The massive failure of Democratic Socialists in yesterday's primaries
If Democratic Socialists are "the future" of the Democratic party, they had better get used to losing – a lot.
Every single candidate endorsed by celebrity Democratic Socialist politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was beaten by establishment Democrats in yesterday's primaries. And not just beaten – they were, in most cases, slaughtered.
The blood on the floor in Democratic precincts across the Midwest is Democratic Socialist blood.
Cortez held a whirl-wind tour of the U.S., stumping for Abdul El-Sayed for governor of Michigan, Fayrouz Saad in Michigan's 11th Congressional District, Cori Bush in Missouri's 1st District, and is backing Congressional candidate Kaniela Ing in Hawaii.
El-Sayed lost his bid for the Democrat nomination for governor to 51.8 percent to 30.5 percent, according to numbers published by the New York Times.
Saad came in fourth in the five-way race, capturing only 18 percent of the vote.
Cori Bush lost her primary to William Lacy Clay, 56.7 percent to 36.9 percent, the Times results show.
Hawaii's primary election will be August 11. Stay tuned to see if Ing fairs [sic] any better.
WaPo's David Weigel describes the Democratic primary winners as "centrists." In truth, they may be in the center of the Democratic Party, but when it comes to the rest of the country, they are still far-left.
The party's centrists, who had bemoaned Crowley's defeat, saw Tuesday night as a turning point. Whitmer, who ran on her record of expanding Medicaid in Michigan – and a memorable promise to "fix the damn roads" – will now lead an all-female ticket in a swing state that Hillary Clinton narrowly lost.
Candidates backed by Emily's List, which endorses women and sometimes clashes with the left, bested left-wing challengers in three southeast Michigan districts; at least two are seen as toss-ups in November. Early Tuesday evening, just one Sanders-backed candidate in a competitive primary was in the lead; Brent Welder, a labor lawyer running in Kansas's 3rd Congressional District, benefited from a crowd of five less-liberal candidates who split the vote.
"This is a fantastic night for centrist Democrats," said Jim Kessler, senior vice president for policy at the center-left Third Way think tank. "We nominated the right candidates who can win House seats and governor's mansions for the Democratic Party. There's a quiet enthusiasm in the middle. There's a quiet voice that people are not hearing in the media, but it's loud at the ballot box."
The party's left flank, meanwhile, has bristled at suggestions that it's spoiling anything for 2018. Since winning her primary, Ocasio-Cortez campaigned for Democrats in California, Kansas, Michigan and Missouri; she also addressed liberal activists at Netroots Nation, the movement's largest annual conference, held this year in New Orleans.
Despite the stinging defeats of the radicals, it is largely their agenda that "establishment" Democrats are running on. "Medicare for all" will be a litmus test for less radical Dems, which, considering its price tag of $32.6 trillion over ten years, is a GOP dream come true. If these Democrats want the activists to turn out on election day, they must at least pay lip service to the socialist agenda.
This will almost certainly cut into whatever gains Democrats will make in the fall. They may still take over the House, given the number of open Republican-controlled seats that will be up for grabs (40). But any chance of a "blue wave" is fading as fast as the Democratic Socialists' electoral prospects.