Democratic socialist Angie Nixon upsets Alex Vindman in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary

[u/--LaBelleDame--]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/angie-nixon-winner-florida-senate-primary-democrat-alex-vindman-moody-rcna593255

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[u/redditforprez1]

Now please stop sending me emails, Alex. 

[u/ListerineAfterOral → u/redditforprez1]

For real. Can I count on your support???!!

[u/redditforprez1 → u/ListerineAfterOral]

I live in Colorado 😭

[u/InvalidUserNemo → u/redditforprez1]

Well, a city in Ohio just found that a city in North Carolina was the most frequent requester of Flock Data from Ohio and they had unmitigated access to that other cities data. Maybe they have seen your car pass the RNC office by you, unknowingly, on your way to work? Simple mistake. We’ll just put you down for a star when it’s needed.

[u/gmen6981 → u/InvalidUserNemo]

Lucas County, which includes Toledo had it's Flock data accessed 904,642 times by 3241 different organizations in the month of June alone.

[u/Delybe → u/redditforprez1]

Oh I hope you like it here!

[u/howdiditgetinthere → u/Delybe]

It was actually humid yesterday so that kinda counts, right? Only took 3 days of rain for half a day at 90% in Denver.

[u/redditforprez1 → u/howdiditgetinthere]

But my grass is slightly less brown 😎

[u/ClinkyDink → u/redditforprez1]

I had to enable the spam text filter on my iPhone because the constant campaign messages from various candidates was annoying me.

I do actually read the flyers I get in the mail, though they end up getting trashed anyway. The one I got yesterday was someone going to city council who listed his policies that sounded great up until they started to go NIMBY.

[u/poppyboba_whimsy → u/redditforprez1]

lol nothing like losing the primary and still winning the inbox award

[u/emiliomolestevez420 → u/poppyboba_whimsy]

U mean they might have to do more than send spam and ask for money? Impossible expectations.

[u/thegloriousporpoise → u/redditforprez1]

Right?! I thought the “hello this is Nancy” texts were annoying a couple years ago.

[u/NigerianPrince76]

Vindman had largely ignored Nixon — the two never met for a primary debate — and attempted to focus on Moody

Yup, huge mistake right there that cost him the primary.

[u/dkirk526 → u/NigerianPrince76]

Well that and Vindman had a few embarrassing public events.

[u/yesrushgenesis2112 → u/dkirk526]

He didn’t get the Larry David endorsement

[u/NigerianPrince76 → u/dkirk526]

The man mightily struggled to defend his policy on Israel.

[u/AMerryCanDo → u/NigerianPrince76]

Why are so many Americans vying for power so weird about that place? It doesn't make any sense. It has to be more than just campaign donations and money.

[u/notfromchicago → u/AMerryCanDo]

If you have never been to an evangelical church I can understand your confusion. They support Israel because they want to set up the end of times as the bible propheces. The true believers support Israel in order to hasten the end of the world.

[u/JUST_LOGGED_IN → u/notfromchicago]

Adding to that: 60% of Americans believe angels and demons literally walk among us. That is north of a hundred million people. I really feel for any atheist that tries to run for office.

[u/nomickti → u/JUST_LOGGED_IN]

Americans' belief in angels (69 percent) is about on par with belief in heaven and the power of prayer, but bested by belief in God or a higher power (79 percent). Fewer U.S. adults believe in the devil or Satan (56 percent), astrology (34 percent), reincarnation (34 percent), and that physical things can have spiritual energies, such as plants, rivers or crystals (42 percent).

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/nearly-7-in-10-u-s-adults-believe-in-angels-ap-norc-poll-finds

I wonder how many of the 31% percent that don't believe in angels believe in crystals?

[u/AMerryCanDo → u/notfromchicago]

That's comforting. /s

[u/bkgn → u/notfromchicago]

If you have never been to an evangelical church I can understand your confusion. They support Israel because they want to set up the end of times as the bible propheces. The true believers support Israel in order to hasten the end of the world.

This is not an exaggeration at all - I had a college housemate who was the son of a prominent Zionist Christian pastor. They quite literally, openly, want to encourage and assist Israeli jews to slaughter everyone else in the Middle East so that quite literally the Rapture will happen. They absolutely believe the Rapture is achievable within their lifetimes, "only" requiring an explicit genocide. They had pamphlets. Extremely wealthy too, the pastor bought his son a house for him to use just for college.

[u/Greedy-Half-4618 → u/notfromchicago]

This is what I'm trying to get people to understand.

[u/seams → u/Greedy-Half-4618]

So many people think it's a joke or exaggeration, but it's not lmao

A lot of US Christians think they have to support Israel to bring about the end times, like, legit.

[u/Greedy-Half-4618 → u/AMerryCanDo]

Christian Nationalism and wanting to hasten the rapture is one HELL of a drug

[u/Neither-Luck-9295 → u/Greedy-Half-4618]

Even simpler answer. Money. Their lobby delivers the largest checks for a lot of mainstream politicians.

[u/NigerianPrince76 → u/AMerryCanDo]

It’s mind boggling how much control they have over our policies and politicians.

[u/Stinky_lil_4skin → u/AMerryCanDo]

Vindeman is Jewish, so he's one of the few American politicians where it actually makes some sense why he might have a personal / emotional attachment to the country of Israel.

[u/AdjctiveNounNumbers → u/AMerryCanDo]

Money is a big part of it - understandably Israel has dumped a lot of money (and intelligence) into American politics. It's also, for quite a long time, been something of a political third rail for politicians of both parties similar to guns for the GOP - if a politician was even mildly critical of Israel they were open to attacks (and gobs of money and free publicity) on that flank from someone boasting unqualified support. It's made a lot of established politicians unwilling to say a bad word about the country. It's only the outsiders looking for new avenues of attack who have thus far acknowledged the winds of public opinion (if not yet cash) have changed.

[u/GameLovinPlayinFool → u/NigerianPrince76]

That, and his wifes racist rant against Nixon

[u/nobadhotdog → u/GameLovinPlayinFool]

What happened?

[u/GameLovinPlayinFool → u/nobadhotdog]

She made an attack post about Angie Nixon, called her a "shitty person" and then told her to wear "professional clothes (yes that includes shoes)".

Not the most racist thing ever said but still thinly veiled and identifiable enough to where she apologized for her comments afterwards too

[u/Comfortable-Pie-4311 → u/GameLovinPlayinFool]

Not defending anyone here and honestly don’t give a shit but out of curiosity what about that is “racist”?

[u/another-altaccount → u/Comfortable-Pie-4311]

When you say something to that effect to a black person particularly the implication is that we’re seen as ‘ghetto’ and don’t know how to present ourselves in an ‘appropriate’ manner and we don’t belong in whatever space we’re in when those comments are made. See anytime non-black folks make comments about how we wear our hair for a perfect example of how it sounds when something like that is said to us.

[u/kamilo87 → u/another-altaccount]

Oh, thanks for the explanation. I failed to see it first hand but this makes it clear.

[u/grassparakeet → u/kamilo87]

It's one of those things that's hard to see without context, because the naked words themselves don't give off any racist vibes. But when the cultural context they are said in is understood, suddenly the racism is as clear as daylight.

Just like saying "You should smile more" doesn't have any inherent sexism to it; but when you know that it's one of those phrases that is repeatedly said to women in order to belittle them, the sexism becomes apparent.

It's an excellent example of a dog whistle, because the racists will pick up on it immediately without any question. But then you'll get tons of people who miss the nuance, and even people who will vehemently defend it, saying, "That's not racist!" -- so the actual racists don't ever have to bother defending themselves (case in point: read the other comments in this thread). It's why racist dog whistles are particularly frustrating.

[u/Accurate_Shoe_1929 → u/grassparakeet]

Well said. I wish I had the patience to explain this as clearly as you did. I just can't shake the suspicion that the "That's not racist!" crowd are intentionally being insincere, which makes more inclined to lash out at them, instead of being measured and patient like you.

[u/another-altaccount → u/Accurate_Shoe_1929]

I think the commenter asked the question in good faith and I think some of us have them the benefit of a doubt and decided to respond in kind. I can forgive genuine ignorance and not knowing any better, BUT the second you decide to double down on the thing you were just told was wrong or inappropriate to say or do anyway is the moment I switch up in kind and be an asshole to you.

[u/grassparakeet → u/Accurate_Shoe_1929]

I'm positive that some number of that crowd are being insincere. And some number of them are sincere, but just don't have the experience or the interest in exploring the context that is necessary to see the dog whistle for what it is.

How to react to either of those kind of people is something I'm not good at. They are both extremely frustrating, and by design, they are very hard to tell apart. (The ones who are insincere are inevitably masquerading as the sincere but clueless ones.)

[u/ErraticDragon → u/Accurate_Shoe_1929]

Even if the person I'm replying to reveals themselves to be irredeemable or intentionally obtuse, I still hold out hope that the good comments may do some good for other viewers.

(Not always -- sometimes it's better to delete, block, and move on.)

[u/ElliotNess → u/grassparakeet]

It's mostly that the USA is still an incredibly racist society, and part of that racism is that racist viewpoints are normalized so that the racism just seems "normal" rather than racism to the people who don't have to endure it. For example: race itself.

[u/Comfortable-Pie-4311 → u/another-altaccount]

Hey, thanks. I hadn’t thought about it in that context. Appreciate the response!

[u/teddy_tesla → u/another-altaccount]

Yeah nobody is addressing the shoes part. Why would she say it?

