Based on the influence of U.S. House progressives on decision-making in Washington, D.C., some might accept the notion that America is a Leftist nation. It’s not. Politico’s analysis of Tuesday’s election results is interesting.
But even in Democratic-rich swaths of the country, the electorate was hewing closer to the center than the left. In Buffalo, N.Y., India Walton, a democratic socialist who had defeated the city’s Democratic mayor, Byron Brown, in the primary, appeared to be losing to Brown’s write-in campaign. In Seattle, moderate Bruce Harrell was running ahead of progressive Lorena González in that city’s mayoral race.
Perhaps most significantly, in Minneapolis, voters overwhelmingly rejected a measure to overhaul the city’s police department. The measure, which had exposed Democrats to criticism that it aimed to “defund the police” at a time when the city was experiencing a surge in violence, would have replaced the department with a “Department of Public Safety” and eliminated minimum staffing requirements.
Politico concludes by giving the nod to progressives and their power.
Progressive Democrats can make a credible case that they aren’t the problem. Bernie Sanders isn’t the president. Joe Biden is.
This is where I part company with Politico’s analysis. Progressives are out of step with America. So is Joe Biden. In my view, Mr. Biden has either moved dramatically to the Left over the past several years, contrary to his “vote for me, I’m a centrist” campaign message. Or, he’s simply past his political prime, a man who clearly lacks the juice to lead his party. America is watching, and America doesn’t like what it sees.
