I just finished Emily Guendelsberger's On the Clock. I highly recommend it. While the basic frame of the book is "out-of-work journalist takes three minimum-wage jobs, hates it" she does a lot of deep-diving into "how did we get here." One of the factoids she brings up towards the end is this little gem: In order to establish whether a person is worthy of official backing, DCCC operatives will “rolodex” a candidate, according to a source familiar with the procedure. On the most basic level, it involves candidates being asked to pull out their smartphones, scroll through their contacts lists, and add up the amount of money their contacts could raise or contribute to their campaigns. If the candidates’ contacts aren’t good for at least $250,000, or in some cases much more, they fail the test, and party support goes elsewhere. So. Fundamentally: Can you gamble a quarter million dollars on a chance to do nothing but attend meetings for two years? No? Then fuck right off. That's the democrats. It's like paying up front for an Ivy League graduate degree with no guarantee you'll even get in. Can we be surprised by the type of candidate attracted to this process?The way to win party support is to pass the phone test.