Bob “Crooksy” Brooks is the kind of working class hero who stiffs his mother-in-law for $55,000, so you know he’s an authority on helping out the little guy. Like his hero, Deadbeat Bernie Sanders, Crooksy thinks the Democratic Party sucks. They apparently don’t want to talk to working class people, Crooksy says:
His campaign is playing up his volunteerism as a youth baseball coach and his tattoo: a bulldog in a fire helmet.
“The party of labor, I believe, is the Democrat Party, but I don’t think the Democrat Party talks about or to the working class people anymore, and I think we need to get back to that,” Brooks said in an interview. “The Republicans, they talked about us, they talk to us, but then they go down to DC and they vote against us.”
Here’s what you need to know- Bob Brooks is a fraud, he’s a poor man’s version of John Fetterman. “Oh look at me, I have tattoos, Bernie Sanders loves me, and I say the word middle class and how the Democratic Party sucks, three times in every paragraph that comes out of my mouth!” Of course I was against John Fetterman in 2022, but you know, that’s history. Brooks has the same media team trying to create a picture of him that is very similar to the one Fetterman began with. They’re flat out lying to you. This guy is a blue collar hero like milk from last month is still good for you. Kind of like he’s “endorsed by Josh Shapiro,” but Shapiro has said that nowhere.
New week, new rankings. Here was week one. Then here is week two. Here’s last week’s. Away we go with this week’s.
The Milwaukee Brewers
The Philadelphia Phillies
The Toronto Blue Jays
The Detroit Tigers
The Chicago Cubs
The Boston Red Sox
The Los Angeles Dodgers
The New York Yankees
The Houston Astros
The San Diego Padres
The New York Mets
The Seattle Mariners
The Texas Rangers
The Cincinnati Reds
The Kansas City Royals
The San Francisco Giants
The Cleveland Guardians
The St. Louis Cardinals
The Arizona Diamondbacks
The Tampa Bay Rays
The Miami Marlins
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Oakland Athletics
The Baltimore Orioles
The Atlanta Braves
The Minnesota Twins
The Washington Nationals
The Pittsburgh Pirates
The Chicago White Sox
The Colorado Rockies
Ok, I’ll give you a little more commentary this week. I wanted to move virtually every top 12 team down at a different point in this past week. The reality though is we’ve played five months, and teams kind of are who they are now. The top five teams all have 80 or more wins with 23 or 24 games to go. They should all be 90 plus win teams. Everyone from six to twelve is a playoff team right now with 73 or more wins. Then from 13th back to like 20th, there’s somewhere between a chance and an insane hope of still getting in. After that, I’m almost ranking them based on the vibes. Is this team interesting to watch at least, since they aren’t good. The team trending hardest in the wrong direction is Atlanta. That’s all for now.
This guy, who fashions himself a big labor leader, and is banking on essentially usurping the labor support of other candidates, didn’t even want to go hang out with the union people. Sure, he raised a decent amount (less than Crosswell) on his launch, but that was pushed to him by DCCC employees and Deadbeat Bernie’s friends. This guy has no idea what it takes to campaign and win a seat. This fire is too big for Crooksy, and he will prove that to you, again and again.
Bob Brooks told folks he had the support of the Governor. I guess he meant the Lt. Governor. He also claimed Hakeem Jeffries himself wanted him to run. Maybe he meant Deadbeat Bernie Sanders. Then there was his claim that labor was going to run over to support his campaign. I guess he only meant SEIU and his own Fire Fighters union.
I suppose Bobby found some friends though, as you can see in his graphic above- a bunch of State Legislators who don’t live in the 7th Congressional District. You have Representatives and Senators from as close as Mt. Pocono and Scranton, or Philadelphia and lower Bucks County to the South, and as far as from Harrisburg and west of Pittsburgh, and hell, even Erie. What you don’t see is either Democratic State Senator from the Lehigh Valley. You don’t see any of Allentown’s Democratic State Representatives, either of Bethlehem’s, or the one in Easton. You don’t see the Lehigh County Executive, the former Democratic Congresswoman, or any local Lehigh Valley politician. No one here, who actually has to deal with nominating Bob Brooks actually wants to nominate Bob Brooks. He has a laundry list of Democratic politicians from the rest of the state, all of whom are making the political calculation that it’s good politics to support a statewide union President in some other district. I get it. It’s very misleading though. It’s probably helping him raise money, his campaign is claiming to have raised $100k in the first 24 hours, but I’m sure that’s largely from outside of the Lehigh Valley too, like an other candidate.
