In reflecting on the most recent round of democratic primaries, one thing is clear: establishment democrats are losing. Now this isn’t true uniformly, as for example John Hickenlooper won his primary for senate in Colorado. However, there is definitely a pattern of progressive democrats winning. The question is, why?

Although the easy thing to point to would be things like Israel/Palestine, I think that the answer is far simpler than any specific issue. For the people like James Carville or other establishment democrats wondering why people have turned to progressives, just ask yourself, what policies are establishment democrats proposing? How are they offering to make our lives better?

I’m sure if I went on any of their websites I would see nothing policies about affordability and LGBTQ rights, but with no specifics. The hard truth is that there is no room left for establishment democrats because they do not offer any real policies.

A progressive candidate can offer (and yes, I’m generalizing), Medicare for all, affordable schooling/child card, getting money out of politics, reducing giving money to Israel, taxing the wealthy, and all sorts of other actual policies that will make regular american lives better.

The establishment democrat is caught. They do not want to move policy wise to the right, even if there is room to be a 1990’s republican, because they don’t want to be seen as moving toward Trump. They also cannot move to the left because of all the corporations they take money from.

So establishment democrats need to find policies, but ultimately that won’t happen until they start listening to the American Public instead of the corporations they take money from.

Democrats aren’t moving to the “far left”. On the contrary, what we are seeing is a normal reaction of the democratic party back toward the social and fiscal progressivism that gave the party most of its most successful policies enacted during the times of FDR, JFK, and LBJ. It is not on the people to move to the right for the democratic establishment. If you think you have ideas on how to make our lives better, share them! Because I have no idea what Hakeem Jeffries or Chuck Schumer thinks will make our lives better.

-TMR