Schneider on Ukraine, Politics, and Gerrymandering
Congressman Brad Schneider (D-Highland Park) says the U.S. needs to continue to support Ukraine’s defense against a Russian invasion.
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In more of our conversation with Congressman Brad Schneider (D-Highland Park), Schneider says the Republican-controlled House needs to step up for more funding for Ukraine’s war against Russia.
“Putin’s attack in Ukraine isn’t just because he didn’t like his neighbor. It’s because he has a vision for the world that a democratic Ukraine would thwart,” Schneider said. “He doesn’t want to stop in Ukraine. If he is successful in Ukraine, he is going to threaten the Baltics, he’s gonna threaten Poland, he’s gonna threaten the Balkans, he’s gonna threaten the United States and all of Europe.
Schneider says Congress “has to pass” funding for Ukraine when they return to Washington in January.
We discussed the lousy state of politics heading into 2024, with partisanship, tribalism, and a likely 2020 presidential election rematch that polls show voters aren’t excited for.
Schneider says Congress, and politics, needs more people willing to work in a bipartisan fashion.
“We have to work at it,” he said. “What we should share is a desire to advance our country as a whole, to lift up the opportunities for our kids, to ensure our national security, to make sure the United States continues to lead in a world of democracy.”
Schneider’s north shore district famous flipped from Bob Dold in 2010 to Schneider in 2012, back to Dold in 2014, and back to Schneider in 2016. Since then, redistricting strengthened his district from a D+10 to a D+11 in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, though Democrats won the district by more than 20 points in each of the last two presidential races.
Schneider defended his new district claiming it is still “swingy” because he took in some new Republican areas and lost some traditionally Democratic areas, but, he says, gerrymandering needs to be addressed as a national problem.
