25, the Democratic Party will choose a new nominee.

Numerous candidates have surfaced. The best news in Maine is that (1) the Platner “policy legacy” continues, and (2) the leading candidate Troy Jackson — endorsed by many of the alternative candidates, is already polling three points ahead of Collins.

• Troy Jackson is a “Mainer by Birth. Logger by Trade. Senator for the People”. He is also a man who is not afraid when he realizes he is wrong. He won his first election as a Republican and then moved to be an Independent. This led him to join Maine’s Democratic Party, he spent 20 years in the Maine State Senate.
• Susan Collins taught him the lesson that when there isn’t a working class candidate in the room, working class needs are forgotten. She forgot again and again, but Jackson has not. Learn more at Troy Jackson for Maine.

There is also other good news. Platner’s “policy legacy” built the first case against Collins and it continues. Mainers remember she has …

• Fueled Endless Conflict: Collins never misses an opportunity to vote for “forever wars” while turning a blind eye to the ongoing devastation of Palestinian families.
• Endangered the Safety Net: She voted for the toxic spending bills that put SNAP and Medicaid healthcare benefits on the chopping block.
• Reshaped the Courts: Collins stood firmly behind the appointments of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, locking in a hard-right Supreme Court that systematically dismantled a woman’s right to choose her own healthcare.

Platner’s fight for true change contrasts dramatically from Collins who has always stood with the billionaires. She is a Trump MAGA minion who worries a lot but rarely, if ever comes down on Maine’s side. Mainers are saying they will pick a candidate who takes Maine in this Platner’s direction, including:

• Healthcare as a Right: Guaranteeing comprehensive care for every single American, with no exceptions.
• Ending Forever Wars: Stopping the cycle of endless conflict, ending the aggressive posturing against Iran, and halting the horrific humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian children and their families.
• Bringing Our Tax Dollars Home: Shifting the billions wasted on foreign battlefields back into our own backyards — rebuilding public schools, investing in affordable housing, and repairing local infrastructure.

It’s a roadmap that numerous Democratic candidates — House and Senate, would do well to borrow. There is every reason that as Maine goes, so goes the Nation!

Action Steps — How YOU can help!

1. Share this post.
2. Click the link to learn more about each candidate.
3. Email your cousins and friends in these states.
4. Make a contribution …small or large. Every dollar helps. Remember that we’re “playing” against the billionaire oligarchs. We can’t let them win.

Ballotpedia: Securities fraud charges against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, 2015

San Antonio Current: Texas News: Ken Paxton caught on video jetting off to European vacation with alleged mistress

AAA fuel prices: Texas — Fuel prices

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Jul 12, 2026

Graham Platner’s roadmap, the fight against the oligarchy, and the unlocked door to Maine’s future.

One of life’s quiet certainties is that when a door closes, another one opens.

When the first door opened for Graham Platner, he had the rare courage to step through it — stepping into an arena to fight for working-class Mainers who had long felt forgotten. The voters stood with him, delivering a solid primary victory. But politics is a brutal fire, and the very past he had worked so hard to outrun ultimately closed his entrance door to the Senate.

Platner has resigned, and on July 25, Maine Democrats will gather to choose a new nominee. The media will inevitably spend days dissecting the gossip, the tattoos, and the tactical errors of his exit. Let them. Platner’s voice and leadership left behind something far more durable than a standard campaign footprint.

He left a legacy. He left a roadmap to defeat Susan Collins.

Defining the Enemy

Platner’s greatest gift was that he made people believe again. When he began his run, Susan Collins was considered an untouchable establishment fixture. Today, we know better.

Together, the coalition that Platner built — a powerful mix of Democrats, independents, and working-class voters who felt entirely alienated by the system — exposed exactly who Collins represents.

