Corporate-Friendly Democrats Mobilize to Drag Party Rightward

Afraid “a sharp turn to the left could prove disastrous in the 2016 elections,” factions within the Democratic Party more closely aligned with Wall Street and other corporate interests than with the progressive left are “gathering their forces to fight back against the ‘Elizabeth Warren wing’ of their party,” The Hill reported Monday.

Framed as a fight between so-called “centrists” of the party and more progressive voices, exemplified by Sen. Warren (D-Mass.), journalist Kevin Cirilli describes how leaders of three corporate-friendly groups—the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), the New Democrat Network (NDN), and Third Way—are moving to steer the Democratic agenda away from issues like income inequality, the student debt crisis, and corporate tax breaks.

Warren has come out swinging on these issues. Just last week, Warren and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) launched the Middle Class Prosperity Project with a Forum on Economic Challenges Facing the Middle Class in Washington, D.C.

“There have been deep structural changes in the economy, changes that have gone on for more than thirty years, changes that have kept hard-working middle class families from sharing in an improving economy,” Warren said in her opening statement (pdf) at the forum, calling on Congress to close tax loopholes, raise the minimum wage, and cut student loan interest rates.

Of current economic struggles, Warren declared:

Following the forum, Campaign for America’s Future analyst Isaiah Poole wondered: “Could this project, using Warren’s distinctive voice, help progressives present a bold alternative not only to destructive conservative policies but the Band-Aids and incremental measures of some mainstream Democrats?”

Such “barbed attacks” as Warren’s have “thrilled the base and stirred desire for a more populist approach,” Cirilli writes at The Hill. “But with the race for the White House set to begin, centrists are moving to seize back the agenda.”