Articles by Miles Kampe-Lassin

Source: In These Times

Democratic operatives will use the midterm results to preach centrism, but the future of the party lies in its left flank.

n the days following Nov. 8, 2016, the Democratic Party looked to be on life support. Party insiders had promised a repudiation of Trump’s far-right platform, and instead saw staggering Democratic losses at every level of government.

Flash forward two years and the party’s political fortunes are reversed. On Tuesday, voters across the country showed they’re fed up with their hate-monger-in chief and handed Democrats control of the House of Representatives for the first time in eight years. Much like the 2010 election and the arrival of the Tea Party on the national stage, the Democrats have benefitted from a wave of voters looking for a change in leadership and direction. read more

Source: In These Times

The 28-year-old Latina scored the biggest upset of 2018 by rejecting Democratic Party orthodoxy and running on a laser-focused message of economic justice. If other candidates want to win, they should follow her lead.

On Tuesday morning, just hours after unseating one of the most powerful Democrats in U.S. Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe in which she offered a succinct, yet compelling, rundown of her insurgent campaign’s “laser-focused” message: read more

Source: In These Times

If members of the Democratic Party establishment weren’t already worried, after Tuesday night, they should be. In primaries across the country, at least eight candidates running on explicitly progressive platforms won out, including open socialists and political newcomers who took out longtime incumbents.

These victories are proof that the recent successes of left challengers are no fluke. Rather, the wins show that voters who are tired of the type of milquetoast, means-tested policies pushed by centrist Democrats are willing to embrace candidates running on bold, redistributive policies. And far from being too far left to win, these candidates have the political winds at their backs. read more