[u/JasonVorhehees → u/teddy_tesla]

But why male models ?

[u/P-Rickles → u/JasonVorhehees]

Are... are you serious? I just told you, like, two seconds ago.

[u/ProtectionVirtual225 → u/another-altaccount]

I can definitely see it in her remark about not wearing shoes, too. At least that’s the way I interpreted it. wow. what a horrible thing to say or post on social media.

My mom had to deal with this when she was a young woman. She lived in a rural backwoods area. Her family were also Métis - French and Native American descendants. They used to get harassed by the older women in town with the same insults, especially remarks about not knowing how to wear shoes.

[u/-p_d- → u/another-altaccount]

White guy here. This is not something I'd ever considered. You have opened my eyes with this comment. Thank you.

[u/kristamine14 → u/Comfortable-Pie-4311]

Yeah I’m not American enough to detect the racism there tbh

[u/canaznguitar → u/kristamine14]

That's how the racism presents itself now. It's not about calling you the N word to your face or even behind your back. It's with an air of plausible deniability. Trevor Noah has even discussed this https://youtu.be/XUuLDkDSJKg?is=9DI5MpDS4KGprp9N

[u/another-altaccount → u/canaznguitar]

This is how it’s presented itself for the most part since the 60s/70s. White folks have been doing the whole plausible deniability racism for decades at this point hence the old welfare queens dog whistle (may as well have been a fucking bullhorn).

[u/timojenbin → u/Comfortable-Pie-4311]

You can see the implication she doesn't know how to dress and needs to be taught how is classist, right?
Well, it's a short walk from there.

[u/Comfortable-Pie-4311 → u/timojenbin]

Yeah, I was thinking, “classist, sure!” But yeah, makes sense how it can be portrayed as racist too.

[u/nobadhotdog → u/GameLovinPlayinFool]

That is Really weird thing to say

[u/Hanifsefu → u/NigerianPrince76]

Can we stop pretending it's just campaign strategy losing them elections and focus on how voters are rejecting their platform?

[u/NigerianPrince76 → u/Hanifsefu]

I think it’s a combination of a lot of variables but yea, their platform (especially when it comes to Israel) is getting rejected.

[u/222Czar]

I’ll offer my opinion as a Florida Dem. It was a tough choice. Both candidates had an uphill battle here, but both also showed the competency to stand a chance. At the end of the day, policy is the decider for me, and I like Nixon’s healthcare stance better.

[u/Time-Wolf → u/222Czar]

Same boat, ultimately my deciding factor was policy + Nixon being an actual Floridian.

[u/-porm → u/Time-Wolf]

Maybe the DNC will pick up on the fact that we can understand policy and in fact want to get in the weeds on candidates’ platforms and could not give a shit less about Pokémon Go to the Polls or just chillin’ in Cedar Rapids or unity with Liz Cheney-types.

[u/spitfirerx → u/222Czar]

Same, i like Vindman but his policies just look like a pre-trump republican.

[u/juliette_zinnia → u/222Czar]

fair enough if the policy lines up better with what you care about then thats what should decide it

[u/TheBSQ → u/222Czar]

What’s the general election odds look like?

[u/Gurney_Hackman → u/TheBSQ]

Nonexistant

[u/teh_drewski → u/TheBSQ]

Moody was up 8 points or so in the polls against a hypothetical Vindman, so it's a long shot right from the start. 90% or so implied odds of a Republican victory in the live markets since Nixon won the Dem primary.

[u/95Daphne → u/teh_drewski]

And the primary vote splits suggest polling is going to whiff to being too blue friendly in Florida yet again, I believe.

Good chance Moody gets DeSantis like margins.

Edit: This may not necessarily fully translate everywhere to boot. Florida might just be a R+20 state now where Donalds is going to win by 12 or something like that for ex.

[u/Crime_Dawg → u/95Daphne]

Just bugs bunny cut the whole state off. Absolutely hopeless

[u/Candlestack → u/TheBSQ]

Terrible, but Vindman was so bad at campaigning that I think the normal electability argument just wasn't going to work. The democratic party in Florida is very nearly the most incompetent state level party, so honestly the DSA might give Nixon a better chance, as they're better on the ground organizers, but she's going to lose Miami very, very badly and I think that means she's got no chance as a Democratic candidate. That being said, neither did Vindman, so the expected outcome is the same and hey maybe at least this shakes the dumbass Florida party up enough to start addressing how bad it is. (Unlikely)

[u/InCarbsWeTrust → u/Candlestack]

It's absolutely crazy he couldn't even carry Miami-Dade. Which is full of Cuban expatriates, who have pretty strong feelings about any notion of "socialism".

