Maine Rep. Jared Golden, the only Democrat in the House to vote for the Republican-led government funding bill, drew a primary challenger Monday who accused him of consistently siding with the GOP over his own party.
State Auditor Matthew Dunlap’s bid sets the stage for a high-profile showdown in a district Democrats will likely need to hold to regain control of the US House. Golden represents one of the country’s most competitive districts, winning his 2024 race by less than a percentage point while Donald Trump carried it by roughly 10 points.
Defending the vote in a statement, Golden said that the shutdown “is the result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups are making for Democratic Party leaders to put on a show of their opposition to President Trump.”
While I empathize with the feeling I disagree. The trend is polarization—not a universal rightward shift—and liberal politicians have not systematically adopted more conservative positions. Instead, both parties have moved toward ideological extremes, with Democrats consolidating progressive stances and Republicans embracing stronger conservative positions.
So this is not indicative of a pull to the right, but more that the right is in power.
What are these ideological “extreme” positions the Democratic party holds? College Loan Forgiveness for Entrepreneurs who open a business in a disadvantaged area for 3 years? This policy was pushed by Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and most recently NY Representative - Nydia Velázquez. Is this the kind of far-left policy you are talking about?
What?!
You realize FDR was literally the Dem.party for over a decade right?
Then came Carter and the party faced a revolt for moving to the right against the wishes of Dem voters. It’s has been a steady March right for both parties for 50 years, paid for by the same oligarchs who have amassed insane wealth over that timespan.
I struggle to see how anyone could both sides the overton shift. If people had moved left an equal amount, the Dem party would be further left than anywhere else.
Hard disagree. There are very few truly progressive members of either Congress or the senate, and most of those that are newer arrivals.
This is wackily wrong. So wrong I don’t believe you are saying it in good faith, or you’re wildly misinformed.
Nixon and Bush 1 would be considered socialists by today’s republicans, while Obama was barely less right wing than Bush 1.