Moderate Dems test opening after Biden stumbles
These Democrats are issuing dire warnings about the prohibitive expense of big-ticket liberal promises. They bemoan that the party is ignoring politicians who found success in areas that supported President Donald Trump. One even echoes the Republican talking point that Democrats are becoming socialists.
Yet the moderates competing for the Democratic presidential nomination are running into a wall: Joe Biden.
The former vice president is the most prominent centrist in the race, eating up the political oxygen with his near universal name recognition. But his troublesome moments in Thursday’s debate are prompting some of his rivals to assess whether there’s room for them to establish a stronger foothold in the moderate lane.
“As front-runners like Biden stumble ... it creates more opportunities for Michael in this race,” said Craig Hughes, an adviser to Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, one of the two dozen Democrats running for president.
Biden is managing the fallout from a stinging attack launched on the debate stage this week by Kamala Harris. The California senator blasted him for his recent comments about once working with segregationists and his past opposition to mandated school busing. The critique seemed to catch Biden off guard, leaving him appearing defensive as he struggled for an appropriate response.
Biden has already weathered a series of controversies on issues such as abortion and race that animate the Democratic base without losing his early front-runner status. But some of his rivals sense vulnerability and would like to challenge his position as the leading antidote to the unabashedly liberal candidacies of Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Beyond Bennet, the moderate pack includes Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. They’ve all argued against expensive proposals such as free college or single-payer health care, warning that those ideas are impractical and wouldn’t resonate with voters in the more politically competitive areas that they’ve represented.
Some made that case again on the debate stage this week but didn’t generate the buzz of fresher-faced newcomers like former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro or have breakout performances like Harris.
“The voters don’t want them at all,” Cenk Uygur, of the liberal media group The Young Turks, said of moderate candidates. “If moderates had a prayer of winning, Klobuchar would be in the top, Michael Bennet would be in the top. Instead they’re at nearly zero percent.”
To qualify for the third debate in September, candidates will have to poll at 2% in at least four polls and collect donations from 130,000 people — a benchmark that favors candidates who can build a passionate online following and that is likely to be impossible to meet for many centrist contenders.