“Far Left”
By 
THE BIG IDEA: Tuesday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for Democratic moderates.
To interrupt briefly, I think it’s time for the “terrible, horrible etc. etc.” cliche to be thrown under the bus, on steroids. It’s really not changing the game or closing the deal anymore.
Anyway, what are these “far left” candidates proposing? Nationalizing the means of production? Liquidating the Kulaks?
In Nebraska, a liberal social worker and political neophyte who built her campaign around “Medicare for All” scored a shocking upset in a Democratic primary to take on Rep. Don Bacon (R). Kara Eastman, 45, beat former congressman Brad Ashford, 68, in an Omaha-area district that national Democrats believed they could pick up in November.
Eastman advocated for universal background checks to buy guns, raising taxes and decriminalizing marijuana. “I’m tired of hearing Democrats don’t have a backbone, that we don’t stand for anything,” she said in a commercial that touted her support for universal health care. “That changes now!”
In a recent Quinnipiac University National Poll, 97% of the respondents favored background checks. Higher taxes for the wealthy: favored by overwhelming majorities. Decriminalizing marijuana: favored by 61% of the country. Healthcare polling is more complicated but Medicare-for-all is hardly a radical position.
“Far left,” in other words, consists of mostly supported by solid-to-overwhelming popular majorities. Somehow, I’m doubting that Paul Ryan’s massively unpopular agenda would be described in a Post news story as “far right.”
Ashford had the full-throated support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which must now reevaluate whether to invest in the race.
The answer is obvious: it should. That there’s any doubt reflects how Beltway elites think the public is much more conservative than it actually is.
ETA: as a commenter notes, the second example is even more hilarious:
In Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, where GOP Rep. Charlie Dent’s retirement created a winnable open seat for Democrats, early front-runner John Morganelli — a district attorney who has been locally prominent for decades — lost the primary to attorney Susan Wild, who ran at him from the left. Morganelli, who opposes abortion rights and “sanctuary cities,” was attacked relentlessly on the airwaves for speaking positively about Trump and tweeting that he was open to taking a job in the administration during the transition.
Yes, the fact that a pro-Trump anti-reproductive freedom and anti-immigrant candidate was unable to win a Democratic primary is clear evidence that the party has been taken over by Maoists.
And:
In the Philadelphia suburbs, centrist Rachel Reddick — a 33-year-old Navy veteran endorsed by Emily’s List — lost the Democratic primary to take on Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R) after “proud progressive” Scott Wallace ran ads attacking her for being a registered Republican until 2016. Wallace, 66, is the grandson of Henry Wallace, who was Franklin Roosevelt’s vice president for a term and then ran against Harry Truman, who FDR dumped him for, from the far left in 1948. In a victory speech to supporters in Bucks County last night, Wallace declared: “Together, we can make America sane again.”
Yes being a Republican until 2 years ago hinders you in a Democratic primary, which is why Bob Avakian will clearly be the Dem nominee in 2020. Can’t argue with that.