[Essay]
Whose Narrative Is It Anyway?
Political labels are increasingly meaningless. As Josh Marshall has been writing, fewer people these days are inclined to identify as “centrist” or “moderate.” So-called independent voters often espouse wildly incoherent views (see: those insane-making New York Times voter surveys). Donald Trump even accused Joe Biden of being a socialist.
As we’ve seen in this year’s primary contests, there’s also a maddening tendency among elected officials and the political press to equate “far left” and “far right” candidates as occupying equally extreme, dangerous ends of the political spectrum, though those in the former camp mostly want universal healthcare and affordable housing while the latter is more likely to endorse the forced deportation of non-white people from the United States. Commenting on a Wisconsin gubernatorial field that included DSA-backed state lawmaker Francesca Hong and the election-denying congressman Tom Tiffany, University of Wisconsin professor Mark Copelovitch noted, “The @nytimes hasn’t written a single article asking if ‘voters will think Tom Tiffany is too radical’ because he is an election-denying, pro-ICE, authoritarian extremist. Somehow, his position on the political spectrum has disappeared completely from the National and State Conversations.” After Hong lost her bid by just 3,000 votes, the New York Times ran a piece headlined “A Stunning Loss in Wisconsin Shows the Limits of the Left” and declaring it a possibility that “the democratic socialist wave cannot reach beyond urban centers.” (The Wall Street Journal, Politico and Axios were similarly quick to diagnose Hong’s loss as a terminal failure of the “far left,” with CNN even declaring, “Democratic establishment roars back.” Tiffany, meanwhile, won his race. The Times headline: Tom Tiffany Wins Wisconsin’s Republican Primary for Governor.)
Below, we take a look at some of the policies proposed by 2026 primary candidates in the “far right” camp versus those coming from candidates who’ve been labeled “far left.” Some of these things are not like the others.
On immigration
Candidate: Darializa Avila Chevalier, Democratic nominee to represent New York’s 13th Congressional District
The immigration proposals on Avila Chevalier’s campaign website include calls to mandate free legal representation for immigrants — an issue that several states are currently working to address, as TPM has reported. She also promises to fight to ”abolish ICE and the deportation machine,” which some 48% of Americans want to do, according to a July YouGov poll.
Candidate: Mike Collins, Republican Senate nominee in Georgia
Collins sponsored the first piece of legislation that Trump signed in his second term: the Laken Riley Act, which targets undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes for deportation. He also sponsored a bill to end birthright citizenship.
On reproductive rights
Candidate: Francesca Hong, Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin
Among a lengthy list of policy priorities, Hong, who lost her bid on Aug. 11, advocated for enshrining reproductive rights into Wisconsin’s constitution and for providing universal childcare and paid leave programs to allow people to access reproductive care.
Candidate: James Fishback, Republican gubernatorial candidate in Florida
Fishback’s campaign website credits him for recognizing “what too few establishment Republicans are willing to say: life begins at conception and abortion is murder.” The candidate pledges to shut down Florida’s remaining 53 abortion clinics (legality of that TBD!) and replace them with crisis pregnancy centers because “abortion is never the answer.” He’ll also establish paid maternity leave, since “welcoming a child into the world is one of the most important things a family can do.” Generous.
On taxes
Candidate: Donovan McKinney, Democratic nominee to represent Michigan’s 13th congressional district
The Michigan lawmaker and DSA member’s campaign site is a bit thin on details, but he proposes raising taxes on billionaires and corporations in order to “fund crucial investments our community needs for housing, education, clean air & water, fair paying jobs and healthcare.” He also endorses a universal basic income.
Candidate: Mike Lindell, Republican gubernatorial nominee in Minnesota
Better known as “the MyPillow Guy,” Trump ally and conspiracy theorist Lindell proposes eliminating Minnesota’s in-person retail sales tax “so working families, small businesses, farmers, and retirees can keep more of what they earn.” Lindell lost his bid on Aug. 11.
On national security
Candidate: Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan
El-Sayed’s support for Palestine and opposition to funding Israel’s military was one of the defining issues of the Michigan Senate primary. On his campaign website, he calls for a “sensible foreign policy,” which includes ending the war in Iran; ending the “warlike pathway that the foreign policy establishment has pursued with China”; imposing an arms embargo on Israel; reinvesting in foreign aid; reengaging with international bodies like the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement; and “spending our taxpayer dollars here at home” rather than on funding foreign militaries.
Candidate: Bo French, Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner
The man tapped by the GOP to help oversee the state’s largest industry (it earned $27 billion last year) has his Day 1 priority set: prohibiting the sale of Texas land to people from Muslim-majority countries because of their purported threat to state security. “America has been at war with Islam since the time of our Independence, and stopping the subversive influence of Islam in Texas by banning all Muslim countries from acquiring land and interfering in Texas Oil and Gas will be my top legislative priority,” French says.
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