The Left’s Election Denial
When Democrats are enjoying tidal waves of public support, like they did in last week’s election, the cost of this denial is small.
Key points
- The left-wing American Prospect, in an article headlined “The New Majority Makers,” praised Dunlap as “a working-class northern Mainer” who is “committed to economic populism.” Dunlap lost, turning what had been the reddest district held by a Democrat into the bluest district held by a Republican.
- The party’s most impressive victories, compared with the recent election outcomes in historically purple states, came from mainstream or moderate candidates: Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia (who won by 18 points), Senator-Elect Roy Cooper of North Carolina (19.6), and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (21.5 points).
- B ernie Sanders and his acolytes have spent the past decade insisting that Democrats would command national majorities if only they embraced his left-wing policies.
Almost every Democratic Senate nominee gained a higher vote share in their state than Kamala Harris did two years earlier, but the five left-wing candidates backed by Sanders accounted for the four smallest swings in contested races.
Additional details
- If the election was a test of whether Americans like Sanders’s message more or less than the standard Democratic message, the answer was clear: They like it less.
- [ Jonathan Chait: Mamdani is the centrist we’ve been waiting for ] Because the whole party blew the doors out, many of its left-wing candidates won anyway.
- After last week’s election, the movement claimed vindication.
- Newcomers such as incoming Senators Josh Turek of Iowa and Annie Andrews of South Carolina came out against gender-affirming surgery for minors and allowing transgender female athletes to compete in girls’ sports—positions that did grave damage to Harris.
- Under more regular political circumstances, such as the closely balanced elections that have typically occurred this century, finding an acceptable way to compromise with public opinion is often the difference between winning and losing elections.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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