Democrats Bench the “Squad” As Radical Policies Drag Down Candidates

AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott

Throughout the home stretch of the fall campaign, one of the most outspoken factions on Capitol Hill has gone noticeably quiet. For years, the “Squad,” a group of six far-left House Democrats touted by the media and many in the liberal establishment as the “future of the party” have been a constant presence in headlines and on CNN and MSNBC. But now, as their radical policies have alienated vast swaths of the voting public, the Squad is missing in action.

The Squad first rose to national prominence following the election of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan in 2018. Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York joined them in 2020. Initially, the media lauded the group for their extreme opposition to President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies, crowning them the de facto leaders of the “resistance” movement.

But the Squad wasn’t just interested in opposing Republicans – they had a radical agenda of their own in mind. For example, they became some of the earliest leaders of the “Defund the Police” movement – a position that they have remained firm on even as Democrats face a national backlash over the devastating consequences of gutting police budgets. Over the past two years, taking advantage of Democrats’ razor-slim margin in the House, the Squad has repeatedly held legislation hostage and demanded that items from their progressive agenda be included. AOC’s radical “Green New Deal” has become the legislative standard for climate activists around the world, and the Squad has worked bits and pieces of it into Democrats’ big spending bills.

Yet, in recent months, the Squad’s regular media appearances have precipitously declined. In August, Rep. Omar almost lost her seat in a surprisingly tough primary challenge, prevailing by less than 2 percent. Though the other Squad members were also able to retain their seats, their popularity has suffered heavily since Biden took office. Squad matriarch AOC is currently under fire for mocking her local constituents by dancing to their chants of “AOC has got to go.” A new poll has Republican Congresswoman Mayra Flores – perhaps the leader of a budding Republican “anti-Squad” — with a higher net favorability rating than AOC.

Looking back, 2020 was a clear inflection point in the stardom of the Squad. Though Biden secured the presidency and Democrats took control of the Senate, Democrats nearly lost their majority in the House. Many Democrats directly blamed the Squad’s embrace of the “Defund the Police” movement and other radical policies, arguing that the Squad was dragging the Democratic Party far to the left of the American electorate.

Since Biden’s inauguration, things only seem to have gotten worse for the Squad. Many critics have noted that AOC has spent as much time criticizing President Biden as she has Republicans. When in opposition to Trump, the Squad’s progressive legislative priorities were hailed by the media and the left as the foundation for future Democratic governance. Once Democrats had the majority, however, many seemed to quickly realize how truly radical and out-of-touch those same policies were, setting the stage for an intra-party power struggle. Left-wing activists applauded the Squad for voting against Biden’s infrastructure bill because it didn’t contain enough progressive priorities, yet doing so infuriated many of the Squad’s Democratic constituents and Democratic leadership.

At the same time, the Squad has undoubtedly continued to drag the Democratic Party to the far left. Many of the spending priorities in Democrats’ multiple multi-trillion-dollar bills are straight out of the Squad playbook. The Squad’s obsession with “reimagining” the criminal justice system, destroying the fossil fuels industry, and pushing left-wing ideologies like Critical Race Theory and gender theory in K-12 schools have similarly become hallmarks of Biden’s presidency. Rep. Cori Bush in particular has continued to double down on her support for “Defund the Police” policies, insisting that it should be the official platform of the Democratic Party.

Unsurprisingly, Biden and Democrats have continued to suffer in the polls. Republicans are pulling further ahead in key races throughout the country, and voters have made clear that they are fed up with Democrats’ dangerous descent into left-wing radicalism. As such, it is perhaps no surprise that the Democrat establishment has benched the Squad in a desperate attempt to moderate the party’s image ahead of Election Day next week.

Yet despite their best efforts, the die appears to have already been cast. The harsh reality that Democrats now must face is that, while the Squad’s agenda may have been popular with the media class and liberal elites, it does not work for the ordinary voters whom the left claims to represent. Should 2022 be the “red wave” many pundits are now predicting, it may well be that the Squad will only continue to wane in power and influence, much to the relief of the majority of Americans.

Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.