Progressive House Candidates Are Dragging The Party Even Further Left

The Democratic Party is on a message testing free-for-all campaign. Far-left, progressive candidates are floating their ideas to voters across the country in contested Democratic primaries, leaving the establishment at a loss. The full spectrum of progressive ideas include: “more government involvement in health insurance, tighter gun laws, a path to citizenship for people in the country illegally, reversing parts of the GOP tax law, support for LGBTQ rights.”

Associated Press: “But the influence of Sanders’ inspired base is palpable, as winning nominees have adopted pieces, if not the whole, of an agenda that has become more typical within the party since it lost the House majority eight years ago.”

One of the clearest examples of the shift on healthcare can be seen in Arkansas:

“A leftward shift on health care is clear in Arkansas, where state Rep. Clarke Tucker dominated a primary as the more centrist choice – he’s among the Democrats saying he wouldn’t back California’s Nancy Pelosi for speaker – in a congressional district Trump won by almost 21 points.”

“A cancer survivor, Tucker does not support single-payer, but he does say all Americans, regardless of age, should be able to buy Medicare coverage. That’s quite a leap from 2010, when then-Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a self-declared Arkansas centrist, joined other moderate Democrats to back the Affordable Care Act only after a public option was scrapped. She lost her 2010 re-election bid in a 21-point landslide anyway.”

Far-left, progressive messages won’t move voters in competitive House districts this fall. The Democratic party continues to fail to find a leader or one clear message on which to run.