Centrism in the Democratic Party

Yglesias argues swing-state winners like Andy Beshear undersell the heterodoxy, such as coal positions, that won them votes.

“Andy Beshear rejected a Sierra Club endorsement and he got the United Mine Workers who have stopped endorsing Democrats in national politics to endorse him”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:11:19

Yglesias criticizes moderate Democrats for avoiding national attention and then complaining that AOC and Mamdani dominate.

“a huge frustration that I have with a lot of the more moderate Democrats is that they don't even want to try a lot of the time”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:39

Yglesias argues that intra-party fights between establishment and progressives mostly concern issues where swing voters do not disagree with Democrats.

“the things that the establishment and the kind of more progressive people have been arguing about are actually mostly not the issues that it seems like swing voters disagree with Democrats about”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 23:03

Yglesias contends the Democratic Party moved significantly left under establishment stewardship since Obama's second term.

“there's been some pretty dramatic leftward moves in the Democratic Party since Barack Obama's second term”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 4:18

Favreau argues the party has electorally viable center-left figures who struggle to get attention, while attention-grabbing progressives may not win swing states.

“I feel like we have a lot of center left candidates who may be electorally viable, but are not very good at getting attention”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 54:15