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Biden presidency challenged by ideological split in Democratic party

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Photos used with permission from Senate Democrats/Wikimedia Commons, Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons and Media Arts Department Robert Morris University/Wikimedia Commons
(From left to right) Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks about the Green New Deal in front of the Capitol in February 2019. Moderate President Joe Biden speaks to attendees at the Presidential Gun Sense Forum in Des Moines, Iowa. Centrist Rep. Conor Lamb introduces Biden, while campaigning for the 2020 election.

The U.S. is currently experiencing major polarization between the Democratic and Republican parties. However, there’s an arguably greater detrimental ideological split amongst Democratic politicians. 

Throughout the 2020 presidential election, the only thing that all Democratic nominees could agree on was their mutual hate for former President Donald Trump. Despite President Joe Biden’s win, there was still a lot of finger-pointing within the party regarding the loss of seats in the House of Representatives. As the Democratic party has such diverse beliefs, it remains uncertain whether Biden will be able to accomplish his goals in the next four years.

I’d argue that there are three sub-parties in the Democratic party, though many may say otherwise. The first consists of the progressives. In this group, some of the notable politicians are Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Bill de Blasio. They are commonly referred to as the “socialists” of the party. 

On the other end of the Democratic spectrum are the centrists, who could also be labeled as “conservative Democrats.” Their beliefs have elements of Democratic and Republican values, as the name suggests. These politicians often represent regions that have been primarily Republican in the past, so they prefer to introduce policies that aren’t too radical. Centrist politicians include Rep. Conor Lamb, Governor John Bel Edwards and Rep. Abigail Spanberger. 

Throughout the 2020 presidential election, the only thing that all Democratic nominees could agree on was their mutual hate for former President Donald Trump

The third sub-party is perhaps the most important and influential one. It consists of the moderates and the peacekeepers of the Democratic party, placing them right between progressives and centrists. This sub-party includes politicians such as Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Other influential politicians include Former Mayor of South Bend Pete Buttigieg and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. 

These sub-categories are important to recognize, especially when analyzing the outcomes and implications of past and future elections. 

In fact, the progressives have never been very successful. For example, in the 2016 election, the two notable Democratic candidates were Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. On the far-left, Sanders pushed an extremely progressive socialist-like campaign, while Clinton, who still defines herself as progressive, leaned a bit closer to the moderates.

Though Clinton won the Democratic primary four years ago, it was her progressive tendencies that led her to a loss. From an electoral perspective, Clinton and Sanders do not appeal to Republicans with their contrary agendas. 

In the 2020 election, however, Biden’s moderate policies made him more inclined to engage with all Democrats and even central to moderate Republicans. Essentially, the main advantage that Biden had over Sanders and Clinton is that he was able to win support from swing-voters.

However, there should still be some criticism surrounding Biden’s moderacy. His hunger for centrist votes makes his policies wishy-washy; it seems as though he has no clear agenda. 

According to the New York Times, progressives believe that the main issues society faces are global warming, immigration, abortion policy and those related to race and gender.  

On the contrary, centrists are mostly concerned with creating jobs and lowering taxes. 

While the debate of Medicare-For-All is known as a quarrel between Republicans and Democrats, it is also an issue within the Democratic party. Centrists say it is overly ambitious, while progressives keep pressing its importance, saying that it upholds the human right to health.

The painful narrative in this story is the inter-party hostility between the centrists and progressives of the Democratic party as they consistently blame each other for the party’s shortcomings. 

The painful narrative in this story is the inter-party hostility between the centrists and progressives of the Democratic party as they consistently blame each other for the party’s shortcomings.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Lamb believes that fewer Democratic re-elections in the House were due to the progressive messages of “defunding the police” and banning fracking. Conversely, Ocasio-Cortez says that any loss was due to their party’s lack of ability to campaign online. 

During the election, Lamb explained that it was hard for swing-voters to understand what the Democratic party stands for. Does it stand for the socialist, progressive policies or a centrist, peacekeeping middleground?

In an interview post-election with the New York Times, Ocasio-Cortez even said that she considered not running for re-election this year because of the hate she receives within her own party through anonymously sourced articles from other news outlets.

The democratic party will remain distraught and unorganized seeing as their beliefs have no crossroads. And the success of Biden’s presidency depends on its unity.

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About the Contributor
Rudi Chamria, Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Online
Rudi Chamria (’24) is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Online of The Standard. She joined the newspaper in Grade 9 as a staff writer because she enjoys connecting with people through interviewing and utilizing her platform to highlight underrepresented voices. In addition to her role on The Standard, Chamria leads the Social Justice Council, plays tennis and engages in community service.

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