• LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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    13 hours ago

    the party pulls out all the stops to stop progressive challengers to conservative incumbents

    Progressives have won many local seats in places, so no they are not being stopped. At higher level offices yes of course they struggle to knock out funded, well known incumbents. But it’s the pitiful turnout at these primaries is the real problem. If progressives even marginally increased turnout they’d win a lot more seats.

    Like I also don’t get this complaint on some level: Yes they lose to incumbents working against them. The progressive candidates are running against them and trying to take their seat. 90% of the time their rhetoric is antagonistic to the democratic party. Why would they expect a friendly, helping hand from an org they often paint as their opposition?

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      Progressives have won many local seats in places, so no they are not being stopped.

      centrists don’t have to be 100% successful in their efforts to make sure that only republicans and centrists are allowed to run.

      At higher level offices yes of course they struggle to knock out funded, well known incumbents.

      So how low is the cutoff here? Where’s the line that deliniates “where progressives can win” and “where putting our thumb on the scale against progressives is acceptable”?

      But it’s the pitiful turnout at these primaries is the real problem.

      Cuellar beat Cisneros by like 500 votes after the party put its full weight behind him. Of course, he was a high enough level to be worth protecting. At the same level, we had Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, who the party didn’t want to protect because they were progressive incumbents.

      Why would they expect a friendly, helping hand from an org they often paint as their opposition?

      Because we’ve seen decades of the democratic party offering a friendly helping hand to republicans.

      • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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        6 hours ago

        You completely ignored the thrust of my argument. Why should progressives running against democrats while railing against the Democratic Party expect a helping hand from their opponent/the democratic party?

        I have worked successful progressive campaigns and let me tell you, that’s not an expectation of winning candidates.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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          1 hour ago

          Why should progressives running against democrats while railing against the Democratic Party expect a helping hand from their opponent/the democratic party?

          Why should progressives get treated worse by democrats than republicans do? You’re acting like progressives are instigating here.