Progressive strategist Ruy Teixeira told Hill.TV’s “What America’s Thinking” on Wednesday that he did not think current divisions within the Democratic Party would affect the party’s 2020 candidates.
“There will be some of that fighting and some of that contentiousness, but I don’t really think it’s that important to how people are going to run in 2020,” Teixeira, author of “The Optimistic Leftist: Why the 21st Century Will Be Better Than You Think,” told host Jamal Simmons.
“I think a lot of it is going to have to do with the state of the economy, with the approval rating for President Trump,” he added.
“People who run on a program that is popular in a district or a state, and they’re Democrats … they’re going to try to avoid some of the brutal debates that may be taking place in the Democratic Party,” he continued. “They’re going to try to run on something … that’s popular in their states, in their particular district, or whatever that’s going to reach people and get them to pull the lever in their favor.”
“I don’t see the divisions in the Democratic Party such as they are as doing much to sort of make Democrats’ prospects less good in 2020 than they’re going to be otherwise,” he said.
The party has expressed divisions on a number of key issues, including efforts in the House to impeach President Trump from some in the progressive wing.
The party is currently facing a divide in the House over how to handle Rep. Ilhan Omar‘s (D-Minn.) criticism of Israel.
Some Democrats in the chamber have said Omar should be held responsible for her comments, which many have perceived as anti-Semitic.
Still, some Democrats, progressives in particular, say focusing on Omar plays into Republicans’ hands.
— Julia Manchester
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