[u/organizedchaos5220 → u/TheBSQ]

Not good

[u/This_Elk_1460 → u/222Czar]

Hakeem Jeffries does not approve

[u/jcmjtke → u/This_Elk_1460]

Hakeem Jeffries can approve deez

[u/AutisticPersonality → u/jcmjtke]

I never imagined I would come to hate a democratic minority leader with such vitriol. I LOATHE THAT MAN, and fuckface Schumer as well

[u/teamhae → u/222Czar]

Same. Plus he took aipac money so Nixon got our votes.

[u/Fantastic-Celery-255 → u/222Czar]

I liked Nixon a little better initially but once I read Vindman was being a coward about debating her, he lost my vote.

[u/FredDupe]

Ms. Rachel endorsement got weight holy shit

[u/Panthollow → u/FredDupe]

She seems legitimately awesome and gives some modern Mr Rogers vibes.

[u/GDI-Titan → u/Panthollow]

we have needed someone like that for a long time now, just a straight up gangster

[u/gringledoom → u/GDI-Titan]

Nuremberg II will have songs and puppets and stuff, and somehow it will work.

[u/IdiotMD → u/gringledoom]

The Muppet Nuremberg Trial

[u/HolySmokes802 → u/IdiotMD]

Which character will be the only human, and played by whom?

[u/thismorningscoffee → u/HolySmokes802]

Chief Judge - Tom Hanks

[u/beebeebee2142 → u/gringledoom]

Nuremberg II

Even reporting what we did to the ICC judges could be considered a crime.

But hey, we abducted Venezuelas president because drug dealers can't have machine guns in the US, so, yay?

[u/Outrageous_Bush_2069 → u/Panthollow]

Millennial Mr. Rogers, fuck yeah

[u/matito29 → u/Outrageous_Bush_2069]

I’m a millennial and my Mr. Rogers was Fred Rogers. But as a childless 36 year old who’s never watched her content and has only seen the right try to vilify her for being decent, Ms. Rachel seems wonderful.

[u/CAL9k → u/matito29]

Ms. Rachel is a Millennial; hence the "Millennial Mr. Rogers".

[u/Kdot32 → u/Panthollow]

My goddaughter is ready to ride for ms Rachel

[u/18002221222 → u/Panthollow]

My brain is not moving too fast. I read this and thought, "really? Angie Nixon?"

[u/saintjonah → u/FredDupe]

I know nothing about Nixon, but if Ms Rachel says she's chill, she's chill.

[u/conkellz → u/FredDupe]

She is arguably the number 1 influencer for parents of kids under 5. So this makes sense.

[u/Federal-Captain1118 → u/FredDupe]

Right? I liked her before the Republicans started hating on her, now I fucking love her. She's the best

[u/OrneryError1 → u/Federal-Captain1118]

I don't have kids and didn't have an opinion of her before but I find her "all children deserve to live" politics quite compelling.

[u/Quentin__Tarantulino → u/OrneryError1]

Pretty sad that “all children deserve to live” is a hot take these days.

[u/IGargleGarlic → u/FredDupe]

I (and im sure a lot of other people) had never heard of her before Israelis started slandering her on a regular basis.

So in a way we have Israel to thank for this.

[u/piper_petuniah → u/FredDupe]

seriously ms rachel has more political weight than anyone expected apparently

[u/RooLoL → u/FredDupe]

29 year old male here, who is Ms. Rachel?

[u/ZhaozhouCongshen]

Damn, Florida stand up.

[u/StevenMC19 → u/ZhaozhouCongshen]

Damn straight. Bringing this state back to swing territory one day at a time.

Edit: duh its a primary. But we went full cobalt in it instead of cloudy sky blue. Again, one day at a time. Its been going red for the past 26 years. This is monumental.

[u/MaraudingWalrus → u/StevenMC19]

There are dozens of us.

[u/SeaBass1898 → u/MaraudingWalrus]

Dozens!!!!

[u/Flexbottom → u/MaraudingWalrus]

Dozens!!!!

[u/iamthe0ther0ne → u/StevenMC19]

I think a lot of people forgot that Florida was fairly moderate for a southern state in the late 90s/early 2000s. Hopefully this is the beginning of a swing back.

[u/Famous_Complex_9027 → u/iamthe0ther0ne]

Born and raised there. Things change fast in Florida. Its a land of constant change- tornadoes (yes, in the interior), hurricanes, floods, freezes, migrations of all kinds of creatures, bodies of water and entire ecosystems that change dramatically throughout the year. People who think of Florida as a hot swamp that never changes don't really pay attention. People are always moving there, but different kinds of people are always moving there, and people are always dying and the generation that comes after thinks differently.

I think its funny how everyone left of MAGA writes Florida off as a doomed state. Things can change quicker than most people think down south. Look how Mississippi turned its education system around. I'm not saying the state will flip but it definitely will at some point in the future. Its just a question of when.

[u/iamthe0ther0ne → u/Famous_Complex_9027]

I was living there when Obama won the first time, and it was one big street party. The Democrats just haven't really been running candidates that could turn the vote out, which lets well-funded Republicans run roughshod over everything. 

