It looked like progressive Chris Rabb had a mountain to climb to win the Democratic nomination for a congressional district in Philadelphia.
The mayor and the city’s Democratic Party had endorsed another candidate in this week’s primary. So had members of Pennsylvania’s delegation in the U.S. House. One Rabb rival was backed by millions of dollars. A second benefited from a get-out-the-vote operation run by the influential local building trades unions.
But Rabb finished 15 percentage points ahead of his closest competitor in Tuesday’s election, and the state representative is likely on his way to Washington because no Republican sought the GOP nomination.
Rabb was propelled by a constellation of progressive groups, charting a path to victory partly by assailing his own party as listening more to donors than voters. He credited a grassroots movement inspired by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, alarmed by Republican President Donald Trump and hungry for a government responsive to their needs.
“That was at the heart of why I was running and that is what I built my campaign around and that, I believe, is a chord we struck in this electorate that showed up and came out like gangbusters,” Rabb said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The progressive left counts Rabb’s success as one of its biggest victories of the year and the latest warning sign that Democratic voters see the party’s leadership as weak and feckless in countering Trump. Progressives are also running for House seats in New York, California and Michigan where they are challenging Democratic incumbents or aiming to take on vulnerable Republicans.
Were that the case, Republicans would not be controlling Congress and the White House. In blue California, Republican Hilton is leading in the polls. Most Americans probably have centrist views.
There are a lot of reasons that MAGA controls everything, but a big part of it is that Dems keep running on the same failed Republican Lite policies over and over. Maybe if they tried some new Progressive ideas, they’d do better.
From https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/18/centrist-democrats-success-00234606/
Moderate Democrats are on a tear.
Democrats are overperforming at the state level, with centrist candidates flipping one seat and coming close in another in special elections in deep red parts of Iowa. Rahm Emanuel, who once orchestrated a takeover of the House by recruiting Blue Dog Democrats, is eying a 2028 bid for president. And leading Democrats like Gavin Newsom and Chuck Schumer are rebuffing the left — the California governor siding against trans players in women’s sports and the Senate minority leader veering away from progressive demands to shut down the government.
Nobody is backing either of those old school losers, and neither of them will get the nomination.
And you actually wrote:
Chuck Schumer is one of the worst excuses for a Democrat in history. He’s weak and cowardly, and his priorities are Israel and Insider Trading. He is 50% responsible for MAGA regaining the White House. When he “veered away from progressive demands to shut down the government” he betrayed his constituency. In America, government shutdowns are the equivalent of General Strikes in Europe, and his avoidance of the fall shutdown cost Americans their health insurance.
When this is over, he should be deeply investigated. I’m fairly convinced that he was a Manchurian MAGA, working for them all along. All he cares about is money, he can be bought.
People like Newsome and Schumer are exactly why Dems keep losing.
Newsome is moving right because he has presidential ambitions. He did things as governor that Republicans will use against him if he runs for President. He chased oil refineries out of California. He raised the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20/hr. This has had unintended consequences. See https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/03/31/california-fast-food-wages-study/89406757007/
Those are good things, and I would vote for him for those issues. But he has also shown that he will kiss the ass of the Epstein Class, and that is totally unacceptable. He may punish Trump, but like Reconstruction, it won’t be enough to heal the festering wound, and it will just keep causing trouble for another century.
It’s time to purge MAGA from our government and society for the National Security Threat that it is. We wouldn’t let ISIS or Al Quada operate within our borders, and MAGA poses a far more direct threat.
Andy Beshear would be a better Democratic Presidential candidate. Newsome is moving right to appeal to centrist voters, but his previous leftist policies will be used by Republicans against him.
Most voters don’t have the information to match their policy preferences with candidates. They choose candidates by vibes. I’m saying the POLICIES of progressives are popular, it’s a case of using politics to get people to see you represent their best interests.