Politics
Sherrill dismisses the Democratic bedwetters
In the lead-up to Tuesday’s gubernatorial election in New Jersey, some Democrats wondered if Mikie Sherrill could pull off the improbable: winning three consecutive terms for the party for the first time since 1961.
But Sherrill was confident she would emerge victorious.
Sherrill said Wednesday in an interview with Blue Light News’s Dasha Burns on “The Conversation” podcast that she “never really felt too nervous about my ability to win this one.”
As early voting got underway, it became clear that it was “just a matter of how much we’d win by,” Sherrill said.
“The narrative was weird in the primary, and it was weird in the general, and I think some of that was because of how people felt from ’24, that there was still this kind of hangover from ’24 and how that race went,” she told Blue Light News.
Still, the enthusiasm on the ground — especially at last month’s nationwide “No Kings” rallies — convinced Sherrill that voters would deliver for her.
Sherrill speculated that some observers underestimated her campaign because it didn’t follow the model of “the traditional Democratic campaign” in New Jersey, where the legacy of machine politics looms large.
“Because we built this a different way, I think it wasn’t as clear to people how we were doing it and how we were getting our votes out,” she said. “And I think that probably made some people nervous, but I would say that we invested a lot of time, energy and resources in a statewide field program, the likes of which have never been seen.”
Sherrill also said that her military background conveyed her “decisive” leadership style to voters, who she said trust her to deliver on promises like bringing down energy costs.
While she said she hasn’t yet spoken to President Donald Trump, the governor-elect told Blue Light News that she’s intent on “clawing back as many resources into the state of New Jersey as possible.”
“I’m really hoping we can convince the administration, ‘hey, if you want to have a comeback in this economy, this is where you start and this is how you do it,’” she said.
Despite striking a message comfortably to the right of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Sherrill said she and her Democratic peers who saw electoral success across the board Tuesday have one thing in common: “This desire to make change that things aren’t working for people.”
Listen to Blue Light News’s full conversation with Sherill on Friday’s episode of “The Conversation.”
A version of this article first appeared in Blue Light News Pro’s Morning Score. Want to receive the newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to Blue Light News Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
As a rule, JD Vance seems to go out of his way to say whatever Donald Trump wants him to say, but from time to time, contradictions emerge between the president and the vice president.
Take the recently passed housing bill, for example, which arrived at the White House earlier this week.
As part of an interview Tuesday night with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, the Ohio Republican said, “Frankly, Laura, I would love it if Democrats were willing — you know, not that they will agree with Republicans all the time — but if they were willing to work with us on lowering housing prices, on lowering gas prices, on actually making the lives of American citizens better. You know, we could have some real bipartisan compromise. That’s not what they’re talking about.”
I realize the vice president must be very busy, but it really isn’t that difficult to keep up with the basics of current events. In this case, when Vance said Democrats are unwilling to work with Republicans on priorities such as “lowering housing prices,” he turned reality on its head. It was literally last week when Democrats offered unanimous support for a bipartisan bill to address housing prices — legislation that members such as Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts helped to write.
Democrats recognized that doing so would offer the GOP some election-season bragging rights, but Democrats did it anyway because they have prioritized governing and “actually making the lives of American citizens better” over partisan considerations.
But Vance didn’t just contradict reality; he also contradicted his boss.
Just one day before the vice president brazenly misled a national television audience, Trump was asked about the pending housing bill. “It’s very bipartisan; that means the Democrats like it,” the president saidwhile acknowledging that he hasn’t yet decided whether to sign it.
In other words, when Vance said policymakers “could have some real bipartisan compromise,” he seemed indifferent to the fact that we’ve already had some real bipartisan compromise — a detail that even Trump was willing to acknowledge a day earlier.
Whether the vice president will suffer for publicly contradicting the president remains to be seen.
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
BELGRADE, Serbia — The nearly four-year Bosnian war in the 1990s set off a massive wave of displacement, with a third of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s pre-war population permanently leaving the country as refugees.
Team captain Edin Džeko, a 40-year-old striker who left his native Sarajevo soon after the war, has recalled playing soccer in the lulls between the daily barrage of sniper fire that defined the siege of the Bosnian capital and says he could never have imagined becoming a world-class player after watching the football pitches in his neighborhood reduced to “fields of scorched earth.”
Bosnia’s squad reflects that postwar diaspora. Left back Sead Kolašinac was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1993 to a family that left after Bosnia descended into war. Right back Amar Dedić was born in Austria after his parents left northern Bosnia during the war, and midfielder Benjamin Tahirović in Sweden to refugees from besieged Sarajevo.
And then there is the so-called Milwaukee Messi: young forward Esmir Bajraktarević, who was born in a Wisconsin to parents born in the eastern town that gave its name to the Srebrenica genocide.
BRUSSELS — The Matongé area of Brussels was filled with drums and flags on Wednesday evening as every bar and barber shop showed the DR Congo vs. England game — the biggest Congolese match since 1974, when it won the African Cup of Nations and competed in the World Cup under the name Zaire.
Belgium’s relationship with DR Congo is rooted in its colonial rule, a legacy that continues to shape political, cultural and diplomatic ties today. Up to 50,000 members of the Congolese diaspora live in Brussels, with the vibrant Matongé as the epicenter.
English fans in Matongé were few and far between — and mainly silent — throughout most of the match as their team trailed for a long period before turning the game around.
Despite Congo’s eventual narrow defeat, supporters were stoked by the team’s performance. “At the end of the day Congo was better than England because they overperformed and England underperformed,” said Darshan Pham, whose family hails from DR Congo. “That’s the beauty of the games, it’s a victory for them anyway because they made it so far.”
Sydney Jadot, who worked for five years in DR Congo where his family is from, also admired the team’s fight: “What can I say? I think Congo fought well — they put all their hearts [into it] and England is more thorough.”
- Vance contradicts Trump about bipartisan cooperation on housing bill
- Bosnia’s starting lineup is also a map of its war
- Belgium’s Congolese heartland sees victory in defeat
- Capitol agenda: House floor freezes over
- The left won big in NYC. Now it has to survive a redistricting effort.
- Tom Kean Jr. kept his depression a secret. Colleagues are questioning that decision.
- House votes to disclose which members settled sexual misconduct allegations with taxpayer funds
- Shouting match erupts between Lawler and Raskin at immigration hearing
- GOP split on path forward after birthright citizenship blow
- AI’s usefulness depends on whether we can trust it to act alone
-
Politics1 year agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Politics1 year agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics1 year agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
The Dictatorship10 months agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words