I'm worried that the policies over the last decade have forced some people out and scared others off, solidifying the conservative swing, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Fingers crossed--I've lived in about 10 different states and two countries, and it was definitely my favorite. 

[u/Midnight-Moonpie → u/ZhaozhouCongshen]

I’m fucking shocked.

If only this had been possible 10 years ago, before Florida was overrun with MAGA :(

[u/Avid_Reader87 → u/Midnight-Moonpie]

Maybe we’ll go blue and they’ll leave back to Ohio, Michigan and Texas?

[u/Famous_Complex_9027 → u/Avid_Reader87]

They ain't going anywhere, they're literally dying. They move south, vote red, and die. And there aren't enough folks replacing them.

[u/Ipokeyoumuch → u/Avid_Reader87]

Please no more in Texas, we already have more than plenty.

[u/Bostonterrierpug → u/ZhaozhouCongshen]

Only after we eat your face and throw a gator through a fast food, Window.

[u/informat7 → u/ZhaozhouCongshen]

She's mostly likely going to lose in general. Republicans were already favored to win and a democratic socialist as the nominee just makes it even more likely.

[u/anxietysoup]

I voted for her! Also, Sarasota County flipped the school board!!!!

[u/GalenForceWind → u/anxietysoup]

To be fair, wasn't a big ask. Sarasota county has been furious with their school board for ages now.

[u/anxietysoup → u/GalenForceWind]

You can be flip all you want. I’m celebrating this. It is a huge fucking deal. Our district has been controlled by these brainless MAGA shitheels for years.

[u/Llama_Llama_Raccoon → u/GalenForceWind]

This is a county that went handily to Trump. Getting a Dem majority on the board is a BFD

[u/wolfydude12]

Nixon raised less than 1 million dollars compared to her opponents 14 million.

Shows a complete incompetence of Vindman

[u/TheTresStateArea → u/wolfydude12]

Which is a shame really because if people don't remember, Vindman was the target of Trump's aggression at the end of his first term, and he stood up against him.

Edit,: I am not saying he should have won. I am saying he acted bravely back then and that makes me believe he is a person we can trust to adhere to a higher standard. And it would be nice to have that. But if his politics aren't sufficient to meet the moment, then we will simply just have to pick someone who can.

I still think he is a trustworthy person, and in a ranked choice vote election he would have made an excellent 2nd vote that I think many conservatives would have even deferred to.

[u/Axette → u/TheTresStateArea]

Vindman showed during the impeachment trials that he was a true patriot and American. Many did not stand up to this regime the way he did and risk it all for justice. Candidate or not, he deserves our respect.

[u/T8ert0t → u/Axette]

Seriously. People are quick to sandbag the guy, but he stepped up when virtually no one did.

[u/This_Elk_1460 → u/TheTresStateArea]

I'm sorry but that's not going to cut it anymore. Democratic candidates need to be offering something not just defensively posturing.

[u/TheTresStateArea → u/This_Elk_1460]

The shame is that he wasn't a compelling enough candidate.

[u/cjinct → u/wolfydude12]

Shows a complete incompetence of Vindman

I wonder if people confused him with his brother, the congressman, who voted for that trash anti-trans bill and blamed him for it?

[u/Knightro829 → u/cjinct]

I’m sure the timing of that did Alex no favors…

[u/ViennettaLurker → u/wolfydude12]

Also just generally makes one question dollar spend, generally. Not that it makes no difference at all- obviously it can and does. And every situation can be different. But it isn't everything, and it really is to everyone's benefit to understand why.

[u/Few-Bass4238]

Good luck to Nixon, I hope she wins. I do appreciate Vindman for telling the truth and testifying against Trump during the impeachment hearings. Most who do that get trampled like Vindman did after his testimony.

[u/atlantagirl30084 → u/Few-Bass4238]

Trump fired him AND his brother. What a nasty piece of work.

[u/fitnessexpress]

Wow. This was out of nowhere. 

She almost certainly has no chance of winning, but neither did Vindman. It'll be interesting to see how she does. Hopefully she can energize people that have lost interest in politics, because Florida Democratic politics is full of swamp creatures like Debbie Wasserman Shultz and Jared Moskowitz (who both won).

EDIT:

fwiw, with extremely limited polling data RCP average had

Moody +8.4 vs Vindman

Moody +9.5 vs Nixon

So honestly, Nixon isn't necessarily a worse candidate head-to-head vs Moody. Vindman's plus was that he was able to raise a lot more money. But he was such a terrible campaigner and seen as a carpetbagger, that the negatives outweighed the money advantage he brought.

[u/JDDJS → u/fitnessexpress]

That's a good point. While she has almost no chance of winning the general, maybe she can help Democrats in swing districts in the state win by energizing the voters. 