Maybe the problem for Brooks is too many people in PA-7 know too much. The stakes in the Lehigh Valley are too high to back a candidate who probably won’t be able to defend himself when the Republicans come for him. He calls himself a “family man” on his website, but the conduct doesn’t match the words.
This whole campaign is a John Fetterman styled bait and switch. Run as one thing, be another. Build all kinds of support from people not here, be vague with everything, then be something totally different. Not coincidentally some of the same folks are involved. I have a feeling the disappointment will come earlier this time. There’s a reason they call this man Crooksy.
Well, it was finally time for Bob Brooks to announce his run for Congress yesterday. When this saga all began, there were promises of the Governor endorsing Brooks and calling on everyone else to drop out, as well as a wave of unions switching their endorsements to back Brooks. Instead what we got was the Lieutenant Governor that like 3% of the Lehigh Valley has heard of, the farce of an endorsement from SEIU, Brooks own Fire Fighters union, and a Congressman that was the warm up act for Bernie Sanders in Bethlehem. Oh, and we got Bernie Sanders, the two-time Presidential Primary loser. What a shock. Bernie certainly sees a lot of himself in Bob.
The one area they are a perfect match in is running campaigns to be a spoiler. Long after he had no chance at victory, Bernie Sanders continued his campaign for President in 2016, doing harm to Hillary Clinton. Bob has no pathway to victory in this race, but he’s unwittingly running to throw this race too.
When you get down to it, it makes complete sense Bernie Sanders would pick Bob Brooks to be his candidate in PA-7. It also makes sense that the rest of the JV squad was sent in to endorse instead of the Governor, Democratic Leader of the House, and everyone else they promised. The birds of the feather really did flock together.
Well, let’s try again. This is like the fourth time that Bob Brooks has been set to announce he’s entering the race for Congress. Maybe this time he means it. Then again, now that I’m writing it, I doubt it. But he’s supposed to announce his candidacy today though.
Bob Brooks is president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association and a small business owner. He served more than 20 years as a firefighter and EMT for the city of Bethlehem before retiring in March. He has taken on many public safety leadership positions locally and statewide, including on Governor Josh Shapiro’s transition committee on emergency management as a member of the Pennsylvania State Fire Advisory Board. He has coached many levels of baseball in the community, most recently at Nazareth Area High School. Do you find this a very convincing, somewhat convincing, or not a convincing reason to vote for Bob Brooks?
I dunno, I feel like the buzzwords “firefighter,” “small business,” and “Shapiro” were enough positives, but baseball coach didn’t move anyone? Yet no one seemed to care.
While this seems foolish to me, others disagree. According to reports, SEIU will be endorsing rather quickly in this race. After weeks of claiming the Governor will endorse on day one, reports are now that he will not endorse at all in this race. In the least shocking news of the race, the IAFF will reportedly switch their endorsement to their brother in arms, as they actually should. If you listen to at least one of their leaders though, they’re switching because I was too mean to the guy here. I doubt I actually hurt someone’s feelings if they’re tough enough to run into a fire, but politics is a contact sport. Toughen up, buttercup.
At the top I posted a screenshot of the text message Brooks agreed to send on the behalf of his now opponent, Lamont McClure, endorsing him earlier in this race. One line really stands out for me, because it explains exactly why this cynical candidacy shouldn’t get off the ground:
“I know a thing or two about putting out fires, but the one going on in the Republican-controlled Congress is too big, even for me.”
Philadelphia State Senator Sharif Street has served as the Chairman of the PA Dems since 2022, and was Vice-Chair for four years before that. He recently announced his candidacy for Congress in PA-3, and today he stepped down as party chair.
He wrote the membership:
Dear Member of State Committee:
Today, I’m announcing that I will step down as Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, effective upon the election of my successor at our next State Committee meeting on September 6, 2025.
This was not an easy decision—but it is the right one. I took on this role to build a Democratic Party that was more inclusive, more united, and more powerful. Over the past few years, I’m proud to say we’ve done exactly that—bringing more voices into the party, building stronger coalitions, and delivering historic victories across the state. Now, as I focus on my campaign for Congress, I believe it’s time to make space for the next chapter of leadership—so our party can continue to grow, win our crucial judicial elections this fall, and then turn toward reelecting our Governor and Lieutenant Governor, flipping congressional seats to take back control of Congress, and defeating Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda once and for all.
I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together. When I was elected to the State Senate in 2016, the outlook for Democrats in Pennsylvania was grim. Donald Trump carried the state, Republicans held commanding majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, and Democrats were vastly outnumbered in our congressional delegation. That year, I was the only non-incumbent Democrat to win a seat in the State Senate—joining a caucus that had just been reduced to only 16 members, the smallest Senate Democratic caucus of my lifetime. It was clear that if we wanted a different future, we had to organize for it.
