Moderate Democrats accused more progressive members of the party of spoiling their chances of taking back the Senate, in a blame game over why they lost more seats than predicted. Centrist blasted liberal colleagues during a private three-hour-long conference call for pushing “far-left” views they believe cost the Democrats key seats in the election, revealing a deep schism in the party. They had been hoping for a bigger night on Tuesday, especially after failing to flip the Senate in 2016 and 2018. “We need to not ever use the word ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again. . . . We lost good members because of that,” said Virginia congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, who narrowly leads in her re-election bid, on a call obtained by the Washington Post. “If we are classifying Tuesday as a success . . . we will get f—ing torn apart in 2022.” The party had hoped to expand their House majority with wins in Republican-held districts, but instead lost at least six seats, as well as failing to retake the Senate. The party had banked on the public turning against Republicans over President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has cost the lives of more than 235,000 Americans. James Clyburn, Majority Whip, said he believed they had gone too hard platforming “socialised medicine” and defunding the police in distincts with overwhelming white populations. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, a self-described democratic socialist and one of the so-called “squad” of left-wing congresswoman which includes Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, responded angrily, saying she believed the party was doing little to appeal to black voters. “To be real, it sounds like you are saying stop pushing for what black folks want,” a tearful-sounding Ms Tlab claimed, accusing her colleagues of only being interested in appealing to white people in suburbia. The Trump administration had worked hard to paint the Democrats as socialites, claiming a moderate Joe Biden would be leaned on by more “radical” elements of the party once in office. They targeted Kamala Harris, Mr Biden’s black running mate, in particular, claiming she supported the violence on the streets linked to the Black Lives Matter protests and that she was in favour of reallocating funding from the police. “Democrats’ messaging is terrible; it doesn’t resonate,” Kurt Schrader, of Oregon’s fifth congressional district, said. “When [voters] see the far left that gets all the news media attention, they get scared. They’re very afraid that this will become a supernanny state, and their ability to do things on their own is going to be taken away.” Nancy Pelosi, the 80-year-old grande dame of the Democrats, tried desperately to lift spirits, saying she held out hope that they could still take the Senate, pointing to two likely runoffs in Georgia where Democrats will be severe underdogs.