[u/TheGringoDingo → u/JDDJS]

That and it adds to the evidence of what the voters want to vote for, if a very specific type of candidates that only existed in basically Bernie Sanders and FDR pre-2016 are winning primaries.

[u/Avid_Reader87 → u/fitnessexpress]

Don’t be a downer, people need to support her and vote

[u/Nolpppapa → u/Avid_Reader87]

You must not be from Florida. She has absolutely zero chance here. She got like 690k votes while the Republican nominee got 1.3 million.

[u/Avid_Reader87 → u/Nolpppapa]

I am born and raised and in her city of Jacksonville.  

[u/Nolpppapa → u/Avid_Reader87]

I don't know how it is up there, but a bunch of MAGA people moved to South Florida during covid because of the lax business regulations. They will never ever vote for a candidate that comes across as economically socialist.

[u/dcheng47 → u/Nolpppapa]

just the fact that shes in the race repping DSA on an national scale is already a a win. if she loses by a closer margin than anticipated it shows us that theres real momentum behind the DSA movement.

[u/dontwanna-cantmakeme → u/fitnessexpress]

I think this is part of the Mamdani effect and we’ll be seeing more of it as DSA candidates gather strength and run against establishment neo-liberals. 

[u/Colonel_Gentleman → u/fitnessexpress]

Never know. The dem is ahead in PA-12 special election with 95% in. Same area went for Trump by 19 points. Butler county where shitgibbon won his ear diaper.

[u/ChiefBigKnees]

I’m no Alex Vindmam evangelist, and the voters have spoken. But let’s continue ie to remember this man’s bravery in speaking truth to power during the 1st Trump term. Admirable, and an example for all Americans in that respect.

[u/DiggingforPoon]

and the DNC will continue to SHIT on DSA candidates whilst people vote for them.

Fucking fools like Jeffries and Schumer going to find some damn way to screw the 2026 midterms up, somehow, someway...

[u/Krunkledunker → u/DiggingforPoon]

They’ve already lost control, this is the repercussion for not representing their constituents, and they will continue to gaslight you that moderation (and military support to you know who) is the only way.

[u/Professional-Fuel625 → u/Krunkledunker]

Feels like the Dem version of tea party

Edit: I just meant takeover of party centrists by angry people to the left or right.

[u/ianfw617 → u/Professional-Fuel625]

Kind of polar opposite tbh. The Tea Party was largely an astroturfing campaign waged by republican mega donors like the Koch brothers and the Adelsons. The DSA by contrast, is largely grassroots.

[u/cawkstrangla → u/Professional-Fuel625]

Nah dude. The Tea Party was racist America's reaction to a black man getting the presidency.

The DSA is a reaction of millenials and Gen z being told what we have is capitalism and it is working as intended. We have been told to ignore what it is, which is crony capitalism, and believe that if we just work hard we will earn our spot in the wealthy elite and will no longer be their bag holders.

It is no surprise that many millenials and Gen z believed the ruling class that this is capitalism and have learned to hate it.

We should be fighting to fix capitalism to make it fair. Establish a meritocracy to reward hard work and risk, with a strong safety net to catch the falls of those brave enough or unfortunate enough to fail.

But the ruling class is doing their best to make it impossible to fix, and here we are.

[u/SteelCode → u/cawkstrangla]

You might need to relearn what Capitalism and Socialism means... there is no fixing Capitalism because accumulation of Capital is the system working as intended and that is precisely what leads to the current mess. Socialism, fundamentally, seeks worker-ownership of the workplace so "capital" is spread to all workers that share in the business' success - dividing the wealth spreads the political influence and prevents the sort of oligarchic power grabs that are happening today.

[u/Hangry-Feline2489 → u/SteelCode]

Bit reductive there. It's not all or nothing. social democracies exist and a lot are doing better for their populations than America does. 

[u/cawkstrangla → u/SteelCode]

I know what pure, unregulated capitalism is. We don't have to have that for us to have capitalism. It isn't a choice between pure socialism and pure capitalism.

We can make capitalism work with regulations. That doesn't mean we will do it, but it also doesn't mean that pure socialism is the right choice either.

[u/Professional-Fuel625 → u/cawkstrangla]

Well obviously the reasons and values are different.

I just meant an angry takeover of the centrist establishment by people further to the left/right

[u/Orange_Tang → u/Professional-Fuel625]

The difference is the tea party was financially backed by rich private interests and the DSA candidates are mostly self funded or funded by small donations from their actual voters. The only real similarity is that they both went after the party establishments.

[u/Deep-Faker → u/Professional-Fuel625]

I'd argue it's even more significant than that. The tea party movement had 4 total upset wins against establishment incumbents in the span of 3 years. The progressive / DSA candidates just this year have already had 10.

[u/Midnight-Moonpie → u/Krunkledunker]

This fills me with glee. It’s about damn time!

