While much of the Democratic Party has become the voice of crazed NATO warmongers and billionaire mega-donors, it has abandoned its traditional constituencies of labor, civil rights, small farmers, etc. One of the most reliable voices for organized labor was Congressman Andy Levin of suburban Detroit, but the Democratic Party was delighted that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) poured in $4 million to defeat him in his 2022 Democratic primary. The Democratic Party was complicit in gerrymandering his district to weaken his reelection chances and forced him to run in a different district.
Although Andy Levin has a law degree from Harvard, he started his career as a labor organizer. He became deputy director in Michigan’s Department of Labor, and later was elected to Congress where he was on virtually every congressional committee dealing with labor issues. In 2020 Levin was considered to be appointed as U.S. Secretary of Labor, but it seems that not all Democrats wanted Levin in a Democratic White House. The concern was that a Levin appointment might upset AIPAC and its mega-donors.
A fundraising email dated Jan. 19, 2022 from AIPAC’s then-President David Victor declared that Andy Levin was a “hostile voice” against Israel and had to be defeated. AIPAC’s opposition to Levin centered around Levin’s legislation introduced on September 23, 2021 called the “Two State Solution Act” as a basis for a just peace between Israel and Palestine. Levin had massive support in the Detroit area Jewish community, many of whom saw the AIPAC threats as divisive and intimidating. To support Levin against the attacks, a Jewish organization called J Street contributed $700,000 to help in Levin’s reelection. Eleven current and former Jewish members of the Congress and Senate signed a letter supporting Levin and in opposition to large outside money interests interfering in local elections. Levin has detailed the threat to the democratic process if large special interests, such as the tobacco lobby, the gun lobby, oil lobby, or any other group can decide election outcomes. On August 21 in Chicago, near the Democratic National Convention, Levin gave an interview to Democracy Now! in which Levin urged the Democratic Party to reject “dark money” in the elections and develop a peace process in Southwest Asia. Levin’s approach may be similar to that of the Treaty of Westphalia.
