Civil War on the Left, Part 57: Dem House Divided Against Itself

Democrats have a very good chance of taking the House of Representatives in November—if they can keep their comediennes under control. Apparently the folks who run the White House Correspondents Dinner have forgotten the lessons of the Wellstone funeral in 2002.

Democrats also need to keep their Bernie-bro “progressives” under control. Whatever else you may think of Nancy Pelosi and minority leader Steny Hoyer, they know practical politics, and know that a slim Democratic House majority that rushes pell-mell to impeach Trump is a huge loser. So they are trying to repeat the Rahm Emanuel strategy from 2006 and recruit “moderate” candidates for swing districts. But influential and deep-pocketed leftists like Tom Steyer are demanding that Democratic candidates pledge to impeach Trump, no matter what.

Dave Weigel reports today in the Washington Post about how The Intercept, an independent website, is blowing the lid off the Democrat effort to stymie the Bernie bros:

The website’s series of scoops on intra-Democratic arguments started with a sprawling and buzzy January story on how the DCCC was “throwing its weight behind candidates who are out of step with the national mood.”

The publication’s exposure of the family feud is playing into a narrative that Democrats’ biggest risk to their goal of capturing the House majority in this year’s midterm elections — with President Trump hanging around the GOP’s neck — is themselves. That is, the progressive anti-Trump energy driving the party is leading to a plethora of messy Democratic primaries and some serious differences over how to approach them.

Just last week, the Intercept reported on a secret recording of House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) urging a progressive primary candidate to drop out in Colorado; a voicemail purportedly from a DCCC-backed candidate threatening to go negative against another Democrat in a top-tier California candidate; and Facebook musings about abortion from a candidate the DCCC recruited in a race where a liberal contender had already locked up local support.

Those stories have landed like live grenades in races that might otherwise have escaped national attention.

There’s even a video with the secret tape recording. I rather like the cartoon work—reminds a bit of Daria:

Pass the popcorn.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses