There’s been a lot of media attention on the very progressive new members of Congress and the supposed shift of Democrats and Democratic leaning voters further to the left.  In addition there are several polls showing that the majority of Democrats and progressive independents identify as “liberals”.

However, there are strong indications that these themes has been vastly overplayed.  The media is prone to giving the most coverage to those who make the most audacious statements.  Also these is ample evidence that the progressives are much more active on social media than are Democratic moderates.  As for the polls, the words “liberal” and “progressive” are imprecise because they mean different things to different people.

For instance I would identify as a liberal in response to a poll, especially in my very conservative state of Alabama, but I also consider myself a left leaning moderate Democrat.  A recent Gallup poll, described in the article “Democrats Favor More Moderate Party; GOP – More Conservative” , got to the heart of the matter recently by asking Democrats and Dem-leaning independents this question:

“If you had to choose, would rather see the Democratic Party become more liberal or become more moderate?”

The poll found that solid majority, 54% to 41%, responded that they would prefer that the Democratic party would move toward the middle.  (In the same poll Republicans and Republican leaning independents preferred 57% to 37% that the Republican Party would become more conservative.)  By the way, in the Democratic primaries in 2016, Clinton received 55.2% of the total votes while Sanders won 43.1%. When those number are compared to those in the Gallup poll, they appear to be almost identical.  Those two sets of numbers are too close to be a coincidence.

And yes, the media provides extensive coverage when Representative Alexandria Ocasio says stuff like the rich should be subject to 70% tax rate or when Representative Rashida Tlaib pledges to impeach the president in expletive riddled diatribe. However, almost lost in all of that noise is the fact that a large majority of the new Representatives who gave the Democrats control of House in 2018 are moderate Democrats who won in purple districts.

Yes, there are several very progressive candidates who are vying for the Democratic presidential nomination and they are making a big splash in the media by supporting sweeping changes such as social security for all and the green new deal, though they readily admit their proposals are more aspirational than practical.  However, there are also moderates in the race with more modest proposals who are also polling as well or even better.

I haven’t chosen a favorite yet and I probably won’t until the field has been whittled down to fewer candidates.  Then, since this time around my first, and really my only priority, is to get rid of Trump, I will vote for the candidate who I believe has the best chance of beating him.  I don’t know who that will be yet – it might be a moderate or someone very progressive or someone in between.  However, as part of the determination of who I will vote for in the primaries, I feel obliged to also consider the political positions of two sets of voters who do not identify as Democrats and who may not even vote in the Democratic primaries.

The first of these groups are the swing voters in key states who do not identify as being members of or leaning towards either of the major political parties.  They are the independent moderates who decide nearly every close general election for president.

The second group of voters are the suburban women who have voted reliably for Republicans in the past but have now grown discontented with harsh polices and misogynist tendencies of the Republican party, and Donald Trump in particular.

Both groups are partially responsible for electing moderate House candidates in purple states in 2018.  Neither group can be described as liberal or progressive and our nominee must appeal to them in the general election as well so I feel I must take their preferences into consideration as well as my own.

However, whether the candidate I vote for in the primary wins or not, regardless of whether the winner is a moderate, or far left progressive, or somewhere in between, I going to support the Democratic nominee with my money, my time and my vote and my entire soul.  Mostly because I strongly believe that choice is in the best interests of my country, but also because I don’t think I can handle another four years of madness.

Cajun    4/13/2019