On Tuesday night, the American people triggered a political earthquake by thrusting Democrats into power in both the House and Senate by overwhelming margins. The defeat has already left the GOP in a circular firing squad of recrimination, but Democrats, too, must now face their own party’s new divisions.
That’s where Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., comes in front and center.
Fetterman in recent years has replaced former Sens. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema, of Arizona, as the most vocal and pugnacious moderate on issues such as immigration enforcement, support for Israel and a refusal to shut down the government to achieve liberal policy wins.
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Fetterman’s penchant for criticizing progressive shibboleths was one thing when Democrats toiled in the minority, but how will incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his leadership team deal with the Pennsylvania maverick now that they control the upper chamber?
It is possible that Schumer just waits Fetterman out. The latter is up for re-election in 2028 and currently, according to surveys, is more popular with Keystone State Republicans than with Democratic voters there, making his chances of retaining the seat, at least as a Democrat, rather remote.
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Fetterman, it should be noted, is not the only nominally moderate Democrat facing voters in a purple state in two years. There are also Patty Murray of Washington, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. But one must ask: Will they be more afraid of a general election defeat from the right or a primary ouster from the left?
A year ago, Democrats had dreams of a Senate majority, but it wasn’t quite the Senate majority they have wound up with. In Michigan, they expected a Haley Stevens or Mallory McMorrow, not an Abdul El-Sayed. In Maine, an Angie Craig, not a Troy Jackson. These avatars of the progressive wing of the party will be the celebrities of the next Congress.
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It is difficult to imagine this firebrand faction working hand in hand with a White House they flat-out accuse of fascism to pass bipartisan legislation. But just as hard-line MAGA senators have been frustrated by Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s temperance on issues such as killing the filibuster, incoming leader Chuck Schumer may well wish to resist the resistance, so to speak.
In fact, establishment Democrats and media pundits have been quick to remind us all that the vast majority of Democrats serving at the Capitol are not of the socialist variety, even though the party’s zeitgeist and primary wins such as those in Michigan and Maine are with them.
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The good news for Democratic leadership is that the scale of the victories Tuesday gives them big enough margins — 80 or so seats in the House and four to six in the Senate — that the socialists should not be able to hold legislation hostage. But that doesn’t mean they have to be quiet about it.
There are several issues where we can expect the ascendant far left of the Democratic Party to draw lines in the marble of the Capitol, chief among them support for Israel and funding for immigration enforcement. Schumer will likely have to bend the knee to these demands, but not John Fetterman.
As Republicans delve deep into their postmortems, assigning blame for defeat, Democrats are celebrating a kind of Easter. But the question is: What exactly is this resurrected political party? Are the socialists a flying buttress to the establishment Democrats, or are they, in fact, the body of the cathedral now?
Fetterman raised eyebrows at this year’s GOP midterm convention in Dallas when he appeared via video to celebrate the other Pennsylvania senator, Republican Dave McCormick, leading some to believe that the sweatshirt-wearing contrarian could switch parties — something he has consistently told the media, including this columnist, that he will never do.
Democrats in leadership have insisted for months that there has not been a far-left takeover of the party of Jefferson and Jackson, but rather that there is simply a big tent. Well, we know the tent is big enough for the likes of California streamer and anti-Israel firebrand Hasan Piker, but is there room in it for John Fetterman?
There was a scenario in play on Tuesday in which Fetterman could have become the 51st Democratic senator and close to the most powerful man in Washington. That did not happen, but he remains the most distinctive voice in D.C.
Has the Democratic Party outgrown the likes of old-school John Fetterman? And if so, can Republicans use that fact to woo law-and-order, Israel-hawk Democratic voters over to their side? Or is Fetterman now just a man out of time, out of step and without a solid constituency of voters?