The Democratic establishment fights back against the socialists

The Democratic establishment is finally fighting back against the socialist takeover of the party that has been the biggest takeaway from this year’s primaries so far.

Time will tell whether this resistance is too little, too late.

Democratic leaders are circling the wagons around Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) against her left-wing opponent, Abdul el Sayed, ahead of the August Michigan Senate primary.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) is the latest to endorse Stevens for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). Peters is also backing Stevens and Whitmer beat el Sayed in the 2018 gubernatorial primary.

But 2018 was a lifetime away in Democratic politics.

There’s been an extraordinary shake-up in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race as the Democratic establishment moves to prevent the nomination of state Rep. Francesca Hong, a Democratic Socialists of America member.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is back in with Gov. Tony Evers’s (D-WI) blessing, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is out, and the non-socialist vote may now consolidate behind the strongest candidate to beat Hong.

Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow similarly bowed out of the Michigan Senate race to give Stevens a clean shot at el Sayed, though the latter’s camp has released internal polling showing more of a split among McMorrow voters.

A Democratic National Committee panel voted to make South Carolina the party’s first 2028 presidential primary, just days after a poll showed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) leading in New Hampshire. While Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was within the margin of error of Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was drawing another 6% in the poll. Sanders, 84, would likely not run if the now 36-year-old AOC did, and she would presumably get most of his votes.

South Carolina derailed Sanders’s momentum in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. The majority black primary electorate there has rejected socialism in the past, handing Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden landslide wins. In Biden’s case, South Carolinians rescued his seemingly moribund campaign.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the Democratic kingmaker who was instrumental in that Biden revival, is endorsing Stevens in Michigan and has ridiculed el Sayed for the lack of racial diversity at a recent rally in majority-black Detroit.

Finally, Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) easily defeated his DSA primary challenger, Kai Newkirk, 62.3% to 37.7% on Tuesday.

Some of the momentum shift came as Graham Platner’s Maine Senate campaign imploded. The poorly vetted Platner had a series of controversial Reddit posts, a Nazi tattoo he subsequently covered up, a sexting scandal while married, a reported history of mistreating his past girlfriends, and finally a rape allegation that proved too much for even his staunchest supporters to defend. Platner’s top campaign strategist, Morris Katz, conceded to the New York Times on Friday that the pre-sexual assault issues probably should have been enough to disqualify him.

But the biggest scandal might have been that Platner looked increasingly likely to blow a winnable Senate race in a blue state in what is supposed to be a good year for Democrats. Platner’s lead in a RealClearPolitics average of polls had dwindled to just 0.7 points by the end of his campaign and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was up 3 in the last Fox News poll of the race. Collins has a history of outperforming her poll numbers, such as when she consistently trailed six years ago but ended up winning reelection by nearly 9 points.

Second thoughts about socialism began to creep in elsewhere as Platner flailed and then withdrew, all but accusing the Democratic donor class of nullifying his primary victory as he exited the race.

Nevertheless, Platner is virtually certain to be replaced by another Democrat from the Sanders wing of the party. Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) wasn’t able to run a viable primary campaign against him, received few votes in the primary, and generated little interest as a possible replacement candidate.

But the socialists aren’t giving up without a fight. Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and other progressive leaders remain all in for el Sayed in Michigan. They are coming off big wins in New York, Colorado, and Washington, D.C. Their preferred candidate made the Los Angeles mayoral runoff over Spencer Pratt.

Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani looks ascendant. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) do not. They are not in as strong a position to influence primary outcomes as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was when he went up against the tea party as Senate Republican leader.

IT’S THE YEAR OF THE DSA IN DEMOCRATIC POLITICS

A national Fox News poll found that Democrats view socialism more favorably than capitalism and mostly approve of the DSA.

Can the Democrats’ old guard hold the line in this climate? We’ll soon see.

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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]