The Left Is About To Eat Their Own
Matt Vespa
TownHall.com
Mar 08, 2017
Guy will have a more in-depth analysis on this later this morning, but it appears the progressive Left seems determined to overthrow its party establishment. Where Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) failed in the 2016 presidential election and DNC election chair respectively, the far left is eyeing red state Democrats, specifically Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), if they don’t start fighting back against Trump. Similar to the Tea Party, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party feels that only their agenda is the one that can usher the Democrats back into power, noting that Sanders scored just as good with Rust Belt voters as Trump did during the primary season.
Yet, facing a rather dismal 2018 Senate map Democrats have to decide whether mounting primary challenges against their red state brethren (who have proven they can win statewide) with hyper-left primary candidates is a step towards rebranding and rebuilding the party, or just making it easier for Republicans to pick up seats. Given the GOP’s strength with white working class voters, the Republicans who can pick off Manchin in West Virginia, Donnelly in Indiana, Heitkamp in North Dakota, and McCaskill in Missouri are probably going to stay there for a while (via The Hill):
Progressives are threatening primary challenges for Democratic lawmakers who don’t commit to full obstruction of President Trump’s agenda.
Democrats already face a daunting 2018 landscape, with 10 senators up for reelection in states that Trump won. However, the threat of primaries foes going up against vulnerable Democrats such as West Virginia’s Joe Manchin further complicates the party’s chances of coming out with a net victory.
But the party’s left flank is convinced that a full embrace of progressivism is the only way to return to power, and it is ready to fight for the party’s soul.
“We fundamentally reject the assumption that Democrats can only win in red states by pandering to racists and big bankers,” said Claire Sandberg, a co-founder of the progressive political action committee We Will Replace You.
The Rest…HERE