They built a case against an incumbent who:

• Fuels Endless Conflict: Never misses an opportunity to vote for “forever wars” while turning a blind eye to the ongoing devastation of Palestinian families.
• Endangers the Safety Net: Voted for the toxic spending bills that put SNAP and Medicaid benefits on the chopping block.
• Reshaped the Courts: Stood firmly behind the appointments of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, locking in a hard-right Supreme Court that systematically dismantles a woman’s right to choose her own healthcare.

Collins isn’t an island; she is part of a machine. Her campaign draws heavily from corporate PACs and massive special interest groups rather than everyday Mainers. She gets more contributions from AIPAC than she does from her voters. She fits comfortably within a Republican establishment that applauds a presidential cabinet holding a staggering $450 billion in collective wealth.

Think about the faces of that oligarchy: Howard Lutnick who was close to Epstein, Linda McMahon (who is actively trying to dismantle public education), and Elon Musk, who siphons billions in private contracts while cutting the services regular families rely on. The irony is suffocating: these politicians claim there isn’t enough money to guarantee healthcare for every single American, yet there is always an open checkbook for corporate handouts, tax breaks for billionaires, and foreign intervention.

The Policy Blueprint

While Platner said, “I’m not afraid to name an enemy. And the enemy is the oligarchy. It’s the billionaires who pay for it and the politicians who sell us out,” he wasn’t speaking in abstracts. He was drawing a line in the sand.

The alternative roadmap he championed is exactly what excites the voters Maine needs to win:

• Healthcare as a Right: Guaranteeing comprehensive care for every single American, with no exceptions.
• Ending Forever Wars: Stopping the cycle of endless conflict, ending the aggressive posturing against Iran, and halting the horrific humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian children and their families.
• Bringing Our Tax Dollars Home: Shifting the billions wasted on foreign battlefields back into our own backyards — rebuilding public schools, investing in affordable housing, and repairing local infrastructure.

The Unlocked Door

For a brief moment after Graham’s resignation, it felt like the movement had lost its way. But the energy he sparked didn’t vanish with his candidacy.

On July 25, Maine Democrats have a choice to make. To win, the next nominee must not try to return to the safe, polished, establishment politics of the past. Chuck Schumer and the party insiders always have looked for the “perfect” candidate — usually someone pushing 80 who won’t rock the boat.

They fail to notice that the ground has shifted. Voters don’t want polished perfection anymore; they want someone who has been through the fire and is willing to fight.

Graham’s personal door to the Senate may have closed, and while time will tell what successful doors open for him next, his blueprint remains. He proved that Mainers are ready to stand up to billionaires and demand a future rooted in dignity for the working class.

Graham did the hardest part: he unlocked the door. Now, it’s up to the rest of us to have the courage to walk through it.

Not everyone is perfect. AI image

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Barbara Leach

Jul 07, 2026

With few exceptions, the national people who are calling on Platner to drop out are the same folks who wanted Mills to run — see Schumer and Gillibrand as leaders of the pack. If they get their way and Mills replaces Platner, she will still lose. Schumer will again waste lots of money on her. Gillibrand cost us Al Franken. Schumer has so much bad judgement under his belt that we should not bother to listen.

I see no reason to believe this woman calling rape five years later. Where is the hard evidence?

Something is fishy here.

She provides a lot of “she said’s” but no hard evidence. Clearly, she was very angry about what she says happened and continues to be very angry. But sometimes anger clouds stories and can build upon itself. Somehow, it wasn’t enough to result in her going to the law. Again, no hard evidence.

This is the kind of year when there is and will continue to be lots of money, many dirty tricks, job promises and other rewards — all evil, and all floating around, looking for ways to destroy Dems’ winning candidates.

For this accusation, the hard facts aren’t there. In the past, Platner has been specifically honest about what he did and what he did not do; he has apologized for the wrongs. I see no reason for him to suddenly be “convicted” by another five-year-old story.

Platner has gifted the Democratic Party with a winning message. He has brought new voters to his coalition and brought new light to how truly awful and unacceptable Collins is.

