Democrats are in a political catch-22 in their attempt to regain a majority in Congress – a compromise between the rising progressive ideological tidal wave and turning America's conservative strongholds which reject it – as The New York Times wrote Sunday.
"People are tired of the ideologues," educator and liberal activist Paul Flexner from Jon Ossoff's Dunwoody, Ga., district told the Times. "A lot of people, particularly in this area, did not like Bernie Sanders because of that kind of attitude. They didn't like Hillary Clinton."
Democrats can capitalize on the Sanders-led movement – the "resist" militants in their base – but they already can carry those voters.
"It's our only hope to find moderates — who can appeal to moderates and Republicans who are not Trumpians — just because of the way the districts are drawn now," Anne Easterly, a consultant who attended an Ossoff event told the Times.
The truest of battles for congressional seats lay in America's conservative Republican strongholds.
"We are going to lose every possible winnable seat, in a year where there are many winnable seats, if we come across as inflexible left-wingers," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., a former Congressional Black Caucus chairman, told the Times. "I respect Bernie — I just don’t think we can become the party of Bernie."
Getting too close to Sanders' hard-edge liberal ideology can cost Democrats their best chance for turnover.
"A lot of us are not true-blue liberals," Stephanie Runyan, 46, told the Times, echoing the Ossoff-type message in Democrats' fight in conservative America.
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