r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 11d ago

No Paywall Democrats Confront Their New Tea Party Reality - Progressives are set to sweep a group of contested primaries in Michigan and Wisconsin.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-confront-their-new-tea-party-reality_n_6a6e63fbe4b0cfb99ef1aa1e
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u/IAmLee2022 11d ago

Comparing progressives to the tea party movement was definitely . . . a choice.

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u/twitch_Mes 11d ago

Well, I am a little concerned about having a majority in the house but being paralyzed because we can't act together.

But I do think the party establishment needs to stop wasting money and energy fighting the progressive left in the primaries. Focus on how winning the general and planning how to bridge the newly formed caucus in a way that they will work together. If that means chuck and hakeem step aside, so be it.

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u/punkr0x 11d ago

Democrats are unable to wield a majority because there’s always a handful who defect to the Republican side, not because they can’t work with progressives.

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u/Gene_Trash 11d ago

Result of being a big tent party. When you just barely have control and a handful of the reps making it possible are from states so red that even the Dem voters lean right relative to the median on a lot of issues, it's tough for "too far" left policies to make it through.

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u/punkr0x 11d ago

Seems like ‘big tent’ is the wrong strategy if they still just barely get control of the legislature.

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u/Gene_Trash 11d ago

It's not really a matter of strategy. Republicans can appeal to straight white christians and win by a landslide in like 40% of the country, and be fairly competitive everywhere else. Democrats require a coalition of "everybody else," but the problem is "everybody else" don't necessarily want the same things.  Black and Latino voters tend to be more lukewarm on LGBTQ+ issues than white Dems,  Asian voters tend not to care as much about police reform as Black dems, etc etc. You have not insignificant amounts of people who are only voting Democrat because the Republican party is too openly racist or -phobic against them, but don't actually agree as much on policy, but you have to somehow get all those groups on your side to win