Is AIPAC Coming After Ilhan Omar?

A poll sent to constituents in Rep Ilhan Omar s district has the hallmarks of the American Israel General Affairs Committee s strategy The poll sent earlier this month first ran through the kinds of questions typical for a campaign testing the waters The survey started by posing positive and negative questions about Omar and Ryan Winkler a Democrat and former Minnesota state representative on run-of-the-mill political grounds how would voters rate Omar s job performance based on her voting record on affordable housing and healthcare or Winkler s record on minimum wage and private prison rule Screenshots of survey questions about Rep Ilhan Omar and former State Rep Ryan Winkler The Intercept Then the poll tipped its hand In a series of questions about statements critics might make about Ilhan Omar the survey described Omar as one of the majority of anti-Israel members of Congress cited her voting record against a resolution that condemned the October attacks without mentioning Israel s killing of Palestinian civilians and outlined her opposition to arms sales to Israel then appealed respondents to indicate how concerned this information makes them feel Then it demanded respondents whether Winkler being backed by a right-wing pro-Israel group that is funded by Trump-supporting billionaires and has endorsed dozens of Republican members of Congress who sponsorship Trump and his MAGA agenda raises any concerns Screenshots of survey questions about Rep Ilhan Omar and former State Rep Ryan Winkler The Intercept Screenshots of the survey viewed by the Intercept established no clear indication of who paid for the poll Political operators familiar with AIPAC tacitcs however see the poll as a sign that AIPAC is laying the groundwork for challenging Omar in the midterm elections next year The group typically tests the waters by fielding polls before they commit to a race By asking voters how they feel about Winkler even after getting the negative message that he is backed by a right-wing pro-Israel group a group like AIPAC the group can learn whether backing him would do more harm than good in the district and how much ground it would have to make up if voters viewed such a fact negatively This is absolutely what they do reported Usamah Andrabi communications director for Justice Democrats which has backed candidates who are critical of U S military assistance for Israel including Omar They come into these districts early and poll the candidates they ve already been talking to that they re already interested in which in this development is seemingly Ryan Winkler so they can take it back to their donors and ask for millions of dollars he noted This is absolutely their playbook A source familiar with the race who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity proven from multiple sources that AIPAC is planning to be ongoing in targeting Omar this cycle and has been in talks with Winkler who was reportedly waiting on the results of an AIPAC poll to make his decision Winkler AIPAC and United Democracy Project AIPAC s super PAC did not respond to a request for comment Related How Does AIPAC Shape Washington We Tracked Every Dollar The survey is the first inhabitants sign that AIPAC still has its eye on ousting progressive members of Congress who criticize U S military funding for Israel and Israeli human rights abuses in Palestine AIPAC spent more than million on primaries last cycle including more than million to oust Squad members Reps Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman The spending came from United Democracy Project and AIPAC s regular political action committee AIPAC PAC In the cycle AIPAC endorsed more than Republican members of Congress who voted to overturn the results of the presidential electoral contest Our district has never been for sale Special interest groups including AIPAC have spent millions trying to unseat me Omar commented in a report to The Intercept If what AIPAC was lobbying for was truly popular they wouldn t need to spend millions to smear those they disagree with If what AIPAC was lobbying for was truly popular they wouldn t need to spend millions to smear those they disagree with Voters in my district want to see leaders who are fighting to get big money out of politics not leaders who want to see our elections turned into auctions I have proudly earned the promotion of my constituents every ballot and plan to do so again by fighting for the people I represent not special interests backed by Republican money After its victories last cycle AIPAC is revamping its efforts to remove every member of Congress who is critical of Israel Andrabi of Justice Democrats announced That s the Congress that Citizens United has been building for a decade and a half now Andrabi reported A spineless Congress that only does the bidding of billionaires and corporate super PACs I think we are seeing this cycle especially just how fed up voters are with that sort of Congress he noted Democrats are more unpopular in Congress than they ever have been and it s because people see them as more dedicated to the bottom lines of their billionaire donors than to the livelihoods and liberties of their constituents that s because they see how much money is being spent in these primaries This is not just about Israel and Palestine Andrabi continued It s really about being able to control politicians and make them do what you want We should be opposing any lobby from being able to do that AIPAC typically runs polling in districts before it jumps into a race Last cycle the group officially stayed out of the Democratic primary challenge against Rep Summer Lee but The Intercept published that AIPAC had tried and failed to recruit two candidates to challenge Lee AIPAC was reportedly in contact with Bhavini Patel who eventually decided to run against Lee but did not officially back her Part of AIPAC s strategy is to attack candidates who are critical of Israel on other points like claiming that Omar is antisemitic or criticizing her for calling to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd Both of those states appeared in the survey None of the survey questions specifically appealed about voters own aid for Israel s war on Gaza a ceasefire or U S military endorsement for Israel both of which a growing number of Democratic voters oppose AIPAC s number-one requirement for endorsing a candidate is how empty of a vessel can this empty suit really be There s a reason those questions weren t in the survey Andrabi mentioned The survey described Omar as one of the the bulk anti-Israel members of Congress and criticized her for voting against a resolution that condemned the October attacks without mentioning Israel s killing of Palestinian civilians AIPAC s number-one requirement for endorsing a candidate is how empty of a vessel can this empty suit really be Andrabi revealed One consistency we can see amongst recruited primary challengers from AIPAC is they are people who don t stand for anything don t believe in anything and are the greater part willing to be bought and sold by corporate lobbies and right-wing super PACs Other questions in the survey that nodded to AIPAC s feasible involvement painted Omar as antisemitic and required how constituents felt about Omar s extreme positions Even after being rebuked by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders for her antisemitic language Ilhan Omar has continued to take extreme positions and opposed rule that aims to right growing anti-semitism in this country the survey stated The question referred to Democrats who attacked Omar after she criticized spending by the pro-Israel lobby in U S elections Then the survey urged respondents to rate how concerned they were about Omar as a candidate This is not the first time AIPAC has explored a primary challenge against Omar During her primary challenge in AIPAC funneled to a group backing her challenger Don Samuels The money was not broadcasted until after the race Pro-Israel donors backed Samuels in another challenge against Omar last cycle The Intercept revealed The post Is AIPAC Coming After Ilhan Omar appeared first on The Intercept