Hi, I’m also a voter in the 4th district- I don’t really consider myself a proper EA though but agree with some of the ideas. Foushee did not talk about pandemic preparedness much at all in her campaign. The understanding of me, and most other people in the district whom I have talked to, was that ulterior motives were behind the Foushee endorsement rather than any specific policy stance. Specifically I’ve heard a lot of people suspecting it was about crypto support (which seems odd, Foushee isn’t particularly pro-crypto and if you wanted to turn a candidate pro-crypto, I don’t see why you would start with her). I think it’s more likely a bid for “political influence” more generally by copying endorsements by other groups currying favor with mainstream dems like AIPAC. From solely an EA lens, Foushee is a very odd endorsement. There were two candidates who split the climate vote/endorsements: Ashley Ward, a climate scientist running a single-issue campaign (whom I voted for), and Nida Allam, the most serious challenger, running a very progressive (Squad-esque) campaign with a big climate plank. I know climate change is not a major EA issue for most but I would have assumed that that would be a big determining factor, since it was the only issue I know of a strong EA stance on that really came up in the race. There were a few foreign policy considerations (Foushee has a mainstream Dem view of Israel like I think many EAs do, Allam tends to go further with her support of Palestine) but I don’t really understand how those (and this supposed pandemic preparedness stance) are important enough to outweigh climate concerns. One additional piece of info on the race that might be useful: Ward’s campaign got going pretty late, so I can’t blame SBF too much if he wasn’t expecting that she would get a decent amount of the vote. Clay Aiken was also in the running but he’s despised among local Dems that I have talked to.
Summary: Foushee isn’t particularly EA-aligned, the motives probably have more to do with strengthening Dem mainstream than any particular issue. Bad move by SBF, in my opinion.
Edit: I guess I should cover qualifications too. Foushee’s part of a local political family, has been in the state gov a while, has name recognition. Allam is an elected official from Durham, the largest town in the district, with somewhat less experience. Ward, Aiken, and Crystal Cavalier all have never held office before.
I realise this is counterintuitive, but they are not focussed on Israel, or on centrist dems vs progressive dems—they have supported dems from all (edit:almost all) over the spectrum (I believe related groups have donated in republican primaries as well). And you can see that the version of EA that they’re interested in doesn’t focus on climate either. It seems to me that it’s either pandemics, if you believe them, or general influence if you don’t, I don’t see how anything else really makes sense.
Well squad-esque seems like an odd litmus test since there are many other progressive members of congress than them but POF did support Maxwell Frost who won.
I’m not saying they supported any candidates from the leftmost 5% of the party—and I doubt those would accept the funds if offered. Just that they supported people who ran to the left of their primary opponents (like Jasmine Crockett), not just to the right. It’s not a left/right thing.
Thanks so much for providing this explanation of the candidates! As another comment pointed out, I probably should have put that in the original post, so I really appreciate you taking the time to provide that context.
Hi, I’m also a voter in the 4th district- I don’t really consider myself a proper EA though but agree with some of the ideas. Foushee did not talk about pandemic preparedness much at all in her campaign. The understanding of me, and most other people in the district whom I have talked to, was that ulterior motives were behind the Foushee endorsement rather than any specific policy stance. Specifically I’ve heard a lot of people suspecting it was about crypto support (which seems odd, Foushee isn’t particularly pro-crypto and if you wanted to turn a candidate pro-crypto, I don’t see why you would start with her). I think it’s more likely a bid for “political influence” more generally by copying endorsements by other groups currying favor with mainstream dems like AIPAC. From solely an EA lens, Foushee is a very odd endorsement. There were two candidates who split the climate vote/endorsements: Ashley Ward, a climate scientist running a single-issue campaign (whom I voted for), and Nida Allam, the most serious challenger, running a very progressive (Squad-esque) campaign with a big climate plank. I know climate change is not a major EA issue for most but I would have assumed that that would be a big determining factor, since it was the only issue I know of a strong EA stance on that really came up in the race. There were a few foreign policy considerations (Foushee has a mainstream Dem view of Israel like I think many EAs do, Allam tends to go further with her support of Palestine) but I don’t really understand how those (and this supposed pandemic preparedness stance) are important enough to outweigh climate concerns. One additional piece of info on the race that might be useful: Ward’s campaign got going pretty late, so I can’t blame SBF too much if he wasn’t expecting that she would get a decent amount of the vote. Clay Aiken was also in the running but he’s despised among local Dems that I have talked to.
Summary: Foushee isn’t particularly EA-aligned, the motives probably have more to do with strengthening Dem mainstream than any particular issue. Bad move by SBF, in my opinion.
Edit: I guess I should cover qualifications too. Foushee’s part of a local political family, has been in the state gov a while, has name recognition. Allam is an elected official from Durham, the largest town in the district, with somewhat less experience. Ward, Aiken, and Crystal Cavalier all have never held office before.
I realise this is counterintuitive, but they are not focussed on Israel, or on centrist dems vs progressive dems—they have supported dems from all (edit:almost all) over the spectrum (I believe related groups have donated in republican primaries as well). And you can see that the version of EA that they’re interested in doesn’t focus on climate either. It seems to me that it’s either pandemics, if you believe them, or general influence if you don’t, I don’t see how anything else really makes sense.
What Squad-esque members did POF support?
Well squad-esque seems like an odd litmus test since there are many other progressive members of congress than them but POF did support Maxwell Frost who won.
I’m not saying they supported any candidates from the leftmost 5% of the party—and I doubt those would accept the funds if offered. Just that they supported people who ran to the left of their primary opponents (like Jasmine Crockett), not just to the right. It’s not a left/right thing.
Thanks so much for providing this explanation of the candidates! As another comment pointed out, I probably should have put that in the original post, so I really appreciate you taking the time to provide that context.