Maine — AI generated image

Let’s listen to him and let’s allow Maine to decide. This is a time for giving ourselves and others the grace to learn, to change, and to grow.

Art, Mountain Climbing, and Politics

The Fighter, the Farmer, and the Teacher

Barbara Leach

Jun 21, 2026

I never thought I’d see the day, but longtime Republican opinion writer George F. Will advised in 2018 that we should, “Vote against the GOP this November.” I did my part but clearly that wasn’t enough. Now Will argues that Trump has,

“fundamentally damaged the American constitutional order and has transformed the Republican Party from an ideological movement into an instrument of personal devotion and toadyism. …”

But let’s start with the principle — SOMEONE HAS TO PAY! for the extravagance, the ridiculous dance hall, the too-tall arch, the big tax breaks for billionaires, the miss-budgeting, and the Iran war.

For now, let’s stick with every day affordability issues — the price of gas, bacon, and a bottle of wine. At the end of February, the national average for a gallon of gas was $2.98 (and likely at Costco, about 30 cents cheaper). That adds up to be about $113.24 for 38 gallons.

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Today, the average cost is $4.06 or $154.28 for 38 gallons. The difference: $41.04 — money that likely just “flew” out of our pockets. As I recall, I filled my car up three times — $50 to fill my tank at the highest. So let’s think about what we could have done with that $41.04.

Photo: bacon and eggs, Substack AI generated

According to The Washington Post, we could have bought 6 pounds of sliced bacon, or 7 pounds of cheddar cheese or three bottles of fairly nice wine.

Now the price of gas is slipping a bit, but the experts say we should not expect it to return to February’s original prices anytime soon. Then there is the compounding toll of Trump’s War on Iran.

Win or Lose — Wars Don’t Come Free

15 American Soldiers, 26 Israelis, 3700 people in Lebanon and an estimated 3600–6,000 Iranians have lost their lives. The devastation cannot be measured in dollars and cents. For the families left behind, and the almost 600 American soldiers returning with severe injuries — predominantly traumatic brain injuries from regional missile strikes, the structural and medical costs will linger for generations. For those who lost their spouses, there will be monthly payments for the families.

US soldiers carrying a casket, Substack AI generated

The other kinds of estimated costs pile up: $132 billion minimum for taxpayers to pay. This number is considered a low estimate but it will like take generations to pay for it.

• $29 billion in military operations
• Uncounted billions for repairs of the US bases in the Middle East that were hit by Iranian drones, to fix carrier strike groups, including the fire on the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, damage to jets, and replacement of munitions
• Macroeconomic shockwaves: Spikes in energy costs, commodity prices, and interest rates
• Global trade gridlock: widespread inflation hitting food, gas and diesel, fertilizer for farmers, and manufacturing parts that rely heavily on overseas supply chains.

Now, Dear Reader, you have thoughtfully read the list above. The good news — there is much to worry about. The bad news — all of the numbers, estimates and unknowns are likely to go up, e.g., the Pentagon has estimated that one week of the war cost $12 billion but all of the outside experts say that this number and the others are likely to go up.

Meanwhile, anger on Capitol Hill is growing. Republicans — these would be the ones that George Will calls “the president’s poodles” are demanding answers — about costs and about the so-called agreement between Trump and Iran. To be valid, this agreement has to be validated by the Congress. The details are still moving around a bit, but one thing for certain — Donald J. Trump started this illegal war, and he has lost it!

— The Washington Post: See how much more you are spending on gas and what groceries that could buy

— Edward Wong and Aruni Soni, The New York Times: The Costs of the Iran War: Thousands of Lives and Billions of Dollars

— Nik Turse, The Intercept: Trump’s War on Iran Could Cost Trillions

— George F. Will, The Washington Post: Vote against the GOP this November

— Brent Budowsky, The Hill: George Will is right: Vote the GOP out

Practical Politics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I never charge but I do incur continuing costs so to those of you who are paid subscribers, here is an extra THANK YOU!

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