The usual suspects in superficial political punditry are pushing the narrative that there is an intra-party war brewing within the Democratic Party, one that will jeopardize seats and a possible Blue Wave this November.
The other essential ingredient of the Republican survival plan is largely out of the party’s hands: Democratic self-immolation. Naturally, it’s already underway.
Yes...the problem Democrats face is too much enthusiasm...talk about spin.
There is a simple way to measure the validity of this narrative.
One of the data points being pushed is how California Democrats voted not to endorse incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein. She faces a strong primary opponent from her Left.
She is not the most Conservative Democratic Senator up for election. That is Joe Manchin. Yet Democrats are not clamoring to primary him.
That is because Manchin is the Senator of West Virginia. Went Virginia went for Trump over Clinton by 42%. Feinstein is the Senator of California. California went for Clinton over Trump by 30%. Though she does not act like it.
Another data point being pushed is how the DCCC chose not to endorse US Rep. Dan Lipinski (IL-03). He also faces a strong primary opponent from his Left.
Once again, he is not the most Conservative Democratic member of the House running for re-election. That is Collin Peterson, yet Democrats are not clamoring to primary him, as of today.
But let’s take a look at the difference in their districts:
Peterson’s District went for Trump over Clinton by 30.8%
Lipinski’s District went for Clinton over Trump by 15.3%
The difference is that Peterson’s district is one of the reddest held by a Democrat. Lipinski’s district is a fairly blue district. Though he does not act like it.
Politico and other political reporters want to frame the narrative as a “Tea Party of the Left” gunning for Conservative members of the Democratic Party. But they are cherry picking data, ignoring the fact that the members facing tough primaries are not just far to the Right of the Party, but far to the Right of their own respective electorates. In reality, if these incumbents are taken down by their primary opponents, it will only mean the representative will actually be more politically representative of the constituents.
If anything, this is how primaries are supposed to function. Members of a political party should be able to weigh in and choose who best represents their political identities, as the brand ambassador for those constituents and the Party. Politico and other outfits want to attack Democrats for using the primaries, as they are actually intended.
They want to frame the narrative as being potential risk factors for November, when in reality, if we want to energize the type of Democratic Party base that will be needed to unseat Congressional Republicans, it is battles exactly like this that provide the foundations for a strong Democratic Party revival. The base wants to see the Party embracing better brand ambassadors, not contradicting itself by giving a pass to entrenched intra-party foes.
It is not surprising that such outfits want to paint a narrative that Democrats will eat their own at the expense of the 2018 Blue Wave. They tend to be the same outfits that throw gasoline on the Democratic Party’s primary wars, just as they are becoming dying embers. It is meant to present a dire narrative to help them sell their publications; to demoralize and disrupt Democratic Party grassroots enthusiasm; and to continue to box in and discredit Progressives and the Left as viable, even though the American electorate is increasingly trending Blue.