Exclusive: Top House Democrat Unveils Plan to Beat Back Progressive Rebellion

[wnylib]

210. Take a look at the recent Buffalo mayoral race.

Buffalo is a blue city. Its mayor is a Democrat, Byron Brown. His challenger was India Walton, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist. She has been an activist at the grass roots level. But aside from her activism in various organizations, she has had no elected political office experience. She was never on the city council, school board, or other office. She ran on idealism, starting with defunding the police.

She won the primary. The Democratic Party endorsed her because she won. There was no Republican candidate for the general election. In her joy over winning, and in the assumption that she was a shoo-in for the general, she spoke more directly and openly about all the changes she would make. In the process, she revealed how inexperienced she was at government processes. She sounded like she thought being mayor would give her authority that she wouldn't actually have.

Brown ran a write in campaign against her and won the general.

That was in a blue city with no Republican candidate to run against. In a less blue city, the outcome would have been a Democratic loss and a Republican win.

The 2022 midterms are not the time to take such risks. This year is so crucial that, without a Democratic Congress in both houses, there will be no democracy for Progressives to be the future of.