When Hillary Clinton went toe-to-toe with Bernie Sanders in 2016, she walked away with "a new appreciation for the galvanising power of big, simple ideas".
asserted
she → go → ideas
Now, it seems more Democrats are learning that lesson.
asserted
Democrats → seem → lesson
In the lead-up to the midterm, the US wrapped up its primary elections, in which several career politicians across the country were ousted from their offices by insurgent newcomers whose campaigns prioritised economic equality and expanded healthcare and housing access.
asserted
campaigns → wrap → access
Once again, the Democratic Party finds itself vying with a decades-old question: is America ready for a hard left turn?
asserted
America → find → turn
Feeling the Bern
Mr Sanders ran for president in 2016 and 2020.
asserted
Sanders → feel → 2016
Both times he fell short in his party's primaries.
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he → fall → primaries
The problem, he said, came down to "electability" — the perceived ability of a candidate to win a general election.
asserted
he → say → election
He acknowledged many Democratic voters believed his party rival, Joe Biden, had a better chance of going on to beat Donald Trump, amid frequent speculation that Mr Sanders's democratic socialist policy positions would alienate moderate voters who might otherwise support the party.
uncertain
who → acknowledge → party
It was that same perception he failed to outrun in 2016.
asserted
he → fail → 2016
LoadingStill, Mr Sanders left a mark, with supporters saying the campaigns kickstarted a progressive movement.
asserted
campaigns → leave → movement
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in," captions read alongside photos of Mr Sanders with Zohran Mamdani, after the progressive surged to victory in New York City's mayoral race last year.
asserted
progressive → grow → race
When progressive firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (often called AOC) defeated long-term incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley in New York's 14th Congressional District just two years later, her win was at least partly attributed to the momentum of a movement Mr Sanders started.
asserted
Sanders → call → movement
But Ms Ocasio-Cortez was seen as an exception when many other progressives had failed to get a foot in the door.
asserted
progressives → see → door
A decade on, Mr Sanders's legacy is growing.
asserted
legacy → grow → ?
Progressives have found increasing success with Democratic voters, running campaigns on taxing the rich, cutting military spending, and pushing for government-funded programs such as universal health care.
asserted
Progressives → find → care
Speculation is rising over Ms Ocasio-Cortez mounting her own presidential campaign, and progressives have racked up a string of wins over establishment Democrats in primary elections.
asserted
progressives → rise → elections
Michigan and Maine's Senate races (involving Abdul El-Sayed and Troy Jackson respectively) are among the races tipped to be key opportunities for the progressive movement.
asserted
races → involve → movement
Elsewhere, several races will feature outsiders who successfully pushed incumbent Democrats out of their seats during the primaries.
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who → feature → primaries
Headlines have described the trend as a "progressive wave", but Bruce Wolpe, a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre, preferred the softer description of a "current".
asserted
Wolpe → describe → current
"Where most of these candidates are winning is in deep blue Democratic states and cities," he said.
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he → win → states
"Those who have won have generally won against older incumbents who are seen as not being active enough in taking down Trump."
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who → win → Trump
He pointed to House races in Colorado, where Melat Kiros defeated 30-year representative Diana DeGette, and New York state.
asserted
Kiros → point → DeGette
While the number of progressive candidates on the ballot has increased, analysts for Washington-based think tank Brookings Institution found mainstream Democrats were still far more likely to win competitive primary races.
"This outcome was to be expected in competitive races, since voters tend to be more sensitive to electability there than in safe districts," Elaine Kamarck and Jordan Muchnick wrote for the research paper, Electability over ideology: Takeaways from the 2026 primaries.
asserted
Kamarck → increase → primaries
The wins come as Democratic voters increasingly consider themselves "liberal" and seek a similar shift in their party's candidates.
asserted
themselves → come → candidates
A Reuters/Ipsos poll of 4,505 people released in early August showed the proportion of self-identified liberal Democrats had risen to 71 per cent from 55 per cent in 2012, while the share of those who considered themselves "conservative" had dwindled from 33 per cent to 16 per cent.
asserted
themselves → release → cent
In the same survey, more than seven in 10 liberal Democrats said it was "essential" for the party's candidates to support increasing taxes on corporations and billionaires, and universal government health care.
asserted
candidates → say → corporations
Voters are fed up with the status quo, according to Mr Sanders.
uncertain
Voters → feed → Sanders
"What we are seeing is that people are sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment policies," he told The Associated Press in light of the progressive victories at the primaries.
asserted
he → see → primaries
Supporters of the progressive movement say establishment leaders have for too long been weak on, or overlooked, the day-to-day struggles of everyday Americans.
asserted
leaders → say → Americans
"It's impatience with this political system that feels disconnected from the urgency voters feel," national Democratic strategist Lis Smith told the Associated Press.
asserted
Smith → feel → Press
Many progressive challengers tapped that discontentment directly during their primary races.
asserted
challengers → tap → races
"If leaders in our party don't recognise that we need to make changes, then the changes are going to come from the ground up," Luke Bronin, a former mayor who defeated 14-term Connecticut representative John Larson, said in his victory speech on August 11.
asserted
who → recognise → August
Even as the Democratic Party base moves further left, establishment members remain concerned that progressive candidates will undermine chances to win at the midterms.
asserted
candidates → move → midterms
John Cowan, the president of moderate Democratic think tank Third Way, said in March the party's drift left had "badly tainted" the Democratic brand, and the party was increasingly seen as "extreme".
asserted
party → say → brand
"Democrats running in red and purple places must define themselves as moderates and normies,"he said.
asserted
Democrats → run → moderates
That's a theory many voters subscribe to, as well.
asserted
voters → subscribe → ?
Despite the progressive push, several hopefuls still failed to advance past the primaries, including democratic socialist Francesca Hong, who ran for governor in Wisconsin.
asserted
who → fail → Wisconsin
Voter Sarah Atkins Hoggatt, 61, said she agreed with Ms Hong on some issues, but told the Associated Press she was concerned the candidate's deeply progressive politics would make it harder for her to defeat Republican Tom Tiffany.
asserted
her → say → Tiffany
She voted for a more moderate Democrat instead, but admitted she "didn't vote [her] heart".
asserted
she → vote → heart
Experts say that's what makes the nomination of several progressives in battleground states and districts, such as Mr El-Sayed in Michigan and Angie Nixon in Florida, all the more remarkable.
asserted
nomination → say → Florida
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
