As Democrats in Michigan, Wisconsin and other parts of the country say they are ready for progressives and moderates to unite after divisive primaries, Third Way, a left-of-center think tank focused on pragmatic solutions, announced in an ad that it is looking to hire a new staff member whose task could divide the party.
For $150,000 annually, the ad says this person will “lead a project to combat the rise of far-left extreme voices and forces,” and assemble “a database of the DSA’s most extreme ideas and statements,” referring to the Democratic Socialists of America. The new employee will also, according to the ad, “research methods to move base voters away from these extreme candidates.”
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A spokesperson for Third Way did not respond to a request for comment. Its website says Third Way values “progress over purity” and believes “in reform not revolution.”
Third Way urges ‘fighting hard’ not ‘veering left’
The organization has long targeted what it considers progressive candidates whose economic policies are out of line with the mainstream of the American electorate.
In 2020, Third Way’s President Jon Cowan and Executive Vice President Matt Bennett published a 1,200-word open letter to nearly every Democrat running for president urging them to “Stand up to Bernie or You — and We — All Lose.” Cowan and Bennett published an essay on Aug. 7 urging 2028 Democratic presidential hopefuls to pick “combative centrism” rather than “caution or socialism.”
They also argued that Democrats should fight President Donald Trump, but cautioned “there is a difference between fighting hard and veering left.” (The essay was published in the opinion section of the Washington Post, which was refashioned by its owner last year to focus on “personal liberties and free markets.”)
‘Woke 1 was crazy’
The job ad comes amid a budding, but by no means complete, kumbaya moment in a deeply divided Democratic Party. In Michigan, moderate Rep. Haley Stevens announced her endorsement of Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive who beat her by one percentage point in that state’s tense Senate primary. In Wisconsin, plans are underway for progressive state lawmaker Francesca Hong to campaign with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who moderates rallied behind at the last minute. He won the Democratic gubernatorial primary by less than half a percentage point.
Recent polling has shown more Democrats in recent years are identifying as progressive, and prioritize increasing health care access and raising taxes on the rich. But some Democratic Party leaders warned that positions taken by some DSA-aligned candidates may alienate general-election voters. Those positions include calling to defund local police, pushing for Medicare-for-All, and opposition to Israel that critics call antisemitic.
Some DSA-supported candidates have moderated their positions. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a potential 2028 presidential candidate and member of the DSA chapter in New York City, tried offering a broad reset for candidates in her faction of the party, telling a television interviewer this week, “Woke 1 was crazy,” quoting a New York City Council member.
Straight Arrow reached out to the DSA’s national press account for comment.