The Democratic establishment roars back

[brooklynite]

Politico:

The primary election season is close to finished. Nearly all of the November midterm matchups are set.

And now that New Hampshire settled its primary contests Tuesday, there’s a little more clarity about the landscape in another much-anticipated election: the 2020 presidential race.

For the first time since Donald Trump’s election, voters in Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina and New Hampshire — the four critical early presidential states — have spoken in statewide and congressional elections, offering a glimpse into what the massive Democratic presidential field can expect in the 2020 primaries.

What are the lessons of the 2018 early-state primaries? Democrats are sick of losing. In statewide contests, they didn’t back hard-line Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton-aligned candidates so much as candidates who had a message they care about and a solid campaign operation.

[Gothmog]

1. Yeah

[DFW]

2. Tip O'Neill was right: all politics IS local

Beto might not fly in Boston, but he is PERFECT for Texas (of course, WE think he is perfect for MA, too, but we'll worry about that in six years or so). In a midterm, an opposition party needs to field strong LOCAL candidates who can converse about local issues, and connect with the people who will be going to the polls where they live.

[Caliman73]

3. Politico's headline is misleading.

It feeds into the whole "establishment" thing which is ridiculous. Basically, the primary voters in each district, selected the people who most resonated with their local issues. That seems to be what local politics is about. The House consists of district representatives sent to the national government to represent the needs of the constituents. Generally people on the Democratic and Republican sides have policies and platforms that unite them, but the needs in Boseman, Montana are different than in Berkeley, California so the Democratic representatives are going to look and sound different. While the Republican representatives have shown more tendency to walk in lock step, that is never what the Democratic party has been about.

The media relies on conflict and controversy to bring eyes and ears to their advertisers. When they set up this narrative about "establishment" candidates roaring back, there is a modicum of truth, but the reality is that people are just selecting the politician they feel will best give voice to their issues.

[msongs]

4. perhaps roar back will be shutting down the senate's order of business

using all the available tricks

[mcar]

5. K&R