Thank you for writing this article. Your perspective helped me frame my own. I was having trouble coming to terms with some of the past posts and positions of some of these progressive left wing candidates. I feel more focused now as a result of your article, and that focus will be as you suggest. “What I care about is, are they going to improve people’s lives in the next few years? Are they committed to solving the problems people face now?” And hopefully, we won’t be betrayed as we’ve been by the likes of Fetterman and several others.
Trump has shown us one thing. If we can afford the Big Beautiful Bill then we can afford to repeal it and provide Healthcare, Childcare and Education for all. Affordable housing is a need the market refuses to provide. Incentives to build the housing existed before Reagan overhauled the tax code in 1984. They were warned and they created a bandaid. Its not enough. We can afford to take care of everyone and the establishment Democratic Party just looks out of touch as do the Republicans. They have left no alternative to their demise.
Paul, very incisive and smart piece. I hope these so-called moderates take the time to read it. We are currently in a crisis situation, and do not have time to hurl ad hominem attacks against popular Democrats, who are going to be representing our party in the fall. They are popular for a reason, and the so-called moderate should take heed of this fact on the ground.
If you take a look at the actual policy positions of each of the candidates, there are only shades of difference and emphasis. Why is advocating for Medicare for all a so-called radical position at this point in time in our history? That is patently ridiculous. Anyway keep up the good writing. I do appreciate it.
Democratic socialists can also point to significant achievements in Mayor Mamdani's New York. And despite some initial grumbling, wealthy New Yorkers have not fled from the horror of having to pay higher taxes. Maybe it's occurred to them that if people can afford the basic necessities like food and housing they are less likely to sleep and panhandle on the street.
Thank you. I am so tired of purity politics. No candidate is going to be perfect in everyone's eyes. Obviously we don't condone outrageous behavior (looking at you, Platner), but we *do* need to take note of the obvious support that DSA and DSA-adjacent candidates are receiving. As you say: do we want Democrats to win, or are we going to go down in a mire of whining about supposed too-progressive perspectives?
The only thing that matters is that Democrats gain control of our government to save our Democratic Republic; therefore, Michigan voters should vote for Haley Stevens for Senator because she can more easily WIN!
"The good news for moderates is that the vast majority of leftist Democrats actually want to govern. This is where the easy analogy many are making to the Tea Party breaks down."
Indeed, voting RED is voting for continued autocratic RULE, not GOVERNING (making government serve the people).
For almost 2 years we have been ruled by a demented old man who is totally preoccupied with revenge for not being re-elected in 2020. Trump's behavior screams that he wants to tear down the entire government - our services, laws, economy, military, education, science - everything. He has alienated every global ally. Even our NYSE economy, which thrills billionaires, is likely just a bubble that will explode and take us all down with it. If we wait until 2028, it seems likely that Trump's revenge will end life in America as we have come to know it.
“Vote for the non-MAGA”……should be our 2026 mantra. We scuffled our way to a Trump win in 2024…let’s not repeat that abysmal performance in 2026. We can significantly decrease Trump’s destructive power if we show up in absolutely massive numbers to exert our rights as Americans. We can do this thing…engaging in a circular firing squad is not an option. (And don’t even THINK about not voting…)
“The good news for moderates is that the vast majority of leftist Democrats actually want to govern. This is where the easy analogy many are making to the Tea Party breaks down.
“The Tea Partiers who got elected after Barack Obama took office did attack their party’s establishment in the same way the leftists are now, but once in office, they just wanted to wreak havoc — grind Congress to a halt, shut down the government, throw sand in every gear they could find.”
Indeed.
Further, I would argue that the Dems’ closest analog for the Tea Partiers—the ones throwing sand in the gears of real progress for the last few decades—are not the pragmatic leftists like AOC, Jayapal, or Mamdani but rather:
• corporate centrists like Kirsten Sinema, Joe Manchin, and Joe Lieberman;
• “pro-life” (anti-women’s-rights) centrists like Bart Stupak and Joe Pitts; and
• the alarming number of culture-war centrists willing to cast aside trans people, Black people, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups to (not) win the votes of bigots. For example, the eight House Democrats who in May 2026 voted for the mandatory outing of trans kids in H.R. 2616 The Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act.
We give too much money to Israel. Netanyahu is guilty of genocide. I don’t want AIPAC to decide American elections.
However, the intramural fighting is stupid&destructive
Let me ask you: Is there any focus on the complete collapse of the New Deal&Great Society Democratic legislation? 75 years of Democratic success.
We’ve lost Roe, SNAP Trump in an election year plans to destroy Medicare part D. The talking points about too much concession&denigration of the Democratic Party entirely responsible for things you’ve thrown away with both hands. I had to explain to someone who labeled me a centrist who Tom Hayden( who endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie)was.
It will take a generation to repair the damage Trump has done.
Do you really want to alienate the people who actually show up to vote?
I think it might have been the wacko Nina Turner I 1st heard suggest not voting was a legitimate form of protest, but the non voting people gave Trump the presidency twice.
BTW there’s history before you were born. Biden didn’t create the U.S. policy towards Israel.
If you want to control the party: Vote.
Also address the misogyny.
AOC actually reminds me of a young Hillary Clinton. The only reason anyone would object to that is they haven’t bothered to study candidates.
Try to minimize the insults&listen, both sides. I think you’d be surprised how much common ground there is.
