Centrist Democrats urge progressives to tamp down rhetoric
By Hanna Trudo - 01/12/22 06:00 AM EST
Centrists are warning progressives to back off with their favored rhetoric as the Democratic Party enters a challenging midterm year where it is in deep danger of losing the House and Senate majorities.
None other than the party's 2016 presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, has said liberals risk costing their party precious political power by pandering to voters in areas that are already Democratic, with little to no risk of swaying the control of Washington.
“I think that it is a time for some careful thinking about what wins elections, and not just in deep-blue districts where a Democrat and a liberal Democrat, or so-called progressive Democrat, is going to win,” Clinton told NBC News in a recent interview, effectively throwing a grenade into the longest running intraparty debate in recent cycles.
Progressives are pushing back, arguing the party would be better off aggressively pursuing liberal policies and telling everyone why they’re doing it. They say Democrats face more danger by watering down their verbiage because voters will have even less of a reason to turn out and that the stronger the message, the more it will resonate.
“Winning elections is not about looking good. It’s about being good,” Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) told The Hill on Tuesday.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/589247-centrist-democrats-urge-progressives-to-tamp-down-rhetoric
