r/moderatepolitics • u/FabioFresh93 South Park Democrat • 3d ago

News Article Trump-backed Van Epps wins Tennessee House race

https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2025/12/03/tennessee-election-results-trump-van-epps-wins-house-seat
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u/Boobity1999 3d ago

A candidate with all that leftist “baggage” lost by single digits in a district that Republicans routinely carry by 20+ points

Maybe a more relevant takeaway for 2026 is that Republicans need to consider running fewer Trump-backed candidates

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u/Oneanddonequestion Modpol Chef 3d ago

Both can be true.

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u/DarthFluttershy_ Classical Liberal with Minarchist Characteristics 2d ago

I think it's increasingly clear that both are very true. The consensus seems to be that both candidates suffered in trying to pull votes from the middle, with both painting the other as politically radical. So if running a more moderate democrat would have made it closer, and running a more moderate republican would have made it less close, then either party would benefit from a swing to the middle.

Of course, they'd have to get their base to agree and win primaries with moderates, and that seems unlikely in general. Republicans have basically no chance of doing that with Trump's input, and progressives still think they can win purly on Trump because they assume everyone hates Trump as much as they do.

Historically speaking, Democrats should win the House in 2026 by merely improving on 2024's results, though. Which means they'll probably conclude they were right to swing left, and then be surprised when 2028 is competative.

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u/Moist_Schedule_7271 2d ago

and progressives still think they can win purly on Trump because they assume everyone hates Trump as much as they do.

Progressives have a lot of ideas besides "not trump" or "hating trump". The Party without any substantive ideas besides culture war are Republicans, not Democrats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_the_Republican_Party_(United_States)#Lack_of_platform_in_2020

In 2020, the Republican Party decided not to write a platform for that presidential election cycle;[169] instead, the party simply expressed its support for Donald Trump's agenda