[blackjack21]

Not sure if this deserves a new thread or not, but the Empire Strikes Back: Socialist star Ocasio-Cortez strikes out: All endorsed candidates lose Tuesday primaries

[Beren]

El-Sayed lost his bid for the Democrat nomination for governor to 51.8 percent to 30.5 percent, according to numbers published by the New York Times.

Saad came in fourth in the five-way race, capturing only 18 percent of the vote.

Cori Bush lost her primary to William Lacy Clay, 56.7 percent to 36.9 percent, the Times results show.

If we omit Saad's results as odd, it doesn't change much if we don't, Ocasio-Cortez's platform got 33.7% support on average, which I wouldn't believe is bad.

[Drlee]

Really folks? You are constructing a surname revolution in the democratic party?

There were 102 minorities in the house already. This is a surprise for, well, nobody. Of course the republicans are attempting (successfully) to gerrymander them out of the running but they can't be 100% successful.

We have had a very liberal Hispanic congressman for a long time here in AZ. Not scary at all really. But then I actually know and associate with Hispanic people. That does tend to tamp down the unreasonable panic.

[Beren]

But then I actually know and associate with Hispanic people. That does tend to tamp down the unreasonable panic.

Do you actually know and associate with Democratic Socialists too? Does that tend to tamp down the unreasonable panic?

[Drlee]

Democratic socialists are just Nixon/Rockefeller republicans from the past.

[Beren]

Democratic socialists are just Nixon/Rockefeller republicans from the past.

[Beren]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions why US pays for 'unlimited war' but not Medicare-for-all

[Albert]

The Far Left Is Losing
By David Catanese, Senior Politics Writer

Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign awakened a progressive movement in America.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's stunning upset this summer gave it a fresh jolt of momentum.

It turns out their magic isn't transferable.



A band of far-left candidates have suffered a string of defeats in Democratic primaries this year, the most recent coming on Tuesday, when most of the contenders backed by the progressive duo lost their races.

In two of the marquee contests, it was women who trumped those claiming the liberal banner.

In Kansas' 3rd Congressional District, Sharice Davids, a lesbian Native American, defeated Brent Welder, who had the backing of Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

During the primary, incumbent GOP Rep. Kevin Yoder and his allies ran digital and television ads promoting Welder's progressive stands, in what was seen as a sly way to help him advance to the general election.

Instead, Yoder will face Davids, who did not embrace a Medicare-for-all position and has tacked slightly more to the center.

In Michigan's governor's race, Abdul El-Sayed, who like Welder, had both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez in the state campaigning for him, finished 22 points behind Democratic primary victor Gretchen Whitmer.

El-Sayed had run aggressively on a state-based universal health care system and was aiming to become the country's first Muslim governor. Whitmer presented a more traditional profile as a state senator who promised to fix "crappy roads and schools."

In the end, it wasn't even a close call for Democrats in the Wolverine State. Whitmer will go on to face GOP Attorney General Bill Schuette in what's expected to be a battleground race this fall.

“I would say that the goal of our revolution isn't just to elect candidates, it's also to build a progressive movement,” says Diane May, a spokeswoman for Our Revolution, the Sanders-backed group. “Brent Welder's race is a great example of why we need a political revolution. He came close to winning but was heavily outspent. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed's race was a huge step toward building the multiracial coalition we need to take power back from corporations and the very wealthy.”

Taken together however, the losses demonstrate the limits of strident socialist-fueled liberalism, even in an age of feverish Democratic Party resistance to President Donald Trump.

Mike Trujillo, a Democratic consultant who worked on the Kansas congressional race for a third candidate, says Sanders has overestimated the breadth of his 2016 coalition.

"His coalition did include folks attracted to his policy stances, yes, but it was also a majority of 'Never Hillary' Democrats," says Trujillo. "Until Team Bernie understands his coalition is a fraction of a fraction of the Democratic Party – which is fueled by women and people of color – then these losses will continue to stack up."

Ocasio-Cortez suffered another loss in Missouri, where she had backed Cori Bush, a local activist who challenged Rep. William Lacy Clay, who has held the 1st Congressional District seat for 17 years.

Clay thumped Bush by 20 points, delivering another resounding defeat for a progressive supported by Justice Democrats.

Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter Wednesday morning to defend her endorsement strategy as building power in long-shot races and making them "flippable for the next cycle."

"Wins in the short-term are important milemarkers and necessary to building power," she wrote. "But you can't be afraid of loss. Fear keeps people from accomplishing great things."

She also touted victories by James Thompson in Kansas' 4th Congressional District and Rashida Tlaib in Michigan's 13th Congressional District.

Thompson is considered a longshot to win a Republican-held seat in November, whereas Tlaib is almost assured to become a congresswoman in the deeply Democratic district around Detroit.

But in Michigan's 11th Congressional District, an open seat considered a battleground race, Ocasio-Cortez's candidate, Fayrouz Saad, finished in fourth place.

In fairness, even before Ocasio-Cortez splashed onto the scene in late June, the most liberal candidates were coming up short in key races around the country.

