Sad Trombone Plays for Squad's Cori Bush As More Bad News Hits Ahead of Tuesday Primary

For Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), the writing had been on the wall for months that he was going to lose his primary race against Westchester County Executive George Latimer.

The Congressman's two-faced nature on the issue of Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, combined with his bombastic, in-your-face way of expressing disagreement with his fellow lawmakers - and the feeling among voters in his district that he was about the limelight more so than getting things done - all contributed to Bowman's loss in June.

Bowman being handed his walking papers was the first time a member of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's "Squad" of Democratic socialists had gone down in defeat, with his primary loss being viewed as perhaps a sign of things to come for other Hamas Caucus members facing more moderate and formidable pro-Israel primary challengers.

One of them is Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), whose 1st Congressional District primary next Tuesday will be one of the most closely watched races in the country going into the fall campaign season.

Bush is in a similar predicament to Bowman, as she has tried and failed to straddle the fence on the subject of Israel, repeatedly accusing them without evidence of genocide and "ethnic cleansing" while flipping out when anyone dares to point out the obvious about herself and antisemitic Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

As we've previously reported, a number of polls over the last two months have shown Bush falling behind her top primary challenger, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, with one from late June showing Bell surging ahead of Bush after trailing her by double digits in January. Another one, a McLaughlin & Associates poll from mid-July, showed Bell ahead of Bush by a staggering 23 percent.

And with just days to go before primary voters take to the polls, more bad news has hit the Cori Bush campaign:

The campaign has reasons for positivity, including a new poll released last week by the political arm of Democratic Majority for Israel, DMFI PAC, showing Bell with a 48-42% lead over his opponent.
The popular county prosecutor has won support from a wide coalition of backers including labor unions, Black leaders and the progressive group Indivisible, among other Democratic groups. Last week, he picked up an endorsement from the editorial board of The St. Louis Post Dispatch, the city’s largest newspaper.
In addition, Bell succeeded in chipping away at segments of Bush’s political base where she had drawn strong support, including Black women, according to a recent poll described to JI by a source familiar with its findings. Another poll, commissioned by the National Black Empowerment Action Fund and released last week, suggested that Bell’s positions on public safety and infrastructure investment, among other key issues, are closely aligned with Black voters in the district.

Further, Bell also holds a distinct fundraising advantage over Bush, a turn of events that has frustrated Bush to the point that she's allegedly taken to telling falshoods about Jewish activists in her district and their fundraising activities on behalf of Bell.

Perhaps most importantly, Bush's district is, as RedState Deputy Managing Editor and Missourian Susie Moore has pointed out, "home to the largest Jewish community in the state," which no doubt has contributed to her dismal polling numbers and increased desperation.

Has Bush finally met her match? We'll find out soon enough.

Flashback: Rashida Tlaib Wasn't the Only Squad Member Inciting 'Ceasefire' Mobs at the Capitol