Let me start by saying I probably disagree with 80-90% of everything Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke are campaigning on and believe in. I’m about as far from a progressive as you can get. But both Abrams, who is running for Georgia Governor, and O’Rourke, who is running for the U.S. Senate from Texas, are running as unapologetic progressives in the South.
I despise milquetoast centrism of all stripes. Here are a couple of tweets to reinforce that point.
If forced to choose, I would have 535 unapologetic progressives in Congress than 535 milquetoast centrists. I can admire someone who is willing to stand up for their beliefs, even if they are wrong about almost everything.
— Kevin Boyd
(@TheKevinBoyd) August 25, 2018
(@TheKevinBoyd) If you haven't figured out by now, I despise milquetoast centrists of any stripe.
But I'm all for moderation as a political tactic. I'm fine with incrementalism, as long as it moves the ball in my direction.
— Kevin Boyd
(@TheKevinBoyd) August 25, 2018
Now do I think either Abrams or O’Rourke will win? No. At the end of the day, both Georgia and Texas are still Republican leaning states.
But both Abrams and O’Rourke are running as unapologetic progressives. Stacey Abrams is running on gun control in Georgia of all places. Beto O’Rourke is also in support a so-called assault weapons ban, but also supports legalizing marijuana and supports the NFL players protests during the national anthem. Definitely not the platform of a Democrat running in Texas.
The usual Democratic playbook in the South has been to run a white guy who is populist on economic issues but relatively socially conservative. The perfect example of this is Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards who campaigned as a pro-life, pro-gun Democrat during his election. But most Democrats who follow that playbook have not had much success in the past. Why shouldn’t Democrats try something new?
Abrams and O’Rourke will and are exciting the progressive base in both states. But the problem is that the progressive base is not enough to win in the South. They need to find a way to not so much to reach out to center because to be frank neither of them can. Instead, they need to find a way to pull the center towards them. That and a lot of luck is the only way they can win.
I believe at the end of the day that the last thing American voters want is milquetoast centrist candidates of any political stripe. That explains the relative success that Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke are having. They would rather have honest people who stand and fight for their beliefs, even if they strongly disagree with them.
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Also published on my Medium page