Stop ignoring Karishma
There’s something in the air this election season. Democratic incumbents are being knocked out by progressive upstarts in the primaries.
Locally, Karishma Manzur, a scientist and activist who never held public office, got 29% in the latest UNH poll for U.S. Senate, against a sitting congressman, Rep. Chris Pappas. Six weeks prior she got 18%. In her first poll, 9%. If she keeps on that trajectory, she’ll be the Democratic nominee after our Sept. 8 primary.
You wouldn’t be surprised if you read the letters to the editor, where her name pops up often, or on social media, where her image is everywhere. But you would be if you just read political pundits. You would think that Pappas is already the nominee running against John Sununu.
The time to ignore Karishma is past.
Like many other progressive insurgents, Karishma focused on affordability, especially in healthcare, backing Medicare for All. She supports a sensible foreign policy, which means stop backing an expansionist apartheid state like Israel, and using the money spent on these endless wars here at home. She doesn’t accept special interest money, unlike Pappas who takes millions for AIPAC and other donors, and then mostly votes for what they want.
Some might back Pappas, as the only way to beat Sununu, thinking you can only win an election by capturing the center. There isn’t much of a center anymore. The way to win elections is to turn out your base, not turn on it.