On Saturday, the Utah Democratic Party held its annual convention (virtually, due to the coronavirus pandemic), where it voted overwhelmingly to endorse Rep. Ben McAdams, the party's sole member of the state's congressional delegation, over Daniel Beckstrand, a progressive challenger to McAdams, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress. Because of the lopsided vote, he automatically advanced to the general election in November.
Three days prior, however, the progressive caucus of the party held its endorsement vote, and also voted to endorse McAdams, despite Beckstrand's policy positions being more progressive than his. Given this, why would the so-called "progressive" wing of the party back the nominally more conservative candidate in the primary?
Many of McAdams's positions and congressional votes go against the general beliefs progressive wing of the party. For starters, he does not support Medicare for All; Beckstrand does. Since 2000, the Utah Democratic Party committee has taken $113,925 from the health insurance industry. These donations include $18,550 from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah, as well as $3,000 from UnitedHealth Group.
Additionally, unlike Beckstrand, McAdams does not support a Green New Deal, and he voted for President Trump's United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), which progressives blasted, in part, for not including binding climate standards, as well as for failing to address climate change. The Utah Democratic Party has taken $62,450 from the oil and gas industry, its top donor being Questar Corporation ($26,750). Other donors to the party from the industry include Anadarko Petroleum ($10,000), Williams Companies ($5,450), Sinclair Oil Corporation ($3,650), and Chevron Corporation ($2,950).
Finally, McAdams has been one of the sole Democrats to vote against preventing President Trump from starting war with Iran. In January, he voted against both Rep. Elissa Slotkin's (D-MI) War Powers resolution to ease hostilities against Iran, as well as Rep. Ro Khanna's (D-CA) measure to stop the president from using federal funds for war with Iran without congressional approval, while Beckstrand highlights his non-interventionist, anti-war stance on his website. The Utah Democratic Party has taken $18,550 from the defense industry, its top donor being Alliant Techsystems ($8,900). Other defense donors include Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems ($4,000).
Given their donors, it's no surprise that the Utah Democratic Party progressive caucus would endorse McAdams, despite him having a clearly more progressive opponent, and him opposing the aforementioned progressive policies, among others, including a $15 minimum wage (he was one of only six Democrats in the House to vote against a bill providing such). This is just further proof that the Democratic establishment will stop at nothing to prevent progressive ideas from overtaking their party.
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