Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris are seemingly inching towards the White House, but the Democratic Party isn't celebrating entirely. Heading into November 3, the party believed that it could build upon its control in Congress. However, a number of Democratic candidates came up short in their bids to join the U.S. House of Representatives. While the party still controls the House, many are beginning to worry that this year's results could spell trouble in upcoming Senate races and the 2022 election cycle.
During a conference call, party leaders came to blows. Reps. Jim Clyburn and Abigail Spanberger sounded off on more liberal leaning candidates like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. Members of congress voiced their displeasure of the "defund the police" movement and "medicare for all" policies.
“No one should say ‘defund the police’ ever again. Nobody should be talking about socialism. We will get f------ torn apart," Rep. Spanberger said.
Moving forward, Democrats will look to gain control of the U.S. Senate in January with two runoff races. Jon Ossoff will take on David Perdue while Raphael Warnock will battle Kelly Loeffler. If both Ossoff and Warnock win, Democrats will hold half of the Senate and former Sen. Kamala Harris would break any ties. As Georgia nears those two elections, it appears that the Democratic Party will look to move away from more liberal, progressive causes.
"[If] we are going to run on Medicare for All, defund the police, socialized medicine, we're not going to win," House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said.
Hours after the call reportedly took place, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez let her voice be heard on Twitter.
"The whole 'progressivism is bad' argument just doesn’t have any compelling evidence that I’ve seen. When it comes to 'defund' and 'socialism' attacks, people need to realize [that] these are racial resentment attacks. You’re not gonna make that go away. You can make it less effective," the New York native said.
"How do you make it less effective? Invest in year-round deep canvassing. Data shows that this kind of work helps blunt the force of racial resentment at the polls. If you’re always running away from convos about race, then the only [people that will be] owning it are [the] GOP. You’ll lose."
As bickering within the party continues, Rep. Nancy Pelosi hopes to steer the ship in the right direction. On Friday, she formally requested to maintain her position as Speaker of the House.
"Our vision for the next two years must be to build on the success of the Democratic House Majority in the 116th Congress, and to harvest the extraordinary vision, values and vibrancy of our Caucus to secure the progress that the American people deserve," she stated.
It is unclear if anyone will challenge her request.
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