The sweet spot for Democrat’s running in the 2022 midterm primaries tend to overwhelming be in the middle….
This should NOt be a surprise to many….
The media tends to amplify the crazies right and left…..
But most voters do NOT embrace them or most of their politics….
So?
All this every four years stuff about Sen. Warren or Sanders for President is nothing by media hype….
In House races also…..
Most of the wins are by moderates….
The party establishment KNOWS this….
As a matter of fact….
Progressives kNOW this also…..
(They bhave been known to say out loud that they want to get rid of moderate/centrist Democrats…Votes KNOW instictivly that this would be a disaster in most November election matchups)
Even if they hate Joe Manchin, eh?
An Axios analysis shows the moderate candidate won 14 of 22 congressional primaries this year, when a progressive candidate challenged a more moderate candidate in seats Dems can win. That’s almost two-thirds of the time.
Why it matters: Democrats are tending to nominate pragmatic, electable candidates in a midterm year when they’re running uphill.
Zoom out: Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W. Va.) support for a scaled-back health care and climate-change bill is the latest moderate Democratic triumph over the party’s progressive wing.
- Instead of spending trillions on social spending (Build Back Better) that progressives championed, Manchin’s legislation is a narrower bill (Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) that even Larry Summers loves.
- If Democrats pass the bill, it’ll mark the third major legislative success from the Biden administration in the last month, following a bipartisan gun control bill and legislation investing in U.S. semiconductor production. Both were championed by moderates and backed by more than a dozen Senate Republicans.
Zoom in: The biggest moderate victories include a narrow win by Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, the only pro-life Democrat in the House; a come-from-behind victory by Ohio Rep. Shontel Brown over progressive favorite Nina Turner; and a landslide defeat for former Rep. Donna Edwards against Glenn Ivey in Maryland.
- Progressives can tout a few key wins. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman comfortably defeated Rep. Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania’s Senate primary, though he rejected the progressive label during the campaign. In Oregon, attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner ousted Rep. Kurt Schrader, but faces a challenging fight in the general election….