That’s why I ran for a leadership role in the Democratic Party in 2018—because I believed we had the power to rebuild, and I knew we couldn’t afford to wait.
During my four years as Vice Chair, we began to turn the tide. In 2018, we flipped key congressional seats and secured a Democratic majority in the U.S. House from Pennsylvania for the first time in years. Then in 2020, after days of national uncertainty, Pennsylvania delivered the decisive votes that sent Joe Biden to the White House—defeating Donald Trump at the ballot box and shifting the direction of the country. I was proud to be an active Vice Chair during that fight, helping to organize and energize our diverse Democratic coalition when the stakes were at their highest
When I became Chair in 2022, we carried that momentum forward and turned it into sustained, historic wins. We helped Josh Shapiro secure a groundbreaking victory—becoming the first Democratic Governor in Pennsylvania history to succeed another Democrat. We flipped a U.S. Senate seat, reclaimed the State House for the first time in over a decade, and made hard-fought gains in the State Senate. In 2023, we swept all four statewide judicial elections—securing our Democratic supermajority on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
2024 was a difficult year for Democrats across the country. Donald Trump carried every major battleground state, and Republicans made gains at the federal level—including here in Pennsylvania. But even as we faced those national setbacks, Pennsylvania Democrats built a firewall in state and local races—defending our one-seat majority in the State House and maintaining our position in the State Senate. Thanks to our investment in local leaders and message-driven organizing, we ended the year with no net losses in the General Assembly and a party infrastructure that proved its staying power.
The next year made clear that our local strength remained intact. In 2025, we flipped a deep-red State Senate seat in Lancaster County during a special election—bringing us to just two seats shy of a majority, the closest Democrats have been to flipping the chamber in a generation. It puts us in our strongest position yet heading into next year.
These victories were no accident. They were built from the ground up—by county chairs, committee members, organizers, and everyday Democrats who gave their time, energy, and heart to this party. My job was to elevate their work—and I was honored to do it.
I want to thank Governor Josh Shapiro for his leadership and his commitment to growing a strong, unified Democratic Party in Pennsylvania. Under his leadership, our party has continued to build momentum and deliver results for working families across the Commonwealth. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved alongside his administration, and I look forward to working with him to keep moving Pennsylvania forward.
When I first campaigned for Chair, I promised to build bridges—bringing together Black voters who felt taken for granted, rural voters who felt overlooked, and progressives who felt shut out. As the first Black man and the first Muslim ever elected Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, I knew representation wasn’t just symbolic—it was strategic. We built real power by forging a coalition that could win. And going forward, I remain committed to strengthening those voices—alongside labor, young people, and all those fighting to build a more just, inclusive, and energized Democratic Party.
To every Democrat who stood with me—thank you. We’ve made progress that will last far beyond my tenure. And while I may be stepping down as Chair, I’m not stepping away from this work. I’m running for Congress to keep fighting for the people of Pennsylvania—and I’ll keep fighting with you, every step of the way.
Let’s finish the job.
Senator Sharif Street
Chair, Pennsylvania Democratic Party
I’m not going to endorse someone in PA-3 today, but I will say that I always found Senator Street agreeable to work with when I was running statewide Judicial candidates. This was a job he really wanted and I know he’s not giving it up lightly, but he’s on to bigger things, I suppose.
Out of town Republican running for the Democratic Congressional nomination Ryan Crosswell found Northampton County over the weekend to meet the Democrats there and ask for their support for him for Congress. Good for him honestly. Unfortunately, I hear it went very badly. One candidate called him an opportunist in her speech, for which she is spot on. Another noted his “in-artful use of a political metaphor.” I’m down the beach this week and didn’t get to see the bumbling, blunder filled speech, so I asked some people what he said. Apparently he claimed he’s been fighting the nomination of Emil Bove to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. Now of course that’s silly- Crosswell is no longer at the Justice Department, after “bravely” cutting and running from his former post, he’s also not a Senator or staffer dealing with the nomination, and there’s no public record anywhere of him leading some kind of protest. I’m glad he opposes Trump’s henchman for the nomination, but based on what? He’s opposed to unions too. Neither one left Trump after his flunkies attacked the Capitol on January 6th. Both of them were fine with Trump when the high court struck down Roe v. Wade. Based on their long held Republican views, when Crosswell registered as a Republican in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Washington D.C., I would presume Mr. Crosswell is for this nomination. I guess he’s not though, this time. Maybe there’s a primary coming up, or something.
Apocalypse Vibes 