Aggressive progressives and a reinvigorated Hillary Clinton could mount a serious challenge to establishment Democrats in the midterm elections, now just six months off.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee recently assembled a bustling crowd of 450 active progressive candidates for a boot camp-style conference in the nation’s capital, front-loaded with tutorials about the election process. Organizers Stephanie Taylor and Adam Green vow to turn 2018 into “a tsunami of progressive candidates” with their eyes on the prize.
“Democrats should not just resist. We need to stand for something,” Mr. Green advised the crowd.
MSNBC has picked up on the growing dissatisfaction and has even launched a “Dems Divided” series to cover Democratic discord, along with new evidence of “tea party fervor” among the hundreds of new hopefuls.
“Fervor is right,” MSNBC analyst Chris Jansing said in her account of the conference. “They tell me they’re fired up. This is a literal tsunami of progressive candidates, Hundreds came together to get the tools to win — from intensive training on building a website to fundraising and messaging. Emmy Award-winning writers were helping them hone their stories, all with a common goal: to tell voters ’We hear you, and we will get things done.’”
The tsunami is building, she said, over anti-Trump sentiment and frustration with slow-moving “business as usual” Democrats.
One more wave is about to surface, however.
“A new Clinton wave is coming this spring,” predicted Axios co-founder Mike Allen, who notes that Hillary Clinton has launched a political group called Onward Together with the help of Howard Dean and a flock of other organizations.
The Clinton Foundation soon will stage a major fundraising event hosted by Mrs. Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea, who has become a “prolific tweeter,” Mr. Allen said.
In addition, Mr. Clinton’s hefty new political thriller novel “The President is Missing” is due on bookshelves in a matter of weeks. Showtime has optioned the the 528-page book for a new dramatic series.
“As the 2020 presidential race ramps up, plenty of top Democrats we talk to would prefer new energy and faces to Clinton nostalgia/redemption,” Mr. Allen wrote.
Republicans, meanwhile, are watching for a potential benefit for their party in November. A divided vote among Democrats could give the GOP a needed edge to retain House and Senate — and quell talk of President Trump’s possible impeachment.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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