All 435 House seats are up for election. Emily’s List has endorsed 57 candidates this cycle. Five are African-American. As of this morning, you can make that six. Pam Keith was just added to this prestigious list. For those who don’t know, Emily’s List does not just endorse people who are pro-choice. To get their valuable email list and their recommendation, you have to have a good chance of winning.
Pam Keith was the outsider candidate last time, but now, she has the party establishment’s backing. She has racked up multiple endorsements, including from Vote Vets, the Warren Democrats, and the city paper: the Palm Beach Post. Although she announced earlier this year, she has been laying the groundwork for this campaign for 19 months. She has an entirely grassroots campaign, and they have been holding virtual town halls and hosting online events in this era of quarantine campaigning. She is also running ads on radio, TV, and social media.
Her first-time Republican incumbent opponent, Brian Mast, is a Trump-enabler who votes with Trump 95% of the time. This is out of step for with his R+5 district. Not only does Mast have a serious fight on his hands from the left, he also has a fight from a rightwing independent. This QAnon whackjob is K.W.Miller. You might have heard of him, he tweeted this:
Beyoncé is not even African American. She is faking this for exposure. Her real name is Ann Marie Lastrassi. She is Italian. This is all part of the Soros Deep State agenda for the Black Lives Matter movement. BEYONCÉ YOU ARE ON NOTICE!
It should be noted that Brian Mast didn’t condemn Miller for this tweet. Brian Mast, according to his campaign “didn’t have time” for it. Mast fits in well with his GOP brethren, who in recent years don’t want to condemn any racist tweets for fear of offending their base. After all, Mast and Miller are competing for the same votes. Sad, but we are in the age of Trump. The other party has fully-embraced the white supremacist, conspiracy-laden crazies who want to take over and destroy our democratic institutions. QAnon isn’t just a supremely stupid conspiracy theory, it’s now a winning platform for the GOP.
After talking with Pam, I know that she fully understands what the Republican party has morphed into. We don’t just need more Democrats, but better ones. Too many of our Democratic politicians are pretending this is a normal election with everyone following constitutional norms. Pam knows this isn’t, and has the legal expertise and the passion to necessary to fight the worst elements in Congress.
Moreover, Pam is passionate about her progressivism. She supports Medicare for all, the Green New Deal, and a living wage: things that are normal in every other nation but somehow “radical” in ours. What’s radical is what the GOP is doing to America. Progressive Democrats support policies for America. Wouldn’t that be a refreshing change?
I interviewed Pam Keith when she launched her campaign in March. So much has happened since then. The constituents of CD-18 deserve someone like Pam, and I hope we can send Kamala Harris a fellow AKA sister to fight in Congress.
Go get ‘em, Pam!
Pam Keith for FL CD-18.
