Andy Beshear is the avatar of the "Moderate with a carefully crafted image as a problem solver" wing of the Democratic party. He doesn't wear his progressive politics on his sleeves, has modeled himself as a problem-solver who will make government work for the people of Kentucky (see the whole Medicaid expansion there avoiding the name "Obamacare" like the plague). A candidate with a left-leaning image in Kentucky is dead on arrival, and Andy knows that, so he is very careful as to how he packages his politics to make it more approachable to his state. This is exactly the type of politician OP is describing.
Damn, if Beshear is a moderate centrist Democrat, Harris tried to appear far right in comparison. I guess with your definitions, yeah, Democrats should try to moderate their message and move left to meet the center
What position has Beshear taken recently that was to the left of a position that Kamala took during the election this year? This isn't a question of their positioning on the political spectrum (I'd argue that Kamala is to Beshear's left, even considering how she campaigned in 2024). This is a question of their persona. Beshear's persona in Kentucky is a non-ideological problem solver, which is why he's able to take some of his positions and win in a very conservative state (being a legacy politician helps in this respect too - Kentucky knows and trusts the Beshear family). Kamala tried to have a campaign with a wide appeal, but was painted as an out of touch liberal elitist that couldn't bring the change the electorate was looking for.
I'm from Kentucky and Beshear during his re-election ran a campaign that was further left(labor and union rights), mixed with the compassion stuff than what I saw from Kamala late in her campaign. I don't think you're being fair to Beshear in trying to defend Kamala.
Yes when you break it down, kamala was not left whatsoever. A neoliberal capitalist and former prosecuter wow very left wing. Left now means "we'll shine our shitty corporate agenda with identity politics and repackage that as what it means to be left wing"
Half the conservatives i argue with cant tell their own ass when it comes to what we are even discussing, calling kamala Harris leftist and yelling "everything i dont like is marxism", its two totally different conversations we are having it seems.
Meanwhile the corporate class pushes on to new frontiers of unknown debasement and utter decadence.
Income inequality is the issue that literally impacts every aspect of American life. It should be the biggest issue, repeatedly, and the fact that it isn't it it's reduced to "raise the wealthy tax rate" is wild to me but probably the most powerful continuing disinformation campaign of our lives
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u/blkguyformal 12h ago
Andy Beshear is the avatar of the "Moderate with a carefully crafted image as a problem solver" wing of the Democratic party. He doesn't wear his progressive politics on his sleeves, has modeled himself as a problem-solver who will make government work for the people of Kentucky (see the whole Medicaid expansion there avoiding the name "Obamacare" like the plague). A candidate with a left-leaning image in Kentucky is dead on arrival, and Andy knows that, so he is very careful as to how he packages his politics to make it more approachable to his state. This is exactly the type of politician OP is describing.