Democrats inch left in some swing districts for midterms
A single-payer health care advocate in
Weeks into the primary season,
It's not one size fits all, with every candidate checking every box wanted by the activists driving the opposition to President
That means voters now represented by a Republican will be asked to consider some or all of the mainstream Democratic priorities that may have been considered "too liberal" in the past: more government involvement in health insurance, tighter gun laws, a path to citizenship for people in the country illegally, reversing parts of the
"You have ballpark 60 districts as diverse as
The question is whether that path results in
Israel disputes that the current slate represents an overall leftward shift, and national party leaders have still angered liberals with some of their recruitment choices.
Still, resistance leaders are confident of their influence. "We are seeing grassroots action and organizing in a meaningful way," said
To be clear, not every surviving candidate is a carbon copy of
At least to date, it's staved off a Democratic version of the 2010 tea party rise, when
A key indicator is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue" program, the party's top candidates for flipping Republican seats. Twenty candidates with that designation have faced primaries already; only one of them — among the party's most conservative choices — has lost. (About two dozen more Red to Blue candidates have upcoming primaries, and the DCCC could add to its list.)
On health care, at least two of the Red to Blue hopefuls past their primaries call explicitly for a single-payer, government health insurance system, four more want a government-run public option, and several others generically call for expanded coverage under the
A leftward shift on health care is clear in
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.
Beyond national
"I know that with a bold progressive agenda and with the continued mobilization of the progressive base in
In some instances, the liberal arguments come from candidates who can sell themselves as trustworthy messengers, even if the message is stereotyped as out of place.
"Wacky, far-left positions," said
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