In Texas' 7th Congressional District, the Emily's List-backed Lizzie Pannill Fletcher defeated Laura Moser, who was boosted by supporters of Sanders and the Working Families Party.

In California's 25th Congressional District, Katie Hill, a nonprofit executive, advanced to the general election by defeating Bryan Caforio, who was backed by Democracy for America and Justice Democrats, the group that helped lift Ocasio-Cortez.

In Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, Sanders campaigned for pastor Greg Edwards ahead of his May Democratic primary. Edwards placed third.

And in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, Pete D'Alessandro, a former Sanders' campaign aide supported by Our Revolution, also finished third, 42 points behind the winner, Cindy Axne.

When pressed about the losses, one Sanders aide cited Ben Jealous' gubernatorial nomination in Maryland as an example of the success of a blue-blooded progressive. But polls show Jealous trailing GOP Gov. Larry Hogan by double digits.

There are more tests to come.

In Florida's gubernatorial primary later this month, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has earned the backing of progressive interests, including Sanders, against Gwen Graham, the moderate former congresswoman and daughter of the revered former Gov. and Sen. Bob Graham. Arizona's Democratic primary for governor features PCCC-backed David Garcia against Steve Farley, a state legislator who is openly appealing to Republicans and independents.

And in Massachusetts, Ocasio-Cortez is backing Ayanna Pressley's challenge to 10-term Rep. Mike Capuano.

There's room for considerable debate over what exactly makes a progressive.

Christina Reynolds, a communications strategist for Emily's List, openly lamented placing candidates in tidy boxes as the primary returns rolled in.

"I hate to make these stories harder, but there's not just one 'establishment' and one defined group of 'progressives,'" she said. "It's just not that simple to split the party in two, or to define either group."

So Whitmer in Michigan and Davids in Kansas can be defined as progressives as well, depending on which Democrat is doing the labeling.

What's not up for debate is that the candidates running furthest to the left, accumulating the most progressive validators, are largely losing the biggest races this year.

Update on the populist left movement in the States.

[Godstud]

Bernie Sanders isn't far left. The whole opinion piece is rubbish because it's based on a falsehood.

[Verv]

Bernie Sanders isn't far left. The whole opinion piece is rubbish because it's based on a falsehood.

Dr. Lee brought up a fair point. A significant amount of these policies from the past were not really "far left" but just populistic economics that people engaged in very normally in the old days.

However, Sanders did visit the Soviet Union and have ties with various far leftist actors. Surely, that is relevant.

There is also this trend of calling oneself a "democratic socialist," like this woman does, and this correlates nicely with these weird ideas about racial quotas and these generalized attacks on "whiteness" or whatever.

... Plus, you know, the average "social conservatism" factor of anyone in the 1950s who wasn't a beatnik would put them in the alt right, basically, so IDK how much we want to play down the idea that these people are leftist.

[Godstud]

Just because an actor(artists usually are very protesty) supports Sanders, doesn't mean squat.

Soviet Union? So, like 30 years ago is relevant to now? How so? Sander's policies are hardly far left by any stretch of the imagination.

[Zagadka]

They are "left" for the US. Which says more about the US than Sanders.

I do find this kinda funny. People bitched constantly about "establishment politicians" like Hillary being all anyone had, then an idealist outsider gets a vote and they lose their shit about getting rid of establishment politicians.

[Bulaba Khan Jones]

Just because an actor(artists usually are very protesty) supports Sanders, doesn't mean squat.

Soviet Union? So, like 30 years ago is relevant to now? How so? Sander's policies are hardly far left by any stretch of the imagination.

@Verv this post is basically it. Churchill visited the USSR and this did not make him a Stalinist. Sanders calls himself a "democratic socialist" (do you know what the term means? No socialist state has ever been democratic socialist) but his political career is firmly social democratic. Social democratic basically means capitalism with a friendly face, to put it simply. Actions speak louder than words, and regardless of whatever Sanders says he is, what he actually does is firmly social democratic.

[Beren]

Bernie Sanders isn't far left.

And he's not losing.

[Albert]

@Verv this post is basically it. Churchill visited the USSR and this did not make him a Stalinist. Sanders calls himself a "democratic socialist" (do you know what the term means? No socialist state has ever been democratic socialist) but his political career is firmly social democratic. Social democratic basically means capitalism with a friendly face, to put it simply. Actions speak louder than words, and regardless of whatever Sanders says he is, what he actually does is firmly social democratic.

Nothing but a dirty communist who loves depravity. Socials and Communist are one of the kind, the difference is one is a reformist and the other revolutionary.

[Sivad]

[Beren]

Do you believe CNN and Cuomo are against her?

[Albert]

Thats right Jake Tapper and CNN, you tell them.

[Rugoz]

However, Sanders did visit the Soviet Union and have ties with various far leftist actors. Surely, that is relevant.

Did he also organize a meeting with the Kremlin to get dirt on his political opponents?

[Beren]

Thats right Jake Tapper and CNN, you tell them.

It's a bit hard to follow his "fact check" since it starts with confusing the US government with the American people.