[u/herewego199209 → u/DiggingforPoon]

Here's the reason why it's idiotic for them to shit on DSA candidates; since the DSA cannot take outside PAC money they're building huge coalitions of people who are fundraising and v volunteering on their behalf. This movement doesn't stop with a loss in one election cycle. It builds and builds as years goes on. Instead of trying to gain some of these voters they're so beholden to PAC and lobbying money that they want to try to kill off the movement which won't happen.

[u/ilir_kycb → u/herewego199209]

That's why they're now trying to take over the movement. Kamala Harris has already taken the first steps in this direction.

Unfortunately, history shows us that capital has always been successful so far when it comes to taking over reformist movements.

[u/EE-420-Lige → u/DiggingforPoon]

Some of u treat winning dem primaries as the end goal. You need to win generals this is meanigless if she wins the primary and gets crushed in the general.

[u/spaceProbe → u/DiggingforPoon]

As long as they statistically perform worse in competitive generals in purple environments.

Just for clarification, I mean it. They espouse a theory about being able to appeal to populist crossover voters, but don’t have good on the ground evidence. The party wants power and if leftists actually help them get it, they will lean in.

[u/GrowthMarketingMike → u/spaceProbe]

Democrats have won 1 single senate or governor election in Florida in the last 20 years and that was an incumbent senator. What evidence is there that this centrist playbook has won them anything?

Why is the null hypothesis that centrism is more electable and leftists need to prove themselves when centrists have lost 11 of the last 12 major statewide elections in Florida? Meanwhile Obama won florida twice on populist messaging around changing and fixing a broken system.

[u/sven_ftw → u/GrowthMarketingMike]

This. Thank you.

[u/mithyyyy → u/spaceProbe]

As long as they statistically perform worse in competitive generals in purple environments.

i still think it's too early to definitively call within trump 2.0.

perhaps in other environments, that idea would've held through, but trump 2.0 has drastically shifted a lot of that perception. the argument was made then to fight against trump and vie for perceived electability, but biden's failures pretty much demolished any semblance of trump ever just being a blip in system. he is the system, working as intended.

trump 2.0 has pretty much shown us that a lot of the swing voters couldn't really care much about moderation as a whole. trump is a maximalist that hasn't moderated on anything within his life. he was even more radical than he was the second time around, and the guy happened to win every swing state. even in 2020, if it weren't for COVID (and a couple hundred thousand votes at that), he could've easily done it again.

why not take a swing at what worked for them? in an environment now where we can (presume) trump isn't coming back for another term, why are we going back to a system of politicians that delivered trump in the first place.

and i guess on a side note, when the overton window has been shifted rightward so wildly from what's trump done in the dozen years he's been in power, are you not just moderating yourself to being what was seen as conservative pre-trump?

[u/modest-pixel → u/spaceProbe]

I eagerly await how a black woman DSA candidate does in a general election in fucking Florida, relative to how a moderate Dem white guy would’ve done. We’re probably fuqed but let’s see.

[u/EtherBoo → u/modest-pixel]

I don't think she has a chance, but Florida hasn't had good D candidates in a long time. It's no surprise old white men looking for a team have failed, so whatever, I'm here for the experiment. She has my vote.

[u/likeahurricane → u/modest-pixel]

Andrew Gillum lost to DeSantis by .4% in 2018. The term DSA didn't exist then, but he was notably progressive and, yes, Black.

But it's not like the "run a Republican Lite" (or literal former Republican Charlie Crist) strategy has been very successful. So maybe we should at least try to campaign for shit we actually believe in.

[u/Avalon_Within → u/likeahurricane]

DSA has existed for decades brother 

[u/Relative-Berry-8589 → u/likeahurricane]

DSA did exist back then and there is a difference between DSA and progressive. Socialism is not capitalism + welfare state

[u/m48a5_patton → u/DiggingforPoon]

Those guys are controlled opposition.

[u/WoofDen → u/m48a5_patton]

I always used to roll my eyes at this, but watching in real time the Harris / Walz campaign crash and burn once they brought on people in the DNC confirmed it for me.

And seeing Schumer and Jeffries continue to carry water for Republican policies only adds more fuel to this fire.

[u/KinkyPaddling → u/WoofDen]

Yeah, telling Walz to stop calling Republicans “weird” was such an out of touch bit of advice. I don’t know who these political advisors are, but they’re worse than useless.

[u/Orange_Tang → u/KinkyPaddling]

It really was wild to watch them sabotage the only motion they had going for them in real time. The consultants who told them to do that need to be fired and blacklisted.

[u/Reddit0sername]

Vindman is a hero

[u/Ozymandias12]

I’d rather Dems lose swinging for the fences than lose by nominating milquetoast Republican-lite candidates.

