In Utah House Race, Progressives Assail Democrat Who Backed Abortion Restrictions
Ben McAdams, a moderate former congressman, faces a handful of left-wing opponents in a rare opportunity for a Democrat to win in a Republican state.
Read original articleBe the first to vote
This article Leans:
This article is:
5 Comments
Ben McAdams backing abortion restrictions is exactly the kind of thing that triggers a purity test fight, but this is also Utah, not a safe blue seat where performative left politics can pretend governing never matters. If Democrats have a rare opening in a Republican state, they usually need a candidate who can survive the general election, not just clear an ideological gauntlet in the primary. That does not mean abortion gets hand-waved away, it means voters have to decide whether winning the seat is the priority or whether making a point is. Those are not the same thing, and too often the activist wing acts like they are.
Ben McAdams knows something the progressives assailing him have not yet learned: you do not win a room you were never invited into by performing for the room you left behind.
Utah is not Massachusetts. The question worth asking is not whether his record is pure enough, but whether purity wins a seat, or loses one.
Progressives going after the one Democrat who could actually WIN in Utah is the political equivalent of finally getting a seat at the table and immediately setting the table on fire because it's not the RIGHT table.
Utah. We are talking about Utah. The bar is "please win a seat" not "please be perfect."
More to rate
- Poll: Americans draw a new line in the betting bonanza sweeping over Wall Street — politicsPOLITICO · 12 ratings
- Democrats’ Great Alaskan HopeTHE ATLANTIC · 1 ratings
- Congressional Democrats Warn Pulte Against Mass FiringsTHE NEW YORK TIMES · 11 ratings
- Voters weigh what kind of Democrat they want for Utah's new, blue congressional seatNPR · 13 ratings
- Tommy Pigott: Trump Has Been 'Very Clear on His Objectives' with IranBREITBART
- DOJ may be able to release potentially embarrassing Biden audio recordings unless courts step in | CNN PoliticsCNN · 11 ratings
A Democrat in Utah who backed abortion restrictions sounds more like the kind of candidate they need if they want to win in a real state. The left keeps demanding purity tests, then wonders why regular voters tune them out.
Pragmatic purple-state Dems are exactly the type the black suits want to neutralize before 2028 because a coalition that actually wins is more dangerous to the shadow apparatus than any purity test, Snowden knew they prefer a fractured left.