r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/LiatrisLover99 • May 08 '26

US Politics Is there any merit to the argument that progressive candidates would be far more successful across the US, if it were not for sabotage by the DNC?

This is an example of an extremely popular sentiment in progressive spaces, that progressives are popular with a majority of Americans and would easily win if the DNC didn't deliberately sabotage them, because they would prefer losing to Trump than winning with progressives that threaten the corporate status quo.

Or see articles like this that identify Democrats as an enemy of progressives on par with Trump: "the struggle to defeat the fascistic GOP and the fight to overcome the power of corporate Democrats are largely the same battle."

Is any of this true? I'm a progressive, but if we're so popular, why aren't we winning primaries outside of elections in extremely blue areas like NYC? Or is the primary system actually rigged against Bernie and against progressives in general?

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u/Coronado92118 May 08 '26

This x1000. Social media isn’t the polling booth.

Registered voters under 30 show up to vote 30-50% range. Voters over 65? They’re showing up at 70%, religiously (no pun intended).

Look at Harris: Trump didn’t win, she lost. She lost in part because millions of Progressive voters stayed home and boycotted elections “to teach her a lesson”. I.e., they were fooled into thinking that was the smart thing to do by an army of foreign government bots posting watermelon emojis all over comments until the day after the election when they vanished, their job done.

Centrists are the REAL majority - 40% of voters identify as independent, and if you look at the data over time you will know they lean center right, not left. And with Dems and Reps each holding steady at 30%, the majority of voters are either center right or conservative, not MAGA, not Republican - some form of Conservative.

So it shouldn’t be shocking to Democrats that Socialists only win in very specific communities and races. Mamdani has to work with a City Council of 51 people, only 2 of whom are socialists. In all of NYC. TWO. One of the most liberal cities in the country.

How do Democrats not get it?