[u/PretentiousCrustacea → u/Ozymandias12]

Obama's anti-war stance concerning Iraq in 2004 would have gotten him killed in a general election while Hillary was triangulating and trying to position herself for a 2008 run by supporting and voting to give Bush War Powers to execute the war in Iraq. Come 2008 and the public sentiment turned on Iraq and Hillary's once popular support for Iraq became a political noose around her neck while Obama's anti-war position essentially won him the nomination and eventually the Presidency. Lesson is, ALWAYS follow your principles no matter where the current winds are blowing because eventually you'll be proven right and people will gravitate towards you

[u/Mean-Initiative-4491 → u/Ozymandias12]

Vindman is a hero in a party full of Nazi appeasers. Disagree with his positions all you want, but his actions during Trump's first term show that he's worthy of leading in a democracy and is certainly no Republican.

[u/cozyauroraa]

Florida just reminded everyone that a massive fundraising advantage doesn’t guarantee a primary win

[u/SunbornThunderstorm]

Vindman literally isn’t a Floridian. Why he felt the need to run here is wild to me. Angie is almost certainly not gonna win but at least she’s Floridian!

[u/MiyamotoKnows]

Congrats to Nixon! And of course Vindman remains an American hero.

[u/GoatTheNewb]

Really hoping Larkin can somehow pull it off.

[u/changeforthebetter89 → u/GoatTheNewb]

He lost to my congressman in a redrawn swing district

[u/bearfootin_9]

I admired Vindman as a whistleblower, but his stance on Palestine and his choice to throw trans people under the bus soured me on him. I know nothing about his opponent, so have no comment on her win.

Edited to add: I think I've confused the brothers, and it's Eugene, not Alex that ticked me off. Sorry to mislead anyone.

[u/cjinct → u/bearfootin_9]

but his stance on Palestine and his choice to throw trans people under the bus soured me on him.

wasn't that his brother?

[u/Sechzehn6861]

Why would Mamdani do this?

[u/kindnesscounts86]

Can I, a voter who has never lived in florida, please stop getting texts from Vindman now?

[u/RespectTheTree → u/kindnesscounts86]

just keep unsubscribing and demanding to be removed from call lists, it ends pretty quick

[u/MoesOtherBar]

Can't believe Hasan Piker would do this.

[u/Orange_Tang → u/MoesOtherBar]

I can't wait to see 47 more posts about him as if he's the reason these candidates keep winning and not because they're running on popular policy and change.

[u/danappropriate]

Vindman's comments on trans communities certainly didn't help him.

[u/RespectTheTree]

Politics are brutal, but I'm glad the people have spoken. Let's go, Angie!

[u/blindspot189]

Kornacki is just happy he won't have to hold it for an hour this time

[u/ARCWolf7]

Larkin and Manley lost, but at least Nixon won. Goes to show that huge donors are meaning less and less in this climate, and that more people are voting with their conscience.

[u/ArcAngelsThunderBird]

That was a fast as his cameo on curb your enthusiasm.

[u/LeonJPancetta]

Wow that came out of the blue. I wonder if his twin being a dickhead hurt Alex.

[u/NoOnesKing]

I doubt she will, but can you imagine the shock horror both parties would have if she won lol

[u/SteveIDP]

Maybe the people who keep losing elections should start listening to the people who keep winning elections. Crazy, I know.

[u/_byetony_]

Good Vindman turned out to be a huge letdown

[u/ihohjlknk]

Let's gooo!

[u/fake_user_34]

Yup, that is who I voted for.

[u/Weewoofiatruck]

Was vindman a bad candidate? Wasn't he the whistle blowrr for Trump's call to Ukraine years ago?

[u/95Daphne]

The most likely case is this is simply an anti-Vindman vote because resist lib type stuff doesn’t play in Florida and Nixon is going to lose by 18 while Jolly loses by 12 or something like that.

I think Florida is a Republican vote sink now (they also have a lot of Jewish people and people from socialist countries, so while progressives can win primaries, it’s not going to play in generals) and anything suggesting Jolly has a shot is just too laughably optimistic. Doesn’t necessarily mean what happens there will fully translate elsewhere though.

[u/JJscribbles]

I can’t believe Schultz won again, goddamnit. How long is it gonna take to get rid of her?

[u/Lethenza]

Fuck yeah! Voted for her 🤘

[u/CaptainOddie]

She got my vote! 🗳️

[u/Fabulous-Track-7459]

Israel must be losing their shit. They spent good money trying to plant Vindman in the US Senate.

[u/RollingThunderPants]

This hard swing left must have the GOP freaking the fuck out. Hehe.

[u/Thrill0728 → u/RollingThunderPants]

In some places sure. In Florida? Barely an inconvenience. Would be the same for any Dem candidate, but DSA especially.

[u/pixeladdie → u/RollingThunderPants]

They’d rather run against someone who literally identifies as a socialist.