Identity Politics 101: Cori Bush’s Opponent Announces Primary Challenge, And Bush Attacks Within Hours

Primary season is upon us, and around the country Democrats and Republicans at all levels of government – local, state, and federal – are duking it out amongst members of their own parties for the right to be on the general election ballots in November. It’s an age-old process and one that is an integral part of our democracy. But Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) doesn’t see it that way.

Two years ago, Bush herself was a primary challenger to then-incumbent Lacy Clay who had been elected to ten straight terms in Missouri’s first district, which accounts for all of the city of St. Louis and some of its suburbs. Bush rode the wave of Black Lives Matter anti-police, anti-capitalism, and anti-America sentiment that was burgeoning in her district at the time, and emerged with a stunning upset.

The congresswoman, who is herself a BLM activist, has been playing identity politics her entire career, and quickly joined The Squad after being sworn in last year. So yesterday, when a Missouri state senator named Steven Roberts, Jr. announced his intention to challenge Bush in the congressional primaries this spring, it was only a matter of time before Bush went to her intersectional bag of tricks to play the angle of I’m a victim. But yesterday Bush pushed the victimhood storyline within hours of Roberts’ announcement, thereby taking her tactic to a whole new level.

Sen. Roberts is black you see, so Bush can’t play the race card on him. He’s also a Democrat in an overwhelmingly blue district, which means he undoubtedly has a progressive record on par with Bush’s own leftwing history, so Bush can’t take the ‘He’s a right-winger’ route either. So, what inherent, biological trait was left for Bush to exploit in claiming her victimhood? That’s right, her gender.

While Roberts’ announcement came yesterday afternoon, Bush wasted no time in attacking him, with her campaign releasing a statement Monday evening which included the following:

“The people of St. Louis will have a choice: between their Congresswoman who loves them and delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to St. Louis, and a host of ego-driven men who seem to think all that Black women leaders do is never good enough. Among that crowded field is at least one candidate who has been credibly accused of rape, and such men do not belong in public service, much less representing the incredible people of St. Louis in Congress.”

Ouch! Bush isn’t just a victim of “ego-driven men” who are opposing her simply because of her genitalia, “at least one” of those brutes has been accused of sexual assault. And for Democrats, that’s all they need in order to go after someone: an accusation. Going bare-knuckled after those who dare to challenge you, aren’t you Congresswoman?

Ultimately, it won’t matter who is elected or re-elected in Missouri’s first district. It’s going to be a Democrat, no doubt, and that Democrat will be a rubber stamp if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi retains control of the chamber, and a reliable Democrat vote against Republicans if they retake control. But Bush’s retaliation last night is notable for this reason: It illustrates the utter thirst for power that seemingly afflicts all modern Democrats.

Cori Bush, like most Democrats, doesn’t care about her constituents, and she couldn’t care less about black lives. She cares about her position. She cares about those “hundreds of millions of dollars” she gets to pickpocket from taxpayers. And she’s not about to let some man, black or otherwise, try to pull that power away from her.

Featured photo of Cori Bush by Photo News 247, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons