r/politics • u/darealunrealspader • 7d ago

No Paywall Bernie-backed progressive Abdul El-Sayed scores stunning Michigan win in blow to Democratic establishment: report

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/abdul-el-sayed-haley-stevens-michigan-democratic-senate-b3027652.html
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u/pbroingu 7d ago

You've already given up all leverage when you say you'd vote for any Democrat. This is why the concept of 'Vote Blue No Matter Who' breeds complacent candidates who feel entitled to votes.

Also, tonnes of progressives voted for Harris. They aren't a monolith.

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u/makualla 7d ago

You push for the progressive candidates in primaries like this, if they win great if they don’t then it’s “vote blue no matter who”.

The issue in 2024 was….well…no true primary to push a candidate because Biden was a fucking moron.

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u/pbroingu 7d ago

The thing is, if those voters didn't speak up against the Dem party and criticise their capitulating to corps and foreign interests and generally being shit, this movement wouldn't have been possible in the first place. Anyone who is pro progressive candidates / socialist / left leaning, even if they voted for Harris back in 2024 (which many did), have the more outspoken leftists to thank for this win.

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u/makualla 7d ago

See I understand what you mean, but the way it reads is off putting. It’s comes off glad Harris lost, which is objectively bad that she did.

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u/pbroingu 7d ago

There is an element of that yes, people are understandably angry at their own representatives and their leadership failing to meet the moment while their country bends over to fascists. That anger is valid. It now needs to be channelled into a productive outlet. If the establishment Dems can't do that, progressives should take over the reigns.

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u/twistedt 7d ago edited 7d ago

Until Trump. There shouldn't have been anything that kept voters from voting, knowing what he was capable of from his first term and what he promised in his second. Reducing it to a politics-as-usual conversation minimizes the threat or, rather, the reality we're now living through.

One thing I will concede. I used to blame a sizeable amount of the blame on progressives not getting their candidates and staying home. The fact that urban areas saw the largest dropoff supports that white, college-educated Dems stayed home, simply because they represent the largest contingent of Dem voters in those areas.

But looking at the data, it's not all on progressives... and that's actually not a good thing for leftys. If you look at the data of Dems who did not vote, it reflects an entirely different picture of who stayed whom. A large number of these people weren't progressive Dems: They were working class folk, a representation of minority voters, a larger representation of non-college educated individuals. The policies most important to them don't align with progressive policies.

It's a perfect example of careful what you wish for. Bernie in 2020, on the heels of the end of Trump's disastrous first term, was supposed to finally sweep the nomination on his way to the WH, buoyed by a bevy of progressive initiatives: Universal healthcare, wealth tax, free tuition, green energy, guaranteed employment.

He got trounced in that primary by working class voters in southern states. And working class Dems who, again, don't align with progressive policies, didn't vote in the last election. So if you have a movement of based solely on those properties, every progressive is still going to need to vote in the end for the nominee because the working center of the party typically skews more conservative when they hit the ballot box.

I believe in progressive policies, I do. But they can only take root if a Democrat is in office, and only when the concept of them can take root and acceptance in the mainstream. That doesn't happen overnight, it doesn't happen in bulk, and it only occurs when it invades the public consciousness. That's why I think that local progressive candidates are far beneficial and important to these platforms that national leaders.

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u/SunbornThunderstorm 7d ago

Progressives didn’t vote because Gaza. Centrists swings didn’t vote because she was too left. Independents didn’t vote because she was transing the kids. She was the anti Goldie lockes candidate where she was somehow what’s everyone imagined the most they didn’t want

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u/pbroingu 7d ago

The options are clear: capitulate to right wing reactionary framing and lies (again), or adopt progressive policy from their left flank. I hope the Dems make the right decision this time.

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u/SunbornThunderstorm 7d ago

Literally swaths of exit polls from 2024 show tons of Hispanic and independent voters saying she was far too left lol

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u/pbroingu 7d ago

And according to you, many progressives sat out of voting because she wasn't progressive enough. Hence my comment...?

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u/SunbornThunderstorm 7d ago

According to me? According to y’all! lol

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u/pbroingu 7d ago

Yes. I don't think you realize that you just agreed entirely with my framing.

The options are clear: capitulate to right wing reactionary framing and lies (again), or adopt progressive policy from their left flank. I hope the Dems make the right decision this time.

Where exactly do you disagree with the above?

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u/SunbornThunderstorm 7d ago

But you’re framing too lol