The corporate wing of the Democratic Party is looking to fight back after three insurgent progressive candidates knocked off establishment favorites in primary elections in New York this week. Axios reported on Thursday that centrist Democrats are gearing up to organize against progressives and democratic socialists, who have been racking up victories over the last two years by presenting…
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It’s simply taken for granted in US legacy media that “left-wing/progressive” electeds are driven by rigid ideology while centrists are motivated by cold, calculated, and semi-scientific concern with How To Defeat Republicans. This is a premise basically no one in our media challenges. It is asserted as pure dogma that “centrist” or “moderate” Democrats are only “centrist” or “moderate” because they are forced to be by electoral realities, and thus every position they advance is not the end result of donor pressure or class interest, but a good-faith, totally organic demand from purple-area voters they must channel if they want to “take back Congress.”
Never is this dynamic more evident in media coverage than after the left-wing flank of the party has the kind of electoral success they saw this past Tuesday, when self-identified Democratic Socialist candidates scored major victories in New York City and state office. Immediately, before the votes were even counted, corporate media rushed to take the predictable angle, “Does electing far left-ideologues undermine Democrats’ ability to win in November,” because it’s simply taken for granted that left-wing policy perspectives are mutually exclusive with “electability.”
Leading the charge was, as always, the New York Times. “Democrats find themselves squeezed by competing forces,” the paper lamented. “The party’s leaders in Washington are pushing for moderate candidates who they hope will be competitive in states and areas that have been inhospitable to Democrats in recent years. But primary voters in New York and other recent contests are moving in the opposite direction, increasingly turning to progressives and even socialists who excite the base.”
It’s simply taken for granted that left-wing policy perspectives
A federal judge on Thursday blocked key pillars of President Donald Trump’s efforts to overhaul the 2026 elections, declaring unconstitutional his attempts to create centralized lists of adult citizens and giving the U.S. Postal Service unprecedented authority over who can vote by mail. The 37-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani concluded that the president did not have the…
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The election of three Democratic socialist candidates earlier this week in congressional races within New York City has many establishment Democrats worried — including, it appears, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. On Tuesday, Democratic Socialist of America (DSA)-aligned candidates Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Claire Valdez all won their primary races in districts within…
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This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on June 25, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
Postmaster General David Steiner drew the ire of Democratic senators and voting rights advocates on Wednesday when he said that the US Postal Service would not deliver mail-in ballots in states that do not hand their voter files to the Trump administration.
During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the panels ranking member, asked Steiner if USPS would deliver ballots in a state whose government had refused the Trump administration’s request for access to its absentee voter list.
“Under our proposed regulation, no,” Steiner replied. “We would tell the state that we need the manifest.”
Peters responded by accusing USPS of creating a rule that “coerces” states into handing their voter files to the federal government even though they are under no legal obligation to do so.
“You’re making a decision that people cannot vote by mail,” Peters said. “That’s unacceptable.”
PETERS: Yes or no, if a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposed rule?POSTMASTER GENERAL STEINER: No.PETERS: So the proposed rule basically coerces states to hand over their… pic.twitter.com/5bnJb5Atnr— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 24, 2026
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also sparred with Steiner during the hearing, informing the postmaster general that USPS had absolutely no role to play in determining how states conduct their elections.
“You run the Postal Service, you deliver the mail,” Blumenthal said. “You don’t review ballots or registration. Nobody said you should… This proposed rule is bogus.”
Blumenthal demanded Steiner commit to deliver all mail-in ballots to voters
The establishment wing of the Democratic Party is reeling in the wake of the stunning democratic socialist victories in New York City this week, as races won by progressive challengers exposed different facets of the establishment’s increasingly tenuous hold on its voters. And the drama is not over yet: The next test of democratic socialism’s appeal will come on June 30…
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