Inflation, crime, the return of Donald Trump and even the socialist fringe. Joe Biden is not short of problems. In view of the midterms on November 8, the President is constantly confronted with the thorn in his side that emanates from the progressive current and causes more headaches than solutions. Since 2018, the year the first liberal patrol, led by the passionate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, arrived at Congress, the Bernie Sanders-inspired “socialists” have wormed their way into the mechanisms of the Democratic Party and complicated its movements. Beneath them, renamed The Squad, is all the undergrowth that US activism has to offer. Two examples above all: the first Muslim MPs Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. Moreover, the great Liberal leap in the Senate could also arrive in 2022, with competitive challenges in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The Socialists’ workhorses won’t let Biden sleep easy. This is the case, for example, with big proposals to increase public spending such as climate programs and health care reform extensions. Then there is the big rhetoric of “tax the rich”. See the Ocasio Dress Poster at the 2021 Set Gala. A touchy subject in a country that loves Reagan and Trump’s big tax cuts.
But the main attraction of progressives remains safety. Or rather the police. The whole force joined the big Black Lives Matter movement to demand the dismantling of the precincts, the police’s famous defi. A move that ultimately backfired on the Socialists and the Democratic Party itself. Between 2020 and 2022, a crime wave swept the country. There have been slight signs of decline in recent months, but this year proves difficult: only homicides have recorded an increase of 39 percent compared to 2019.
Insisting on police reform is costing votes, moderates stress. Voices especially in the suburbs, where Biden built part of his electoral success and who are always sensitive to two things: the economy (see inflation) and security. The left is also complicating the party’s plans on immigration. The black mayor of New York knows something about it, lynched by the squad for pointing out that massive immigration is bogging down the admissions system. All subjects on which the GOP will campaign wildly in the coming months. Other squad members like Ayanna Pressley and Jamaal Bowman caused a scandal last March by defending Will Smith’s slap in the face by Chris Rock on the Oscars stage, with all due respect to free speech.
Even on the international front, Progressives create problems. Such is the case of Ilhan Omar, the only MP with a veil of Somali origin, who has often attacked Israel, a key US ally. It is therefore not surprising that Omar struggled in the primary and won by a few votes. In Minneapolis, where her borough is located, many did not appreciate the anti-police campaign, and as early as last November voters had “punished” them by rejecting the police reform proposal.
The case of Omar underscores signs of a weakening of the socialist front. After Biden’s election, progressives fought a bitter battle with the party but took very little home. Congressional measures passed in recent months are the result of intense internal mediation between the moderate wing and more conservative Democrats like Joe Manchin. “Socialists are losing everywhere,” noted Patrick Maloney, a dem-moderate running for office in New York, “voters don’t want revolution or ideological purity, but most importantly, they don’t want anyone lecturing them on Twitter.” A warning for Biden: watch out for the skids on the left, they’ll give the gop the win.