Thank you for writing this article. Your perspective helped me frame my own. I was having trouble coming to terms with some of the past posts and positions of some of these progressive left wing candidates. I feel more focused now as a result of your article, and that focus will be as you suggest. “What I care about is, are they going to improve people’s lives in the next few years? Are they committed to solving the problems people face now?” And hopefully, we won’t be betrayed as we’ve been by the likes of Fetterman and several others.
Trump has shown us one thing. If we can afford the Big Beautiful Bill then we can afford to repeal it and provide Healthcare, Childcare and Education for all. Affordable housing is a need the market refuses to provide. Incentives to build the housing existed before Reagan overhauled the tax code in 1984. They were warned and they created a bandaid. Its not enough. We can afford to take care of everyone and the establishment Democratic Party just looks out of touch as do the Republicans. They have left no alternative to their demise.
Paul, very incisive and smart piece. I hope these so-called moderates take the time to read it. We are currently in a crisis situation, and do not have time to hurl ad hominem attacks against popular Democrats, who are going to be representing our party in the fall. They are popular for a reason, and the so-called moderate should take heed of this fact on the ground.
If you take a look at the actual policy positions of each of the candidates, there are only shades of difference and emphasis. Why is advocating for Medicare for all a so-called radical position at this point in time in our history? That is patently ridiculous. Anyway keep up the good writing. I do appreciate it.
Democratic socialists can also point to significant achievements in Mayor Mamdani's New York. And despite some initial grumbling, wealthy New Yorkers have not fled from the horror of having to pay higher taxes. Maybe it's occurred to them that if people can afford the basic necessities like food and housing they are less likely to sleep and panhandle on the street.
Thank you. I am so tired of purity politics. No candidate is going to be perfect in everyone's eyes. Obviously we don't condone outrageous behavior (looking at you, Platner), but we *do* need to take note of the obvious support that DSA and DSA-adjacent candidates are receiving. As you say: do we want Democrats to win, or are we going to go down in a mire of whining about supposed too-progressive perspectives?
Purity politics = losing politics.
The only thing that matters is that Democrats gain control of our government to save our Democratic Republic; therefore, Michigan voters should vote for Haley Stevens for Senator because she can more easily WIN!
"The good news for moderates is that the vast majority of leftist Democrats actually want to govern. This is where the easy analogy many are making to the Tea Party breaks down."
Indeed, voting RED is voting for continued autocratic RULE, not GOVERNING (making government serve the people).
For almost 2 years we have been ruled by a demented old man who is totally preoccupied with revenge for not being re-elected in 2020. Trump's behavior screams that he wants to tear down the entire government - our services, laws, economy, military, education, science - everything. He has alienated every global ally. Even our NYSE economy, which thrills billionaires, is likely just a bubble that will explode and take us all down with it. If we wait until 2028, it seems likely that Trump's revenge will end life in America as we have come to know it.
“Vote for the non-MAGA”……should be our 2026 mantra. We scuffled our way to a Trump win in 2024…let’s not repeat that abysmal performance in 2026. We can significantly decrease Trump’s destructive power if we show up in absolutely massive numbers to exert our rights as Americans. We can do this thing…engaging in a circular firing squad is not an option. (And don’t even THINK about not voting…)
“The good news for moderates is that the vast majority of leftist Democrats actually want to govern. This is where the easy analogy many are making to the Tea Party breaks down.
“The Tea Partiers who got elected after Barack Obama took office did attack their party’s establishment in the same way the leftists are now, but once in office, they just wanted to wreak havoc — grind Congress to a halt, shut down the government, throw sand in every gear they could find.”
Indeed.
Further, I would argue that the Dems’ closest analog for the Tea Partiers—the ones throwing sand in the gears of real progress for the last few decades—are not the pragmatic leftists like AOC, Jayapal, or Mamdani but rather:
• corporate centrists like Kirsten Sinema, Joe Manchin, and Joe Lieberman;
• “pro-life” (anti-women’s-rights) centrists like Bart Stupak and Joe Pitts; and
• the alarming number of culture-war centrists willing to cast aside trans people, Black people, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups to (not) win the votes of bigots. For example, the eight House Democrats who in May 2026 voted for the mandatory outing of trans kids in H.R. 2616 The Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act.
With all due respect, Paul, the same holds true for the party left. I’m one Democrat who is close to saying “a plague o’ both your houses.”
We give too much money to Israel. Netanyahu is guilty of genocide. I don’t want AIPAC to decide American elections.
However, the intramural fighting is stupid&destructive
Let me ask you: Is there any focus on the complete collapse of the New Deal&Great Society Democratic legislation? 75 years of Democratic success.
We’ve lost Roe, SNAP Trump in an election year plans to destroy Medicare part D. The talking points about too much concession&denigration of the Democratic Party entirely responsible for things you’ve thrown away with both hands. I had to explain to someone who labeled me a centrist who Tom Hayden( who endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie)was.
It will take a generation to repair the damage Trump has done.
Do you really want to alienate the people who actually show up to vote?
I think it might have been the wacko Nina Turner I 1st heard suggest not voting was a legitimate form of protest, but the non voting people gave Trump the presidency twice.
BTW there’s history before you were born. Biden didn’t create the U.S. policy towards Israel.
If you want to control the party: Vote.
Also address the misogyny.
AOC actually reminds me of a young Hillary Clinton. The only reason anyone would object to that is they haven’t bothered to study candidates.
Try to minimize the insults&listen, both sides. I think you’d be surprised how much common ground there is.
THANK YOU!!!!