Re: Dems holding "far left" positions like abortion - I think voter behavior and opinions being widely reported demonstrate that abortion is not a far left position. The slight majority that Republicans hold in our legislature could be at least changed to a tie, if not switched to Democrat, with favorable results in the few competitive races based on the abortion issue and support for public education funding.
In today's Agenda, you note, re Ray Stern's summary of extremism in our politics (after a paragraph about Qanon etc on the right) "Comparatively, he notes, Democrats running for the Legislature sometimes hold far-left views on topics like abortion or policing."
While it's true that candidates in both parties can have views across the spectrum of possibilities, I hope it's clear to people that the two sides are not mirror images. In his article, Stern notes (while also reporting on Democrats holding views he sees as extreme):
"Republican legislative candidates include Oath Keepers and people who believe in, or have dabbled in, conspiracies like QAnon and a century-old imagined plot that a Jewish banking family manipulates geopolitics.
By contrast, no Democratic candidates for the Legislature appear to have a history in Antifa or other left-wing extremist organizations, and Democrats have not publicly spread false, debunked allegations about the election system."
Let's put it another way: it is one thing to have a views about how public safety money should be spent, or other public issues, that significantly differ from the median perspective in the public, or to use imprudent messaging. It is quite another to deny reality, which has become common for many of the Republican candidates this year.
Re: Dems holding "far left" positions like abortion - I think voter behavior and opinions being widely reported demonstrate that abortion is not a far left position. The slight majority that Republicans hold in our legislature could be at least changed to a tie, if not switched to Democrat, with favorable results in the few competitive races based on the abortion issue and support for public education funding.
In today's Agenda, you note, re Ray Stern's summary of extremism in our politics (after a paragraph about Qanon etc on the right) "Comparatively, he notes, Democrats running for the Legislature sometimes hold far-left views on topics like abortion or policing."
While it's true that candidates in both parties can have views across the spectrum of possibilities, I hope it's clear to people that the two sides are not mirror images. In his article, Stern notes (while also reporting on Democrats holding views he sees as extreme):
"Republican legislative candidates include Oath Keepers and people who believe in, or have dabbled in, conspiracies like QAnon and a century-old imagined plot that a Jewish banking family manipulates geopolitics.
By contrast, no Democratic candidates for the Legislature appear to have a history in Antifa or other left-wing extremist organizations, and Democrats have not publicly spread false, debunked allegations about the election system."
Let's put it another way: it is one thing to have a views about how public safety money should be spent, or other public issues, that significantly differ from the median perspective in the public, or to use imprudent messaging. It is quite another to deny reality, which has become common for many of the Republican candidates this year.