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\n

Democrats who rose to prominence as #Resistance figures during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term are stumbling politically during his second<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pileup illustrates a new era for the restive Democratic base, where vocal opposition to Trump through official channels and public remonstrations no longer guarantee success in the party\u2019s primaries.<\/p>\n

If Democrats retake the majority in the House, leaders will have to find a balance between their base\u2019s appetite for holding Trump accountable and election results that some strategists say suggest Americans are ready to move past Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018#Resistance\u2019 was a very Trump 1.0 mood, and now we are in a different moment of anger,\u201d said Lanae Erickson, senior vice president at center-left think tank Third Way. \u201cThey\u2019re mad about the war. They\u2019re mad about costs. They\u2019re mad about the establishment not having delivered anything for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander Vindman\u2019s stunning loss<\/u><\/a> in Florida\u2019s Senate primary to democratic socialist Angie Nixon was the latest example this week.<\/p>\n

Vindman, a former National Security Council aide who testified during the 2019 House impeachment inquiry, made standing up to Trump a centerpiece of his campaign. But although his national profile helped haul in big money, it couldn\u2019t overcome the shifting politics of the party base \u2014 a predicament that has left some Democrats rattled<\/u><\/a> about their prospects in Trump\u2019s home state.<\/p>\n

\u201cVindman is a hero, but memories fade and the focus of most folks is on the cost of living,\u201d said longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod, adding that Nixon, \u201cmade those issues her focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vindman\u2019s not alone in the political graveyard of Trump-resistance-fighter campaigns: Two of the 2021 House impeachment managers, Reps. Diana DeGette and Eric Swalwell saw their reelection prospects fall apart as well: DeGette lost her reelection bid to a democratic socialist this summer, while Swalwell dropped out of the California gubernatorial primary after a string of sexual assault allegations.<\/p>\n

Rep. Dan Goldman, the lead majority counsel in the first Trump impeachment inquiry, was ousted in his primary. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the Oversight and Intelligence committees during the 2021 impeachment, fell short in his Senate bid. Reps. Shri Thanedar and Al Green, both of whom led impeachment pushes against Trump, were ousted by younger challengers.<\/p>\n

Not all the races were defined by Trump accountability politics. But one Democratic operative said the throughline is that those struggling candidates are \u201cinstitutionalists\u201d who argued the justice system was going to hold Trump accountable. Now, voters who lost faith in those institutions after Trump returned to office were sold on other candidates\u2019 messaging railing against those very systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prescription isn\u2019t what they were looking for anymore,\u201d the operative said.<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 BRAID PLANS WHITE HOUSE EXIT \u2014 <\/b>James Braid, the top White House aide in charge of liaising<\/a> with Congress, is leaving the administration, according to a person with knowledge of the transition, granted anonymity to discuss private plans.. Braid, from his perch as director of legislative affairs, has been responsible for shepherding Trump\u2019s agenda through a narrow majority, a job that\u2019s become increasingly difficult as the president clashes with members of his own party.<\/p>\n

\u2014 FIRST IN IC:\u00a0OLIVER GILBERT\u2019S COMMITTEE HOPES \u2014<\/b> Retiring Rep. Frederica Wilson\u2019s chosen successor is eyeing her spot on House Transportation and Infrastructure, along with other committees that impact the South Florida district. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III on Tuesday won a crowded Democratic primary in the deep blue 24th District, almost guaranteeing he\u2019ll take Wilson\u2019s seat come November. In an interview Wednesday, Gilbert said he has \u201cbroad interests\u201d but named the Transportation and Foreign Affairs committees as potential options for his desired policy work, along with the Appropriations and Judiciary panels.
\u00a0<\/b>
Samuel Benson and Dasha Burns contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrats who rose to prominence as #Resistance figures during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term are stumbling politically during his second. The pileup illustrates a new era for the restive Democratic base, where vocal opposition to Trump through official channels and public remonstrations no longer guarantee success in the party\u2019s primaries. If Democrats retake the majority […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}